MLB Player News

Mejia went 3-for-4 with a double and a run scored Friday against the Mariners.

Mejia was in the lineup for the first time since being activated from the COVID-19 list Thursday, having missed two weeks of action. He showed no signs of rust, knocking a single and coming around to score in his first plate appearance. Though Mejia has started only seven games this season due to his lengthy absence, he has at least one hit in five of those contests.

Sanchez isn't starting Saturday's game against Oakland.

Sanchez started in the last four games and went 4-for-13 with two doubles, a run, a walk and three strikeouts. Ryan Jeffers will take over behind the dish and bat seventh.

Manager Scott Servais said Friday that Murphy (shoulder) will be out for a while, Corey Brock of The Athletic reports.

Murphy was removed from Friday's loss to the Rays after sustaining a dislocated left shoulder, and the backstop will presumably land on the injured list following Servais' update. Cal Raleigh is a likely candidate to rejoin the major-league club as catching depth behind Luis Torrens.

Maldonado went 1-for-3 with a solo home run and a walk Friday against the Tigers.

Maldonado entered Friday's game hitless in his last 12 at-bats -- spanning five games -- while striking out at a 50 percent clip. However, he ended that dreadful stretch with a solo home run in the second inning to record his second long ball of the season. Maldonado is hitting just .088/.209/.211, though he remains Houston's primary catcher.

Murphy left Saturday's game against the Rays with a dislocated left shoulder.

He was recently dealing with neck spasms, and now he will presumably need a stint on the injured list. Luis Torrens replaced him behind the dish. Cal Raleigh could be summoned from Triple-A if Murphy is indeed set for an extended absence.

Murphy (neck) is starting at catcher and batting ninth Friday against the Rays.

The 31-year-old was scratched from Thursday's lineup with neck spasms, but his absence will be limited to only one game. Murphy has a .946 OPS for the season but is 0-for-8 with three walks and six strikeouts across his last six contests.

Vazquez is out of the lineup for Friday's game against the White Sox, Daryl Van Schouwen of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Vazquez is 4-for-22 over his past eight games and finds himself on the bench for the second straight contest. Kevin Plawecki, who has also struggled offensively this season with a .333 OPS, will start behind the plate in his place.

Perez isn't starting Friday against Cincinnati, Charlie Goldsmith of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

Perez started in three of the last four games and went 3-for-11 with a homer, two runs and two RBI. Andrew Knapp will start behind the dish and bat ninth.

Soderstrom is hitting just .156/.224/.338 with three homers, 10 RBI and eight runs across 22 games for High-A Lansing.

After wreaking havoc at Low-A Stockton last year, Soderstrom came into 2022 with great expectations and lofty rankings on a lot of prospect lists. However, the 2020 first-rounder has been lost at the plate to open the season, having collected just a single multi-hit game (in which he hit two of his three home runs) while seeing his walk rate sink to 7.5 percent and his strikeout rate climb to an alarming 30.0 percent. It's worth noting that Soderstrom, who was drafted as a catcher and mostly played behind the plate last year, has been used at first base or DH in five straight games. It's possible that this year's issues have to do with the strain of catching (which likely was responsible for ending his season prematurely last year) catching up to him, or perhaps due to a focus on adjusting to a new defensive position. Most analysts agree that his future isn't behind the plate, and perhaps making that move to a less stressful position will lead to better results. He did hit a 111 mph double while starting at first base Thursday, according to Lansing broadcaster Jesse Goldberg-Strassler, so perhaps that's a sign that he's starting to come around.

Ruiz went 2-for-5 with a double, a home run and two RBI in Thursday's loss to the Rockies.

The backstop took Jhoulys Chacin deep in the sixth inning for a solo shot, Ruiz's first homer of the year. The 23-year-old has six hits in his last three games including two doubles, pushing his slash line on the season up to .275/.306/.388 with five runs and nine RBI through 21 contests.