MLB Player News

Hedges will be recalled from Triple-A El Paso, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com reports.

Hedges and five others will be rewarded with callups with El Paso's long postseason run coming to an end Tuesday night. He's no longer a prospect after playing in 56 games with the Padres a year ago, but the 24-year-old Hedges is still developing and he took a major step forward offensively this season (.326/.353/.597, 21 homers). With elite skills behind the plate, Hedges profiles as the possible Opening Day catcher in 2017, but it's not entirely clear how much he'll play over the remainder of this season.

Maldonado homered, a solo shot, in a 2-for-4 game Tuesday against the Pirates.

Maldonado is in the majors for his excellent defense, not his bat, but he has been showing some solid power this season. He tied a career high with his eighth home run Tuesday and is now slugging .351 despite just a .194 batting average. Unfortunately, Maldonado has managed an OPS over .700 just twice in five MLB seasons and is unlikely to provide much fantasy value aside from running into the occasional home run.

Sanchez went 1-for-3 with a walk and a three-run homer in Tuesday's game against the Rays.

Sanchez continues his hot hitting with the go-ahead blast in the seventh inning Tuesday. The catcher has now homered in three straight games, giving Sanchez six this month and 17 for the season. Over his last five games, the 23-year-old is 8-for-22 (.364), with five extra-base hits, eight RBI and four runs.

Stewart (knee) underwent arthroscopic surgery on his left knee Tuesday, Adam Berry of MLB.com reports.

Given that the Pirates had ruled him out for the season, Stewart decided to get a head start on his recovery process and undergo surgery prior to the end of the campaign. The recovery time for this procedure is typically 6-to-8 weeks, so as long as everything goes as planned, the veteran backstop should be back in time for spring training.

Grandal (elbow) is in the lineup for Monday's game against the Giants.

Grandal will return to action Monday after missing the last couple games with his elbow injury. He will be behind the plate and hit seventh in the Dodgers' batting order.

D'Arnaud is not in the lineup for Monday's game against the Braves, according to MLB.com's Anthony DiComo.

D'Arnaud has spent plenty time on the bench of late, and that will again be the case Monday, as Rene Rivera will start for the fourth time in six games.

The Pirates expect Diaz (leg) to be ready for the start of spring training, GM Neal Huntington said during his Sunday radio show.

After working through an elbow injury, Diaz came down with an unrelated cause of cellulitis on his leg. Although the catcher missed an opportunity for playing time in 2016, Huntington remains encouraged about his future, saying Diaz's arm strength is the best in the system and his offense is coming along. Given Francisco Cervelli's checkered history of spotty health, Diaz could easily work his way into the mix behind the plate.

Sanchez went 3-for-5 with a solo home run in Sunday's 5-4 loss to the Red Sox.

Sanchez homered for the second straight game as part of his first three-hit performance in September, narrowly missing a second homer on a ball that hit near the top of the Green Monster. The 23-year-old has continued his assault on MLB pitching in September after posting a 1.239 OPS in August, smacking five home runs in 16 games this month. With his latest long ball, Sanchez became the second-fastest player to 16 career homers since 1900. The slugging backstop is slashing .327/.393/.698 in 159 at-bats this year.

Leon is out of the lineup Sunday against the Yankees, Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald reports.

Leon will get the day off following four consecutive starts behind the plate. Bryan Holaday will man the backstop in his stead, making his first start at catcher since Sept. 5.

Grandal (elbow) is not in the lineup Sunday against Arizona, Andy McCullough of the LA Times reports.

Grandal will sit for the second straight day as he continues to battle soreness in his right elbow, an ailment that's plagued him for much of the season. The expectation seems to be that Grandal will continue to play through the discomfort down the stretch, but he could require periodic rest.