MLB Player News

Vazquez (hamstring) will sit Friday against Baltimore.

Vazquez left Wednesday's game with hamstring tightness and did not appear in Thursday's contest. It remains to be seen whether he'll make another appearance before the end of the year. Juan Centeno will start behind the plate Friday.

Sanchez (groin) is expected to start Friday's game against the Rangers and catch four or five innings, Brendan Kuty of The Newark Star-Ledger reports.

Sanchez has been out since suffering a left groin strain Sept. 12, but it looks as though he'll be able to get some work in during the final series of the regular season. The 26-year-old is expected to play one additional game this weekend to help get back up to speed after missing the past two weeks.

Barnhart will sit Friday in Pittsburgh.

Barnhart hits the bench for the second straight game. Curt Casali remains the starter behind the plate.

McCann went 1-for-3 with a three-run home run and a walk in an 8-0 victory for the White Sox over the Indians on Thursday.

The backstop got his 18th long ball of the season, touching up Aaron Civale with a three-run blast in the fourth inning. McCann has provided excellent production at a position where it can be hard to find it this season, sporting a solid .274/.329/.462 slash line with 60 RBI and 26 doubles in addition to the 18 long balls in 118 games.

Thaiss will head to the Dominican Republic to play winter ball during the major-league offseason, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.

Thaiss will use his time in the Dominican Republic to continue working on his skills at third base. The 24-year-old has appeared in 51 games for the Angels this season, hitting .193 with six homers and 19 RBI in 140 at-bats.

Thaiss is not in the lineup Thursday against the Astros.

Thaiss will head to the bench for a second straight game with a left-hander in Wade Miley starting for the Astros on Thursday. Kaleb Cowart is once again starting at third base in his place, hitting eighth.

Contreras is not starting Thursday against the Pirates.

The Cubs are resting most of their starters for Thursday's series finale with no shot left at making the playoffs. Jonathan Lucroy is starting behind the dish in this one.

Nola entered Wednesday's loss to the Astros as a defensive replacement in the eighth inning and singled with one out in the ninth to break up Zach Greinke's no-hitter.

The rookie played spoiler in the shutout loss and snapped the 0-for-14 funk that had encompassed his four prior games in the process. Nola has slowed down considerably since a red-hot first month and a half at the big-league level (80-point drop in batting average to .262 since Aug. 1), although he did spike for nine hits over a four-game period earlier in September.

Mejia is not in the lineup Thursday against the Dodgers.

Mejia has appeared in five games (three starts) since returning from an oblique injury, going 5-for-14 (.357) with two doubles and two RBI. Austin Hedges is starting behind the dish and hitting eighth in this one.

Vazquez (hamstring) is not in Thursday's lineup against the Rangers.

While he left Wednesday's game with hamstring tightness, Vazquez would have sat this game even if he were healthy, with it being a day game after a night game. It's unclear if he will be able to return this weekend against the Orioles.