MLB Player News

Bethancourt is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Guardians, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Rene Pinto will get the nod behind the dish in the series finale in Cleveland. Bethnacourt and Pinto have alternated starts at catcher over the past 12 games and look to be stuck in a near-even timeshare for now.

The Angels placed Stassi (personal) on the restricted list Sunday.

Stassi was initially placed on the 15-day injured list after suffering a hip injury late in spring training before he was transferred to the 60-day IL in June. Though the Angels have noted that Stassi is ostensibly healthy again and "in a position to resume activities," he's voluntarily choosing to sit out the remainder of the 2023 season while he tends to a serious family medical issue that has prompted him to conduct his rehab away from the team since the end of spring training. In 2024, Stassi will be entering the final season of the three-year, $17.5 million extension he signed with the Angels in May 2022, and Los Angeles also holds a $7.5 million club option and $500,000 buyout of his contract for the 2025 season.

The Angels reinstated Thaiss (shoulder) from the 10-day injured list Sunday.

After landing on the IL on Aug. 25 with right shoulder inflammation, Thaiss spent the minimum amount of time on the shelf and didn't require a rehab assignment prior to being activated. He'll be one of three catchers on the Angels' 28-man roster, but even though top backstop Logan O'Hoppe is getting the day off for Sunday's series finale in Oakland, Thaiss won't receive the starting nod behind the plate. Instead, Chad Wallach will catch for Angels starter Tyler Anderson.

Naylor is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against Tampa Bay.

Naylor is 6-for-16 with two homers in his past five contests and will receive Sunday off after he started the previous two games. Cam Gallagher will take over behind the plate and bat eighth.

O'Hoppe is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Athletics, Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register reports.

O'Hoppe will get a breather in the series finale after he went 3-for-20 with a home run and a double while starting at catcher in each of the Halos' last five games. Chad Wallach will fill in for O'Hoppe behind the dish, forming a battery with starting pitcher Tyler Anderson.

Heim took batting practice from the right side of the plate Sunday and has been cleared to make starts against left-handed pitching, Jeff Wilson of RangersToday.com reports.

When he was reinstated from the 10-day injured list Aug. 13, Heim had been limited to batting from the left side of the plate since he hadn't fully healed from a strained wrist tendon. Three weeks later, the switch-hitting Heim looks like he'll now have the platoon advantage in each of his plate appearances as the regular season winds down. Heim will hit from the left side of the plate to start Sunday's contest while he starts at catcher and bats sixth with the Rangers opposing Twins right-hander Kenta Maeda.

Jeffers is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Rangers, Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic reports.

Jeffers will retreat to the bench for the series finale, giving way to Christian Vazquez behind the dish. The two backstops have now alternated starts over the past six games, but the playing time is more likely to tilt in Jeffers' favor over the final month of the regular season. Jeffers is maintaining a .917 OPS since the All-Star break, while Vazquez's OPS sits at .668 during that same stretch.

Kirk isn't in the Blue Jays' lineup Sunday against the Rockies, Keegan Matheson of MLB.com reports.

Kirk will get a day off after extending his hitting streak to five games Saturday. Tyler Heineman will get the nod behind the plate and bat ninth Sunday.

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

Fermin appeared to be losing out on playing time as August came to a close, but he started each of the past four games behind the plate, going 5-for-15 with a double, a walk, two RBI and a run scored over that stretch. Salvador Perez will be behind the dish Sunday, but the Royals could continue to open up more starts at catcher for Fermin by deploying Perez at either first base or designated hitter.

Rogers is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the White Sox.

He'll be getting a routine breather for the day game after he started behind the dish in both of the past two contests while going 3-for-9 with an RBI and a run. Carson Kelly will form a battery with starting pitcher Tarik Skubal in the series finale.