MLB Player News

Gallagher is starting at catcher and batting ninth Sunday against Cleveland.

Gallagher slides into the starting lineup, giving Drew Butera a rest, for the fourth time since being called up Aug. 6 when Salvador Perez (oblique) landed on the disabled list. However, the latter is scheduled to return early next week, meaning Sunday could be Gallagher's final MLB appearance for quite a while.

Perez (oblique) will be activated either Tuesday or Wednesday before Kansas City's home game against Colorado, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com reports.

Perez is eligible to return now, but manager Ned Yost plans to take advantage of Monday's off day before bringing back the catcher. Drew Butera will continue starting, with Cameron Gallagher backing him up, until Perez is activated.

Maldonado is not in the lineup Sunday against the Orioles, Jeff Fletcher of The Orange County Register reports.

Maldonado is 0-for-11 over his last three starts, so he'll get the day off to gather himself after starting seven of the last eight games at backstop. Juan Graterol will fill in for him behind the dish for the contest.

Caratini was optioned to Triple-A Iowa on Sunday, Carrie Muskat of MLB.com reports.

The Cubs claimed Rene Rivera off waivers Saturday to serve as the backup catcher, so naturally Caratini was optioned as a corresponding move. He has hit .268/.318/.415 with one home run in 44 big-league plate appearances in his rookie campaign. Look for him to be back up when rosters expand in September, but his playing time will be extremely limited.

Vazquez is not in the lineup Sunday against the Yankees, Scott Lauber of ESPN.com reports.

Vazquez will head to the bench for a second straight contest after starting three of the previous four games behind the dish. Sandy Leon will again draw the start in his place, batting eighth.

Grandal is out of Sunday's lineup against the Tigers, Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times reports.

He has started five of the last six games, but will take a seat in the day game. Austin Barnes, who will start behind the dish and hit eighth against righty Justin Verlander, leads all big-league catchers (minimum 100 plate appearances) with a 148 wRC+.

McCann is not in the lineup for Sunday's game against the Dodgers.

McCann will head to the bench for a breather after starting eight of the last nine games behind the dish, a stretch over which he's gone 10-for-32 (.313). John Hicks will take over for him at backstop, batting seventh.

Grandal went 1-for-3 with walk and a solo home run in Saturday's 3-0 win over the Tigers.

The 28-year-old got off to a slow start in the month of August (.184/.295/.421 in 11 games), but he has picked things up in the power department over his last four contests with a double and two homers. Grandal now has 16 home runs on the campaign, and while his 7.4 walk rate is well below last year's 14.0 percent mark, he has replaced those free passes with base hits (.264 batting average compared to .228 last season). He will continue to see regular starts behind the dish against right-handed pitchers down the stretch.

Plawecki went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run during Saturday's win over Miami.

Plawecki should stick with the Mets for the remainder of the season after Rene Rivera was claimed off waivers by the Cubs. With Travis d'Arnaud likely to receive the bulk of starts behind the plate, Plawecki's fantasy value is likely to remain limited to cavernous settings. He projects start a couple of games a week to give d'Arnaud a breather, though.

Gomes is out of Saturday's lineup against the Royals, Josh Vernier of 610 Sports reports.

He just barely plays enough to be considered the starting catcher, but it's essentially a pretty even timeshare with Roberto Perez. Gomes has six RBI and four hits in his last two games, but Perez will start behind the dish and hit ninth.