MLB Player News

Grandal is not in the lineup against the Cardinals on Thursday.

Manager Dave Roberts will deploy eight right-handed-hitting position players for Thursday's series opener versus southpaw Austin Gomber. Austin Barnes will handle the catching duties and bat eighth.

Jansen is not in the lineup Thursday against the Red Sox.

Jansen will find a seat on the bench following a pair of consecutive starts in which he went 1-for-5 with a walk. Reese McGuire will start behind the dish and hit ninth in his place.

Leon is not in the lineup Thursday against the Blue Jays, Evan Drellich of NBC Sports Boston reports.

Leon will take a seat after starting three consecutive games behind the dish, going hitless across eight at-bats during those appearances. Christian Vazquez will start at catcher in his place Thursday.

Contreras is out of the lineup for Thursday's contest against Washington.

Contreras will receive a standard day off after going 0-for-3 with two strikeouts and a walk during Wednesday's loss to the Brewers. He's been mired in a slump as of late, going just 3-for-25 dating back to Aug. 31. In his absence, Victor Caratini will catch Mike Montgomery and bat fifth.

Perez (hamstring) is making deliberate progress from his injury and manager Kevin Cash concedes he may not return before the end of the regular season, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

The rookie backstop hit the disabled list Aug. 31, and there was relative certainty as recently as last weekend about a return before the end of the season. The latest news implies differently, although Perez still has over two weeks to regain full health. Jesus Sucre, Nick Ciuffo and Adam Moore are all candidates to handle catching duties while Perez remains sidelined.

Hedges went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run in Wednesday's 5-4 win over Seattle.

Hedges homered for the second time over the last three games, upping his season total to 13. The 26-year-old had been alternating two-game starts with rookie Francisco Mejia, but the presence of the designated hitter on the road against the Mariners allowed both backstops to remain in the lineup during the two-game series. Hedges will return to an even split down the stretch, but his career-best .446 slugging percentage (seventh among catchers with at least 250 at-bats) should be enough for him to remain relevant at the catcher position.

McCann went 1-for-4 with a solo homer in Wednesday's loss to the Astros.

McCann took Gerrit Cole deep in the fourth inning to put the Tigers up 2-1, though the Astros would respond with four runs of their own in the next inning en route to the win. The backstop has taken a bit of a step back in his fourth full season, slashing just .221/.268/.321 with eight homers through 107 games after slashing .253/.318/.415 with 13 homers across 106 games in 2017.

Stallings went 2-for-5 with three RBI in Wednesday's 4-3 win over St. Louis.

He's serving as Francisco Cervelli's backup while Elias Diaz (hamstring) remains sidelined. Stallings, who is best known for his steady defense, hit a surprising .285 in 256 Triple-A at-bats in 2018 (well above his career mark of .252). The 28-year-old has made just 19 appearances in the majors over the last three seasons.

Garver (head) was removed from Wednesday's game against the Yankees for precautionary reasons, Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports.

Garver exited the game after two innings after taking a foul ball off his mask. Initial tests determined the backstop didn't suffer a concussion, though the team may want to play it safe and send him for additional tests before clearing him to return. Willians Astudillo replaced him behind the dish.

Grandal went 3-for-5 with a double and three RBI in Wednesday's win over the Reds.

Grandal put the Dodgers up 2-1 with his run-scoring double on a fan interference call. He added a pair of RBI singles in the fifth and sixth innings as the Dodgers scored eight runs over three innings en route to the win. The backstop is now in the midst of a modest three-game hit streak -- going 5-for-11 with a pair of doubles and a homer in those contests -- after starting the month 1-for-13.