MLB Player News

Leon is not in Thursday's lineup against the Twins, Scott Lauber of ESPN.com reports.

Leon will get a regular day off in favor of Ryan Hanigan after starting the past four games at catcher for the Red Sox. He will likely be back in the lineup for Friday's game, and is batting a robust .410/473/.725 during his 69 at-bats this season.

Grandal is out of the lineup Thursday against the Nationals, Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times reports.

Grandal has started seven of the last eight games overall, but manager Dave Roberts won't allow him to start an early-afternoon game immediately following an evening contest. In his stead, A.J. Ellis will take over behind the plate to catch starter Julio Urias.

Leon went 2-for-4 with a triple, a homer, two RBI and a run Wednesday against the Giants.

After a rare hitless game Tuesday, Leon kept the bat going with another startling offensive performance. What he's done over 23 games this season is nothing short of remarkable -- .435 with three homers, nine doubles, a triple and 15 RBI -- but we're talking about a guy whose three most recent Triple-A batting averages are .243, .263 and .229. If you've got him, ride the hot streak, but know that it's not likely to last much longer.

Gosewisch went 2-for-4 with a three-run homer in Wednesday's loss to Toronto.

The 32-year-old catcher hit just the third home run of his career Wednesday, and first this season. Gosewisch has played in five games since being called up July 1, but notched an RBI or extra-base hit through his first 15 at-bats until his meaningless homer in the ninth inning of Wednesday's 10-4 loss. With backup catcher Chris Herrmann (hamstring) hitting the 15-day DL, Gosewisch will stick around with the big league club for now, but he holds minimal fantasy value outside of being a value play when he earns a spot start.

Stephenson (wrist) is back in action at Low-A Dayton, where he went 4-for-4 on Tuesday night.

Stephenson was used as the DH in this one, while second-round pick Chris Okey stayed behind the plate. At some point the organization will probably put Stephenson and Okey on separate teams to allow both to catch regularly.

Diaz has been reinstated from the 60-day disabled list and optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis.

During the final 10 games of his rehab assignment, Diaz hit .324 with only four strikeouts in 34 at-bats. He hasn't exactly provided stellar production across the board in his eight years in the minors, but the Pirates may call on Diaz at some point in the second half to spell Francisco Cervelli occasionally behind the plate.

Gomes (shoulder) was placed on the 15-day disabled list Monday, Ohio.com reports. He's expected to miss 4-to-8 weeks.

As anticipated, Gomes will hit the DL with a separated AC joint in his right shoulder, which he sustained during Sunday's game against Minnesota. The catcher will avoid surgery, but is still expected to miss at least a month and potentially as much as eight weeks. He's hitting just .165 with 32 RBI on the year, but remained a valuable contributor for his work with the Indians' pitching staff. To replace Gomes, Cleveland activated Roberto Perez from the disabled list Monday, and he'll team with Chris Gimenez to handle backstop duties over the next several weeks.

Perez (thumb) was officially activated from the DL and is in the lineup Monday against Kansas City, Josh Vernier of 610 Sports Radio reports.

In a move that was announced Sunday night, Perez will come off the DL to replace the injured Yan Gomes, who dislocated his shoulder during Sunday's game against the Twins. Perez will immediately factor into Monday's lineup, starting behind the plate and batting ninth in the order against the Royals' Edinson Volquez.

Mesoraco underwent surgery to repair a labrum in his right hip Monday.

The Reds expect that Mesoraco will begin catching drills sometime in mid-to-late January. The 28-year-old will end the season with a career low .140/.218/.160 line; since hitting .273/.359/.534 with 25 home runs and 80 RBI in 2014, Mesoraco has only played in 39 games over two seasons, failing to hit a home run while recording just three RBI over that stretch. This is now consecutive season-ending surgeries for Mesoraco, but at least this time he'll get an early start on bouncing back and getting healthy for next year.

Navarez went 1-for-3 with a double and a run scored against the Angels on Sunday in his first career start.

Navarez's run broke a team streak of not crossing the plate for more than 30 innings, and it capped a semi-successful MLB debut. However, Navarez may not be with the Sox for long, as regular catcher Alex Avila should return from the disabled list later in the week.