MLB Player News
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Gary Sanchez C | MIL
Twins' Gary Sanchez: Sitting Wednesday
Sanchez will sit Wednesday versus the White Sox.
Sanchez will get a day off after he went 1-for-3 with a walk in Tuesday's win. Luis Arraez will slide into the designated hitter spot while Jose Miranda enters the lineup at first base and is set to bat seventh against the White Sox.
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Mitch Garver DH | SEA
Rangers' Mitch Garver: Homers again
Garver went 2-for-4 with a solo home run and a second run scored in Tuesday's 10-9 extra-inning loss to the Orioles.
Garver was one of three Texas hitters to slug a home run over the final third of the game. His seventh-inning blast tied the game briefly. It was his second homer in as many games. Since the Rangers mentioned possible surgery on his damaged right forearm, Garver is raking with a .320/.370/.720 slash, three home runs, six RBI and six runs scored over seven contests. Surgery seems inevitable, but when it happens might be determined by how the team performs. If postseason prospects are real AND Garver maintains an impact bat, then it could be put off until the offseason. If neither of those scenarios are present in the second half of the season, it makes sense to have the surgery earlier and have Garver available for the start of 2023.
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Eric Haase C | SF
Tigers' Eric Haase: Homers again Tuesday
Haase went 2-for-5 with a double, a two-run home run and two runs scored in Tuesday's win over the Guardians.
Haase took Cleveland starter Cal Quantrill deep in the fourth inning with a runner on for his seventh home run of the season. He's gone deep in consecutive contests and has five home runs over his last 12 games. Tucker Barnhart is still the presumptive starter at catcher in Detroit, but the Tigers will likely keep Haase in the lineup while he's in the midst of this power surge.
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Ben Rortvedt C | NYM
Yankees' Ben Rortvedt: Nearing game action
Rortvedt (knee) took live batting practice Saturday and has been increasing his running, Randy Miller of NJ Advance Media reports. "I would say he's probably getting close to being ready for some game action," Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Sunday.
Rortvedt hasn't yet played this season after the Yankees acquired him in a trade with Minnesota in mid-March. The backstop was dealing with an oblique issue at the time of the deal, and he later picked up a knee injury that required surgery while rehabbing in May. Rortvedt was expected to compete for the primary catcher job when he was first dealt to New York, but Jose Trevino has hit well enough (.743 OPS) that such an opportunity may have passed, at least for this season.
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Seby Zavala C | LAD
White Sox's Seby Zavala: Hits bench Tuesday
Zavala is out of the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Twins.
Zavala will take a seat after he went 6-for-12 with a pair of doubles, a walk, three RBI and one run. Reese McGuire will get the starting nod behind the plate Tuesday and remains the superior defender of the two backstops, but the hot bat Zavala has showcased since his June 12 call-up from Triple-A Charlotte may make it too difficult for manager Tony La Russa to keep him out of the lineup while No. 1 backstop Yasmani Grandal (back) likely remains on the shelf through the All-Star break.
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Ryan Jeffers C | MIN
Twins' Ryan Jeffers: Sits Tuesday
Jeffers is out of the lineup for Tuesday's game against the White Sox.
Jeffers returned from a two-game absence due to a right thumb injury to catch nine of the 10 innings of Monday's 6-3 win, so his absence from the lineup a day later isn't a major surprise. Gary Sanchez will step in for Jeffers behind the plate.
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Yasmani Grandal C | PIT
White Sox's Yasmani Grandal: Eyes return after All-Star break
Grandal (lower back) said that he'll begin a minor-league rehab assignment at Double-A Birmingham on Wednesday, but he doesn't expect to be activated from the 10-day injured list until after the All-Star break, James Fegan of The Athletic reports.
Grandal intimated that the White Sox plan to send him on an extended rehab assignment while he looks to regain conditioning in addition to his timing at the plate after being sidelined for the past three weeks with lower-back spasms. He's expected to make most of his initial rehab starts as a designated hitter and is likely to stick around at Birmingham through the weekend. After that, Grandal is then expected to shift his rehab to Triple-A Charlotte at the beginning of next week, when he'll presumably pick up starts behind the plate and at first base. Before the back injury cropped up, Grandal had endured a tough start to the 2022 campaign; he's sitting on a .185/.294/.237 slash line with just two home runs and one stolen base in 201 plate appearances.
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Rene Pinto C | PHI
Rays' Rene Pinto: Sharing time with Mejia
Pinto will start at catcher and bat eighth in Tuesday's game against the Red Sox, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Pinto will stick in the lineup for the fourth time in six games and looks as though he's carving out more work behind the plate than anticipated following his call-up from Triple-A Durham on June 10 to help replace injured backstop Mike Zunino (shoulder). At the very least, Pinto is part of a timeshare at catcher with Francisco Mejia, who isn't holding up to his reputation as a bat-first backstop by producing a .629 OPS on the season.
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Francisco Mejia C | TB
Rays' Francisco Mejia: Sits for fourth time in six games
Mejia is out of the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Red Sox, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.
Though Mejia will be sitting for the fourth time in six games, it's unclear if Rene Pinto has truly supplanted him on the depth chart at catcher. Just three days ago, Mejia supplied two home runs in a win over the Blue Jays, so the Rays likely won't completely pull the plug on him. Even so, Mejia -- who owns an unremarkable .629 OPS on the season -- may not have the massive workload behind the dish that some may have anticipated when No. 1 backstop Mike Zunino (shoulder) landed on the injured list June 10.
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Tucker Barnhart C | TEX
Tigers' Tucker Barnhart: Not starting Tuesday
Barnhart is on the bench Tuesday against the Guardians.
Eric Haase will start at catcher in place of Barnhart, who has doubled in consecutive games but is hitting just .191 with three extra-base hits and four RBI since the beginning of June.