MLB Player News

Leon is in the lineup against the Astros for Game 1 of the ALDS on Thursday, Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe reports.

Leon will handle the catching duties for Thursday's series opener with right-hander Justin Verlander taking the hill for Houston. Since Aug. 24, Leon is hitting just .161 with one home run and four RBI in 17 starts.

Vazquez is not in the lineup for Thursday's ALDS opener against the Astros, The Boston Globe's Pete Abraham reports.

Sandy Leon will set up behind the plate for Game 1 while Vazquez occupies a seat on the bench. Although he's cooled off a little bit as of late, Vazquez has been hitting well this season, slashing .290/.330/.404 with five home runs and 32 RBI, and could receive a start for Friday's contest with left-hander Dallas Keuchel on the mound.

Casali went 1-for-3 with a solo home run, a walk and two RBI in Sunday's 6-0 win over Baltimore.

Casali's first home run of the season in the fifth inning was the only run allowed by either starting pitcher as Baltimore's Kevin Gausman and Tampa Bay's Blake Snell both turned in gems. The little-used catcher forced in a second RBI with a bases-loaded walk during a five-run explosion against Baltimore's bullpen in the eighth.

McCann is out of the lineup Sunday against the Twins.

McCann has started six consecutive games behind the dish for the Tigers. In that time, he's gone 4-for-23 (.174). He'll move to the bench for Sunday's season finale against Minnesota. McCann hit .253/.318/.415 over 106 games this season. With McCann out, Bryan Holaday will serve as Detroit's catcher.

Maldonado isn't in the lineup for Sunday's matchup against the Mariners, Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register reports.

Maldonado sat out two of the last three games but will return to the bench after Saturday's 0-for-3, two-strikeout outing. Maldonado played in 138 games this season, over which he hit .221/.276/.368. Juan Graterol is starting at catcher and hitting ninth with Maldonado out.

Sanchez is out of the lineup Sunday against the Blue Jays.

The Yankees will give Sanchez the day off to ensure that he'll be ready to go for Tuesday's wild-card game against the Twins. Sanchez was dialed in for the month of September as he hit .303/.354/.528 over 22 games. Austin Romine will serve as the Yankees' backstop Sunday with Sanchez out.

Perez (groin) is out of the lineup Sunday against the Diamondbacks.

There had been some hope that Perez would be able to return to action Sunday, but that won't be the case as he'll sit out of the season finale. Drew Butera will serve as the Royals' backstop in his place. Perez hit .268/.297/.495 to go with 27 home runs and 80 RBI this season, both of which are career-high marks for the 27-year-old.

Narvaez is dealing with tennis elbow and did not travel with the team this weekend, Dan Hayes of CSN Chicago reports.

His 2017 campaign is over, and hopefully the elbow issue does not affect his offseason routine. Narvaez finishes with a .277/.373/.340 slash line and two home runs in 295 plate appearances. He should enter 2018 as a comfortable member of the 25-man roster, but he may struggle to see enough plate appearances to be useful in standard formats.

Vazquez is starting behind the dish and hitting eighth Saturday against the Astros, Tim Britton of The Providence Journal reports.

He was scratched from Friday's lineup for an unknown reason, but is back in there Saturday, so any injury was obviously quite minor. Vazquez is hitting .295/.328/.410 with one home run in 61 at-bats this month.

Perez (groin) will not play Friday or Saturday, but could take the field for Sunday's season finale, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com reports.

Manager Ned Yost will give Perez at least two days to recover from the groin soreness that forced him from Thursday's contest, but he could still take the field for the final game of the regular season.