MLB Player News

Garver is not in the lineup for Sunday's game against the Royals.

Ryan Jeffers catches and bats ninth while Garver rests on the final day of the regular season.

Perez is on the bench for Sunday's season finale against the Rangers.

Perez has gone 0-for-6 in his last two games and 6-for-31 in his last 10. Assuming he doesn't enter Sunday's game, he finishes 2021 with an abysmal .149/.245/.319 slash line in 161 plate appearances. Austin Hedges is catching Sunday.

Heim is not starting Sunday's game against Cleveland.

Heim hit his 10th home run of the season Saturday and will finish 2021 hitting .196 with 32 RBI, unless of course he pinch hits Sunday. Jose Trevino is catching and batting eighth.

Jansen went 2-for-4 with a double, a two-run home run and a second run scored in Saturday's 10-1 win over the Orioles.

The catcher launched his 11th homer of the season in the fifth inning off Konner Wade. Three of those long balls have come in Jansen's last four starts, and since the beginning of September he's batting an impressive .327 (18-for-55).

Heim went 1-for-2 with a three-run home run and two walks in Saturday's 7-2 win over Cleveland.

The rookie catcher got his home run total to a round number Saturday, smashing his 10th long ball of the season off Triston McKenzie to bust the game wide open in the fourth inning. It's been a tough slog for Heim batting average-wise this season, but he'll look to use the 82 games of experience he got with the big club in 2021 to vie for a roster spot next year.

Maldonado isn't starting Saturday's game against Oakland, Brian McTaggart of MLB.com reports.

Maldonado will miss a second straight contest, although it's not clear whether his absence is related to his sore shoulder that forced him out of Wednesday's game against the Rays. Jason Castro will start at catcher and bat eighth.

Gomes isn't starting Saturday's game against the Astros, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports.

Gomes started each of the last three games and went 1-for-10 with a run, a walk and four strikeouts. Sean Murphy will start behind the dish and bat eighth.

Hedges went 1-for-4 with a solo home run and an additional run scored in Friday's 9-6 win over Texas.

The catcher got Cleveland on the board with his third-inning solo shot. Hedges has gone yard twice in his last six games, and he's up to 10 long balls on the year. He's added a .180/.219/.311 slash line with 31 RBI, 32 runs scored and a stolen base in 308 plate appearances. The 29-year-old has split time with Roberto Perez fairly evenly since mid-September.

Mejia went 2-for-3 with a walk in a win over the Yankees on Friday and now has three multi-hit efforts in his last five starts.

The reserve backstop is hitting a sensational .438 (7-for-16) with two doubles, three RBI, three walks and three runs over that span, boosting his season slash line to a serviceable .256/.317/.415 across 272 plate appearances. Mejia has arguably been everything the Rays could have hoped for in a backup catcher when they acquired him in the Blake Snell trade with San Diego in December, as the 25-year-old has shown flashes of the offensive prowess he displayed at multiple minor-league stops in the Padres organization.

Trevino went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run in Friday's 9-6 loss to Cleveland.

Trevino launched his fifth homer of the season in the ninth inning. He began the season as Texas' starting catcher but eventually ceded the spot to Jonah Heim.