MLB Player News

Gomes is not in the lineup for Friday's matchup with the Twins.

Roberto Perez will take his place behind home plate for the second time in the last three games. Neither catcher has emerged as an offensive threat, so they'll likely continue to split duties down the road.

Vazquez is not in the starting lineup for Friday's series opener against the Angels, Tim Britton of The Providence Journal reports.

It's the second day off in the past three games for the young catcher, as Sandy Leon gets the start behind the plate. Vazquez is hitting just .205/.416/.211 this month, a contributing factor to his stagnant playing time.

Narvaez is not in the lineup for Friday's game against Oakland.

Narvaez will get the day off for the fourth time in the last five days as Kevan Smith sets up behind the plate for the series opener. Smith put together a 3-for-5 day with one RBI on Thursday, which marked the third time in his last five appearances that he's collected multiple hits. As long as Smith continues to hit like this, there won't be much playing time left over for Narvaez.

Moore was placed on the 7-day disabled list Friday for Triple-A Columbus with a right quad injury.

The injury may explain Moore's recent skid at the plate following his solid start to the season. The 33-year-old is hitting just .114/.205/.200 over his last 11 games after batting .295 with nine RBI in May. It's unclear as to the severity of the ailment at this point, but anything extensive would certainly put a damper on an otherwise productive year.

McCann went 1-for-3 with a solo home run in Wednesday's loss to the Mariners.

With tough lefty James Paxton on the hill for Seattle, McCann got the start over Alex Avila behind the dish. McCann is hitting an atrocious .182 this season, but he offers good power potential when he's in the lineup, evidenced by his eight home runs in 132 at-bats.

Maldonado went 3-for-4 with a double and a pair of two-run home runs to account for all the Angels' offense in Wednesday's 8-4 loss to the Yankees.

He's now got seven homers on the year, one short of his career high, and Maldonado's current .764 OPS would also be a new personal best. The 30-year-old catcher has never played more than 79 games in a season before, however, so don't be surprised if he wears down in the second half after having already seen action in 62 games before the end of June.

Perez went 3-for-3 with a grand slam during Wednesday's win over Boston.

Perez's 15th blast of the season put Kansas City ahead for good and sealed Wednesday's victory. The backstop sports an impressive .292/.324/.533 slash line and is on track to post a career year. Additionally, he entered Wednesday's game leading all catchers in plate appearances (253), so Perez's fantasy floor is higher than most of his peers.

Gomes is out of the lineup Wednesday against the Orioles.

Gomes will get a breather after he was behind the dish for the first two games of the series. Roberto Perez will handle catching duties, working as the battery mate for right-hander Carlos Carrasco.

Thaiss is slashing .262/.351/.396 with seven home runs and a 44:33 K:BB in 299 plate appearances for High-A Inland Empire.

His approach remains impeccable, but for a 22-year-old first baseman at High-A, his .135 ISO leaves a lot to be desired. As a recent first-round pick (No. 16 overall in 2016), Thaiss will be given the benefit of the doubt for a little while longer, but he will need to start tapping into more power or showing off an elite hit tool in order to realistically profile as an everyday big-league first baseman.

Perez (side) is back in the lineup Tuesday against the Red Sox, catching and batting fifth, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com reports.

Although Perez has been dealing with a side issue recently, manager Ned Yost insisted that Monday's night off was planned and that the ailment isn't serious. Tuesday's reappearance seems to align with those words, but the situation will be worth monitoring moving forward in case the side issue leads to more frequent days off over the course of the season.