MLB Player News

D'Arnaud (thumb) joined Atlanta to begin its current road and participated in various baseball activities, Paul Casella of MLB.com reports.

While it's an encouraging sign for the veteran catcher, d'Arnaud still has a lot of steps ahead in his recovery. "He's going to need to take live BPs, and obviously, play some rehab games and all that kind of stuff," manager Brian Snitker said Thursday. "It's a good sign, I think, that he's accelerating his activity. But still, you're not going to rush something like this. They'll be able to tell when he is ready. It's just about the strength and repetitions, and seeing how his body handles all that again." While the club hasn't offered a concrete timetable for his recovery, a mid-August return to the lineup seems within reach for d'Arnaud.

Nola (knee) went 0-for-3 with a pair of walks in Thursday's 3-2 win over Miami.

Nola missed nearly two months with a sprained knee, although he got on base twice in his first game back. The 31-year-old is batting just .204 through 19 games this season, but Victor Caratini hit only .215 in Nola's absence. As such, San Diego's catchers may split time more evenly going forward unless one of them gets hot with the bat.

Haase went 1-for-4 with a three-run home run in Thursday's win over the Rangers.

Haase got the scoring started early in Detroit's seventh straight win, taking Texas starter Mike Foltynewicz deep in the first inning with a pair of runners on. Haase now has 15 home runs and 32 RBI this season, which are both career highs by a significant margin. While he was seeing regular time in the outfield, Haase should play more frequently at catcher moving forward with Jake Rogers (forearm) expected to be out for a while.

Raleigh isn't in the lineup Thursday against the Athletics.

Raleigh will be out of the lineup for the third time in the last four games after he went 2-for-15 with a double, two RBI and a run across his first four major-league appearances. Tom Murphy will take over behind the plate and bat sixth.

Caratini is not in the lineup Thursday against the Marlins, Kevin Acee of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

Austin Nola (knee) will receive the start in his first game back from the injured list, pushing Caratini to the bench. Caratini will see a drop in playing time, though there's a chance he and Nola could split work behind the plate.

Yankees manager Aaron Boone said Thursday that Higashioka (illness) could be ready to rejoin the team and return to action early next week for New York's series in Tampa Bay, Brendan Kuty of The Newark Star-Ledger reports.

Both Aaron Judge and Higashioka appear to be on similar timelines to return from the COVID-19 injured list after the two were deactivated when they tested positive for the virus coming out of the All-Star break. Once reinstated from the IL, Higashioka will settle in as the No. 2 catcher behind Gary Sanchez.

Nola (knee) was activated from the 10-day injured list Thursday.

The 31-year-old has been on the shelf since late May with a sprained knee, and he'll rejoin the active roster for Thursday's series opener against the Marlins. Nola has been limited to 18 games this season due to injury and has a .217/.373/.326 slash line in 59 plate appearances. He saw some work at first base during his rehab assignment, and now that he's healthy he should share catching duties with Victor Caratini.

Manager Aaron Boone said Sanchez is being held out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Red Sox after getting "dinged up" in Wednesday's 6-5 win over the Phillies, Brendan Kuty of The Newark Star-Ledger reports.

Boone noted that Sanchez is available to pinch hit and is on track to catch Gerrit Cole in Friday's contest, so the backstop looks to be receiving more of a maintenance day than anything. Even so, fantasy players will want to confirm Sanchez is starting Friday before deploying him in DFS contests or leagues with daily lineup moves.

Sanchez is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Red Sox.

Rob Brantly will form a battery with starting pitcher Jordan Montgomery while Sanchez gets a breather in the series opener. Through 12 games in July, Sanchez has gone 6-for-44 (.136 average) with three home runs, eight runs and seven RBI.

Realmuto isn't starting Thursday against Atlanta.

Realmuto had started each of the last five games and went 6-for-22 with a home run, a double, four RBI and two runs. Andrew Knapp will start behind the dish and bat eighth.