MLB Player News

Grandal is not in the lineup Monday against the Cardinals.

Grandal has been locked in at the plate recently, going 10-for-20 with a trio of homers, six RBI and a 4:2 BB:K in his last six contests (all starts). Manny Pina will check in behind the dish in place of Grandal for Monday's series opener.

Casali will start at catcher and serve as the Reds' leadoff hitter in Monday's game against the Dodgers.

With a .305 on-base percentage and zero career steals to his name, Casali is an out-of-the-box choice at the top of the lineup. Casali's usage as the leadoff hitter is probably an indictment of the Reds' lack of appealing right-handed hitters more than anything, but he'll nonetheless try to spark the Cincinnati offense as the Dodgers counter with ace southpaw Clayton Kershaw. Casali will likely head back to the bench Tuesday, when top catcher Tucker Barnhart should return to the lineup after a rest day.

Barnhart is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Dodgers.

Barnhart had started behind the plate in both of the past two days, so he'll just be receiving a breather in the series opener. Curt Casali will get the nod at catcher and serve as the Reds' leadoff hitter.

Vazquez will start at second base and will hit ninth Monday against the Orioles, Chris Cotillo of MassLive.com reports.

Vazquez had initially been listed as the Red Sox's starting backstop, but manager Alex Cora must have had second thoughts about using the 28-year-old behind the dish for a fourth straight day in a game set to begin at 11:05 a.m. EDT. Rather than getting a rest day in the series finale, Vazquez will surprisingly be used as the starter at the keystone, even with utility infielder Eduardo Nunez available for the contest. Vazquez logged two innings at third base in 2017 and 2018 but otherwise hasn't seen any action in the infield during his time in the majors. His last appearance at second base in affiliated ball came in 2010, when he was playing at Low-A.

Hedges is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Diamondbacks.

Hedges returns to the bench after starting the last three games and going 1-for-11 with a home run and three RBI. Francisco Mejia will start behind the plate and bat sixth for the Friars in the series finale.

Maldonado is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Indians.

Maldonado will head to the bench after producing just one hit in 19 at-bats over his last seven games. Though he's sitting on a measly .532 OPS for the season, Maldonado isn't in danger of losing his spot atop the depth chart, thanks to his elite defense.

Garver will start at catcher and bat seventh Sunday against the Tigers, Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com reports.

While Jason Castro's status as the Twins' top defender behind the plate allowed him to enter the season atop the depth chart, Garver's impressive performance at the dish has made it hard for manager Rocco Baldelli to justify keeping Garver on the bench. Garver will draw his third start in four games Sunday after going a combined 6-for-9 with three home runs, three RBI and five runs over his previous two outings.

Jansen will start at catcher and bat ninth Sunday against the Rays.

Jansen was excluded from the lineup for the past two days in favor of Luke Maile, who went 3-for-6 with a home run and two RBI in those contests. The Blue Jays still appear to favor Jansen as their primary catcher, but the youngster hasn't provided the sort of impact at the dish the team was likely counting on heading into the season. Entering the series finale, Jansen has managed only five hits in 35 at-bats while striking out 25.6 percent of the time.

Realmuto is not in the lineup for Sunday's series finale against the Marlins, Scott Lauber of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

Realmuto started off the season 4-for-25 but has picked things up a bit since receiving his first day out of the lineup last Saturday. The 28-year-old has seen a heavy workload for a catcher thus far with 12 starts in 14 games. Andrew Knapp will start behind the plate and bat eighth Sunday.

Vazquez went 2-for-4 with a double, a home run and four RBI in Saturday's 9-5 loss to Baltimore.

In a rare display of power, Vazquez nearly accounted for all of Boston's offense. The nine-hole hitter is not known for this type of production and is hitting just .229 after the eruption.