MLB Player News

Sanchez is not in Tuesday's lineup against the Orioles.

Sanchez is 2-for-28 with 10 strikeouts and four walks over his last nine games (28 at-bats). Kyle Higashioka, on the other hand, is looking like the better player on both sides of the ball, hitting .286/.400/.810 with three home runs in a small 10-game sample.

Gomes will hit the bench Tuesday against Toronto.

Gomes and Alex Avila have been alternating starts for the last six games. Avila gets the nod behind the plate Tuesday, but Gomes should return for Wednesday's contest if the pattern holds.

Jeffers is out of the lineup for Monday's game against Cleveland.

Jeffers will take a seat after starting four of the last six games behind the plate. While his heavier workload of late would suggest that he's leapfrogged Mitch Garver on the depth chart, Jeffers is far from locked in as the No. 1 option due to his abysmal start to the season as a hitter. Jeffers' .393 OPS places ahead of only four other catchers (Danny Jansen, Luis Campusano, Martin Maldonado and Elias Diaz) with at least 30 plate appearances in 2021.

D'Arnaud went 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored in Monday's 8-7 win over the Cubs.

D'Arnaud got on the board early in Monday's slugfest, plating both runs in the first inning to give Atlanta an early lead. The 32-year-old has been off to a slow start this year, hitting only .209 with two home runs across 72 plate appearances. His early struggles have not kept d'Arnaud out of the lineup, as he's started behind the plate in 17 out of the team's 22 games this season.

Perez (thumb) will start at catcher and bat third Tuesday in Pittsburgh.

Perez looked like a strong candidate to receive his first day off of the season Tuesday after he exited Monday's 3-2 win over the Tigers with a jammed thumb, but he'll keep his ironman streak intact, as the injury was apparently only a minor concern. The 30-year-old backstop has played an integral role in the Royals' MLB-best 14-7 start to the season, posting a .771 OPS while shepherding a pitching staff that has exceeded expectations thus far.

Perez went 0-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base in Monday's 5-3 extra-inning win over the Twins.

Speed isn't part of Perez's game -- his only other major-league stolen base came in 2018. The catcher got aboard with a walk in the seventh inning and stole second base. The 32-year-old has a .167/.333/.375 slash line with three home runs, nine RBI and six runs scored across 60 plate appearances as Cleveland's primary catcher.

Murphy went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run in Monday's 2-1 win over the Rays.

He took Rich Hill deep in the fourth inning, giving Sean Manaea and the A's bullpen all the offense they would need. Murphy is still climbing out of his 0-for-14 slump to begin the season, but over his last 11 games he's gone a somewhat more palatable 8-for-36 (.222) with two homers and seven RBI.

Contreras went 1-for-5 with a two-run home run and two runs scored in Monday's 8-7 loss to Atlanta.

Contreras is only batting .239 but he has an .894 OPS, which has been boosted significantly by his seven home runs in just 21 games. The catcher's career high in home runs is 24, which he recorded across 105 games back in 2019. Contreras looks poised to surpass that number if he stays healthy this year. He's already matched his 2020 long ball total, and it took him 57 games to reach the figure a year ago.

Murphy, who went 1-for-3 with an RBI double and a run in a loss to the Red Sox on Sunday, was 0-for-17 with a walk and two runs over the previous six games.

The veteran backstop's season slash sits at an anemic .128/.171/.231 across 41 plate appearances heading into Monday night's series opener against the Astros. Murphy has just two total extra-base hits when factoring in Sunday's double as well, but his 41.7 percent hard hit rate and atypically low .174 BABIP imply the hits could start falling more often as the season unfolds. The saving grace for Murphy and his fantasy managers at the moment is that platoon mate Luis Torrens isn't offering much more with his bat, posting a .176/.236/.216 line in his own right across 55 PAs.

Narvaez is not starting Monday against the Marlins, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com reports.

It's possible Narvaez, who swings left-handed, could platoon with the right-handed Manny Pina going forward. The Brewers haven't had the chance to show off any potential platoons so far this season, as they somehow managed to face 21 straight righties to open the season before facing southpaw Trevor Rogers on Monday.