MLB Player News

Gomes is out of the lineup Wednesday against the White Sox, Paul Hoynes of the Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.

With Gomes off to a 1-for-18 start to the season, manager Terry Francona will give the backstopper his second day off in three games. Roberto Perez will enter the lineup at catcher and bat eighth in the lineup.

Higashioka will make his first major-league start against the Rays on Wednesday, starting at catcher and batting eighth.

With Gary Sanchez (biceps) on the mend and Austin Romine slumping to a .111 average, Higashioka will have his chance to shine right away. After spending last season in Triple-A, the 26-year-old impressed with a .296 batting average over 20 Grapefruit League games this spring, so the Yankees have already seen his potential. If he can string together a few solid starts, he may be in line for a permanent promotion upon Sanchez's return.

Hedges went 0-for-4 in Tuesday's loss to the Rockies. He remains hitless in 27 plate appearances.

The 24-year-old is starting to look more like a hitter who owns a .144 career batting average as opposed to the player who slashed .326/.353/.597 in Triple-A last season. With Hector Sanchez (concussion) on the disabled list, there are no immediate threats to Hedges' playing time, but fantasy owners could surely find a catcher on the waiver wire who has at least recorded a hit this season.

Vazquez went 4-for-4, finishing a home run shy of a cycle, and added two runs and two RBI in Tuesday's 8-1 win over the Orioles.

A big night for Vazquez, who is not known for his hitting, but is 5-for-5 to start the season. In addition to his offense, Vazquez guided Drew Pomeranz through six strong innings. Try not to be swayed by his hot start; Vazquez is a career .244 hitter that made the roster primarily becuase he's out of minor-league options.

D'Arnaud went 3-for-4 with a double, a homer, a walk and three RBI in Tuesday's 14-4 rout of the Phillies.

After a big spring, d'Arnaud opened the season slowly, going just 2-for-14 heading into Tuesday. However, there were positive signs here even before this effort, as he'd struck out just a single time. While d'Arnaud is coming off a bad, injury-shortened campaign, he's still a talented hitter who's put in a lot of work to find his stroke again. Don't dismiss him in deeper formats.

McCann supplied all the offense the Tigers would need Tuesday, going 1-for-3 with a two-run home run in a 2-1 win over the Twins.

He put the first pitch he saw from Hector Santiago in the fifth inning into the seats in left-center for his third homer of the season. McCann only has four hits so far through six games, but he's making some very loud contact when he does get his bat on the ball. The 26-year-old catcher will likely remain a batting average risk, but given his hot start he might have no trouble topping last year's career-high 12 home runs.

Manager Bryan Price said he anticipates Mesoraco (hip) to return sometime around April 17-20, Zach Buchanan of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

Mesoraco was scheduled to catch a full game at Double-A Pensacola on Monday, and apparently it went off without a hitch. The Reds have been extremely methodical about the 28-year-old's return while working to build up his durability, though it appears he is close to a return after playing in just 39 games over the past two years.

Leon is not in the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Orioles, Jason Mastrodonato of the Boston Herald reports.

After going hitless in Monday's series finale with the Tigers, Leon will get a day of rest Tuesday and cede the start behind the dish to Christian Vazquez. Despite the tough outing Monday, Leon is off to a good start at the plate, batting .368 with a home run in five games.

Grandal reached base three times Monday, going 2-for-3 with a walk in a loss to the Cubs.

Manager Dave Roberts has stuck to his word and has been using Grandal in a more traditional role, giving him regular rest on day games following night games as opposed to a strict platoon where he sits against lefties. Monday's start came against the Cubs southpaw Jon Lester, and the switch-hitting catcher came through with a solid offensive line. Grandal is batting just .200 (4-for-20) early on, but with two home runs and three walks through six games, he is doing a great job of replicating his breakout 2016 season.

Murphy (forearm) recently underwent a CT scan, but the Rockies haven't disclosed the results, Nick Groke of The Denver Post reports.

Murphy was forced to open the season on the 10-day disabled list after he fractured his right hand when it made contact with the bat of the Cubs' Kris Bryant in a March 11 Cactus League game. The 26-year-old is still using a brace to protect the hand, but he could be cleared to remove it in the coming days if the scan revealed that he's healing as expected. Once the brace is off, Murphy would still likely require multiple weeks to test out the hand in fielding and throwing drills, batting practice and rehab games before the Rockies would consider activating him from the 10-day disabled list.