MLB Player News

Manager Ned Yost is not concerned about the thumb injury that forced Perez out of Wednesday's contest, Rustin Dodd of The Kansas City Star reports.

Yost hinted he was optimistic that Perez would be ready to play Thursday night. The skipper described the ailment as a "dinged" thumb, and added, "We'll see how he feels tomorrow." Drew Butera will handle the catching duties should Perez be unable to go.

Maldonado will get a day off for Thursday's series finale against the Tigers, Pedro Moura of the LA Times reports.

In his place, Juan Graterol is starting behind the plate while batting ninth. Maldonado went 1-for-3 in Wednesday's loss to Detroit, and has been putting together his best season to date with a line of .264/.331/.384. The 30-year-old will likely be back in the lineup for Friday's contest against the Astros.

Maldonado will get a day off for Thursday's series finale against the Tigers, Pedro Moura of the LA Times reports.

In his place, Juan Graterol is starting behind the plate while batting ninth. Maldonado went 1-for-3 in Wednesday's loss to Detroit, and has been putting together his best season to date with a line of .264/.331/.384. The 30-year-old will likely be back in the lineup for Friday's contest against the Astros.

Higashioka (ribs) was activated off the 7-day DL on Wednesday at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

The catcher missed three weeks with the ailment, and returned Wednesday to go 1-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts. Following last season's breakout campaign, Higashioka is hitting just .214/.241/.321 in the minors this year, but he figures to still remain in line as the next man up if the Yankees need another catcher at any point.

Manager Ned Yost said Perez injured his thumb during Wednesday's win over the Astros, Rustin Dodd of The Kansas City Star reports.

Perez injured his catching thumb in the eighth inning and was unable to finish the game. The injury doesn't appear to be anything overly serious; consider him day-to-day for now.

McCann (hand) will play another game Wednesday with Triple-A Toledo before coming back for the series opener against Boston on Friday, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com reports.

If all goes well, the plan is for McCann to be activated on Friday before the series with Boston begins. The catcher has been on the disabled list with a hand injury since May 25 after being hit by a pitch. In his place Alex Avila has been manning the duties behind the plate, but McCann should see the bulk of the time there once he gets back in form.

Sanchez has been moved out of the two-spot and is slated to bat sixth for Wednesday's game against Boston.

Sanchez has struggled from the plate all season after tearing it up in the latter portion of the 2016 season when he was called up to the big leagues. After hitting in the second spot of the order for most of the season when he has been healthy, the 24-year-old will bat sixth and man the catching duties Wednesday.

Vazquez is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Yankees, Evan Drellich of CSN New England reports.

Vazquez will get the day off in favor of Sandy Leon as the Red Sox go up against CC Sabathia and the Yankees. The catcher went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in Tuesday's contest, and has been rotating behind the plate with Leon over the course of the season.

Narvaez is not in the lineup Wednesday against the Rays.

Narvaez, who was once considered the primary catcher for the White Sox, has been almost completely passed over in favor of Kevan Smith and didn't particularly help his case by hitting .229 in the month of May. He'll continue seeing irregular playing time going forward.

Perez will start at catcher and bat eighth Wednesday in Colorado.

Perez will give Yan Gomes a rest in the afternoon affair. The backup catcher is slashing just .136/.227/.167 through 75 plate appearances this year, but Perez is a decent punt play at hitter-friendly Coors Field on Wednesday.