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.

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.

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.

Wells went 1-for-3 with a solo home run and an additional run scored in Wednesday's 11-2 victory versus the Nationals.

Wells capped New York's scoring in the contest with a solo shot to right field in the fourth frame. The backstop has three homers over his past six games, but he has only one other hit -- a single -- over 19 at-bats in that span and has struck out nine times. Wells is still getting regular starts behind the plate for the Yankees, but he's been in an offensive funk since mid-July; over his past 27 contests, he's slashing a woeful .143/.189/.298 with a 30 percent strikeout rate.

Diaz (hand) is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Rockies, Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle reports.

Diaz will be held out of the starting nine for the third game in a row while he manages a hand injury. Cesar Salazar will get the nod behind the plate in place of Diaz, who can be considered day-to-day heading into the Astros' weekend series with the Angels.

Basallo is absent from the lineup for Thursday's contest versus the Red Sox.

The left-handed-hitting Basallo had started each of the previous five tilts, but he will get a breather as the Orioles take on lefty ace Garrett Crochet. Alex Jackson will fill in at catcher and bat ninth for Baltimore.

Higashioka went 2-for-5 with a three-run home run, an RBI single and a sacrifice fly during Wednesday's 20-3 win over the Angels.

Higashioka delivered his third five-RBI game of the season Wednesday and belted a home run for a second consecutive game. The catcher's three-run homer off position player Oswald Peraza was part of an eight-run seventh inning. Higashioka now has 10 long balls in 2025, reaching double-digits in the category for a fifth consecutive season.

Perez went 2-for-4 with a home run, three RBI, a double and an additional run scored Wednesday's 12-1 win over the White Sox.

The homer was Perez's fifth of the month and his 23rd of the campaign. The veteran backstop had a dismal .606 OPS through May 31, but he's fared much better at the plate for the Royals and fantasy managers since the start of June. Perez is batting .266 with 19 long balls, 17 doubles and 51 RBI over his last 72 outings to raise his OPS to .742 for the year.

The Astros placed Caratini (concussion) on the 7-day injured list Wednesday.

After taking foul balls off his catcher's mask Sunday and Tuesday, Caratini entered concussion protocol Wednesday and will now officially miss at least a week of action. Cesar Salazar was recalled from Triple-A Sugar Land to fill in as Houston's backup catcher, though he will get the start behind home plate Wednesday against the Rockies while top backstop Yainer Diaz manages a hand injury.

Caratini is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Rockies and is being evaluated for a concussion, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

The veteran catcher has taken a couple foul balls off his mask recently and is now in danger of landing on the injured list. Cesar Salazar is starting behind the plate Wednesday and will operate as the backup to Yainer Diaz (hand) while Caratini is unavailable.