MLB Player News

Wynns will start at catcher and bat ninth in Sunday's game against the Blue Jays, Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post reports.

With All-Star backstop Elias Diaz getting a breather for the day game after a night game, Wynns will pick up a turn behind the plate. Since the Midsummer Classic, Wynns has mustered a lowly .472 OPS in 13 games while seeing limited use behind Diaz.

Diaz is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Blue Jays, Luke Zahlmann of The Denver Gazette reports.

Diaz started the past five games and will receive a break after going 3-for-22 with an RBI, three runs and seven strikeouts during that span. Austin Wynns is working behind the plate and batting ninth Sunday.

Heim took batting practice from the right side of the plate Sunday and has been cleared to make starts against left-handed pitching, Jeff Wilson of RangersToday.com reports.

When he was reinstated from the 10-day injured list Aug. 13, Heim had been limited to batting from the left side of the plate since he hadn't fully healed from a strained wrist tendon. Three weeks later, the switch-hitting Heim looks like he'll now have the platoon advantage in each of his plate appearances as the regular season winds down. Heim will hit from the left side of the plate to start Sunday's contest while he starts at catcher and bats sixth with the Rangers opposing Twins right-hander Kenta Maeda.

Murphy is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Dodgers.

Murphy and Travis d'Arnaud have been splitting time behind the plate relatively evenly of late, and d'Arnaud will catch for Charlie Morton on Sunday after Murphy went 0-for-3 with a walk and a run Saturday.

Jeffers is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Rangers, Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic reports.

Jeffers will retreat to the bench for the series finale, giving way to Christian Vazquez behind the dish. The two backstops have now alternated starts over the past six games, but the playing time is more likely to tilt in Jeffers' favor over the final month of the regular season. Jeffers is maintaining a .917 OPS since the All-Star break, while Vazquez's OPS sits at .668 during that same stretch.

Rodriguez is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Cardinals.

He'll get a breather in the series finale after he started at either catcher or designated hitter in each of the past five games while going 4-for-20 with a double, a walk and four runs. Jason Delay will step in for Rodriguez behind the dish Sunday.

Kirk isn't in the Blue Jays' lineup Sunday against the Rockies, Keegan Matheson of MLB.com reports.

Kirk will get a day off after extending his hitting streak to five games Saturday. Tyler Heineman will get the nod behind the plate and bat ninth Sunday.

Fermin is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Red Sox.

Fermin appeared to be losing out on playing time as August came to a close, but he started each of the past four games behind the plate, going 5-for-15 with a double, a walk, two RBI and a run scored over that stretch. Salvador Perez will be behind the dish Sunday, but the Royals could continue to open up more starts at catcher for Fermin by deploying Perez at either first base or designated hitter.

Rogers is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the White Sox.

He'll be getting a routine breather for the day game after he started behind the dish in both of the past two contests while going 3-for-9 with an RBI and a run. Carson Kelly will form a battery with starting pitcher Tarik Skubal in the series finale.

Contreras is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Pirates, John Denton of MLB.com reports.

Contreras will get a well-deserved day off after catching both of the past two days and starting behind the plate or at designated hitter in each of the Cardinals' last 15 games. Andrew Knizner will handle the catching duties in Sunday's series finale.