MLB Player News

Narvaez went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Saturday's 5-4 loss to the Rays.

Narvaez went deep off starter Charlie Morton in the fifth inning. The catcher is hitting .292/.365/.475 over 322 at-bats this season, adding 17 homers, 42 RBI and 52 runs scored. He hadn't gone yard since a two-homer game versus Oakland on July 16.

McCann is not in the lineup Saturday against Oakland.

McCann started the last three contests but will draw a day off Saturday. Welington Castillo will start behind the dish in his place and bat eighth.

Jansen went 1-for-3 with a three-run homer in Friday's win over the Yankees.

The catcher now has two homers in five August starts, giving him 10 long balls on the year. Jansen's .206/.275/.363 slash line doesn't stand out, and he could be slipping into a timeshare with Reese McGuire as the Jays try to get a good look at all their younger players down the stretch.

Higashioka was sent down to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre prior to Saturday's game against the Blue Jays.

He logged a two-homer game against the Orioles in his last game with the big club, but he'ss return to serving as the organization's No. 3 catcher with Gary Sanchez (groin) back from the injured list.

Sanchez (groin) was reinstated from the 10-day injured list prior to Saturday's game against the Blue Jays.

He ends up missing a little over two weeks with the groin injury and will likely slot into Saturday's lineup. Kyle Higashioka will return to Triple-A in a corresponding move.

Narvaez isn't in the starting lineup for Friday's game against the Rays, Neil Solondz of the Rays Radio Network reports.

Narvaez will head to the bench for the series opener, the second time he's done so in the last three days. Tom Murphy is set to handle the catching duties and bat fifth in Narvaez's absence.

Sanchez (groin) is expected to be activated from the injured list prior to Saturday's game against Toronto, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports.

Sanchez caught back-to-back nights at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre earlier in the week, and the Yankees have since deemed him ready to come off the shelf. He's been on the injured list since July 24 with a Grade 1 groin strain and was batting .229 with 24 homers and 58 RBI over 77 games this season prior to the injury.

Thaiss is out of the lineup for Friday's game against the Red Sox.

Thaiss will head to the bench for the second straight contest as he is 0-for-12 with six strikeouts in his last four games. David Fletcher will start at third base while Luis Rengifo takes over the keystone.

Stubbs was optioned to Triple-A Round Rock on Friday, Jake Kaplan of The Athletic reports.

Stubbs was recalled from Round Rock last week when Robinson Chirinos was dealing with a shoulder injury, but he'll be sent back down now that Chirinos is healthy. Stubbs figures to rejoin the Astros once rosters expand in September, but he's unlikely to see much of a workload.

McGuire went 4-for-4 with a double, a solo home run and two additional runs scored in Thursday's loss to the Yankees.

Coming into the game, the backstop was only 3-for-21 on the season for Toronto, so Thursday's eruption qualifies as shocking. McGuire figures to be a useful No. 2 catcher behind Danny Jansen in time, but his .247/.316/.366 slash line through 72 games for Triple-A Buffalo this year illustrates his offensive limitations.