MLB Player News

Mesoraco experienced tightness in his hamstring following his start Saturday against the Cubs and is out of the lineup for Sunday's series finale, Matt Ehalt of The Bergen Record reports.

The Mets didn't recall an extra catcher from the minor-league ranks prior to Sunday's contest, indicating that the hamstring issue isn't much of a concern for Mesoraco. With the Mets off the schedule Monday, Mesoraco will benefit from two full days of rest and could be ready to check in behind the plate for Tuesday's showdown with the Orioles.

Narvaez is out of the lineup Sunday against the Brewers.

Narvaez will get a breather after starting the last four games behind the dish, during which he went 2-for-13 to sink his season average to .179. Alfredo Gonzalez will catch for White Sox right-hander Dylan Covey in the series finale.

Casali went 2-for-3 with a walk and a solo home run in Saturday's loss to the Padres.

Acquired via trade with the Rays on Thursday, Casali was making his first start in a Reds uniform. He homered in his first at-bat with his new club and later added a single. The 29-year-old did flash some pop during his days in Tampa Bay, but he will likely be limited to two or three starts per week behind Tucker Barnhart in Cincinnati, limiting him to NL-only consideration.

Vazquez went 1-for-3 with a walk and a solo home run in Saturday's 5-4 win over the Astros.

Vazquez, who entered the game hitting .188, was the unlikely trigger in Boston's come-from-behind win. His seventh-inning home run, his first of the season, tied the game before Andrew Benintendi delivered the go-ahead runs two batters later with a two-run bomb. Vazquez has recently been losing playing time to backup Sandy Leon primarily due to a season-long slump that's kept his batting average below .200 for the last 28 days. Leon, meanwhile, has emerged from his slump and is hitting .253.

Maile went 2-for-2 with a solo homer, a double, a walk and an additional run scored in Saturday's loss to the Tigers.

Maile doubled and scored in the third inning to tie the game at 1-1 before putting the Blue Jays up 3-2 in the fifth inning with a solo shot, his third homer of the season. He broke out of an 0-for-20 skid with his two-hit performance Saturday, and he's now hitting .272 with an .813 OPS through 29 games this season.

Barnhart is out of Saturday's lineup against the Padres.

Since the start of May, Barnhart is hitting .287/.340/.402 with one home run in 87 at-bats. Curt Casali is starting behind the dish and hitting seventh.

Barnes went 1-for-4 with a walk and a pair of runs scored in Friday's win over the Rockies.

Yasmani Grandal got the night off against left-hander Tyler Anderson, allowing Barnes to make his second start of the week. The 28-year-old has been unable to reproduce the breakout numbers he posted in 2017, which has limited his fantasy utility in the first third of the season. Barnes is still receiving occasional starts as a backup at both catcher and second base, so the opportunity is there for him to rebound if his bat wakes up as the weather heats up.

Gomes will take a seat for Saturday's matchup against the Twins, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reports.

Gomes will get a breather Saturday after three straight starts behind the dish for the Indians, ceding the duties to Roberto Perez. He seems a good bet to rejoin the starting nine for Sunday's series finale, looking to heat up a bat that has gone stagnant in the past couple of weeks.

McCann is not in the lineup for Saturday's game against the Blue Jays, Jason Beck of MLB.com reports.

McCann has seen the vast majority of starts behind the dish for the Tigers this season, but the recent return of Miguel Cabrera combined with John Hicks' impact with the bat could lead to more frequent days off in the future. However, McCann is no slouch at the dish either, batting .259/.313/.380 with four home runs and 19 RBI.

Leon started a second straight game for the first time this season and went 1-for-4 in Friday's 7-3 loss to the Astros.

Leon's started eight of the last 15 games, a greater rate of playing time than he was getting at the start of the season, when he played just 10 of the first 30 games. The change in playing time at catcher appears to be due to Leon's bat heating up. He's gone 15-for-39 (.385) over the last 12 games to raise his batting average to .253 while Christian Vazquez continues to slump at .188.