MLB Player News

Maldonado will start at catcher and bat eighth Tuesday against the Twins.

Like Salvador Perez (elbow) before him, Maldonado looks like he'll handle a heavy workload at catcher for the Royals. He has now settled in behind the dish in each of the Royals' first four games, with backup Cam Gallagher having yet to even enter a contest as a late-inning replacement or pinch hitter.

Sanchez went 1-for-3 with a walk and a solo home run in Monday's 3-1 win over the Tigers.

That's now two homers in two days for the 26-year-old, as good a sign as any that the shoulder issue he's been dealing with since 2017 is no longer a problem. With Giancarlo Stanton (bicep) and Miguel Andujar (shoulder) both now sidelined with their own injuries, Sanchez's power will become even more important for the Yankees' offense.

Sanchez went 1-for-5 with a solo home run in the Yankees' 7-5 defeat against the Orioles on Sunday.

Sanchez is just 3-for-13 to start the season after a slow spring training, but he cranked his first long ball of the year with a seventh-inning solo shot off John Means. The young backstop will look to parlay that into some momentum going forward as he looks to rebound from last year's injury-riddled campaign that saw him struggle to the tune of a .186/.291/.406 slash line over 323 at-bats.

Narvaez went 2-for-5 with a home run, three RBI and a pair of runs scored in the 10-8 win over Boston on Sunday.

Narvaez took Rick Porcello deep in what ended up being a seven-run third inning. The first-year Mariner collected two hits and a home run in each of the last two games. He should get most of the starts as long as his bat continues to make noise.

Murphy drew the start behind the dish in Saturday's win over the Red Sox and went 1-for-2 with two walks.

Murphy arrived via trade from the Giants on Friday, and he was already in the starting lineup with southpaw Eduardo Rodriguez on the mound for the Red Sox. Murphy is expected to platoon with Omar Narvaez behind the dish moving forward, logging starts against any left-handers in addition to potentially seeing an occasional opportunity versus right-handed pitching.

Perez is on the bench for Sunday's game against the Twins.

Perez started the team's first two games but will sit in favor of Kevin Plawecki in the third. That pattern suggests that Perez will have a fairly typical workload for a starting catcher this season, though it may take more time for the full picture to emerge.

Perez went 2-for-3 with an RBI double and a run in a win over the Astros on Saturday.

Perez made good use of his first start of the season, flashing the same hot bat he did during Grapefruit League play. While Mike Zunino will see the bulk of playing time behind the dish this season, Perez still projects for a fair share of opportunities, considering Zunino hasn't played more than 124 games in any of his six major-league seasons to date.

Jansen is leading off as the designated hitter in Sunday's game against the Tigers.

Jansen has been used all over the lineup early on this season, batting eighth and fifth prior to Sunday's action. Though he'll get a break behind the dish, Jansen will look to get his bat going after reaching base just once in his first seven at-bats.

Vazquez will be on the bench Saturday against Seattle.

Vazquez started the first two games of the season, going 2-for-7 with a homer. Blake Swihart will take over behind the plate Saturday.

Narvaez is not starting Saturday against Boston, Ryan Divish of The Seattle Times reports.

Narvaez will sit for the second time in three games. Tom Murphy gets his first start of the season in his absence.