MLB Player News

Higashioka (ribs) was activated off the 7-day DL on Wednesday at Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre.

The catcher missed three weeks with the ailment, and returned Wednesday to go 1-for-4 with a pair of strikeouts. Following last season's breakout campaign, Higashioka is hitting just .214/.241/.321 in the minors this year, but he figures to still remain in line as the next man up if the Yankees need another catcher at any point.

Manager Ned Yost said Perez injured his thumb during Wednesday's win over the Astros, Rustin Dodd of The Kansas City Star reports.

Perez injured his catching thumb in the eighth inning and was unable to finish the game. The injury doesn't appear to be anything overly serious; consider him day-to-day for now.

Diaz is batting eighth and catching Wednesday against the Orioles.

With Francisco Cervelli (concussion) landing on the disabled list, Diaz seems to be in line for most of the innings behind the plate for the foreseeable future. Although the Pirates called up Jacob Stallings from the minors to provide depth, Diaz's 6-for-20 performance thus far this season along with his status as the team's catcher of the future should afford him ample opportunities to show the club how well he can perform in a full-time role.

Stallings had his contract purchased from Triple-A Indianapolis on Wednesday, Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

Stallings was cast off the 40-man roster over the offseason since he was blocked by Francisco Cervelli (concussion), Chris Stewart (hamstring) and Elias Diaz in the catching pecking order, but with Cervelli and Stewart both sidelined with injuries, Stallings will return to the big leagues to provide catching depth. More likely than not, the 27-year-old will play second fiddle to Diaz behind the plate, although Stallings was 6-for-15 in a brief cup of coffee with Pittsburgh last season, so he could pick up his fair share of starts if he hits like that this time around as well.

Hedges is not in the lineup Wednesday against the Diamondbacks.

Hedges has three home runs over the past week, but he'll head to the bench for a night off after four straight starts. Luis Torrens will take over behind the plate in his place.

McCann (hand) will play another game Wednesday with Triple-A Toledo before coming back for the series opener against Boston on Friday, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com reports.

If all goes well, the plan is for McCann to be activated on Friday before the series with Boston begins. The catcher has been on the disabled list with a hand injury since May 25 after being hit by a pitch. In his place Alex Avila has been manning the duties behind the plate, but McCann should see the bulk of the time there once he gets back in form.

Sanchez has been moved out of the two-spot and is slated to bat sixth for Wednesday's game against Boston.

Sanchez has struggled from the plate all season after tearing it up in the latter portion of the 2016 season when he was called up to the big leagues. After hitting in the second spot of the order for most of the season when he has been healthy, the 24-year-old will bat sixth and man the catching duties Wednesday.

Vazquez is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Yankees, Evan Drellich of CSN New England reports.

Vazquez will get the day off in favor of Sandy Leon as the Red Sox go up against CC Sabathia and the Yankees. The catcher went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in Tuesday's contest, and has been rotating behind the plate with Leon over the course of the season.

Rupp is not in the lineup Wednesday against the Braves, Jim Salisbury of CSN Philadelphia reports.

It seems like Rupp has moved into more of a timeshare with Andrew Knapp at this point, with the two backstops alternating starts over the past week. It's unclear if this is how manager Pete Mackanin plans to deploy the two of them going forward, although Rupp's .222 batting average certainly isn't pressing the issue for more playing time.

Narvaez is not in the lineup Wednesday against the Rays.

Narvaez, who was once considered the primary catcher for the White Sox, has been almost completely passed over in favor of Kevan Smith and didn't particularly help his case by hitting .229 in the month of May. He'll continue seeing irregular playing time going forward.