MLB Player News

Kirk went 1-for-5 with a solo home run in Saturday's 3-2 extra-inning win over the Tigers.

He took Tyler Alexander deep in the sixth inning for the game's first run. Kirk has started six of the last nine games, slashing .318/.360/.545 in 25 plate appearances over that stretch, but Saturday's homer was only his fourth of the year and first since April 30.

Perez went 1-for-3 with a two-run home run in Saturday's win over the Mariners.

Perez is having an excellent year at the plate and is riding an otherworldly power surge -- he belted grand slams in back-to-back games Thursday and Friday and has now homered in four straight games. Perez is now second in MLB in homers with 37 and only trails Shohei Ohtani (41) in that department.

Stassi is out of the lineup Saturday against the Padres.

Stassi has a .583 OPS and 39.7 percent strikeout rate through 18 games in August, and he'll take a seat Saturday for the second time in the past three days. Kurt Suzuki will work behind the plate and bat seventh in his place.

McGuire isn't in the lineup Saturday against Detroit.

McGuire started each of the last two games and went 2-for-7 with a run and three strikeouts. Alejandro Kirk will start behind the dish and bat fourth.

Higashioka went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run and an additional run scored in an 8-2 win over Oakland on Friday.

The backstop made his first start since Aug. 21 and pounded his second homer in his past three games. It has largely been a frustrating campaign for Higashioka, however, as he is slashing just .184/.256/.414 overall.

Perez went 3-for-5 with a grand slam and a walk in Friday's 8-7 extra-innings win over the Mariners.

Seattle got off to an early 5-1 lead in the contest, but Perez erased the deficit with one swing in the fourth inning. It marked his third straight game with a long ball and his second straight with a grand slam. Per ESPN, he joined Mike Piazza and Bill Dickey as the only catchers in history to belt a grand slam in consecutive games. Perez is tied with Vladimir Guerrero for the second-most homers (36) in MLB this season, trailing only Shohei Ohtani (41).

Grandal went 4-for-6 with two home runs, a double and eight RBI in Friday's 17-13 win over the Cubs.

The catcher missed nearly two months while recovering from knee surgery, and he seemed to want to make up for it all at once. Grandal hit three-run blasts in the third and eighth innings while adding a two-run double in the fifth to account for nearly half of the White Sox's run production. The huge game lifted his season slash line to .203/.394/.481 with 16 homers, 46 RBI, 44 runs scored and four doubles through 252 plate appearances.

Sanchez is not starting Friday against the Athletics.

Sanchez will get his first breather since last Saturday after going 1-for-3 with a walk in Thursday's win. Kyle Higashioka is set to catch Gerrit Cole and bat ninth.

Jeffers (heel) is starting Friday's game against the Brewers.

Jeffers sustained a heel injury against the Red Sox on Thursday, but he'll start behind the plate and bat sixth Friday. As long as his injury doesn't linger, the 24-year-old will take over as the team's primary catcher while Mitch Garver (back) is on the 10-day injured list.

Garver was placed on the 10-day injured list with a lower back strain Friday, Dan Hayes of The Athletic reports.

Garver had missed five of the last seven games due to a back injury, and he'll have additional time to recover on the 10-day IL. Ryan Jeffers (heel) is in line to serve as the primary catcher, while Willians Astudillo will be available in a depth role.