MLB Player News

Murphy (forearm) was activated from the disabled list and is starting at catcher Thursday against the Giants, Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post reports.

While it was originally reported that Murphy would return sometime next week, it appears the Rockies were pleased enough with his rehab assignment at Triple-A Albuquerque to bring him back early. The 26-year-old went 12-for-24 with seven RBI over his last five rehab games, including a 3-for-5 effort with five RBI in his most recent outing. He'll take the place of Ryan Hanigan on the active roster, while Murphy will likely enter a timeshare with Tony Wolters behind the dish for the time being.

D'Arnaud is not in the lineup Thursday against the Nationals.

D'Arnaud will head to the bench for a breather after turning in an 0-for-5 performance Wednesday. Rene Rivera will take over behind the plate in his stead.

Gomes is not in the Indians' lineup Thursday,

Roberto Perez takes his spot behind the plate, working with Josh Tomlin, and bats seventh. Cleveland will continue to divvy up catcher playing time almost evenly between Gomes and Perez.

Grandal is not in the Dodgers' Thursday lineup against the Indians, Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times reports.

The backstop will get an off day with Austin Barnes taking his place. Grandal should be back in action Friday. He's cooled off a little after a nice start to the year, batting .264/.321/.431 with six home runs in 216 plate appearances.

Sanchez went 3-for-4 with a three-run home run and two runs scored during Wednesday's loss to the Angels.

The backstop has posted a 1.181 OPS with seven homers, 19 RBI and 14 runs through 11 June games. Providing those numbers from the catcher position makes Sanchez all the more valuable. Additionally, despite being limited to just 160 plate appearances this season, he already has 11 homers, 31 RBI and 28 runs with a .282/.363/.542 slash line for the season.

Stewart (hamstring) ran curves Wednesday and hopes to progress to running the bases in the near future, Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

Stewart is slowly making his way back from a hamstring strain that has kept him sidelined since May. Once Stewart is able to run the bases, he'll likely head out on a rehab assignment, at which point there should be a clearer return date for him.

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

Maldonado will head to the bench after catching all 11 innings in Tuesday's win over the Yankees. Juan Graterol will take over behind the dish, batting ninth.

Vazquez is out of the lineup Wednesday against the Phillies, Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe reports.

After reaching base three times Tuesday, Vazquez's on-base percentage now sits a .356 for the season, but that's still not enough for him to secure a larger portion of the timeshare at catcher. He'll hit the bench for the fourth time in six games, clearing the way for Sandy Leon to make another start behind the dish.

Contreras is not in the lineup Wednesday against the Mets.

Contreras has only three hits over the past week, dropping his season batting average to just .240. He'll hit the bench with a day game on tap Wednesday, allowing Miguel Montero to pick up a start behind the dish.

Perez is out of Wednesday's lineup against the Giants, Joel Goldberg of Fox Sports Kansas City reports.

He has started 15 of the last 17 games behind the dish, hitting .271 with two home runs over that stretch. Drew Butera will start at catcher and hit eighth.