MLB Player News

Grandal is not in the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Giants, David Vassegh of AM 570 LA Sports reports.

Austin Barnes will step in behind the dish as Grandal sits following back-to-back starts. With hits in nine straight games, and 16 hits in total so far in May, Grandal has raised his average nearly 90 points (to .291) since the end of April. Expect Grandal to return to the lineup for Wednesday's series finale.

Mesoraco (hamstring) is not in the lineup Tuesday against the Cubs, Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune reports.

The Reds will play it safe with Mesoraco after he was prematurely lifted from Sunday's contest with a tight hamstring. Even though the 28-year-old doesn't believe the ailment to be anything overly serious, the Reds will hold him out for an extra day given he's played in just 39 games over the past two seasons. Tucker Barnhart will draw the start behind the dish in his stead.

Perez is hitting just .159/.208/.182 through 14 games and 48 plate appearances this season.

Yan Gomes (.733 OPS) has outperformed Perez at every turn, yet the latter is on pace to play in 60-plus games for the third straight year. Despite his uninspiring play, manager Terry Francona seems committed to keeping the 28-year-old Perez involved in the action. At this point, however, it's become obvious -- contrary to some preseason expectations -- that the backup catcher will not participate in anything close to an equal timeshare.

Gosewisch went 0-for-4 with four strikeouts in Monday's 6-5 win over the A's.

After being called up May 5, Gosewisch has just one hit and 10 strikeouts in 19 at-bats for a .053 average. He will continue serving as the backup to Carlos Ruiz, at least until the M's feel Mike Zunino is ready for another go-around at major league pitching.

Sanchez caught a bullpen session for teammate Jhoulys Chacin on Monday as he recovers from a bone bruise in his foot, A.J. Cassavell of MLB.com reports.

Sanchez is progressing well, but he'll likely have to go on a rehab assignment before returning to the majors. Expect him to return at some point during the Padres' current homestand, which runs until May 21.

Narvaez is out of the lineup Monday against the Angels.

This marks the second time in three games that Narvaez will watch from the bench. It's unclear whether this signals a change in how manager Rick Renteria will deploy his backstops moving forward now that Geovany Soto (elbow) is out at least until August, but things should clear up after a few more games. Kevan Smith will assume catching duties for the evening.

Maile is not in the lineup Monday against the Braves, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca reports.

Maile has filled in for Russell Martin (shoulder/neck) while he's been on the disabled list, but with an average of just .032 (1-for-31) on the season, the 26-year-old will head to the bench for the evening. Michael Ohlman will assume catching duties in his stead.

Manager Bud Black said that Murphy (forearm) is "closer than you think" to returning from the disabled list, Nick Groke of The Denver Post reports.

He hasn't progressed to catching bullpen sessions yet, but this vote of confidence is still a promising sign for the prospect catcher. Given how much time he's missed, Murphy will likely need to go on a rehab assignment once he's gotten back to baseball activities, and although no official timetable has been revealed, Black's comments seem to point toward a return date sometime in the next couple weeks.

Trevino is back in action with Double-A Frisco after being placed on the temporary inactive list May 4.

The 24-year-old has gone just 2-for-15 since rejoining Frisco, though he's still sporting a respectable .273/.324/.333 slash line through 18 games.

Vazquez went 2-for-4 to improve his batting average to .364 during Sunday's loss to Tampa Bay.

Coming through the minor leagues, it was Vazquez's defensive prowess that garnered the attention, but his bat has also been a real asset to start 2017. His current .364/.407/.491 slash line is impressive. However, splitting time with Sandy Leon hasn't enabled Vazquez to complement the strong ratios with serviceable counting stats. The 26-year-old backstop has just four runs and four RBI, which makes him a low-end fantasy option at best.