MLB Player News

Murphy is assured of a spot on the Athletics' postseason roster, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports.

The rookie's locked-in playoff ticket stems from a combination of his stellar efforts since joining the Athletics and the fact he'd be the only other catcher besides Josh Phegley on the current roster available for postseason play. Beau Taylor, who Oakland brought back via a waiver claim last Tuesday after his recent release from the Blue Jays, is not eligible for the playoffs due to the fact he was not with the team by Aug. 31.

McCann went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Monday's 5-3 loss to the Twins.

McCann, predictably, has been unable to sustain his first-half hitting success since the All-Star break. His first-half OPS of .873 dropped to .684 over the second half. He has, however, been consistent with the long ball. McCann, who homered nine times in in 231 at-bats during the first half, has eight homers in 183 at-bats since the break.

Perez went 2-for-3 with a three-run home run Sunday in the Indians' 7-5 win over the Twins.

Perez wrapped up the weekend with back-to-back two-hit showings, continuing his recent surge after a rough start to the second half. Heading into the season's final month, Perez was slashing just .160/.243/.304 in his first 37 games out of the All-Star break, but he's rebounded with a 1.051 OPS through his first 10 contests of September.

Stassi (oblique) is improving but has not been cleared to play, Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register reports.

Stassi indicated that he is feeling better but there remains no set timeframe for his return. The 28-year-old has been out since Sept. 3 while recovering from a sore oblique.

Vazquez went 2-for-4 with a pair of home runs and five RBI in a 6-3 victory against the Phillies on Sunday.

The two long balls ended a drought of 13 straight games without a homer for Vazquez. It was also his first multi-homer game of the season. Vazquez is batting .273 with 21 home runs, 65 RBI, 59 runs and three steals in 451 at-bats this season.

Nola went 4-for-6 with two RBI, a run scored and a walk in Sunday's 11-10 win over the White Sox.

Since Aug. 21, the rookie utilityman was stuck in an 8-for-62 (.129 average) slump with just one multi-hit effort. Sunday's big day at the plate brought his OPS back up to .816 with 26 RBI and 34 runs scored this season.

Narvaez is not in the lineup Sunday against the White Sox.

Narvaez will sit the day after being the walkoff hero in the 10th inning of Saturday's contest. Tom Murphy will start behind the plate Sunday.

D'Arnaud is not in the lineup Sunday against the Angels.

D'Arnaud has kept up his strong performance at the plate down the stretch, hitting .300/.353/.500 over his last 17 games. Mike Zunino starts behind the plate Sunday.

McCann is not in the lineup Sunday against Seattle.

McCann has alternated between the lineup and the bench for the last six games. Zack Collins gets the start behind the plate for Sunday's contest.

Garver is out of the lineup for Sunday's game at Cleveland.

Garver went 1-for-4 during Game 1 of Saturday's doubleheader and will take a seat for a second straight contest. Willians Astudillo takes over being the plate while C.J. Cron starts at first base Sunday.