MLB Player News

Leon will regularly be held out of Boston's lineup for the foreseeable future, Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal reports.

Sandy Leon has underperformed since the start of the year. He's hitting just .180 with a .476 OPS after having appeared in 14 games. Manager John Farrell said that moving forward, Leon will be the team's catcher when Chris Sale and Rick Porcello are scheduled to start, but Christian Vazquez figures to be the go-to backstop the rest of the time.

Vazquez is in line to start the majority of Boston's games moving forward, Brian MacPherson of the Providence Journal reports.

Manager John Farrell said that Vazquez is going to start behind the plate when Drew Pomeranz, Steven Wright and Eduardo Rodriguez take the mound for the Red Sox. Meanwhile, Sandy Leon will start when Rick Porcello and Chris Sale head to the hill. Through 10 games this season, Vazquez is hitting .452/.485/.645.

Leon is out of the lineup Sunday against the Cubs, Peter Abraham of The Boston Globe reports.

For the third consecutive game, Leon will be held out of the starting lineup and give way to Christian Vazquez behind the plate. Leon owns a poor .180/.196/.280 line and has steadily lost playing time to Vazquez since the start of the season.

Gomes is out of the lineup Sunday against the Mariners.

Gomes went 0-for-6 in the first two games of the series, putting an end to a recent hot streak during which he'd recorded seven hits in 15 at-bats. Despite his lack of success against the Mariners, Gomes should still be in line for the bulk of the starts behind the plate heading into the new week. Roberto Perez will spell him Sunday, however.

McCann is out of the lineup Sunday against the White Sox, Evan Woodbery of MLive.com reports.

McCann remains in a timeshare with Alex Avila at catcher, but with his batting average sinking to .164 for the season following an 0-for-3 showing Saturday, it may not be long before McCann becomes the clear backup at the position. Avila, meanwhile, is slashing .364/.488/.788 over 41 plate appearances on the season and could make for a decent pickup in AL-only or two-catcher formats until he cools down.

Mesoraco is not in the lineup for Sunday's game against the Cardinals.

Mesoraco is on a strict playing time schedule as he returns from injury, so it's no real surprise that he's getting Sunday's matinee off against the Cardinals. Tucker Barnhart will draw the start, but Mesoraco should be back in the lineup for Monday's game against the Pirates.

D'Arnaud (back) is not in the lineup for Sunday's game against the Nationals.

With Noah Syndergaard on the bump, Rene Riverahis usual battery mate, will draw the start behind the plate. D'Arnaud, who has seven RBI in his past three games, is dealing with back tightness and is being considered day-to-day. With Sunday's day of rest, he'll hopefully be ready to go for Monday's contest against the Braves.

Realmuto is not in the lineup for Sunday's game against the Pirates, Andre Fernandez of the Miami Herald reports.

After catching the past 11 games, it appears Realmuto is receiving a scheduled day of rest during Sunday's afternoon tilt. A.J. Ellis will draw the start in his absence. Expect Realmuto to be back in the lineup Monday against the Rays.

Vazquez started Saturday's game, making it the first time this season he's caught consecutive games, Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe reports.

Vazquez, who went 1-for-4 Saturday, is 14-for-31 (.452) in his first nine starts with the Red Sox, winning six of them. He may soon be Boston's primary catcher instead of Sandy Leon, who is 2-for-34 over his last 10 games. He's caught all three starts of Eduardo Rodriguez, who is scheduled to throw Sunday, so we anticipate a third straight start for Vazquez.

Maldonado went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts in the Angels' loss to the Rangers on Saturday.

The 30-year-old seized the primary catching duties earlier in the month by getting off to a solid start at the plate, but since the demotion of fellow backstop Carlos Perez, Maldonado is batting just .182 with seven strikeouts in 22 at-bats. Neither Perez nor current backup Juan Graterol have proven to be competent hitters in the major leagues, but Maldonado will need to pick things up if he wants to avoid becoming part of a timeshare with his younger counterparts.