MLB Player News

Grandal (lower back) said that he'll begin a minor-league rehab assignment at Double-A Birmingham on Wednesday, but he doesn't expect to be activated from the 10-day injured list until after the All-Star break, James Fegan of The Athletic reports.

Grandal intimated that the White Sox plan to send him on an extended rehab assignment while he looks to regain conditioning in addition to his timing at the plate after being sidelined for the past three weeks with lower-back spasms. He's expected to make most of his initial rehab starts as a designated hitter and is likely to stick around at Birmingham through the weekend. After that, Grandal is then expected to shift his rehab to Triple-A Charlotte at the beginning of next week, when he'll presumably pick up starts behind the plate and at first base. Before the back injury cropped up, Grandal had endured a tough start to the 2022 campaign; he's sitting on a .185/.294/.237 slash line with just two home runs and one stolen base in 201 plate appearances.

The Pirates activated Delay from the taxi squad Tuesday.

Delay will serve as the backup catcher while Tyler Heineman (paternity) is unavailable. The 27-year-old went 0-for-2 with a walk in his only big-league game so far this season.

The Pirates placed Heineman on the paternity list Tuesday.

Heineman will be away from the team for one to three games while on paternity leave. Jason Delay was called up from Triple-A Indianapolis to give the Pirates another catcher behind Michael Perez while Heineman is out.

D'Arnaud is on the bench Tuesday versus St. Louis.

This marks d'Arnaud's second omission from Atlanta's lineup in the last four games despite having hit .292 with a home run, four doubles and four RBI in his last 10. William Contreras is catching and batting seventh Tuesday.

The Reds designated Okey for assignment Tuesday.

The depth catcher went 2-for-12 with the Reds in June and doesn't figure to draw much interest on waivers, so chances are he'll remain with Triple-A Louisville.

Pinto will start at catcher and bat eighth in Tuesday's game against the Red Sox, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Pinto will stick in the lineup for the fourth time in six games and looks as though he's carving out more work behind the plate than anticipated following his call-up from Triple-A Durham on June 10 to help replace injured backstop Mike Zunino (shoulder). At the very least, Pinto is part of a timeshare at catcher with Francisco Mejia, who isn't holding up to his reputation as a bat-first backstop by producing a .629 OPS on the season.

Mejia is out of the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Red Sox, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Though Mejia will be sitting for the fourth time in six games, it's unclear if Rene Pinto has truly supplanted him on the depth chart at catcher. Just three days ago, Mejia supplied two home runs in a win over the Blue Jays, so the Rays likely won't completely pull the plug on him. Even so, Mejia -- who owns an unremarkable .629 OPS on the season -- may not have the massive workload behind the dish that some may have anticipated when No. 1 backstop Mike Zunino (shoulder) landed on the injured list June 10.

Barnhart is on the bench Tuesday against the Guardians.

Eric Haase will start at catcher in place of Barnhart, who has doubled in consecutive games but is hitting just .191 with three extra-base hits and four RBI since the beginning of June.

Raleigh went 1-for-5 with an RBI fielder's choice, a three-run double and a stolen base in a win over the Padres on Monday.

Raleigh's stat line was certainly a lopsided one in a positive way, with the backstop parlaying yet another extra-base hit into a three-RBI haul in the sixth inning. The 25-year-old is still chasing the Mendoza Line with a .194 average, but his solid .456 slugging percentage is the byproduct of having laced 21 of his 31 hits for extra bases.

Jeffers (thumb) went 0-for-4 in Monday's 6-3 extra-inning win over the White Sox.

Jeffers missed two games after suffering a right thumb contusion Friday versus the Orioles. Since a five-game hitting streak in June, the catcher has gone just 2-for-21 (.095). He's slashing .192/.276/.331 with five home runs, 20 RBI, 19 runs scored and nine doubles in 55 contests. Gary Sanchez's semi-regular presence at designated hitter should allow Jeffers fairly steady playing time despite his lackluster batting numbers.