MLB Player News

Mejia's transition to the outfield is a work in progress, The Athletic reports.

Mejia has played left field twice in his first seven games for Triple-A Columbus this season. The Indians are reluctant to call him up until they feel more comfortable with him in the outfield, which may take some time. He may not be up with the big club until September, barring injuries to the Indians' primary catchers, Yan Gomes and Robert Perez.

Hedges is not in the lineup Saturday against the Giants.

A.J. Ellis will get the start behind the plate in his absence. Hedges has always had a high strikeout rate, but his 36.4 percent figure so far this year is really holding him back, leading to a .167/.205/.357 slash line through his first 44 plate appearances.

Perez (knee) will begin his rehab assignment with Double-A Northwest Arkansas on Sunday, Maria Torres of The Kansas City Star reports.

He will be deployed as the catcher for three-to-five innings and will then be the designated hitter the next day. The Royals plan to take things day by day, as his knee allows. He could return to the big leagues before the end of April.

Maldonado is out of Saturday's lineup against the Royals, 610 Sports Radio Kansas City reports.

He will sit for the fifth time in 16 games this season. Rene Rivera will start behind the dish and hit ninth. Maldonado is hitting .256/.341/.308 with a 13.6 percent strikeout rate in 39 at-bats.

Caratini was taken out of the lineup for Saturday's game against the Braves in order to make room for Albert Almora (illness).

Caratini was placed in the original lineup at first base though manager Joe Maddon elected to insert Almora once he was deemed healthy prior to Saturday's matinee. Ben Zobrist will move over to first and Ian Happ slides to left while Almora gets the nod in center.

Gosewisch agreed to a minor-league deal with the Nationals on Saturday, Mark Zuckerman of MASN Sports reports.

Gosewisch was released by Seattle just over a week ago after failing to make the club's Opening Day roster out of spring training. The 34-year-old will likely report to Triple-A Syracuse and provide some extra organizational depth for Washington this season. During 11 appearances with the Mariners in 2017, he went 2-for-28 with 14 strikeouts.

McCann went 2-for-3 with three RBI and his first home run of the season in Friday's loss to the Yankees.

McCann has been scuffling to start the season, as even after the two-hit night he's still hitting just .189. Perhaps the good performance will get him going. McCann hit a career-high 13 home runs last year, and fantasy owners are hoping he can eclipse that mark this season with more regular playing time now that Alex Avila is gone.

Diaz went 2-for-2 with a two-run homer and a walk Friday against the Marlins.

Making just his third start of the season, Diaz batted eighth and reached base three times. The catcher committed a costly throwing error, which led to Miami scoring three runs on a sacrifice fly, but he's in no jeopardy of losing his backup role. Diaz will likely start one or two games per week while patiently biding his time behind the injury-prone Francisco Cervelli.

Vazquez is not in the starting nine Saturday against Baltimore, Roch Kubatko of MASN Sports reports.

Vazquez heads back to the bench after going 0-for-3 with a walk during Friday's victory to start the series against the Orioles. In his place, Sandy Leon will catch and bat seventh.

Manager Ned Yost said that Perez (knee) is currently experiencing no pain and could begin a rehab assignment as soon as this weekend, Rustin Dodd of The Athletic reports.

Perez has been out since the beginning of the regular season after suffering a Grade 2 MCL tear on the eve of Opening Day. At the time of his injury an initial timetable put him about 4-to-6 weeks away from returning to the big leagues, though it appears that he could be back in action a little sooner, especially if he's able to begin a rehab assignment this weekend. In his absence, Drew Butera and Cameron Gallagher continue to split time behind the plate.