MLB Player News

Zavala will start at catcher and bat ninth in Sunday's game against the Athletics.

With top backstop Yasmani Grandal getting the day off, Zavala will enter the lineup for the fourth time in five games. With manager Pedro Grifol having shown an increased willingness to deploy Grandal at designated hitter of late, Zavala could continue to see more playing time than the typical No. 2 backstop. Zavala helped his case for earning more work by slugging two home runs in an 11-5 win over the Angels on Wednesday, but he's still holding down a weak .552 OPS on the season.

Grandal is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against Oakland.

Grandal started the last three games and will take a seat after he went 3-for-13 with two walks, two RBI and two runs. Seby Zavala will work behind the plate Sunday.

Wallach is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Diamondbacks.

After going 0-for-20 with nine strikeouts over his last eight games, Wallach appears to have lost hold of the Angels' No. 1 catching gig, a role he appeared to have poached from Matt Thaiss a couple weeks ago. Thaiss will pick up his fourth start behind the plate in five games in place of the slumping Wallach.

Thaiss will start at catcher and bat seventh in Sunday's game against the Diamondbacks.

After making just two starts in an eight-game stretch from June 18 through June 27, Thaiss has now stepped in behind the dish four times over the Angels' subsequent five games. At least for the time being, Thaiss appears to have reclaimed primary catching duties from Chad Wallach.

Raleigh is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Rays.

Raleigh started the first two games of the series versus Tampa Bay, and he'll take a seat for the finale after going 1-for-7 with two walks, a run and five strikeouts. Tom Murphy will step in behind the plate to catch for Luis Castillo.

Garver is out of the lineup for Sunday's game versus the Astros.

It's the second straight game on the bench for Garver, who posted a .237/.308/.356 slash line over 16 games in June. Josh Smith is batting ninth as the designated hitter Sunday.

Jansen is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Red Sox.

Jansen will get a breather in the series finale after he started behind the dish in four of the Blue Jays' past five games. Alejandro Kirk is getting the nod at catcher and will form a battery with starting pitcher Kevin Gausman.

Vazquez is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Orioles.

The Twins and Orioles are wrapping up their series with a day game that begins at 12:05 p.m. ET, so Vazquez will get a breather after catching all nine innings of Saturday's 1-0 win. Ryan Jeffers will check in behind the dish Sunday.

Wallach isn't in the Angels' lineup Saturday against Arizona, Sarah Valenzuela of the Los Angeles Times reports.

Wallach put together a five-game hitting streak in mid-June, but he's now 0-for-20 with nine strikeouts across his last eight games. Matt Thaiss will start behind the dish Saturday for the Angels and bat sixth.

Rogers isn't in the Tigers' lineup Saturday against the Rockies.

Rogers has recorded a hit in five of his last six games, going 6-for-16 with a homer, two RBI and five runs scored in that span. He'll take a seat Saturday while Eric Haase starts behind the plate and bats ninth.