MLB Player News

Barnes is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Dodgers, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports.

Barnes had been behind the plate for each of the past three games, so he'll be granted a routine maintenance day in the series finale. The time off could prove useful for Barnes, who has seen his season average plummet to .190 while recording one hit in 29 at-bats over his last 10 games.

McCann served as the cleanup hitter and went 3-for-5 with a run scored in Wednesday's 4-3 loss to the Orioles.

McCann's normally down in the lower third of the batting order but was moved up Wednesday with Yonder Alonso getting the day off. This is unlikely a permanent move for the catcher, who is slugging .535 thus far in 2019 but has a career .370 slugging percentage.

Sanchez (calf) is starting at catcher and batting fourth in Wednesday's game against the Angels.

Sanchez will return to the starting lineup after missing 11 games due to a calf strain. Austin Romine, who was the primary starter with Sanchez on the mend, will return to the bench. Sanchez was batting .268/.333/.732 with six home runs before his injury and will look to continue providing power to the middle of the Yankees' order with sluggers Giancarlo Stanton (biceps) and Aaron Judge (oblique) on the 10-day injured list.

Contreras went 1-for-3 with a double, a walk, three RBI and a run in Tuesday's 7-2 win over the Dodgers.

Contreras padded his RBI total with a bases-clearing double in the first inning, staking the Cubs to an early lead in the wire-to-wire victory. After an ugly second half in 2018, Contreras has re-emerged as a top-flight fantasy catcher through the early portion of the current season. Entering play Tuesday, Contreras' six home runs, 16 RBI, 14 runs and .322 average all rank no worse than third among all backstops who have logged at least 50 plate appearances.

Higashioka was optioned to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Wednesday.

Higashioka will head back to the minors to make room for Gary Sanchez (calf), who was activated from the injured list Wednesday. The backstop appeared in four games during his time with the big club, going 3-for-12 with a pair of doubles and six strikeouts in those contests.

Sanchez (calf) was activated off the injured list Wednesday.

Sanchez's absence due to a calf strain wound up lasting just a few days longer than the minimum. He was hitting .268 with six homers in 11 games prior to the injury. His return pushes Austin Romine back to the bench and sends Kyle Higashioka to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

Gomes is not in the lineup Wednesday against the Rockies.

Gomes will head to the bench for Wednesday's series finale after starting the previous two games and going 0-for-7 with a pair of strikeouts in the process. Kurt Suzuki is starting behind the dish and hitting fifth in this one.

Hedges is not in the lineup Wednesday against the Mariners.

Hedges remains the clear starter behind the plate in San Diego, getting the call 16 times compared to nine for Francisco Mejia. Mejia starts Wednesday but has yet to start in back-to-back contests this season, so expect Hedges back in action Friday against the Nationals.

Perez is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Marlins, Mandy Bell of MLB.com reports.

Perez is just picking up some rest with the Tribe playing a day game after a night game. Kevin Plawecki will handle catching duties in the series finale.

Maldonado is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Rays.

Maldonado will get a breather in the series finale one day after going yard for the first time this season. Cam Gallagher checks in behind the plate and will work in a battery with Jakob Junis.