MLB Player News

Hernandez (suspension) was added to Triple-A Pawtucket's active roster Thursday and has appeared in two games with the club, going 1-for-7 with four strikeouts.

Hernandez was handed a 50-game suspension in spring training following a violation of minor league baseball's drug policy. Now that the ban has lapsed, Hernandez will likely serve as a depth option behind the plate for Pawtucket this season. Hernandez spent the 2017 campaign at Double-A Jackson in the Arizona organization, slashing .197/.257/.348 across 255 plate appearances.

McCann was lifted from Sunday's game against the Blue Jays in the seventh inning with a left intercostal spasm, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com reports.

John Hicks, who had recently transitioned into a bench role following Miguel Cabrera's return from the disabled list earlier this week, was pressed into action after McCann's departure. More information regarding the severity of McCann's injury should be available in the near future, but it's an untimely setback with the Tigers set to play a doubleheader Monday against the Yankees. The Tigers were planning on deploying Sandy Baez, their projected Game 2 starting pitcher, as the 26th man for the twin bill, but McCann's injury could instead prompt Detroit to use that spot for an extra catcher.

Vazquez is not in the lineup Sunday against the Astros, Evan Drellich of NBC Sports Boston reports.

Vazquez blasted a solo homer in Saturday's contest but will give way to Sandy Leon behind the plate in this one. Vazquez is hitting just .191 on the season with a lowly 3.4 percent walk rate.

Maldonado is out of the lineup Sunday against the Rangers, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic Los Angeles reports.

It will be a routine day off for Maldonado after he was behind the dish for both of the first two games of the series. Jose Briceno will pick up his third start of the season with the Angels while Maldonado takes a seat.

Garver is dealing with some bruising near his quadriceps on his left leg and is out of the lineup Sunday against the Indians, Mike Berardino of the St. Paul Pioneer Press reports.

Garver took a foul tip to the leg in Saturday's 7-1 win but still ended up playing all nine innings, finishing 0-for-4 with a run scored. After giving way to Bobby Wilson behind the plate for the series finale and taking advantage of some additional rest time with Monday's off day, Garver is hopeful to rejoin the lineup for one half of Tuesday's doubleheader against the White Sox.

Plawecki will start at catcher and bat cleanup Sunday against the Cubs, Tim Healey of Newsday reports.

With a .303 slugging percentage for his career, Plawecki hardly profiles as an ideal middle-of-the-order hitter, but the Mets' lack of healthy right-handed power bats apparently made the backstop one of the more palatable cleanup options against Cubs southpaw Jon Lester. The lineup assignment could provide Plawecki with more RBI chances than he might normally receive out of his usual spot in the lower half of the order.

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.