MLB Player News

Grandal went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run during Tuesday's 8-5 win against Cleveland.

The 32-year-old entered Tuesday's contest 1-for-21 over the previous seven games, but he busted out with his second homer of the season. Grandal has a .150/.306/.350 slash line with two home runs, six runs and nine RBI through 12 games.

Murphy is out of the lineup for Game 2 of Tuesday's doubleheader against the Twins, Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Murphy started behind the plate in the matinee, going 0-for-2 with a walk and a run, and he unsurprisingly won't start both ends of the doubleheader. Aramis Garcia will work behind the plate in Game 2 for the A's.

Stubbs was optioned to the alternate training site Tuesday and placed on the taxi squad, Justice delos Santos of MLB.com reports.

The 27-year-old has been with the big-league club for the past week following the team's COVID-19 outbreak, but he'll lose his roster spot with Martin Maldonado (COVID protocols) returning to the lineup. Stubbs will remain with the team on the taxi squad but is unlikely to rejoin the roster while Maldonado and Jason Castro remain healthy.

Maldonado (COVID-19 injured list) is starting Tuesday in Colorado, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

As expected, Maldonado is back in the starting nine for the first of a two-game series in Coors Field.

Nola (finger) has been given the green light to begin playing games at the Padres' alternate training site, Daniel Guerrero of MLB.com reports.

Nola has been gradually working his way back from the fracture to his middle finger on his left hand. He has been throwing to bases and is now able to take batting practice and play in games following an encouraging CT scan. It's unclear when he may return to the big-league squad given his long layoff, which has extended to over a month. "We'll kind of wait and see how the rhythm and timing goes," manager Jayce Tingler said, "but we're really encouraged that finally we're at the stage where he hadn't had any setbacks and the doctors feel like he can't injure it or it can't get worse." Tingler added that Nola's ability to participate in games is "going to be a matter of playing through pain."

Sanchez (finger) is starting at catcher and batting seventh Tuesday against Atlanta.

He exited Saturday's game with a couple bruised fingers, but he only needed a couple days to get right. Sanchez is hitting .237/.356/.421 with two home runs in 12 games.

Vazquez went 3-for-5 with two runs scored in Monday's 11-4 win over the White Sox.

Vazquez was part of Boston's six-run first inning, when a line of six consecutive batters recorded hits off Chicago starter Lucas Giolito. His opening-frame single snapped an 0-for-15 skid, and this strong performance raised the veteran catcher's batting average to .308.

Tromp was optioned to the Giants' alternate training site Monday.

Tromp was called up Sunday to give the Giants some extra catching depth with Buster Posey dealing with an elbow issue. While Posey still isn't starting Monday against the Phillies, the team is evidently confident he'll be available off the bench, as Tromp is no longer needed.

Maldonado is tentatively expected to be activated from the COVID-19 injured list ahead of Tuesday's series opener in Colorado, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Of the five Astros on the COVID-19 IL, only Jose Altuve appears unlikely to rejoin the team in Colorado while he waits to clear all MLB health and safety protocols. Once they arrive in Denver, the quartet of Maldonado, Alex Bregman, Yordan Alvarez and Robel Garcia will still have a few more hurdles to clear related to COVID-19 intake testing, but all four should be eligible to play Tuesday if they continue to test negative for the virus. Once reinstated, Maldonado should take back primary catching duties from Jason Castro.

D'Arnaud went 2-for-5 with a home run, a double, three RBI and two runs Sunday in Atlanta's 13-4 win over the Cubs.

D'Arnaud was one of four Atlanta players to leave the yard during a six-run first inning, which provided young starting pitcher Bryse Wilson with all the cushion he would need in the series finale. The long ball was d'Arnaud's first since April 4, ending an 11-game dry spell in which he slashed a porous .189/.231/.243. D'Arnaud's track record over the past two seasons coupled with his stranglehold on the No. 1 job in Atlanta over lightly used backup Alex Jackson is still enough to make the 32-year-old one of the top fantasy options at catcher, despite his slow start to 2021.