MLB Player News

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.

Perez will start at catcher and bat eighth Wednesday in Colorado.

Perez will give Yan Gomes a rest in the afternoon affair. The backup catcher is slashing just .136/.227/.167 through 75 plate appearances this year, but Perez is a decent punt play at hitter-friendly Coors Field on Wednesday.

Gomes is not in the lineup Wednesday against the Rockies, Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post reports.

Gomes has hit safely in his past three starts, but he'll head to the bench for the afternoon series finale in Colorado. Roberto Perez will head behind the plate to fill in for him.

Maile went 0-for-4 with three strikeouts in Tuesday's loss to Oakland, ending his five-game hitting streak.

With Russell Martin having neck issues of late, Maile has enjoyed increased playing time. Starting six of the team's last seven games behind the dish, Maile has gone 6-for-20 (.300) with a home run. Unfortunately for the 26-year-old, the counting stats haven't been there, and he's struck out in 40 percent of his at-bats over the stretch.

Barnhart has hit .284/.433/.766 in 67 at-bats since late April.

The switch-hitting catcher has slowly been losing playing time ever since former All-Star Devin Mesoraco made his 2017 debut off the disabled list in late April. However, since then, Barnhart's batting average on the season has increased from .250 to .268 with an on-base percentage increase from .297 to .333. He remains the backup catcher in Cincinnati for the time being, but either the competition or the extra rest time has allowed him to produce better than what he did over the first month of the season.

Perez leads all AL catchers in All-Star voting for the second straight week, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com reports.

The backstop has his sights set on a fifth All-Star Game appearance. Perez is a perennial Gold Glove contender, and his offense continues to be among the elite at his position. Through 54 games in 2017, he has 11 home runs and 32 RBI, both of which are most among MLB catchers.

D'Arnaud accounted for the final run of Tuesday's 10-8 loss to the Rangers with a ninth-inning solo homer, his only hit in five at-bats on the evening.

While d'Arnaud isn't sitting on particularly shiny numbers, especially that .231 average, there's some hope to be found in his batting line. The 28-year-old catcher has a horribly low .217 BABIP despite dispensing line drives and hard-hit balls at the highest rates of his career, and his .253 ISO is easily a career best. There's hope yet for his long-suffering fantasy owners.