MLB Player News

Casali will start at catcher and bat seventh Sunday against the Dodgers, Kerry Crowley of The San Jose Mercury News reports.

Casali will get his third turn behind the plate in less than a week with Buster Posey getting Sunday off for maintenance purposes. For the season, Casali is slashing .107/.265/.125 across 68 plate appearances, so he likely won't be in store for an uptick in playing time while Posey remains healthy.

Trevino is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Astros.

Trevino will get a breather for Sunday's matinee game after he caught both of the Rangers' last two games. Jonah Heim will form a battery with starting pitcher Mike Foltynewicz in the series finale.

Haase will start in left field and bat fifth Sunday against the Royals.

Haase's ability to catch and play left field has created two pathways to a spot in the lineup, and manager A.J. Hinch hasn't been shy about using the 28-year-old following his May 12 promotion from Triple-A Toledo. He'll be making his eighth start in 10 games after going 9-for-27 with a pair of home runs and two doubles since his call-up.

Stassi (concussion) has begun participating in baseball activities, Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times reports.

Manager Joe Maddon indicated that Stassi is "feeling a lot better, very optimistic and upbeat" after missing more than two weeks due to a concussion. The backstop will likely require a brief minor-league rehab stint before rejoining the big club, DiGiovanna notes.

Hedges went 2-for-3 with a walk, an RBI and a run scored in Saturday's 5-3 extra-inning win over Minnesota.

The catcher provided an RBI single in the second inning to give Cleveland a 3-0 lead. Minnesota rallied, and the game ultimately went to extra innings after Hedges popped out to end the ninth. He was placed on base as the initial runner in the 10th and scored on Cesar Hernandez's walkoff home run. Hedges has hit for a meager .143/.206/.238 slash line with two homers, five RBI and five runs scored across 71 plate appearances. Roberto Perez isn't expected back until mid-July at the earliest, so Hedges will continue to see most of the time behind the dish despite his struggles as a hitter.

Gomes is not in the lineup Sunday against the Orioles, Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com reports.

Gomes is 2-for-19 over his past five games and will take a seat for Sunday's series finale. Alex Avila will catch for Patrick Corbin and bat seventh.

Higashioka is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the White Sox.

Higashioka appeared to have leapfrogged Gary Sanchez on the Yankees' catching depth chart in late April, but based on how the starts have been doled out of late, Higashioka seems to have faded back into a No.2 role. The 31-year-old will be on the bench for the third time in four games with Sanchez having shown some improvement at the dish of late. After posting a .639 OPS in April, Sanchez is up to a .726 mark thus far in May.

Rogers is starting at catcher and batting ninth in Sunday's game against the Royals.

Wilson Ramos will serve as the designated hitter Sunday, opening up catching duties for Rogers with Eric Haase taking left field. The Tigers will likely tread carefully with the 33-year-old Ramos, so Rogers should see a little bit of playing time moving forward, but he probably won't be in the lineup enough to warrant much attention in standard leagues.

Cleveland transferred Perez (finger) from the 10-day injured list to the 60-day IL on Sunday, Zack Meisel of The Athletic reports.

After having three pins inserted into his fractured right ring finger two weeks earlier, Perez was already expected to remain out for at least two months, so the move to the 60-day IL won't affect his recovery timeline. Cleveland will likely continue to lean on Austin Hedges as its No. 1 catcher through the All-Star break.

Stephenson will start at first base and bat cleanup Sunday against the Brewers.

The 24-year-old is in the lineup for the fifth straight game, with two of his starts coming at catcher and three coming at first base. With all of Joey Votto (thumb), Mike Moustakas (heel) and Nick Senzel (knee) on the shelf, Stephenson looks like he'll have a fairly clear path to regular playing time in the short term until the Reds claim some health. Given that he's eligible at catcher and owns an .826 OPS over 109 career MLB plate appearances, Stephenson looks worthy of rostering in most formats while he's getting steady work.