MLB Player News

Raleigh went 1-for-4 with a solo home run, an additional run scored and a walk in Wednesday's 9-0 win over the Athletics.

Raleigh went yard in the second inning. Five of the catcher's nine homers this year have come in June, where he's batting a solid (.246) in 18 contests. He's posted a .187/.279/.447 slash line with 19 RBI and 15 runs scored in 42 games overall, though his strong play of late has made him the Mariners' primary catcher over Luis Torrens.

Hedges went 1-for-4 with a solo home run and a walk in Wednesday's 11-10 win over the Twins.

Hedges had gone 0-for-7 in his last three games, but he was able to snap the skid with a fifth-inning blast to left field. This was the catcher's first extra-base hit in June, and he's gone 7-for-36 (.194) this month. That's actually an improvement given his season slash line of .165/.225/.281 with five homers, 15 RBI, 13 runs scored and a stolen base in 47 contests overall.

Kirk went 2-for-5 with a solo home run and an additional RBI during Wednesday's 9-5 win against the White Sox.

Kirk delivered an RBI single during the opening frame to start the scoring, and he followed up with a solo shot to center field during the third inning. The 23-year-old has gone deep in two straight games and is hitting .313 with five home runs, 13 RBI, 15 runs and a 10:10 BB:K through 18 contests in June.

Perez (thumb), who is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Angels, is awaiting the results of an MRI he underwent earlier in the day, Lynn Worthy of The Kansas City Star reports.

The 32-year-old aggravated his sprained left thumb during Tuesday's game, and his outlook is up in the air with the MRI results not yet known. Perez spent 10 days on the shelf with the injury in May, but it's unclear if he'll require a trip to the injured list this time around.

Bethancourt isn't starting Wednesday's game against the Mariners.

Bethancourt went 0-for-4 in Tuesday's series opener against Seattle and will be out of the lineup for the second time in the last three games. Stephen Vogt is starting at first base and batting seventh.

Raleigh, who went 1-for-1 with a double and two walks in a win over the Athletics on Tuesday, is hitting .245 with four doubles, four home runs, nine RBI, seven walks, a hit by pitch and six runs across 17 games in June.

The young backstop still carries an abysmal .185 average and .274 on-base percentage, but he has a serviceable .429 slugging percentage thanks to 13 of his 22 hits having gone for extra bases. Raleigh had only one double-digit homer season in the minors -- he tallied 22 round trippers for High-A Modesto back in 2019 -- yet he's displayed a knack for consistently impactful contact by lacing at least 40.0 percent of his hits for extra bases in six professional stops, including his two big-league stints thus far.

Ruiz is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Orioles, Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com reports.

The Nationals are off Thursday, so Ruiz will effectively be in line for a two-day break after he was behind the plate for each of the team's last four games. Riley Adams will start at catcher and hit eighth.

Perez (thumb) isn't starting Wednesday against the Angels.

Perez exited Tuesday's matchup against the Angels after appearing to aggravate his left thumb injury, and he'll be out of the lineup for at least one game. Whether he's available off the bench remains to be seen, but MJ Melendez will start behind the dish while Hunter Dozier serves as the designated hitter.

Heineman is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Cubs.

Heineman is sitting for the third time in four games, and manager Derek Shelton looks like he may prefer to ride the hotter bat between his two catchers rather than anointing one as the clear top option. Michael Perez will be rewarded with another turn behind the dish after popping a home run in Tuesday's 7-1 win, but he still has more work to do to separate himself from Heineman as the two battle for playing time. Both have been equally unproductive this season, with Perez having supplied a .435 OPS while Heineman sits on a .432 mark.

Reds manager David Bell said Wednesday that Stephenson no longer needs a cast to protect his fractured right thumb, Charlie Goldsmith of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

Though the skipper noted Stephenson is "healing properly," the backstop remains without a clear timeline to resume baseball activities. When he first sustained the thumb injury June 9, Stephenson was projected to miss 4-to-6 weeks, so fantasy managers shouldn't count on him returning from the 10-day injured list until shortly before the All-Star break in a best-case scenario.