MLB Player News

Leon is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Yankees, Ian Browne of MLB.com reports.

Leon started both of the first two games of the series, going 0-for-2 in Friday's opener and 3-for-3 with two RBI in Saturday's 5-3 loss. Despite the uptick in work, Leon still appears to be the clear No. 2 option at catcher behind Christian Vazquez, who will re-enter the lineup Sunday.

Hedges is not in the lineup for Sunday's game versus the Marlins.

Hedges started the last five contests but will be handed a breather after going 2-for-15 with a double and eight strikeouts. Austin Allen will start behind the plate and bat eighth in the series finale.

Barnes (groin) will begin a two-game rehab assignment at High-A Rancho Cucamonga this week before returning to the Dodgers to start Friday, Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times reports.

Barnes landed on the injured list May 27 with the left groin issue, so the 29-year-old may need only a quick rehab stint. He was 7-for-16 with two doubles and four RBI in the five games prior to suffering the injury.

Jansen is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Rockies, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca reports.

With Jansen failing to catch fire at the plate at any point through the first two-plus months of the season, he's fallen into a timeshare at catcher with Luke Maile. Fortunately for Jansen, Maile has been even more unimpressive in a more limited sample of at-bats, logging a .476 OPS to Jansen's .500. At this point, Toronto seems content to let Jansen work through his struggles at the big-league level.

Smith is out of the lineup for Sunday's series finale against the Phillies, J.P. Hoornstra of the Los Angeles Daily News reports.

The Dodgers will continue the trend of sitting Smith every third game, despite his walkoff home run in Saturday. According to David Vassegh of AM 570 LA Sports, manager Dave Roberts reiterated that the Dodgers will not carry three catchers when Austin Barnes (groin) returns from the injured list, meaning Smith will likely return to Triple-A Oklahoma City to receive consistent at-bats.

Gallagher will start at catcher and bat seventh Sunday against the Rangers, Joel Goldberg of FOX Sports Kansas City reports.

Gallagher will pick up his 16th start of the season with top backup Martin Maldonado dealing with forearm tightness, which forced his early departure in Saturday's 6-2 loss. Maldonado expects to be good to go following Monday's off day, so Gallagher likely won't be in store for a major boost in playing time in the near future. Gallagher is hitting just .161 over 61 plate appearances this season and probably won't provide much fantasy value even if he ascends into a full-time role at some point.

Maldonado (forearm) is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Rangers, Joel Goldberg of FOX Sports Kansas City reports.

Maldonado was forced to exit Saturday's 6-2 loss early due to forearm tightness, resulting in backup Cam Gallagher entering the contest in his stead. Gallagher will pick up a start behind the dish Sunday, but Maldonado downplayed the injury and said he expects to rejoin the lineup Tuesday against the Red Sox coming off a team off day, per Lynn Worthy of The Kansas City Star. With a meager .211/.309/.289 slash line over 163 plate appearances this season, Maldonado brings most of his value to the Royals on the defensive end.

Plawecki is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the White Sox.

Since top backstop Roberto Perez returned last weekend after a brief absence due to a concussion, Plawecki has settled into the clear No. 2 role behind the plate. After starting in Saturday's 5-2 win, Plawecki will head to the bench for the fifth time in seven games.

Stubbs will start against Oakland on Sunday with Gerrit Cole on the mound, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

This will be Stubbs' second start since being called up from Triple-A Round Rock as a replacement for the injured Max Stassi (knee). He had a pair of hits, including a double, and an RBI in his previous start, which was his MLB debut. Robinson Chirinos, who has started seven of the last eight games, gets a well-deserved break.

Knizner will make his major-league debut Sunday versus the Cubs, catching and batting eighth.

Knizner had his contract purchased from Triple-A Memphis on Friday after Yadier Molina (thumb) landed on the injured list, and he only had to wait a couple days to enter the big-league lineup. The 24-year-old was slashing .286/.355/.450 with five home runs prior to his promotion from Triple-A.