MLB Player News

Alvarez went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Saturday's 5-1 win over the Pirates.

The 21-year-old catcher went yard for the fourth time in the last four games during the eighth inning, when Colin Holderman let a sweeper catch too much of the plate. Alvarez has hit second for the Mets in three straight games, and with Pete Alonso (wrist) potentially unavailable for the rest of June, the youngster figures to remain in a prime spot in the lineup. He's been up to the task -- over his last 18 games, Alvarez is slashing .290/.333/.758 with nine of his 12 homers and 19 of his 25 RBI.

Mejia went 2-for-4 with a double and a three-run home run in Saturday's loss to Texas.

Mejia got the start behind the plate and accounted for most of the Rays' run output with his three-run blast off Nathan Eovaldi in the fourth inning. The backstop has hit safely in each of his past five games and is batting .444 (8-for-18) over that span, but he continues to split time at catcher with Christian Bethancourt. The latter has outhomered Mejia 7-2 on the campaign and has superior numbers overall, so Mejia's big performance Saturday isn't likely to result in a changing of the guard.

Stassi (hip/personal) was transferred from the 15-day injured list to the 60-day injured list by the Angels on Saturday.

Stassi remains without a timetable to return while dealing with a hip injury and also a personal matter that has sidelined the backstop since the start of the season. This removes the backstop from the 40-man roster, and the Angels used that room to select the contract of Gerardo Reyes from Triple-A Salt Lake on Saturday.

Raleigh is not in the starting lineup for Saturday's game versus the Angels.

Raleigh will get a day of rest with left-hander Patrick Sandoval on the bump for the Angels. Tom Murphy will be the starting backstop and hit ninth in Raleigh's absence.

Bart (groin) was reinstated from the 10-day injured list and optioned to Triple-A Sacramento on Saturday.

Bart will get more time in Triple-A while recovering from his groin strain, but this likely has at least something to do with Patrick Bailey and Blake Sabol being better options for the Giants at this point. It's likely the Giants will give Bart a chance again this summer.

Trevino will be on the bench Saturday against Boston.

Trevino hasn't been asked to start more than two games in a row in over a month, so it's no surprise to see him hit the bench Saturday following a pair of starts. His .495 OPS since the start of May doesn't help his case for an expanded role. Kyle Higashioka will take over behind the plate.

Garver will sit Saturday against the Rays.

Garver has started four games at designated hitter and one behind the plate since returning from a knee injury on June 2, going 6-for-20 with a homer and nine strikeouts. He'll sit for the second time in three games Saturday, with Ezequiel Duran serving as the designated hitter.

Ruiz will be on the bench Saturday against Atlanta, Bobby Blanco of MASNSports.com reports.

Ruiz is hitting just .229 on the season despite an excellent 8.0 percent strikeout rate, but his .291 xBA suggests things could improve soon. He'll get a rest Saturday with Riley Adams taking over behind the plate.

Vazquez will sit Saturday against the Blue Jays.

Vazquez started consecutive games behind the plate Thursday and Friday, ending a streak in which he and Ryan Jeffers alternated starts for over two weeks. The playing-time split between the pair remains relatively equal, with Jeffers taking over again Saturday. Jeffers owns a 136 wRC+ this season while Vazquez has struggled to a 65 wRC+, so if the balance of power shifts, it seems unlikely to shift in Vazquez's direction.

Soderstrom has three home runs in his last five games for Triple-A Las Vegas and carries an .835 OPS over 221 plate appearances for the Aviators.

Soderstrom continues to put together a convincing case for a promotion during his most extensive stint at the Triple-A level yet. The promising 21-year-old has played slightly more at catcher (27 games) than first base (20 games), and it's the latter where Soderstrom is believed to have a clearer path to playing time at the big-league level. However, rookie Ryan Noda has made a solid case for himself at the position with the Athletics thus far by generating an outstanding .410 on-base percentage and impressive .462 slugging percentage over his first 60 big-league games.