MLB Player News

Barnhart remains on the bench Thursday against Texas.

Barnhart hasn't sat in back-to-back games at any prior point this season, which raises the possibility that he's dealing with an unreported minor injury. He did make an appearance off the bench Wednesday, however, which suggests that this might be nothing other than a chance to clear his head after he opened the year with a .541 OPS through 43 games. Eric Haase will make his second straight start behind the plate.

Murphy (shoulder) is back to doing work in the batting cage following a temporary shutdown of his rehab process, the Associated Press reports.

The veteran backstop is both batting and catching balls from a machine as he begins to ramp his rehab work following a pause. Murphy had previously been shut down for 10 days due to a lack of responsiveness from his shoulder, so the fact he seems to be increasing his activity level without any reported setbacks is encouraging.

Higashioka went 1-for-3 with a three-run homer during Wednesday's 4-3 win over the Rays.

Higashioka's three-run homer off Rays starter Shane McClanahan ended up being the difference during Wednesday's win. After not hitting a home run over his first 34 games, the backup catcher has three homers and five RBI over his last two appearances. Higashioka is still slashing just .177/.229/.313, but he's certainly trending in the right direction.

Zavala went 2-for-5 with a home run and three RBI in Wednesday's 13-0 romp over the Tigers.

In only his third big-league game of the year, Zavala took Alex Lange deep in the fifth inning for a two-run shot, his first homer with the White Sox in 2022. The 28-year-old backstop has shown plenty of power in his career, slugging 38 homers in 214 career games for Triple-A Charlotte, and Zavala could see consistent work in a timeshare with Reese McGuire while Yasmani Grandal (back) is on the shelf.

Maile has gone 1-for-20 (.050) in nine games in June.

Maile's playing time is already fairly limited to begin with, and his recent performances have inspired no confidence. The 31-year-old has a .213/.304/.319 slash line with five RBI, eight runs scored and a 7:14 BB:K through 56 plate appearances this season. Austin Hedges will see most of the time behind the dish, while Maile will step in for starts once or twice a week.

Maldonado went 2-for-4 with a home run, a double, three RBI and one run scored Wednesday against the Rangers.

Maldonado capped off a six-run first inning for the Astros with a two-RBI double. He then led off the fourth frame by going yard to tally his fifth home run of the season. Maldonado has now recorded multiple hits in three of his last four starts, but he is still hitting just .160/.228/.306 across 160 plate appearances on the season.

Rutschman went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run and a double in Wednesday's 7-6 extra-inning loss to the Blue Jays.

Rutschman checked off a couple of milestones Wednesday, hitting his first career homer and his first two RBI in the fourth inning. This was the catcher's fourth multi-hit effort in 21 contests this season. He's still slashing a shaky .192/.267/.321 while adding nine runs scored, five doubles and a triple through 86 plate appearances, but perhaps this is the spark he needs to up his game at the major-league level.

Stassi is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Dodgers, Sam Blum of The Athletic reports.

Stassi has started four of the past five games and will receive Wednesday off. Kurt Suzuki will start behind the plate and bat seventh.

Hedges is not in the lineup for Wednesday's game at Colorado.

Hedges started the past two games and will receive a breather Wednesday. Luke Maile will take over behind the dish for Cleveland.

Vazquez isn't in the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Athletics, Ian Browne of MLB.com reports.

Vazquez drew the start in Tuesday's series opener against Oakland and went 1-for-4 with a run. He'll be out of the lineup for the second time in the last three games while Kevin Plawecki starts behind the dish and bats eighth.