MLB Player News

Perez is out of the lineup Sunday against the Red Sox.

Perez had his top performance of a disappointing season in Saturday's 21-2 romp over the Red Sox, going 5-for-6 with a homer, two doubles, two runs and a whopping six RBI. While that kind of showing could help Perez cut into Jett Bandy's playing time behind the plate, Perez will pick up some rest Sunday after starting the preceding two games of the series.

Gonzalez was acquired by the White Sox on Saturday.

Gonzalez was designated for assignment by the Astros last Saturday and will be going to Double-A Birmingham after the Astros traded him for cash considerations. In order to make room for Gonzalez on the 40-man roster, Daniel Webb was transferred to the 60-day disabled list in a corresponding move.

Gomes is not in the lineup for Saturday's contest against the Blue Jays, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports.

Gomes started Friday's 19-inning marathon against Toronto, going 0-for-5 with a walk, and will get a day off Saturday. In his place, Cleveland will start Chris Gimenez behind the plate.

Leon, who has hit .467 (14-for-30) since being called up to Boston, could force the Red Sox to demote Christian Vazquez to Triple-A when Ryan Hanigan (neck) is ready to return from the disabled list, Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald reports.

Leon has become an important piece for the Red Sox, having appeared in 12 of Boston's last 20 games -- his hot bat even making him a pinch-hitting option late in games. He's certainly out-hit Vazquez, who is batting .215 with a .559 OPS for the season. Coming off Tommy John elbow surgery Vazquez hasn't played up to his potential, so there's some benefit to letting him work his way back in a lower stress environment. He also has minor league options left while Leon doesn't. When Hanigan is ready to return, don't be surprised if Leon remains in Boston.

Gomes is not in Thursday's lineup against Toronto, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports.

Gomes has started four of the last five Indians' games and so will get the night off as Chris Gimenez makes a start behind the dish. Gomes, who's average dipped below .200 on May 1, has not found his stride since then, going 26-for-147 (.177) since then.

Perez (thumb) could head out on a rehab assignment over the weekend, MLB.com reports.

Perez has been sidelined since May 1 with a fractured thumb and saw limited action as the team's backup before the injury. Starter Yan Gomes is still struggling at the plate, which could yield a slight uptick in Perez's workload but he'll need to unseat Chris Gimenez, whose work with Trevor Bauer has the righty on a strong stretch of games (11 starts, 2.80 ERA with 65 strikeouts in 74 innings), first.

Thole went 2-for-4 with a walk Wednesday against the Rockies.

Thole made the most of his unusual spot-start for Russell Martin (rest). Typically, Thole only catches knuckleballer R.A. Dickey, but recently manager John Gibbons has decided to give the 33-year-old Martin rest more routinely. Entering Wednesday's game, Thole had amassed just two hits since April 26. Even if given the opportunity to play more often, Thole holds little to no value in most leagues.

McCann is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against Miami.

It seems like a routine day off for McCann with right-hander Tom Koehler taking the mound for the Marlins. Jarrod Saltalamacchia will step in behind the plate.

Leon went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run in Monday's loss to the Reds.

Leon has been a pleasant surprise offensively for the Red Sox since joining the team earlier this month. The 27-year-old catcher is now hitting .483 through his first 29 at-bats, driving home six runs and collecting five extra-base hits in the process.

Perez will be behind the plate and bat eighth in the order Sunday against the Athletics, Pedro Moura of the Los Angeles Times reports.

Perez had missed each of the last four games, as manager Mike Scioscia elected to give Jett Bandy an opportunity to audition for the starting role. While Perez is back in the lineup, Sundays are usually days in which managers prefer to deploy their backup catchers, suggesting that Perez may settle back into a more limited role heading into the coming week. Perez is batting just .186 with three homers in 161 at-bats for the season, so even if he's officially dropped from a starting role, it's unlikely to hurt fantasy owners.