MLB Player News

Manager Rocco Baldelli said Thursday that Ryan Jeffers will take on a larger role, which will result in fewer starts for Vazquez, Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic reports.

The catching duo has split playing time fairly evenly across the past two seasons, and Jeffers has made 14 starts to Vazquez's 11 early in 2025. The Twins are changing their strategy behind the plate, however, with Vazquez's career .581 OPS with the club finally catching up to him. The veteran backstop still brings plenty of defensive value and is a good fit as a backup catcher, but it should be Jeffers that receives the lion's share of the starts from now on.

Manager Rocco Baldelli said Thursday that Jeffers will operate as more of an everyday catcher going forward, Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic reports.

Jeffers and Christian Vazquez each made 81 starts behind the plate last season, and they've had a fairly even split of playing time early in 2025 with 14 and 11 starts, respectively. Vazquez's continued offensive struggles (career .581 OPS with Minnesota) will finally prompt a strategy change, with Jeffers now poised to operate as more of a clear No. 1 catcher. The 27-year-old hasn't been particularly productive through 67 plate appearances himself with a .254/.343/.339 slash line, but he had a .732 OPS in 2024 and carries more upside than Vazquez.

Narvaez went 1-for-3 with a solo home run in Thursday's 4-3 loss to the Mariners.

The backstop cut the Red Sox's deficit to one in the eighth inning with an opposite-field blast off Gabe Speier. It's Narvaez's second homer this year, both of which have come in his last five games. The 26-year-old is slashing .210/.269/.371 with eight runs scored and six RBI through 67 plate appearances this season, though he'll likely be relegated to backup duties soon with Connor Wong (finger) scheduled to begin a rehab assignment this weekend.

Goodman went 2-for-4 with a homer and three RBI in the first game of Thursday's doubleheader against the Royals. He went 0-for-4 in the nightcap.

The 25-year-old opened the scoring in Thursday's matinee with a two-out, RBI single off Cole Ragans before extending Colorado's lead to 4-2 with a two-run homer in the third, his fourth long ball this season. Goodman saw his eight-game hitting streak end in the nightcap -- he went 9-for-29 (.310) with two homers and six RBI in that span. He's been serving as the Rockies' primary catcher this season and is slashing .237/.326/.434 with 11 RBI and 10 runs scored across 86 plate appearances.

Heim went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Thursday's 4-3 loss to the Athletics.

Heim hit one of three Texas solo home runs in the fourth inning. It was the fourth homer of the season for the backstop, who has scuffled of late with a .167 batting average (4-for-24) over the last eight contests.

Vazquez went 2-for-3 with two doubles in Thursday's 3-0 loss to the White Sox.

Vazquez entered the game hitting just .100/.152/.167 and was losing playing time, so this was a much needed performance. Manager Rocco Baldelli told the Minnesota Star Tribune Thursday that Ryan Jeffers will get more playing time with Vazquez's slow start.

Perez went 5-for-8 with four doubles, four RBI and three runs scored in Thursday's doubleheader against the Rockies.

Perez powered the Royals' offense in Thursday's doubleheader sweep, opening the scoring in the matinee with a two-run double in the first inning before adding three hits and two more RBI in the nightcap. It's an encouraging effort from the 34-year-old Perez, who'd gone just 2-for-20 in five games coming into Thursday. He's now slashing .220/.271/.360 with two homers, 14 RBI and eight runs scored through 108 plate appearances this season.

Senger was optioned to Triple-A Syracuse on Thursday, Manny Gomez of NJ.com reports.

Senger had a brief stretch of regular playing time behind the plate for the Mets but picked up only five hits across 28 at-bats overall. This move comes with the anticipation that Francisco Alvarez (hand) will return Friday, though that transaction has not yet been made official.

Contreras isn't in the lineup for Thursday's game against the Giants.

Contreras has logged a base hit in 15 of his last 16 games, but he'll take a seat Thursday for what will be his second day off of the season. Eric Haase will start behind the plate instead and bat ninth.

Bailey is absent from the lineup for Thursday's contest versus the Brewers, Shayna Rubin of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Bailey caught each of the first three games of the four-game set against the Brewers, so he'll receive a well-earned day off for Thursday's matinee. Sam Huff will be behind the dish and bat eighth for the Giants.