MLB Player News

McCann (ankle) was able to play long toss Thursday, MLB.com's Jason Beck reports.

Thursday's activity represents a step forward in McCann's recovery from a sprained ankle. While things are moving in the right direction for him, he still needs to hit and run -- and possibly play in a rehab game or two -- before rejoining the big club.

After the game, Thole took responsibility for Wednesday's walk-off loss to the Orioles that ended on a passed ball in extra innings, MLB.com reports.

The passed ball came with Rule 5 pick Joe Biagini on the mound for Toronto. He went out of his way to protect the young reliever by taking responsibility for getting crossed up. It was a frustrating end to an otherwise solid game from the backup catcher, who only plays when R.A. Dickey gets the start.

Gomes is not in the lineup for Thursday's game against the Mariners, according to MLB.com's Jordan Bastian.

Gomes has been held out just one other time this season, but he will get a day off Thursday due to the early start time of the Indians' series finale with the Mariners. Roberto Perez will get the start behind the plate in Gomes' place.

Perez went 3-for-3 with a double, a homer and a walk in Wednesday's loss to Detroit.

That marks his second consecutive multi-hit game with a homer, so Perez is heating up in a hurry after a quiet first 12 games. Unfortunately, the catcher's efforts represented the bulk of the happy moments in this game for the Royals. Nonetheless, fantasy owners can feel secure in the knowledge that Perez's playing time and team context make him a strong addition to just about any lineup.

Nicholas is out of the lineup Wednesday against the Astros, Stefan Stevenson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.

Nicholas has been playing well in his four starts for the Rangers, collecting hits in three of them and hitting for a .286/.375/.429 slash line with two extra-base hits and three runs scored. He'll get the day off in favor of Bryan Holaday behind the plate.

Casali is out of the lineup Wednesday against the Red Sox, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

While Hank Conger's inability to throw runners out has kept Casali in the lineup regularly, Casali has hardly grabbed the job by the horns. Casali is 0-for-13 in his last four games, striking out 10 times over that span. His batting average is down to .125. Conger will replace him in the lineup, but neither has done anything to put their stamp on the job thus far.

Vazquez is back in the lineup Wednesday, batting eighth against Tampa Bay.

Ryan Hanigan got the start Tuesday with Joe Kelly on the mound, but Vazquez has been closing in on getting the lion's share of the time behind the plate since he was recalled Friday. Vazquez will be batting in the bottom third of the order Wednesday and he'll have the tough task of facing Tampa Bay's ace, Chris Archer.

Perez is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the White Sox.

Geovany Soto will spell Perez behind the plate for Wednesday. Perez has gotten off to a slow start this season, batting .194 with one RBI and one extra-base hit through his first nine games. Soto's presence behind the plate Wednesday may have more to do with the early afternoon start time of the game than Perez's slow offensive start, however. Perez figures to draw back into the lineup for Thursday's series finale.

Perez homered, his second, as part of a 2-for-4 game with five RBI in Tuesday's win over Detroit.

Perez has a hit in five of his past six games and has raised his batting line from .208/.240/.375 to .256/.283/.512 in that span. Perez has never been an on-base machine (.305 OBP lifetime) and never will be, but his power stroke looks like it has officially shown up for 2016.

Nicholas is in the lineup and batting ninth for Tuesday's game against the Astros.

This will be his second straight start after Monday's game was postponed. The 27-year-old is 3-for-11 with one double and three runs scored through three games with the Rangers.