MLB Player News

Perez went 2-for-3 with an RBI single and a run in a win over the Yankees on Tuesday.

The young catcher drew his fifth start over the last eight days and broke out of the 0-for-9 skid that had encompassed his prior three games in the process. Perez's first-inning single got the Rays' quest for a victory over the Yankees off on a strong note, as it plated Kevin Kiermaier with the first run of the game. Perez is only slashing .200/.250/.200 across his first 28 plate appearances; however, he now has five RBI on five hits and has been more productive overall with the bat than fellow backstop Mike Zunino (.091/.200/.250), whose playing time he's putting an increasingly larger dent in.

Perez (blurred vision) is not in Wednesday's lineup against the Reds.

He was removed from Monday's game after struggling to see the ball at the plate and was held out Sunday for the same issue. It is unclear if he will be available for the second game of Wednesday's doubleheader. The Royals have an off day Thursday, so if this is a minor issue, we could see him back in the lineup this weekend against the Twins. Cam Gallagher gets the start behind the dish, hitting ninth.

The Marlins released Castillo on Tuesday.

Castillo signed with Miami earlier this month after the team placed backstops Jorge Alfaro (COVID-19) and Chad Wallach (undisclosed) on the injured list, but both have since resumed working out at the organization's alternate training site in Jupiter. With both players nearing returns and Francisco Cervelli and Ryan Lavarnway still ahead of him in the pecking order at catcher, Castillo was deemed expendable.

Vazquez (heel) is back in the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Phillies, catching and batting sixth, Christopher Smith of The Springfield Republican reports.

Vazquez left Monday's game against the Yankees with a sore heel and did not take part in Tuesday's contest, though the issue was never thought to be a major one. His return pushes Kevin Plawecki back to the bench.

McGuire will start at catcher and bat ninth Wednesday against the Orioles.

Though Danny Jansen is hitting .170 on the season, he remains locked in as the Blue Jays' top backstop and will head to the bench for just the sixth time to open up a start for McGuire. Since slugging a solo home run in his season debut July 25, McGuire has recorded one hit (a single) in 13 at-bats.

Jansen is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Orioles.

Since Jansen started the previous three games behind the dish and the Blue Jays are wrapping up their series in Baltimore with an afternoon contest, he'll be getting some routine maintenance while Reese McGuire gets the nod at catcher. After opening the season with four hits in his first three games, Jansen has gone a collective 4-for-36 over his next 13 contests.

Barnes went 2-for-2 with a walk, two runs scored and a stolen base in Tuesday's 2-1 win over the Mariners.

Hitting ninth, Barnes flashed his savvy on the basepaths, twice scoring from second base on singles while also swiping his first bag of the year. The 30-year-old catcher extended his hitting streak to seven games, a stretch during which he's slashing .500/.520/.667, and with Will Smith (neck) sidelined, Barnes seems poised to take full advantage of regular playing time.

Red Sox manager Ron Roenicke is hopeful Vazquez (heel) can play Wednesday against the Phillies, Ian Browne of MLB.com reports.

Vazquez exited Monday's game against the Yankees to rest a heel that's been bothering him. The manager gave him a complete day off Tuesday and awaits word from the team's trainers heading into Wednesday's series finale. "We'll see later on if the trainers think that he's OK to hit," said Roenicke. "But he's better. He told me he's better today. He's getting worked on also, they'll come back and let me know what they think for the game and what they think for tomorrow." Kevin Plawecki started in place of Vazquez on Tuesday.

McCann went 1-for-4 with a run scored in Tuesday's 10-4 win over Detroit.

With news that Chicago's primary catcher, Yasmani Grandal (back), could be out until the end of the week, the White Sox will need McCann or Zack Collins to fill in. McCann is slashing .325/.386/.550 over 44 plate appearances.

Sanchez went 1-for-3 with a walk and a solo home run in Tuesday's 6-3 loss to the Rays.

The catcher is supplying his usual power numbers with five homers and nine RBI through 20 games, but the long balls account for over half his hits, sticking Sanchez with a .138 batting average. At some point his luck on balls in play should improve, but he hasn't hit above .232 since 2017, so don't expect too dramatic a turnaround.