MLB Player News

Diaz (illness) will begin a minor-league rehab assignment with High-A Bradenton on Thursday, Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic reports.

Diaz has been sidelined all season due to a viral illness, but he's finally ready to get back into game action. It's unclear how long the backstop will spend in the minors before being activated from the IL.

Sanchez is back in the lineup Wednesday, catching and hitting fourth against the Tigers.

Sanchez got his first day off of the season Tuesday, but he's back in action for this contest against Detroit. He'll be deployed in the cleanup role for the first time this year, as manager Aaron Boone will hope he can keep his power stroke going after going yard in his previous two starts.

Gallagher will sit out his fifth consecutive game with Martin Maldonado starting at catcher Wednesday.

Gallagher is yet to appear in a game as a starter or as a late-inning replacement with Maldonado spending the entire time behind the dish. Gallagher was initially expected to be the starter after veteran All-Star Salvador Perez underwent Tommy John surgery in March, but the Royals elected to go in a different direction after signing Maldonado at the end of spring training. For now, it looks like Gallagher's starts will be few and far between.

Jansen is not in the lineup Wednesday against the Orioles.

Jansen has started four of the Blue Jays' seven games so far this season. Luke Maile takes over behind the plate in his absence.

Gomes is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Phillies.

Gomes started the Nationals' previous two games behind the plate, so it's no surprise he'll get a reprieve in Wednesday's matinee contest. Kurt Suzuki checks into the lineup as Washington's starting catcher.

Casali is getting his first start of the season Wednesday against the Brewers, batting seventh in the lineup.

With the Reds carrying three catchers right now, it's been harder for Casali to get at-bats. He's 1-for-2 through the first four games so far.

Grandal is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Reds.

The Brewers are off Thursday before kicking off a three-game series with the Cubs in Milwaukee this weekend, so Grandal will effectively get two straight days of rest before re-entering the starting nine. Manny Pina will fill in for Grandal behind the dish in Wednesday's contest.

Barnhart is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Brewers.

Barnhart will get his first day off of 2019 after going 4-for-13 with a pair of walks and a run scored in the Reds' first four contests. Curt Casali checks in behind the plate in Barnhart's stead.

Vazquez went 1-for-3 with his first stolen base of the season in Tuesday's 1-0 loss to the A's.

The Red Sox couldn't get anything going with their bats, but they were busy on the basepaths, with Andrew Benintendi and Eduardo Nunez also swiping bags off Josh Phegley. Vazquez doesn't offer much fantasy upside, but he does stand out for his baserunning in the barren catcher pool -- the 28-year-old went 11-for-14 on steal attempts in 179 games over the last two seasons.

Mejia will start at catcher and hit seventh in Tuesday's game against the Diamondbacks.

It's the second start of the season for the 23-year-old backstop, who went 0-for-4 in his only other appearance against the Giants on March 30. Austin Hedges has drawn most of the action and is swinging the bat well with four hits in 11 at-bats, so he's drawing the majority of the workload at the outset of the season. Mejia had a standout spring at the plate, however, with a 1.005 OPS over 48 at-bats, and he'll look to transfer that over to the regular season and make a case for more starts.