MLB Player News
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Bo Naylor C | CLE
Guardians' Bo Naylor: Pops homer Monday
Naylor went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run in Monday's 10-6 loss to the Twins.
Naylor has found a little success lately, going 7-for-20 (.350) with two homers, three doubles and four RBI over his last seven contests. He's still seeing a decent share of playing time behind the dish, though he has both Eric Haase and Cam Gallagher to compete with, while David Fry (hamstring) is on a rehab assignment. Naylor is slashing .204/.288/.394 with six homers, 18 RBI, 17 runs scored, a stolen base and eight doubles over 46 contests this season.
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Mitch Garver DH | SEA
Rangers' Mitch Garver: Gets rest day
Garver is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Mets.
Garver will get a maintenance day after he started each of the Rangers' last 12 games at either designated hitter or catcher. He produced a .954 OPS over that stretch, so Garver should be relatively secure in his role as Texas' preferred DH for the time being. Manager Bruce Bochy will give Robbie Grossman a look in the DH role Monday while Garver rests up.
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Cal Raleigh C | SEA
Mariners' Cal Raleigh: Catches breather Monday
Raleigh is not in the lineup for Monday's game against the A's.
Only twice has Raleigh started four games in a row since the All-Star break, so it should not come as a major surprise that he is getting a breather after starting the last three contests. Brian O'Keefe will replace him behind the plate.
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Twins' Christian Vazquez: Remains out of lineup
Vazquez is not in the lineup for Monday's game against the Guardians.
Vazquez and Ryan Jeffers alternated the starts over the last seven games, but the pattern will break Monday, as Jeffers will get the nod behind the plate for the second time in as many days.
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Ben Rortvedt C | NYM
Yankees' Ben Rortvedt: Sitting again Monday
Rortvedt is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Tigers.
Rortvedt will take a seat for the second straight day while the Yankees reward Kyle Higashioka with another turn behind the dish after he slugged a home run in Sunday's 7-4 loss to the Rays. Expect the Yankees to deploy Rortvedt and Higashioka in a roughly even timeshare as the season winds down.
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Francisco Mejia C | TB
Rays' Francisco Mejia: Accepts outright assignment
Mejia cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Durham on Monday, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Meija has accepted the outright assignment, per Topkin, which isn't a surprise since declining it would mean forfeiting what remains of his $2.16 million salary for this season. The catcher is under team control for 2024 but would seem to be a likely non-tender candidate.
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Eric Haase C | SF
Guardians' Eric Haase: Logs steal Sunday
Haase went 1-for-3 with a walk and a stolen base in Sunday's 10-7 extra-innings win over the Blue Jays.
Haase has made two starts since the Guardians claimed him off waivers from the Tigers last Monday. Both of those games have seen him start behind the dish, but his path to playing time there is crowded with both Bo Naylor and Cam Gallagher also on the roster. Haase has a paltry .203/.249/.284 slash line with four home runs, four steals, 26 RBI, 22 runs scored, eight doubles and a triple over 290 plate appearances this season. He's gone 2-for-7 with a walk and two strikeouts with Cleveland, but it seems unlikely the 30-year-old will get into the lineup much more than once or twice a week.
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Kyle Higashioka C | TEX
Yankees' Kyle Higashioka: Goes deep Sunday
Higashioka went 1-for-3 with a solo home run in Sunday's loss to the Rays.
Higashioka and DJ LeMahieu hit back-to-back-back jacks off Zack Littell in the third inning. In his age-33 season, Higashioka has tallied a career-high 32 RBI and is just two home runs away from a new best mark in that category. For the year, he's slashing .231/.269/.404 with nine homers, 21 runs scored and a 12:60 BB:K in 224 plate appearances.
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Yainer Diaz C | HOU
Astros' Yainer Diaz: Swats pinch-hit home run
Diaz went 2-for-2 with a two-run home run in Sunday's 17-4 win over the Tigers.
Diaz entered the game as a pinch hitter for Martin Maldonado in the eighth inning and had the luxury of facing backup catcher Carson Kelly, who was pitching for the Tigers to preserve the bullpen while Houston held a 12-0 lead. The rookie still took advantage of the favorable matchup and supplied his 19th home run, setting an Astros record for most home runs in a season for a catcher. Diaz is still in a timeshare behind the dish with Maldonado, though the Astros have found ways to keep Diaz's bat in the lineup at designated hitter and first base on his non-catching days. The 24-year-old is now slashing .284/.304/.537 with 48 RBI and 39 runs in 313 plate appearances on the campaign.