MLB Player News

Grandal went 1-for-3 with a three-run home run, his sixth of the season, in Tuesday's 3-2 win over the Nationals.

Grandal let his emotions loose rounding the bases after his go-ahead three-run homer in the bottom of the eighth inning propelled his team to a comeback victory. The catcher had hit the ball hard all month, yet entered the game with a .167 average in 36 June at-bats. His heroic home run gave Grandal 26 RBI on the season, and while he has been a disappointment all year, Grandal is on pace to set a career high in RBI in 2016.

Perez (thumb) has begun throwing and swinging a fungo bat, MLB.com reports.

Perez's rehab has gone according to plan thus far and should be trending towards a return in July based on the initial diagnosis.

Contreras is starting at catcher and batting sixth against St. Louis on Tuesday.

Contreras is making his second start in a row behind the dish as Miguel Montero sits for a second straight game. Cubs manager, Joe Maddon, indicated on Monday that Contreras would see the bulk of the catching duties going forward which makes him an interesting name to add in fantasy leagues. The 24-year-old mashed in the minors this season, hitting .353/.442/.592 at Triple-A Iowa.

D'Arnaud (shoulder) was activated from the disabled list on Tuesday.

As expected, d'Arnaud will join the Mets for their game against the Royals on Tuesday. This move sent struggling catcher Kevin Plawecki down to Triple-A Las Vegas. D'Arnaud has been out since April 25 with a strained rotator cuff. Now that he's back, he'll likely resume his role as the Mets' primary backstop. D'Arnaud is in Tuesday's lineup and will bat eighth.

Plawecki was optioned to Triple-A Las Vegas on Tuesday.

Plawecki was moved off the 25-man roster in order to make room for Travis d'Arnaud, who was activated off of the disabled list on Tuesday in a corresponding move. While he was with the Mets this season, Plawecki slashed an unimpressive .194/.301/.258 over 124 at-bats. He could get called up again if injuries occur to either d'Arnaud or Rene Rivera.

Stewart is out of the lineup for Tuesday's contest with San Francisco.

Stewart is missing his fourth straight game in favor of Jacob Stallings who's getting his second major league start behind the dish. Stewart's fantasy value has degraded recently as he's batting only .188 since the start of June and now shares time at catcher with Erik Kratz and Stallings.

Vazquez is not in the lineup Tuesday against the White Sox, Evan Drellich of the Boston Herald reports.

Vazquez has been showing signs of life at the plate of late, collecting a pair of multi-hit games over his last three starts, but he'll get the day off Tuesday. Sandy Leon will get the start behind the plate in his place and bat eighth against Chris Sale.

Casali is not in the lineup Tuesday against the Indians, Bill Chastain of MLB.com reports.

Casali is in the midst of an 0-for-14 slump over his last five games, as he's collected just two hits since June 6. Even still, he appears to remain the preferred option behind the plate most days, but he'll head to the bench in favor of Hank Conger on Tuesday.

Gomes went 2-for-4 with a double and two runs scored Monday against the Rays.

That's three straight games with at least one hit for Gomes after being moved down to eighth in the batting order. The catcher's 21-homer 2014 campaign still seems like a distant memory, though.

Contreras is expected to see the majority of starts over Miguel Montero and David Ross in the season ahead, Jesse Rogers of ESPN reports.

Montero will continue catching Jake Arrieta and Ross will continue with Jon Lester, but that leaves three regular starts for Contreras. The rookie went 1-for-4 during his first official start Monday against the Cardinals, although the lowly season averages of Montero (.202) and .Ross (.245) suggest that Contreras will have quite a leash to work with even if he goes through rookie speed bumps.