MLB Player News

Plawecki went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI on Sunday in the Indians' 9-8 loss to the Royals in 10 innings.

Plawecki put the Indians on the board with a two-run shot off Royals starter Eric Skoglund in the third inning, then tied the game in the seventh with an RBI single. The backstop was making just his second start in seven games and isn't expected to see his playing time dramatically increase moving forward with Roberto Perez locked in as Cleveland's top catcher.

Maldonado went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run in Sunday's 11-2 win over the Angels.

This was a 2-1 game in the seventh inning when Maldonado's two-run homer provided breathing room for the Astros, who later went on to plate seven runs in the eighth inning to make it a blowout. He's hitting just .162 (6-for-37) since joining Houston, but three of his six hits have left the yard.

Jansen is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Mariners, Greg Johns of MLB.com reports.

Reese McGuire gets another turn behind the dish while Jansen rests in the series finale. Jansen has gone hitless in 11 at-bats over his last four games, which has hurt his case for gaining hold of a larger portion of the timeshare at catcher.

Smith is not in the lineup for Sunday's game versus the Yankees, J.P. Hoornstra of the Los Angeles Daily News reports.

Smith started the first two games of the series and went 1-for-7 with four strikeouts and a walk, and he'll receive a breather Sunday night. Austin Barnes will start behind the plate and bat eighth in the series finale.

Rogers is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Twins, Chris McCosky of The Detroit News reports.

Rogers is just receiving some routine maintenance after making each of the past three starts at catcher. John Hicks steps in behind the plate in the series finale, working in a battery with Matthew Boyd.

McCann is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Rangers.

McCann will essentially get two days off with the White Sox off the schedule Monday before returning to action Tuesday against the Twins. Welington Castillo will check in behind the plate in place of McCann, who went 0-for-8 with four strikeouts in the previous two contests.

Thaiss is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Astros, Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register reports.

After going 2-for-8 with a double while starting the first two games of the series, the lefty-hitting Thaiss will take a seat for the finale with southpaw Framber Valdez on the bump for Houston. David Fletcher will slide over to third base while Thaiss sits, opening up the keystone for Luis Rengifo.

Caratini is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Nationals.

Caratini went 1-for-4 with a run scored and two strikeouts Saturday and will return to the bench for the series finale. Jonathan Lucroy will start behind the plate and bat sixth Sunday.

D'Arnaud is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Orioles, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

D'Arnaud will sit for the second time in the four-game series while Mike Zunino logs a turn behind the dish. The backstop has slowed down a bit in August with a .206/.278/.238 slash line across 18 games, but he still appears locked in as the Rays' preferred option behind the dish.

Perez is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Royals, Lynn Worthy of The Kansas City Star reports.

Perez is batting just .138/.219/.259 in August, but his excellent track record as a defender will continue to make him the Tribe's top option behind the plate. He'll just be getting some maintenance for the afternoon contest after drawing the past two starts at catcher. Kevin Plawecki will fill in for Perez in the series finale.