MLB Player News

McCann is out of the lineup Wednesday against the Indians.

He and Alex Avila have been on an every-other-day starting regimen over the past week, and McCann has just one hit in his last 13 at-bats. Avila will start behind the dish and hit seventh against righty Carlos Carrasco.

The Yankees plan to active Sanchez (biceps) from the DL on Friday, Erik Boland of Newsday reports.

Sanchez progressed to normal batting practice Monday and has been ramping up his throwing with no reported issues. He will begin a rehab assignment with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Tuesday in preparation for a weekend return in Chicago. Manager Joe Girardi said he's inclined to return Sanchez to the two-hole upon his activation, where Sanchez was for his first five starts of 2017, pushing Chase Headley back down in the batting order.

McCann is not in the lineup Tuesday against the Indians.

The 26-year-old has just nine hits on the season (.155 batting average), so he'll head to the bench for another night off Tuesday. Alex Avila will take over behind the dish for the evening.

Vazquez is not in the lineup Tuesday against the Orioles, Tim Britton of the Providence Journal reports.

Vazquez seemed to have supplanted Sandy Leon as the top catcher in the pecking order, but Tuesday marks the second day in a row that the former will be watching the game from the bench. It's unclear what manager John Farrell's plan on this is moving forward, but Vazquez should continue to get plenty of playing time given his stellar start to the season at the plate (1.032 OPS, four homers).

Gomes is not in the lineup Monday against the Tigers.

Gomes will take a seat for the second straight game as Roberto Perez takes over behind the dish. The 29-year-old should continue to see the bulk of action behind the plate despite his .176/.276/.275 slash line.

Vazquez is out of the lineup Monday against the Orioles, Roch Kubatko of MASN Sports reports.

With three straight starts heading into the series opener, Vazquez appears to have taken over as the Red Sox's primary option behind the plate, but he'll give way to Sandy Leon on Monday. Vazquez is a top-flight defender, but his 14-for-34 showing at the dish through the first month of the season has been the main reason he's catapulted Leon on the depth chart.

Perez sprinted out of the gate in 2017, hitting .272 with six home runs and 12 RBI through the season's first month.

The Royals' backstop leads AL catchers in home runs and is tied with Baltimore's Welington Castillo with 22 total hits. Perez's .837 OPS also tops the charts among that group. What's even more encouraging is that the veteran's .271 BABIP is uncharacteristically low, suggesting increased production is attainable.

Leon will regularly be held out of Boston's lineup for the foreseeable future, Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal reports.

Sandy Leon has underperformed since the start of the year. He's hitting just .180 with a .476 OPS after having appeared in 14 games. Manager John Farrell said that moving forward, Leon will be the team's catcher when Chris Sale and Rick Porcello are scheduled to start, but Christian Vazquez figures to be the go-to backstop the rest of the time.

Vazquez is in line to start the majority of Boston's games moving forward, Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal reports.

Manager John Farrell said that Vazquez is going to start behind the plate when Drew Pomeranz, Steven Wright and Eduardo Rodriguez take the mound for the Red Sox. Meanwhile, Sandy Leon will start when Rick Porcello and Chris Sale head to the hill. Through 10 games this season, Vazquez is hitting .452/.485/.645.

Leon is out of the lineup Sunday against the Cubs, Peter Abraham of The Boston Globe reports.

For the third consecutive game, Leon will be held out of the starting lineup and give way to Christian Vazquez behind the plate. Leon owns a poor .180/.196/.280 line and has steadily lost playing time to Vazquez since the start of the season.