MLB Player News

Realmuto is not in the lineup for Sunday's season finale against the Nationals, Mark Zuckerman of MASN Sports reports.

Realmuto will rest for a second straight day as the Marlins' season comes to a close. Barring a pinch-hit appearance, he will finish the season having posted a .300/.343/.428 batting line with 11 home runs and 12 stolen bases, both career highs, while Tomas Telis will step in behind the plate.

Perez (knee) is in Sunday's lineup against Cleveland, Rustin Dodd of the Kansas City Star reports.

Perez wasn't expected to play Sunday, so his presence in the lineup comes as a bit of a surprise. However, he won't be starting behind the dish. Instead, he'll serve as the Royals' designated hitter and hit cleanup.

Maldonado will yield Sunday's season-finale start behind the plate to Andrew Susac.

Susac will bat seventh for the Brewers, while Maldonado will finish the season having gathered just a .202/.332/.351 batting line with eight home runs over 76 games. It's unlikely he fits the mold of a starting catcher for the Brewers moving forward, and it wouldn't be surprising if he returns to a backup role in 2017.

Vazquez is a candidate to be the backup catcher, ahead of Ryan Hanigan and Bryan Holaday, for the Red Sox in their postseason series against the Indians, Nick Cafardo of The Boston Globe reports.

A couple of factors have Boston manager John Farrell considering Vazquez, who seemingly fell out of favor during the regular season when his offense didn't match his defense. The catcher has thrown out 45.1 percent of would-be base-stealers during his career, a skill that might be useful against a Cleveland team that leads the American League with 134 steals. A second factor is his work with Eduardo Rodriguez, presumed to be the team's third or fourth starter in the playoffs. In the left-hander's last two starts, which featured Vazquez as his battery mate, Rodriguez has struck out 22 batters in 10.1 innings.

Bethancourt (intercostals) threw a bullpen session Saturday, Jack Magruder of FanRag Sports reports.

Manager Andy Green is reportedly "intrigued" by Bethancourt's ability on the pitching mound, having seen him throw 96 mph without any work on his mechanics. A catcher by trade, Bethancourt's arm strength is unquestionably his strongest asset. He has hit just .223/.253/.318 in 153 games at the major league level, but it doesn't sound like the Padres are planning to have him focus exclusively on pitching -- they may instead try to develop him into a catcher/outfielder/pitcher hybrid player.

Perez (multiple injuries) is not expected to play Sunday, Jeffrey Flanagan of MLB.com reports.

He has not started a game since the Royals were eliminated from postseason contention Wednesday, and it sounds like Perez is indeed done catching for the year. Manager Ned Yost revealed Saturday that Perez has a sore knee and a hamstring strain, so he will get a head start on his offseason and rest his legs for a few months before pitchers and catchers report.

Realmuto is not in Saturday's lineup against the Nationals, MLB.com's Joe Frisaro reports.

Given how weak the catcher position is, Realmuto will easily finish the year as a top-10 option at the position. His .303 batting average was aided somewhat by a .357 BABIP (career .323 BABIP), but the 11 homers and 12 steals seem like reasonable benchmarks moving forward, as he won't turn 26 until March 18. Jeff Mathis will start behind the dish and hit eighth.

Sanchez is not in Saturday's lineup against the Orioles.

Perhaps no player in recent memory has gotten off to as hot a start to a career as Sanchez, but he's now fallen into a slump to close out the season. He is hitting .094/.189/.219 with one home run and 12 strikeouts over his last 37 plate appearances. Austin Romine will start behind the dish and hit seventh.

Perez is out of the lineup Saturday against the Indians, MLB.com's Jeffrey Flanagan reports.

He will sit for the third game in a row, as the Royals seem to be giving their franchise catcher a chance to rest his aches and pains as the team plays out the string. Drew Butera will start at catcher and hit ninth.

Rupp went 2-for-3 with a sacrifice fly in Friday's 5-1 loss to the Mets.

The 28-year-old backstop drove in the Phillies' only run of the night with a second-inning sacrifice fly that opened the scoring for both teams. Rupp has been swinging a hot bat over his last six games, with three multihit outings, a .320 average and five RBI over that span.