MLB Player News

The Red Sox will place Plawecki on the COVID-19 injured list after he tested positive for the virus Monday, Chris Cotillo of The Springfield Republican reports.

In addition to Plawecki, two other unidentified staff members tested positive. Plawecki is fully vaccinated, so if he's able to make a speedy recovery from the illness, he'll be able to travel to Toronto early next week when the Red Sox and Blue Jays play a four-game set. Boston will call up Connor Wong from Triple-A Worcester to step in as the backup catcher behind No. 1 option Christian Vazquez while Plawecki is in isolation from the team.

Bethancourt went 2-for-4 with an RBI ground-rule double and a run in a win over the Blue Jays on Saturday.

The journeyman backstop made an impact in his first start of the season, extending the Athletics' lead to 3-1 with his second-inning two-bagger. Bethancourt's stint with the big-league club may not extend beyond Austin Allen's stay on the restricted list, but as he showed Saturday, he can offer solid organizational depth at Triple-A Las Vegas and contribute in a pinch at the major-league level given his experience.

Maldonado is not in the lineup for Sunday's game against Seattle, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

Maldonado started the past three games and will receive the day off for the series finale. Jason Castro will take over behind the plate Sunday.

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

Seattle will continue to utilize a three-man rotation behind the plate, with Luis Torrens receiving the starting nod Sunday. However, Raleigh leads the team with four starts and has an .812 OPS early in the campaign.

Stassi is not in the lineup for Sunday's game at Texas, Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register reports.

Stassi will head to the bench for the second time in the past three games. Kurt Suzuki will work behind the plate in his place during Sunday's series finale.

Vazquez is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Red Sox, Chris Cotillo of The Springfield Republican reports.

Vazquez started the past three contests and will take seat for the day game in Sunday's series finale. Kevin Plawecki will work behind the plate in his place.

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

Jeffers will take a seat for the third time in six games while Gary Sanchez gets a turn behind the plate. Though his superior defense should be enough to earn him at least a handful of starts per week, Jeffers isn't yet offering much from a fantasy standpoint. He's gone hitless with five strikeouts in 10 at-bats over his past three games and is slashing .158/.238/.158 on the season.

Maldonado went 1-for-3 with a two-run home run and a walk in a 4-0 victory over the Mariners on Saturday.

After going hitless in his first 15 at-bats of the season, Maldonado finally connected for a two-run shot off Seattle starter Chris Flexen to triple Houston's early lead. Maldonado is in the lineup for his defense and is a career .211 batter.

Murphy went 2-for-4 with a double, a two-run home run and a second run scored in Saturday's 7-5 win over the Blue Jays.

The backstop took Hyun Jin Ryu (forearm) deep in the third inning, giving the A's a 5-1 lead they nearly squandered. Murphy is on a tear, going 7-for-19 (.368) over the last four games with three doubles, two homers and six RBI.

Murphy went 1-for-2 with two walks and three runs in a win over the Astros on Friday.

The hot-hitting catcher pushed his average and on-base percentage to .500 and .636, respectively, with his highly active day at the plate and on the basepaths. The sample size of 11 plate appearances on the season for Murphy is miniscule, but it's nevertheless encouraging to see the veteran backstop hit safely in each of his first three games after producing a disappointing .202/.304/.350 slash line across 97 games a season ago.