MLB Player News

Grandal went 1-for-4 with a solo home run Sunday against the Cardinals.

Grandal was the second in a series of four consecutive home runs for the White Sox in the fifth inning. It was his first home run as a member of the club, and just his fourth extra-base hit of the season. As a result, he's managed just a .230/.347/.328 line across 75 plate appearances to this point.

Maldonado went 2-for-3 with two singles, a stolen base and a RBI in Sunday's 3-2 win over the Mariners.

Maldonado's single in the fourth inning drove in Kyle Tucker to tie the game at two. The stolen base is a rarity -- Maldonado's third in 10 seasons. The catcher is performing slightly above his career numbers thus far in 2020, slashing .235/.381/.392.

Stassi will start at catcher and will bat eighth Sunday against the Dodgers.

Stassi, who is batting .243 with four home runs and 10 RBI on the season, will get a third straight start while top backstop Jason Castro deals with a neck injury. The Angels are viewing Castro as day-to-day for now, but if he fails to demonstrate any notable progress heading into Monday's series opener with the Giants, the veteran could be at risk of landing on the injured list.

Murphy (foot) continues to make incremental progress while rehabbing at the team's alternate training site in Tacoma, Greg Johns of MLB.com reports.

Manager Scott Servais acknowledges the progress for Murphy is "maybe not as fast as he'd [Murphy] like" but confirms the veteran backstop is feeling better. Murphy remains without a timetable for return, however, and he'll likely need to corroborate he's capable of catching multiple innings in intrasquad games at the alternate training site before being activated.

The Royals scratched Perez from the lineup for Sunday's game against the Twins after he experienced blurry vision in his left eye, Lynn Worthy of The Kansas City Star reports.

Kansas City hasn't suggested that Perez's blurry vision is the symptom of a suspected concussion, so the team will likely re-evaluate him again prior to Monday's series finale before determining if he's fit to play. Meibrys Viloria was recalled from the Royals' taxi squad in a corresponding move, and he'll start in place of Perez behind the dish Sunday.

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

Nola will retreat to the bench after starting five consecutive games at catcher, during which he went 4-for-20 with a solo home run and a double. Joseph Odom will spell Nola behind the dish.

Garver is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Royals.

Garver's OPS remains under .500 for the season, but he's at least shown some signs of progress lately, producing four of his seven hits on the campaign in his last three starts. Until he breaks out of the slump for good, however, Garver may have to cede two or three starts per week to Alex Avila, who checks in behind the plate Sunday.

Trevino went 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored in Saturday's 6-4 win over the Rockies.

Trevino was called up Friday after the Rangers placed Robinson Chirinos (ankle) on the 10-day injured list. He is expected to serve as the backup to 37-year-old Jeff Mathis while Chirinos is sidelined. If the injury lingers, Mathis' age could become a factor in the time split behind the plate.

Murphy went 1-for-2 with a solo home run in a win over the Giants on Saturday.

Murphy did not start the contest, coming on as a pinch hitter for fellow catcher Austin Allen in the sixth inning. Murphy grounded out in his first at-bat, but he led off the ninth inning with a home run to center field to kick off Oakland's comeback from a three-run deficit. The long ball was the first for Murphy since he went deep against the Angels on July 26.

Sanchez went 1-for-3 with a two-run homer and two runs scored in a win over the Red Sox on Saturday.

Sanchez has collected exactly one hit in each of his last three games, but each hit has left the yard to push his season home-run total to four. Saturday's two-run blast came at a particularly opportune time, flipping a one-run deficit to a one-run lead in the fourth inning. Sanchez continues to strike out at a prolific rate -- with Saturday's whiff, he has now struck out at least once in all but one game this season -- but most fantasy managers will accept the lack of contact as long as the backstop continues to hit home runs when he does hit the ball.