MLB Player News
-
Austin Wells C | NYY
Yankees' Austin Wells: Continues power surge Saturday
Wells went 1-for-5 with a solo home run against the White Sox in a 5-3 extra-innings victory Saturday.
Wells broke a 1-1 tie with a 410-foot shot in the seventh inning. The third-year backstop has been perking up in the power department of late -- he's gone deep twice in his past three games and four times across his past eight contests. While Wells is still slashing a paltry .210/.267/.429 on the season, he's tied for fifth among MLB catchers with 19 long balls and is sixth at the position with 61 RBI.
-
Alejandro Kirk C | TOR
Blue Jays' Alejandro Kirk: Receiving Sunday off
Kirk is out of the lineup for Sunday's game versus the Brewers.
Kirk went 1-for-7 with a walk and a double while starting the first two games of the series and will take a seat for Sunday's finale. Tyler Heineman will do the catching for Max Scherzer while batting eighth.
-
Samuel Basallo C | BAL
Orioles' Samuel Basallo: Slugs first big-league homer
Basallo went 1-for-4 with a solo home run, an additional run and a walk Saturday in an 11-1 victory versus San Francisco.
Basallo achieved a personal milestone when he swatted a 376-foot shot in the fourth inning for his first major-league homer. The long ball also snapped a seven-game stretch without an RBI for the rookie backstop. Basallo hasn't exactly hit the ground running since being called up Aug. 17, but he's at least been moderately productive with six RBI through 11 games while striking out a tolerable seven times in 42 plate appearances.
-
Dillon Dingler C | DET
Tigers' Dillon Dingler: Goes deep Friday
Dingler went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Friday's 5-3 win over the Royals.
Dingler delivered his 12th home run of the season in the eighth inning to help give the Tigers some breathing room. The Detroit catcher is having a strong offensive season with a .272 batting average and .751 OPS across 105 games, and he's batting .273 with an .818 OPS in his last 10 contests. Dingler batted just .167 with a .505 OPS across 27 regular-season games as a rookie in 2024.
-
Jonah Heim C | TEX
Rangers' Jonah Heim: Goes yard in win
Heim went 1-for-2 with a solo home run, a second RBI and a walk in Friday's 5-2 win over the Athletics.
Heim opened the scoring with a sacrifice fly in the second inning and added his solo shot in the fifth to put the Rangers ahead for good. The homer was his first since July 25. Heim has been a little steadier at the plate lately, going 10-for-28 (.357) with five RBI over his last nine games. Kyle Higashioka has done enough to maintain the starting role behind the dish, and Heim's other path to playing time at designated hitter is only open as a short-side platoon spot, as Joc Pederson has also swung a hot bat lately. For the season, Heim is batting .222 with a .620 OPS, 10 homers, 40 RBI, 30 runs scored, 13 doubles and three stolen bases over 372 plate appearances.
-
Adley Rutschman C | BAL
Orioles' Adley Rutschman: Hasn't resumed swinging
Rutschman (oblique) has not yet resumed swinging but is hopeful to return before the end of the regular season, MLB.com reports.
The last-place Orioles hope that Rutschman will be recovered from an oblique strain with around 10 days or two weeks before the end of the season, per Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com, so fantasy managers shouldn't anticipate the star catcher being a factor until mid-September at the earliest. With Gary Sanchez (knee) also on the injured list, the lefty-hitting Samuel Basallo should continue working on the strong side of a platoon with the righty-hitting Alex Jackson behind the dish.
-
Yainer Diaz C | HOU
Astros' Yainer Diaz: Good to go Friday
Diaz (hand) is starting behind the plate and batting seventh Friday against the Angels, Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle reports.
Diaz sat out the past few days due to a hand injury but will return to action for Friday's series opener versus the Halos. The 26-year-old will look to continue his modest five-game hit streak, during which he's gone 7-for-19 with three walks and a homer.
-
Alejandro Kirk C | TOR
Blue Jays' Alejandro Kirk: Back in action
Kirk (hand) is catching and batting sixth Friday against Milwaukee.
Kirk's right hand swelled up after being hit by a foul tip during Tuesday's game. While he finished Tuesday's contest, he was held out of Wednesday's game. The catcher will make his return to the starting lineup Friday and will look to extend his five-game hit streak.
-
Carlos Narvaez C | BOS
Red Sox's Carlos Narvaez: On bench Friday
Narvaez is out of the lineup for Friday's game against the Pirates, Tim Healey of The Boston Globe reports.
Narvaez has been ceding more work to Connor Wong recently, and it'll be Wong who starts Friday's game behind the dish. Including Friday, both catchers have made five starts in Boston's last 10 games.
-
Alex Jackson C | MIN
Orioles' Alex Jackson: Clubs homer Thursday
Jackson went 1-for-3 with a solo homer and an additional run scored in Thursday's 3-2 loss to the Red Sox.
Making his fourth start in eight games, Jackson got Baltimore on the board in the third inning with a 395-foot shot off Garrett Crochet for his fourth homer this year. The 29-year-old Jackson had initially fallen to third on the Orioles depth chart after Samuel Basallo was called up, though he's been alternating starts behind the plate with the rookie after Adley Rutschman (oblique) landed on the IL. Overall, Jackson is slashing .250/.308/.567 with 14 runs scored and six RBI across 65 plate appearances this season.