MLB Player News

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.

Gomes is out of the lineup Sunday against the Mariners.

Gomes went 0-for-6 in the first two games of the series, putting an end to a recent hot streak during which he'd recorded seven hits in 15 at-bats. Despite his lack of success against the Mariners, Gomes should still be in line for the bulk of the starts behind the plate heading into the new week. Roberto Perez will spell him Sunday, however.

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

McCann remains in a timeshare with Alex Avila at catcher, but with his batting average sinking to .164 for the season following an 0-for-3 showing Saturday, it may not be long before McCann becomes the clear backup at the position. Avila, meanwhile, is slashing .364/.488/.788 over 41 plate appearances on the season and could make for a decent pickup in AL-only or two-catcher formats until he cools down.

Vazquez started Saturday's game, making it the first time this season he's caught consecutive games, Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe reports.

Vazquez, who went 1-for-4 Saturday, is 14-for-31 (.452) in his first nine starts with the Red Sox, winning six of them. He may soon be Boston's primary catcher instead of Sandy Leon, who is 2-for-34 over his last 10 games. He's caught all three starts of Eduardo Rodriguez, who is scheduled to throw Sunday, so we anticipate a third straight start for Vazquez.

Maldonado went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts in the Angels' loss to the Rangers on Saturday.

The 30-year-old seized the primary catching duties earlier in the month by getting off to a solid start at the plate, but since the demotion of fellow backstop Carlos Perez, Maldonado is batting just .182 with seven strikeouts in 22 at-bats. Neither Perez nor current backup Juan Graterol have proven to be competent hitters in the major leagues, but Maldonado will need to pick things up if he wants to avoid becoming part of a timeshare with his younger counterparts.