MLB Player News

Moore is on the disabled list with a right shin contusion, The Athletic Philadelphia reports.

The Phillies have three catchers at the Triple-A level, so it's possible that the injury is just an excuse to clear space on a crowded roster. The 27-year-old is a candidate to fill a bench role if one of the Phillies' major-league catchers gets injured, but he has just a .234/.299/.351 line in parts of four seasons at the Triple-A level, so his fantasy value will likely be minimal if he ever gets called up.

Vazquez has a three-game hitting streak after going 2-for-4 with an RBI and run scored in Thursday's 11-5 loss to the Rangers.

The three-game run pushed Vazquez back up to the Mendoza Line (.200), as the catcher is making nowhere near the impact he did in 2017. His BABIP has tanked this season, so fantasy owners can hang a hat on good luck coming back to Vazquez, but there's also the real possibility that he isn't the .290 hitter we saw in 2017 and closer to the .233 hitter the previous two seasons. At any rate, Vazquez will continue to play regularly, per Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald, as manager Alex Cora indicated no changes are coming for Boston's catchers, which rank last in MLB with a -0.7 WAR.

Barnes went 1-for-2 with two walks, a solo home run and two runs scored Thursday against the Diamondbacks.

Barnes took advantage of an opportunity to start behind the plate, driving his first home run of the season to left field. He has seen sporadic playing time with only 46 at-bats through 31 games. While he has an ugly .196 batting average, he has been able to get on base at a .413 clip and has walked more than he has struck out. However, due to his limited playing time, he is tough to roster outside of deep two-catcher leagues.

Perez went 2-for-4 with a double and a two-run homer in Thursday's win over Detroit.

He also drew a walk and scored two of the Royals' 10 runs. The homer was his second in 11 games since he was activated from the disabled list. Perez's late-March knee injury was a buzzkill, but fantasy owners are now reaping the benefits with Perez playing close to every day and batting .304/.340/.500.

Perez was added to the Rangers' official roster Thursday.

Texas designated Juan Centeno for assignment to clear a roster spot for the recently acquired Perez. It should be noted that Perez's calling card is his defensive prowess rather than his bat; Perez was just 3-for-21 at the dish before being DFA'd by the Braves last week. He'll immediately be available and should slide into a role as Robinson Chirinos' backup.

Grandal is out of the lineup against Arizona on Thursday, Alanna Rizzo of SportsNet LA reports.

Grandal will retreat to the bench for a standard day off following five straight starts behind the plate. In his place, Austin Barnes will catch Alex Wood and bat fifth in the order.

Maldonado fell a triple short of the cycle Wednesday, going 3-for-4 with a double, a home run, two RBI and three runs scored in a 10-7 win over Baltimore.

It was Maldonado's second consecutive three-hit performance following a rough 0-for-33 stretch over his previous 11 games. The veteran backstop is still slashing a meager .222/.309/.319 this season, with his defensive abilities keeping him in the lineup on a regular basis.

Grullon has three homers in his first 50 plate appearances this season for Double-A Reading.

Grullon is a classic glove-first backup catcher prospect, hitting just .240/.289/.357 in his six-year minor-league career. He'll need to do at least something with the bat in order to even be a big-league backup, but it appears as though he might finally be showing something. He's hitting just .200, but he can likely blame a .200 BABIP for that number. A good defender with a bit of pop can be a big-league backup even with a low batting average, and Grullon could now be living up to that profile.

McCann went 2-for-4 with a solo home run and a pair of strikeouts in Wednesday's win over the Rays.

The solo shot was a big one, as it tied the score in the seventh inning to help pave the way for Detroit's 12-inning win. McCann is starting to heat up a bit at the plate, hitting .375 (6-for-16) with a pair of RBI over the last four games to bring his slash line to .259/.301/.412 on the year.

Perez was claimed off waivers by the Rangers on Wednesday.

Perez was designated for assignment by the Braves on Friday. The 27-year-old appeared in eight games for the club this season, going 3-for-21 with zero extra-base hits and six strikeouts. In a corresponding move, Elvis Andrus (elbow) was transferred to the 60-day DL in order to make room on the 40-man roster. A subsequent move will be made prior to Thursday's game as the Rangers will need to remove someone from the active 25-man roster.