MLB Player News

Perez was removed in the bottom of the eighth inning of Monday's game against Cleveland with an apparent injury, Lynn Worthy of The Kansas City Star reports. He went 2-for-4 with a double, two RBI and a run before exiting.

An official reason for Perez's departure wasn't provided, but Worthy noted that the backstop was evaluated by trainers in the seventh inning after taking a foul ball off his mask. Perez stayed in the game and finished out the inning behind the plate before Cam Gallagher checked in for him to begin the bottom of the eighth. Kansas City may have just pulled Perez as a precaution, but manager Mike Matheny should provide more details on the star catcher's condition after the game.

Perez is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Reds.

Perez looks set to finish the season as the Pirates' No. 1 backstop while Jacob Stallings (concussion) remains on the 7-day injured list, but Taylor Davis will handle catching duties Monday while Perez gets a breather. Since Stallings was deactivated a week ago, Perez went 3-for-18 with two walks, three RBI and a run over five games.

Perez is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Royals.

With Monday's make-up game beginning at 1:10 p.m. ET, Perez will get a breather for the day game after he was behind the dish for three of the team's past four contests. Austin Hedges checks in at catcher in place of Perez, who went 1-for-10 with a double and a run scored during Cleveland's weekend series with the White Sox.

Jansen went 1-for-4 with a three-run home run in Sunday's 5-2 win over the Twins.

Jansen took Griffin Jax deep to left in the second inning for a three-run home run to put the Blue Jays on the board. It was his first long ball in just over two weeks and his ninth of the year. The 26-year-old is slashing .218/.296/.441 with 20 extra-base hits, 23 RBI, 27 runs scored and 17:41 BB:K over 190 at-bats. He and Alejandro Kirk should continue to split backstop duties in the coming week as the Blue Jays battle for a playoff spot.

Grandal went 3-for-4 with one RBI and a walk in Sunday's 5-2 victory over Cleveland.

Grandal knocked three singles in the win, including an RBI hit in the first inning. He's gone 5-for-10 (.500) with three walks over the last three games, improving his season slash line to .241/.420/.521 through 351 plate appearances. He's driven in 61 runs with 29 extra-base hits.

Stephenson went 3-for-5 with a home run, a double, two runs scored and three RBI in Sunday's 9-2 win over Washington.

Stephenson put the Reds on the board with his two-run shot in the fifth inning and later brought home another run with a sacrifice fly. He's up to 10 homers and 44 RBI alongside a .798 OPS this season. Stephenson entered Sunday's game in a 29-game drought without a home run, going 16-for-69 (.232) during that span.

Smith will sit Sunday against Arizona, David Vassegh of AM 570 LA Sports reports.

Smith sits after starting five of the last six games. Austin Barnes takes over behind the plate, catching for Julio Urias.

Stassi is not in the lineup for Sunday's game against the Mariners.

The 30-year-old backstop gets an afternoon off after going 0-for-3 with a pair of walks Saturday and hitting .179 with three RBI in his last 10 games. Kurt Suzuki starts behind the dish.

Maldonado is on the bench for Sunday's game against the Athletics, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

Three consecutive hitless performances have lowered Maldonado's average to .155 since the beginning of September. Jason Castro starts behind the dish in Sunday's series finale.

McCann will sit Sunday against the Brewers.

McCann has hit .148/.219/.148 over his last 10 games, dragging his OPS for the season down to .647. Tomas Nido takes over behind the plate, catching for Carlos Carrasco.