MLB Player News

Lee was diagnosed with a right oblique strain Friday, Chandler Rome of The Athletic reports.

Lee has yet to be placed on the injured list by Triple-A Sugar Land. The 24-year-old catcher sustained the injury Tuesday and has been sitting out since. Before straining his oblique, Lee was slashing .283/.328/.406 across 302 plate appearances for Sugar Land, though his numbers have been on the decline.

Heim went 2-for-3 with a walk, double and two RBI in Thursday's 10-6 loss to the Red Sox.

Heim upped his RBI total to 58, tops among MLB catchers, over 77 games. That's 10 more runs driven than he had last season in 127 contests. Heim is showing no signs of wearing down as he did last season, but it should be noted it wasn't until August that his bat stopped producing.

Grandal is not in the lineup for the second game of Thursday's doubleheader against the Blue Jays.

Grandal went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in the first game while playing behind the plate. He'll give way to Seby Zavala, who is hitting ninth in the order.

Kirk is not in the lineup for the second game of Thursday's doubleheader against the White Sox.

Kirk served as the catcher in the first game of the doubleheader, so it's no surprise that he'll get some rest. He's been in the lineup for five of seven games since being activated from the injured list June 29, though he's gone just 2-for-16 with no extra-base hits.

Jansen isn't in Toronto's lineup for the first game of Thursday's doubleheader against the White Sox.

Jansen is 3-for-13 with an RBI across his last four games, and he'll get a breather for the first game of Thursday's twin bill. Alejandro Kirk will take over behind the dish and bat eighth.

Manager Mark Kotsay said Thursday that Perez will not require surgery on his fractured left thumb, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports.

He will, however, need to wear a splint for at least two weeks. There is no timetable for Perez's return to the Athletics' active roster.

Rogers is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Athletics.

The Tigers and Athletics are wrapping up their three-game series with a day game after a night game, so Rogers will get a breather after catching the last two contests. Eric Haase will form a battery with starting pitcher Michael Lorenzen.

Raleigh went 2-for-3 with a double in a loss to the Giants on Wednesday.

Raleigh's two-bagger was his first extra-base hit since June 25 and first double since June 14. The backstop has been inching his offensive numbers forward for the better part of the last month, however, producing a .270 average and .758 OPS across his last 18 games. That sample includes three home runs, seven RBI and a 23.9 percent strikeout rate, an improvement on the 26.3 percent figure he went into the stretch with.

Langeliers is absent from the lineup for Thursday's game in Detroit, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports.

It's a day game after a night game, so it's a natural spot for Langeliers to get a breather. Manny Pina is catching Hogan Harris.

Jeffers went 2-for-3 with a solo home run and a second run scored in Wednesday's 5-0 win over the Royals.

The backstop took Taylor Clarke deep in the seventh inning for his fourth home run of the year. Jeffers snapped a 19-game homer drought with the blast, a stretch in which he hit .255 (14-for-55) with five doubles, three RBI and five runs. Christian Vazquez has done little at the plate this season, posting a .566 OPS compared to Jeffers' .801, but the former's defensive chops have kept him in the starting role.