MLB Player News

Perez (thumb) has begun throwing and swinging a fungo bat, MLB.com reports.

Perez's rehab has gone according to plan thus far and should be trending towards a return in July based on the initial diagnosis.

Vazquez is not in the lineup Tuesday against the White Sox, Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald reports.

Vazquez has been showing signs of life at the plate of late, collecting a pair of multi-hit games over his last three starts, but he'll get the day off Tuesday. Sandy Leon will get the start behind the plate in his place and bat eighth against Chris Sale.

Casali is not in the lineup Tuesday against the Indians, Bill Chastain of MLB.com reports.

Casali is in the midst of an 0-for-14 slump over his last five games, as he's collected just two hits since June 6. Even still, he appears to remain the preferred option behind the plate most days, but he'll head to the bench in favor of Hank Conger on Tuesday.

Gomes went 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored Monday against the Rays.

That's three straight games with at least one hit for Gomes after being moved down to eighth in the batting order. The catcher's 21-homer 2014 campaign still seems like a distant memory, though.

Perez went 1-for-3 with a solo homer Sunday at the Athletics.

Perez's third homer of the year gave the Angels a two-run lead in the fifth inning of a game they'd win by shutout. He's only collected four hits in his last 35 at-bats, and he's now hitting just .188 on the season.

Vazquez went 2-for-3 with a double and an RBI in Saturday's 6-2 win over Seattle.

Vazquez has been slumping, entering Saturday's game on a 4-for-32 (.125), but had hits that contributed to runs in the fifth and sixth innings. He was given two days off and his work in the batting cage paid off for one game, but can he sustain it? Do the Red Sox have enough firepower to overcome a .220-hitting catcher? At what cost are his elite defensive skills? The question of whether or not Vazquez can hit enough to warrant being Boston's number one catcher will dog him and manager John Farrell all season.

Vazquez was not in the lineup Friday for a second straight game and used the downtime to work more aggressively with Boston's hitting coaches, Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal reports. "We felt he needed to address some things from a timing standpoint at the plate," manager John Farrell said. "He's been scuffling."

Part of the rationale to sit Vazquez stems from manager John Farrell's desire to pair Friday night's starter, Roenis Elias, with catcher Sandy Leon, as the two worked together at Triple-A Pawtucket for much of the season, but the night off also gave Vazquez more time to work with hitting coaches in an attempt to break out of a recent slump. Dating back to June 3, the young catcher is 3-for-26, dropping his season average to .209 with a .248 on-base percentage. If not for his elite defensive skills, those numbers would make Vazquez a backup catcher.

Leon went 3-for-4 with a double and run in Friday's 8-4 loss to the Mariners.

While his current pace naturally isn't sustainable over the long term, the career .206 hitter has to be relishing his season so far. Leon is now 9-for-13 on the season, leaving him with an absurd .692/.714/.923 line. He's made some impactful contact along the way, already tallying a trio of two-baggers as part of his nine hits.

Perez went 2-for-3 with a home run, his 12th of the season, three RBI and two runs in Friday's win over the Tigers.

Perez is on pace to challenge the 30-homer threshold this season, as well as break a couple of other personal records in the process. The 26-year-old catcher is making fantasy owners ecstatic by illustrating he's capable of bypassing the numbers of 2013-2015 - years that made him an All Star and were perfectly satisfying for most owners. It's becoming clear that we, in fact, have not yet witnesses Perez's breakout campaign, but we may be in the process of doing so in 2016.

Gomes is not in Friday's lineup against the White Sox.

He has started five of the Tribe's last six games, and has two hits over that span, with his batting average sitting at just .167. Chris Gimenez will start behind the dish and hit seventh Friday.