MLB Player News

Manager Ned Yost said Maldonado would make his Cactus League debut Tuesday against the Cubs, Lynn Worthy of The Kansas City Star reports.

A late arrival to spring training after waiting until last weekend to sign with Kansas City, Maldonado is being eased into action with the big club. Since reporting to camp, Maldonado has caught in two minor-league games, with his most recent appearance coming Saturday. Maldonado is on track to serve as the Royals' primary catcher this season, though his workload could be monitored more carefully in the first few weeks of the campaign.

The Yankees optioned Higashioka to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Saturday.

Higashioka's demotion signals that the Yankees will roll with Austin Romine as their top backup to No. 1 catcher Gary Sanchez to begin the season. While Sanchez missed time due to injury in 2018, Higashioka shared work behind the plate with Romine and slashed .167/.241/.319 across 79 plate appearances.

Contreras (finger) is expected to rejoin the Cubs' Cactus League lineup for one of the team's split-squad games Tuesday versus either the Mariners or Royals, Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune reports.

The Cubs confirmed that Contreras was scratched from the starting nine for Saturday's game versus the Diamondbacks due to a right ring finger issue. Contreras sustained the minor injury when he took a foul ball off his hand in his last appearance Thursday, but the Cubs are optimistic that he'll only need a few extra days off to make a full recovery. Contreras was at least able to do some throwing without incident Saturday, per Jordan Bastian of MLB.com.

Contreras was scratched from the lineup for Saturday's Cactus League game against the Diamondbacks due to an apparent right hand injury, Jordan Bastian of MLB.com reports.

During his last spring appearance Thursday, Contreras looked to be in some pain after taking a foul ball off his hand, so the Cubs are likely just exercising precaution by holding him out of action for a second straight day. Unless the team relays information to the contrary, Contreras is considered day to day and should be back in action in short order.

Gomes went 2-for-4 with two home runs and four RBI in Friday's Grapefruit League game against the Mets.

He blasted a three-run homer off Steven Matz in the first inning, then followed it up with a solo shot in the third off depth bullpen arm Eric Hanhold. Gomes sports a robust .375/.400/.792 slash line with three home run over 25 plate appearances this spring, but his 1:7 BB:K suggests a regular-season batting average closer to his .248 career mark is far more likely.

Sanchez was assigned to minor-league camp Friday.

Sanchez never seemed to have much chance to capitalize on his big-league camp invitation and make the roster over either Isiah Kiner-Falefa or Jeff Mathis. The 30-year-old hasn't appeared in more than three major-league games in a season since 2014.

Maile went 0-for-2 in Thursday's Grapefruit League game against the Yankees, dropping his spring batting average to .095 (2-for-21).

Offense isn't exactly Maile's calling card -- last year's .699 OPS in 68 games for the Jays was a career high -- so despite his spring struggles, his role as the backup to Danny Jansen doesn't appear to be in any jeopardy, especially with Reese McGuire also failing to make a good impression at the plate in camp.

D'Arnaud went 0-for-3 at the plate, and 0-for-2 throwing out base stealers, in Thursday's Grapefruit League game against the Cardinals.

It was his first work behind the plate with the big-league club since undergoing Tommy John surgery last year. While d'Arnaud's throws to second base didn't get the job done, the fact that he was able to make them at all was an encouraging step in his recovery. He remains in a camp battle with Devin Mesoraco for the Mets' No. 2 catching job.

Wynns (oblique) was cleared for on-field batting practice Friday, Roch Kubatko of MASN Sports reports.

Wynns has been hitting in the batting cage throughout the week as he recovers from a left oblique issue. The 28-year-old has been out of action for a little over a week, but appears to be nearing his return to spring games.

Wallach went 2-for-3 with a home run, two RBI, two runs scored and a walk Thursday against Houston.

Wallach drove in a run during the second inning on a single and went deep in the third. The 27-year-old backstop has gone 3-for-12 in spring games and could see substantial playing time at the beginning of the regular season depending on Jorge Alfaro's (knee) health.