MLB Player News

Delay is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Blue Jays.

Delay will receive a breather for the matinee game after he started in five of the past six games, including Saturday night's 4-1 loss. Tyler Heineman will serve as Pittsburgh's catcher Sunday in place of Delay.

Perez (hand) is starting behind the plate and batting third Sunday against the Tigers, Joel Goldberg of Bally Sports Kansas City reports.

The 32-year-old sat out Saturday's contest after being hit by a pitch on the right hand Friday, but he was diagnosed with a bruise after X-rays came back negative and will end up missing only one game. Perez is 0-for-7 through his first two games in September, though he finished August on a seven-game hitting streak, during which he had a 1.156 OPS.

Diaz is out of the lineup for the first game of Sunday's doubleheader with the Reds.

Brian Serven will step in behind the dish while Diaz rests for the early game of the twin bill. Expect Diaz to re-enter the lineup for the nightcap, when he'll likely be catching for starting pitcher Jose Urena.

Barnhart went 2-for-3 with a solo home run and a walk in Saturday's loss to the Royals.

Barnhart launched a solo shot in the fifth inning, but the Tigers were behind 9-1 at the time, and it would turn out to be their final score of the game. For Barnhart, it was his first homer of the season. This has not been a productive season for the catcher who is likely to see his lowest run, home run and RBI totals outside of a 54 at-bat rookie year and the shortened 2020 season.

Zavala went 1-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored Saturday against the Twins.

Zavala had been out of the lineup for the team's last three games since the return of Yasmani Grandal. Zavala tallied a two-run single with position player Nick Gordon on the mound in the eighth inning of the blowout 13-0 win. He will find regular plate appearances hard to come by so long as Grandal is healthy, but Zavala has maintained a strong .276/.349/.388 line across 174 plate appearances on the season.

Smith went 2-for-5 with a three-run home run, a double and four total RBI in a 12-1 win against the Padres on Saturday.

Smith gave the Dodgers a 3-0 lead with his run-scoring double in the third inning, and he landed the finishing blow with his three-run shot to center field in the sixth. The big performance snapped a four-game mini-slump during which the backstop went 0-for-11. Smith leads MLB catchers with 79 RBI on the campaign, and his 20 homers are third at the position behind Willson Contreras and Cal Raleigh.

Rutschman went 2-for-5 with a solo home run and an additional RBI in Saturday's 8-1 win over the Athletics.

Rutschman accounted for the Orioles' last two runs in the game with an RBI single in the sixth inning and a solo shot in the eighth. Prior to this two-hit effort, he'd gone 0-for-11 with two walks in his last four games. He'd gone 11 contests without a multi-hit effort. For the year, the rookie catcher is slashing a steady .247/.355/.435 with nine homers, 28 RBI, 54 runs scored and three stolen bases. He's also shown a good eye at the plate with a 17.3 percent strikeout rate and a 13.6 percent walk rate through 346 plate appearances.

Barnhart went 2-for-3 with a walk, a double and a solo home run in Saturday's loss to the Royals.

Barnhart hit his first home run of the season in the fifth inning and added his eighth double for good measure. The catcher had just seven homers last year, so power wasn't really expected, though his OPS has also dropped from .685 to .547. As a result of Barnhart's offensive struggles, Eric Haase (abdomen) has overtaken him as the primary option behind the plate for the Tigers.

McCann went 0-for-1 with a walk and a stolen base in Saturday's 7-1 loss to the Nationals.

McCann tried to spark the Mets' offense in the fifth inning, but Brandon Nimmo couldn't bring him home after the catcher's two-out steal. This was McCann's third steal of the season, putting him one back of his career high from 2019. He's added a paltry .188/.243/.273 slash line, two home runs, 13 RBI, 12 runs scored and five doubles in 46 contests this season. The 32-year-old has just one multi-hit effort in 16 games since returning from an oblique injury Aug. 4.

Jeffers (thumb) was transferred to the 60-day injured list Saturday.

The move should have no impact on Jeffers' eventual return date. He'll be eligible to return in mid-September, but he isn't expected to have a chance to return until the last few days of the month.