MLB Player News

Garver is not in the lineup Sunday against the Reds, Do-Hyoung Park of MLB.com reports.

Garver takes a seat for the second straight contest while going 4-for-21 with a homer and 14 strikeouts over his past six games. Alex Avila starts behind the plate in the final game of the regular season.

McCann went 2-for-2 with two walks, a solo home run and a second run scored in Saturday's 9-5 win over the Cubs.

McCann snapped an 0-for-16 skid, going back to Sept. 15 when he laced his sixth home run, with his seventh homer in the second inning. He's had a second consecutive strong season, batting .289/.360/.536 over 31 games in 2020 as the backup to Yasmani Grandal.

Vazquez went 3-for-5 with a grand slam in Saturday's 8-2 win over Atlanta.

Vazquez sent a pitch from Atlanta reliever Grant Dayton into the left-field seats to finish an eight-run rally by the Red Sox in the second inning. Vazquez also had a double in the contest. The catcher is slashing .283/.344/.457 with seven homers, 23 RBI, 22 runs scored and four stolen bases in 47 games this year.

Garver will sit Saturday against the Reds.

Garver hasn't come close to repeating his .995 OPS from his breakout 2019 campaign, as his .498 OPS this season is barely more than halfway to that mark. He's remained the Twins' top option behind the plate when available, however, but not by a particularly large margin. Ryan Jeffers will be the catcher Saturday.

Maldonado isn't starting Saturday against the Rangers.

Maldonado drew two walks in four plate appearances Friday, but he'll take a seat for the second time in the last three games. Dustin Garneau will take over as the catcher Saturday.

Jansen is not in the lineup Saturday against the Orioles.

Jansen has remained the top option behind the plate despite the recent promotion of catching prospect Alejandro Kirk. He's started 10 games behind the plate since Kirk's arrival, while Kirk makes just his sixth start at catcher Saturday. The added competition appears to have galvanized Jansen, as he's hitting .300/.382/.533 in those 10 games.

Grandal will sit Saturday against the Cubs.

Grandal returned from a brief absence due to a hand injury Thursday and started a pair of games, going hitless in both. He'll get a rest in this one, with James McCann taking over behind the plate.

Huff went 3-for-4 with a pair of solo home runs in Friday's 5-4 extra-inning win over the Astros.

Huff went deep twice off Astros starter Jose Urquidy. Those were Huff's second and third homers of the year. The 22-year-old catcher is up to three RBI and four runs scored across 29 plate appearances, but he's also struck out nine times and walked just once.

Plawecki went 3-for-4 with an RBI single and a run scored in Friday's 8-7 extra-innings loss to the Braves.

Plawecki recorded three hits in his second consecutive start behind the dish. He added an RBI single in the 10th inning, but Jeffrey Springs wasn't able to protect the Red Sox's lead. The 29-year-old Plawecki is slashing .342/.381/.468 with a homer, a stolen base, 17 RBI and seven runs scored across 84 plate appearances.

Vazquez is not starting Friday against Atlanta.

Vazquez has a strong .327/.400/.510 slash line over his last 12 games but sits for the second time in three days. Kevin Plawecki gets the nod behind the plate.