MLB Player News

Gomes is not in the lineup Wednesday against the Astros.

Gomes has turned things around at the plate as of late, batting .429 over the past week, but he'll get a night off nonetheless. Roberto Perez will fill in behind the dish for the evening.

Collins made a technical adjustment to reduce his throw time to second base and has thwarted 10 of 14 stolen base attempts this season, Dan Hayes of CSN Chicago reports.

White Sox catching coordinator John Orton suggested a change in throwing mechanics which has resulted in an improvement in Collins' pop time. This is the kind of improvement the White Sox are looking for out of Collins, who was a 2016 first-round pick. The 22-year-old is just 2-for-29 at the plate over his last nine games, so he's got some work to do when it comes to hitting, as well.

McCann went 2-for-5 with a homer, a walk and four RBI in a 19-9 win against the Mariners on Tuesday.

The power's been flowing steadily for McCann -- this was his fifth homer already -- but he's still only hitting .178. He has only three non-homer hits, all singles, in 45 at-bats. However, McCann's batting eye has looked good (9:10 BB:K), and his BABIP luck has been as atrocious as that would imply. He should absolutely be owned in two-catcher leagues.

Perez (neck) will catch and bat fifth in the order Monday against the White Sox, Colleen Kane of the Chicago Tribune reports.

The Royals held Perez out of the last two games while he battled a stiff neck, but the team never felt he was at risk of landing on the disabled list. The couple days off were all Perez needed to get over the issue, so he should be in line for a full slate of starts behind the plate this week.

Mejia has dedicated himself to improving defensively at Double-A Akron, SB Nation's Brian Hemminger reports.

Mejia is hitting .356/.404/.511 through 12 games with the Rubber Ducks this season, but his ability with the bat has never been in question. The catcher understands that, and he's taking the necessary steps to ascend through the ranks. So far this year, Mejia has gunned down five of six attempted base stealers while also picking off four runners at first base. Akron manager Mark Budzinski said the organization's No. 1 prospect continues to develop his pitch framing, game calling and even his attitude. Although the 21-year-old still has some climbing to do, Mejia appears to be making positive strides that could lead to his MLB debut coming sooner rather than later.

Gomes' defensive prowess behind the plate has impressed manager Terry Francona, who had high praise for the veteran before Sunday's game, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports.

Gomes' exchange times (length between catch and throw) against attempted base stealers have been elite early in the 2017 campaign. Francona called one of Gomes' recent gun-downs "Santiago-esque," a reference to former MLB standout Benito Santiago. The backstop's eye-popping defense should buy him plenty of time to overcome a slow start at the plate. Gomes is slashing a paltry .171/261/.268 through 47 plate appearances.

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.