MLB Player News

Thaiss went 4-for-5 with his third homer of the season Sunday for High-A Inland Empire.

After a big spring training, Thaiss has started the minor-league season slowly, as his four-hit game finally brought his batting average over .200. He's now hitting .212/.333/.364 with 11 walks and 13 strikeouts in 78 plate appearances. His squad is full of slumping players right now, so Thaiss is getting pitched around frequently. The Angels' first-round pick in 2016, Thaiss is walking more and striking out more than he did last year.

Perez went 0-for-2 and drew his first walk of 2017 in Sunday's loss to the White Sox.

The early-season woes continued for the backup catcher Sunday, as he's now just 3-for-23 on the year. Tribe manager Terry Francona is committed to Yan Gomes as the team's routine backstop even though he didn't open the season in top form. Perez simply isn't receiving enough volume, and with no change coming in the foreseeable future, he's practically irrelevant outside of a punt play in daily formats.

Stubbs (hamstring) was activated Sunday from the 7-day disabled list at Double-A Corpus Christi, Jake Kaplan of the Houston Chronicle reports.

The 23-year-old appeared in only four games for Corpus Christi before succumbing to the hamstring injury, which kept him sidelined for two weeks. It shouldn't be a major setback in the development of Stubbs, who remains the Astros' top catching prospect.

Nicholas (knee) will begin a rehab assignment at Triple-A Round Rock on Monday, Stefan Stevenson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.

Nicholas has seemingly recovered from the knee surgery he required in early March, but after being sidelined for much of spring training, he may need multiple weeks worth of games to get his conditioning in order. Once he's activated from the disabled list, Nicholas will likely remain with Round Rock, as Jonathan Lucroy and Robinson Chirinos are the clear top two catchers in the organization.

Perez (neck) remains out of the lineup Sunday against the Rangers, Rustin Dodd of The Kansas City Star reports.

Perez is still battling some neck stiffness that resulted in him being scratched ahead of Saturday's game, so manager Ned Yost will give the backstop a second consecutive day off with the hope that it helps remedy the issue. According to Dodd, Yost noted that Perez was showing improvement Sunday, so it doesn't seem as though the Royals are concerned that Perez will require a trip to the disabled list.

Gomes is out of the lineup Sunday against the White Sox.

Gomes will likely have to wait until Tuesday's series opener against the Astros to try and extend his hitting streak to five games, as Roberto Perez will be behind the plate for Sunday's matinee. With Gomes beginning to wake up from his early-season slumber, it's beginning to look as though he's no longer at much risk of falling into a timeshare at catcher with Perez and may only sit out a couple times per week.

McCann is out of the lineup Sunday against the Twins, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com reports.

Though he was behind the plate for the first two games of the series, McCann remains stuck in a timeshare at catcher with Alex Avila, who receives the nod Sunday. McCann has warmed up lately with a homer and four walks over the last four games, so he at least seems to have the upper hand in the competition between the two backstops.

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

After recording five hits in 10 at-bats in the Red Sox's first two games of the season, Leon has experienced a major slump at the dish, going 4-for-36 (.111 average). Leon's ongoing struggles may have paved the way for Christian Vazquez to turn the catching situation into a timeshare, as Vazquez will now pick up his third start in the last six games.

Sanchez (biceps) took swings Saturday for the first time since landing on the DL, Erik Boland of Newsday reports.

The swings were both off a tee and in "tee and toss," and the catcher was also able to throw from 60 and 90 feet earlier Saturday. Per manager Joe Girardi, the next steps for Sanchez will be to take part in batting practice and throw from 120 feet, as the Yankees believe the lingering effects of the biceps strain could be more of an issue for when he throws rather than swinging. There's still no firm timetable for his return and the club will likely play it cautiously with its prized prospect, but Sanchez could progress to rehab games once he's gotten some batting practice sessions under his belt.

Perez was scratched from Saturday's lineup against the Rangers with a stiff neck, Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star reports.

News regarding the severity of the ailment should be available in the near future, but consider Perez day-to-day heading into Sunday's game against Texas. With Perez sitting out, Drew Butera will get the nod to start behind the plate.