MLB Player News

Smith (oblique) was placed on the 7-day injured list at Triple-A Oklahoma City on Friday, retroactive to June 26, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports.

With an OPS north of 1.000 with Oklahoma City and three homers in his small MLB sample (29 plate appearances), Smith has surpassed fellow Dodgers catching prospect Keibert Ruiz in the minds of many evaluators, and some even felt he would be an upgrade over Austin Barnes as the starter in Los Angeles. However, Smith's stellar season has been interrupted by a strained right oblique muscle and there is currently no timetable for his return.

Moreno went 2-for-4 with a solo home run for Low-A Lansing on Thursday.

The 19-year-old was deemed ready for full-season ball in mid-May and promoted from extended spring training, and all Moreno has done since is slash .298/.364/.524 through 35 games with six homers, 22 RBI and a surprising four steals. Even more impressive has been his minuscule 10.7 percent strikeout rate. Signed out of Venezuela in 2016, Moreno is a converted shortstop who appears to be adapting well defensively behind the plate, and his hit tool and developing power stroke give the Jays' No. 13 fantasy prospect some very intriguing upside.

Jansen went 3-for-4 with a pair of solo home runs in a losing effort versus Boston on Thursday.

Jansen went deep in his first two at-bats of the game, blasting a long ball over the center field fence in the second and fourth innings. The multi-homer game was the first of his career and extended his current home-run streak to three consecutive games. The three-hit performance was also notable as it lifted Jansen's batting average above the Mendoza Line for the first time since May 1.

Sanchez went 1-for-5 with a three-run home run in the Yankees' 8-4 extra-inning victory over the Rays on Thursday.

The backstop provided the decisive blow in this contest, cranking a mammoth three-run blast off Emilio Pagan in the 10th inning for his 24th homer of the season. After a down 2018, Sanchez is back to his prolific power-hitting ways so far this season, as he's slashing .251/.320/.574 with 57 RBI through 273 plate appearances.

Contreras went 3-for-5 with a double, two-run home run and three RBI on Thursday against the Pirates.

Contreras delivered his 18th home run of the season in the third inning, taking Jordan Lyles deep. He collected his third RBI of the contest on a groundout in sixth inning, putting the Cubs up 10-3. It was the second consecutive multi-hit effort for Contreras, and he's now hitting .294/.386/.571 across 293 plate appearances for the season.

Mejia remains on the bench Thursday against the Dodgers.

Mejia owns an .861 OPS in 11 games since returning from the minors, dragging his season mark up to .615. Austin Hedges and his .557 OPS will start behind the plate Thursday.

Barnes is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Padres.

Barnes went 2-for-7 with a double in the last two games but will head to the bench for the series opener. Russell Martin will start behind the plate and bat eighth Thursday.

Garver is not in the lineup for Thursday's game against the A's.

Garver will take a seat in favor of Jason Castro after starting Wednesday -- alternating starts is pretty much standard procedure for these two. With a .286 average, 12 homers, 30 runs and 34 RBI, Garver has been a top-10 catcher in earned fantasy value so far this season.

Plawecki will start at catcher and bat seventh Thursday against the Royals.

He'll be spelling top backstop Roberto Perez, who is receiving a maintenance day after three consecutive turns behind the dish. Perez's quality defense and surprising emergence as a power source this season should keep him locked into a heavy volume of starts every week, leaving minimal opportunities available for Plawecki.

Perez is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Royals.

Perez went 2-for-3 with a home run, triple, walk, two RBI and two runs Wednesday in the Indians' 4-0 win over the Royals. Now up to 15 home runs on the campaign, Perez has almost doubled up his previous career-best total (eight) from any of his prior five seasons in the majors. His 28.5 percent strikeout rate will continue to make him a batting-average risk, but the power he provides behind the plate is enough to make him a worthy roster option even in most leagues that start only one catcher. Kevin Plawecki will step in as the Indians' backstop in the series finale in what amounts to a maintenance day for Perez.