MLB Player News

Sanchez is out of the lineup for Friday's game at Texas, Aaron Gleeman of The Athletic reports.

Sanchez is mired in a 2-for-17 slump and finds himself on the bench for the second straight game. Alex Kirilloff (undisclosed) will serve as the designated hitter while Nick Gordon starts in left field.

Mejia is out of the lineup for Friday's game at Cincinnati, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

The Rays have alternated starters behind the plate over the past six games, and that trend will continue Friday after Mejia started Wednesday and went 0-for-4 with a walk and two strikeouts. Rene Pinto will catch and bat eighth for Tampa Bay.

Rutschman is not in the starting lineup for Friday's game against the Angels, Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com reports.

Rutschman will get a day off after he went 4-for-18 with a homer, a double, two RBI and four runs over the last five games. Robinson Chirinos will take over behind the plate and bat eighth against the Angels.

Rutschman went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Thursday's 4-1 win over the Angels.

Rutschman opened the scoring with his second-inning solo shot. He's gone 4-for-14 with two RBI and four runs scored over his last four contests after snapping an 0-for-15 skid. The catcher continues to work on adjusting at the plate, as he owns a .214/.286/.400 slash line with four homers, 11 RBI, 19 runs scored and a stolen base through 154 plate appearances.

Maldonado went 3-for-3 with a double, a run scored and a walk in Thursday's 5-2 win over the Royals.

Maldonado walked in his first plate appearance, doubled in his second and singled in each of his last two at-bats en route to his first three-hit game of the season. Across 61 appearances, the veteran catcher is slashing .160/.237/.310 with seven homers and 18 RBI.

Raleigh went 2-for-4 with a home run and three total RBI in an 8-3 win over Toronto on Thursday.

Raleigh singled to plate a run in the first inning and followed with a two-run homer to right field in the third. With the performance, he upped his season slash line to .202/.277/.470. The batting average isn't great, but Raleigh is tied for fifth among backstops with 11 homers and has driven in 30 runs in just 55 games.

Zavala is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Tigers.

Reese McGuire will be behind the plate for the series opener, but Zavala still looks like manager Tony La Russa's preferred option at catcher while Yasmani Grandal (back) is stuck on the injured list. Zavala started in four of the previous five games and went 8-for-16 with two doubles, a walk, three RBI and two runs during that stretch.

Stassi isn't starting Thursday against the Orioles, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reports.

Stassi went 1-for-7 with a double, a run, three walks and five strikeouts while starting in the last three games. However, Kurt Suzuki will take over behind the dish and bat ninth Thursday.

Vazquez will sit Thursday versus the Yankees.

Vazquez will get a breather after he went 2-for-11 with a walk in the series versus Tampa Bay. Kevin Plawecki will take over behind the plate and bat ninth Thursday.

Higashioka went 2-for-5 with a solo homer, two RBI and two runs scored in Wednesday's 16-0 win over the Pirates.

Higashioka homered in the seventh inning, bringing New York's lead to 5-0. He came around to score in the next inning on Aaron Judge's grand slam, then knocked in Josh Donaldson for the final score of the game in the ninth inning. This was the catcher's second appearance in July. He picked up his first hits since June 21. Higashioka raised his batting average 10 points thanks to the two-hit performance, taking it to .174 on the year.