MLB Player News

Maldonado is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Guardians.

Yainer Diaz will get the nod behind the plate in the series opener while Maldonado rests. The 36-year-old started at catcher in five of the Astros' six games last week, going 4-for-15 with a solo home run and a double.

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

Jansen will get a breather after he was included in the lineup in each of the previous four games, with three of those starts coming at catcher. Alejandro Kirk will step in behind the plate Monday while Brandon Belt handles designated-hitter duties.

Stallings is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Phillies, Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald reports.

Stallings will sit for the second day in a row while the Marlins reward Nick Fortes with another turn behind the dish after he delivered an RBI double in Sunday's 8-6 win over Detroit. The Marlins' catching situation remains fluid, with neither Stallings nor Fortes having produced well enough at the plate this season to establish himself as the team's clear-cut No. 1 backstop.

Murphy is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Angels, Justin Toscano of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

Murphy received a breather Saturday, but Atlanta will give its top backstop another day off to begin its series with the Angels. The team hasn't provided any indication that Murphy is dealing with an injury, so his move to the bench for the second time in three days could just be a means of getting No. 2 catcher Travis d'Arnaud some extra work. Murphy could probably benefit from another day off anyway while he's gone cold coming out of the All-Star break; he's slashing .105/.227/.132 in his first 10 games of the second half.

Stephenson is not in Monday's lineup against the Cubs.

Stephenson hit .211 with one home run, 10 runs and four RBI in 57 July at-bats. Luke Maile will start behind the dish and hit ninth.

Ardoin was promoted from High-A Aberdeen to Double-A Bowie on Monday, Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com reports.

The 22-year-old backstop is known more for his defense than his offense. Ardoin had a .215/.369/.336 slash line with five home runs and a 32.1 percent strikeout rate in 68 games at High-A.

Basallo was promoted from Single-A Delmarva to High-A Aberdeen on Monday, Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com reports.

The 18-year-old lefty slugger slashed .299/.384/.503 with 12 home runs, seven steals and a 20.7 percent strikeout rate at Single-A. Basallo started 50 games at catcher and 21 games at first base -- a trend that should continue as he keeps climbing the ranks. He moves well for his size (6-foot-3, roughly 200 pounds) now, but Basallo will likely slow down in the coming years.

Lee (oblique) said Monday that he's "100 percent" healthy and will be ready to make his White Sox organizational debut for Triple-A Charlotte this week, Scott Merkin of MLB.com reports.

Before the Astros traded him to the White Sox on Friday in exchange for reliever Kendall Graveman, Lee said that he was on track to return from Triple-A Sugar Land's 7-day injured list to start that same day. The trade delayed Lee from playing over the weekend, but now that he's settled with Charlotte, he looks set to be activated Tuesday. Lee, who had been on the shelf since July 7 with the right oblique strain, could be the first catcher in line for a promotion to the big leagues if the White Sox end up moving Yasmani Grandal prior to Tuesday's trade deadline.

Fermin went 1-for-3 with a solo home run in Sunday's win over the Twins.

Fermin blasted a 420 foot shot to left center field off Kenta Maeda in the second inning for his second home run in his last four games. The long ball also extended his hitting streak to a modest six games, a stretch during which he's recorded multi-hit efforts four times. Fermin is now up to a slash line of .299/.346/.504 with 13 extra-base hits, 22 RBI and 16 runs in 137 plate appearances and should continue to see the bulk of his starts behind the dish.

Sanchez went 2-for-4 with two solo homers in Sunday's win over the Rangers.

Sanchez went deep in the fourth and fifth innings to lead the Padres to a series sweep. While he's cooled down this month, the veteran catcher has still knocked five home runs while registering a .795 OPS in 19 July games. For the season, he's slashing .213/.289/.475 with 18 extra-base hits and 32 RBI.