MLB Player News

Jeffers is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Dodgers.

With the Dodgers and Twins playing a day game after a night game in the series finale, Jeffers will be getting a breather after he spent all nine innings of Tuesday's 7-2 loss behind the dish. Gary Sanchez will pick up his third start of the season at catcher Wednesday after serving as the Twins' designated hitter Tuesday.

Maldonado is out of the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Diamondbacks.

Maldonado is 0-for-9 with three walks and two runs through his first three appearances of the season and will head to the bench Tuesday. Jason Castro will start behind the plate in his place.

Blue Jays manager Charlie Montoyo said Tuesday that he expects Jansen (oblique) to miss "several weeks," Arden Zwelling of Sportsnet.ca reports.

The skipper's comments imply that Jansen is dealing with at least a moderate strain of his left oblique, an injury he likely picked up during the Blue Jays' season-opening series with the Rangers. While Jansen is out, Montoyo said he plans to take a matchups-based approach to the catcher position. Alejandro Kirk is the leading candidate to see the bulk of the playing time behind the dish, but on the occasions he rests or serves as a designated hitter, the Blue Jays will turn to Zack Collins and Tyler Heineman to make starts at catcher.

Gallagher will start at catcher and bat ninth Tuesday against the Cardinals.

The Royals will give top backstop Salvador Perez a day out of the field and deploy him at designated hitter, opening up catching duties for Gallagher for the first time all season. Perez is expected to handle one of the bigger workloads among all No. 1 catchers this season, so Gallagher may struggle to get more than one start even in seven-game weeks when Perez is healthy.

Murphy went 1-for-4 with an RBI fielder's choice, a triple, a hit-by-pitch and a run in a win over the Rays on Monday.

Murphy has followed up an impressive spring at the plate with just two hits in his first 18 plate appearances; however, both knocks have gone for extra bases, as the backstop also laced a double Opening Day against the Phillies. The 27-year-old has also struck out on six occasions, however, whiffing at least once in each of the Athletics' first four games.

Stassi went 1-for-1 with three walks and scored twice in a 6-2 win over Miami on Monday.

Stassi helped ignite the Angels' offense by getting on base in each of his four plate appearances. The backstop entered the contest having gone 1-for-6 on the season but boosted his OBP to .500 with the patient performance Monday. Stassi has started behind the plate in three of the team's first five contests to begin the campaign.

Contreras was optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett on Monday.

Contreras made the Opening Day roster, as Atlanta needed a third option behind the plate while Manny Pina battled a minor wrist issue. Pina made his season debut Monday, so Contreras is no longer needed.

Amaya (elbow) won't catch this season, but he may be able to DH by midsummer, Jim Callis of MLB.com reports.

He had Tommy John surgery in November, which is why he won't be catching. However, as a position player, he won't require the typical 14-to-16 months to return to game action. He should be a full go as a catcher in 2023.

Tromp was designated for assignment by Atlanta on Tuesday.

Tromp owns a 64 wRC+ in 33 career major-league games and is behind three other catchers on Atlanta's organizational depth chart. It's no surprise that he'll be the one to make way on the 40-man roster for Bryce Elder, whose contract was selected ahead of his MLB debut.

Raleigh is out of the lineup for Tuesday's game against the White Sox, James Fegan of The Athletic reports.

The Mariners have rolled out a three-man rotation at catcher to begin the season, with Raleigh and Luis Torrens both picking up two turns behind the plate while Tom Murphy has started once. Raleigh's superior defense might be enough to give him the edge over Torrens as the nominal No. 1 option, but the 25-year-old backstop may need to show some improvement at the plate to maintain his spot atop the depth chart. Through his first 154 plate appearances in the big leagues, Raleigh is slashing .182/.234/.308 with a 35.1 percent strikeout rate.