MLB Player News

Royals premier catcher Salvador Perez is hoping his team will see fit to renegotiate a contract that he has clearly outplayed.

The Royals could play hardball and maintain his five-year, $7 million deal with three club options extending to 2019. But he hopes not.

"I want to stay here," Perez told Yahoo Sports. "I want to spend my career here. That's the team that gave me an opportunity when I was 16 years old. ... I don't like to think about that [contract]. But in the back of my mind, I start to think about it. Hopefully, they can do something different to me."

That distraction could be affecting him at the plate. Perez is 2-for-23 over his last seven games as his average has dropped to a season-low .277.

Mets catcher Travis d'Arnaud went 1 for 2 with a walk and caught five innings in his rehab debut with high Class A St. Lucie on Thursday.

Both d'Arnaud and second baseman Dilson Herrera were replaced in the bottom of the sixth after getting at-bats in the top half of the inning. d'Arnaud hit the disabled list in mid-April with a fractured finger then suffered a setback in his first attempt at a rehab assignment in late May when he suffered a bone bruise in his wrist. He has hit .317/.356/.537 with two homers and 10 RBI in 41 at-bats.

The Dodgers moved catcher Yasmani Grandal into the No. 2 hole for Thursday's game against the Cardinals, the team announced.

It is the third time Grandal will bat second in a game this season. He will face Michael Wacha, who he is 1 for 2 against in his career. Since returning from the disabled list, Grandal is hitting .313 with one home run and three RBI in his last six games.

The Dodgers are the favorites (-108) over the Cardinals on Thursday.

Indians catcher Yan Gomes received the day off on Thursday against the Royals, after playing three consecutive games for the first time since coming off the disabled list with a knee injury. Roberto Perez will be behind the plate for the Indians. Gomes is hitting .231 (3 for 13) since being activated from the DL.

Reds manager Bryan Price told reporters that he'll start working injured catcher Devin Mesoraco in left field to see if he can stay play this season, per the Cincinnati Enquirer.

Mesoraco has seen a hip specialist in New York, and the team remains confident he'll be ready for 2016, even if he plays through 2015 and has surgery in the offseason. Price added that he anticipates Mesoraco catching for the Reds in 2016, per MLB.com.

"We're going to continue to prepare him to hit and potentially work with him in the outfield a little bit and see if that's an option moving forward, to see if we can extract some value from him before we write off his season," Price said. "If he can't catch and he can only be a pinch-hitter, his value is so limited that it wouldn't make sense to take up that roster spot if that's all he can do. If he can play the outfield a bit capably, it's a way to get him in the lineup every now and again and let his bat do some influence for our club."

Mesoraco was placed on the disabled list on May 25, after trying to play through a left hip impingement through the early portion of the season. He was limited to only 45 at-bats, and held a slash line of .178/.275/.244 at the time he landed on the shelf.

"I also don't know how quickly we'll be able to assess if this is reasonable to do with Devin," Price said. "What we're doing is looking at it. We're not committing to the fact he's going to be a left fielder. But we're going to look at it before we start talking about 2016 for Devin. We'd like to keep 2015 on the table as an option."

Royals catcher Salvador Perez returned to the starting lineup Thursday against the Indians after sitting out Wednesday due to a head injury.

Perez is batting just .222 in his last 23 games. His batting average has dropped from .333 to .282 in that span.

He is just 1 for 10 in his career against Trevor Bauer, who is starting Thursday for Cleveland. He has one double and five strikeouts.

Mets catcher Travis d'Arnaud and second baseman Dilson Herrera have been slated for Class A games with St. Lucie, according to ESPN New York. 

Herrera was placed on the disabled list on with an injury to his middle finger. D'Arnaud was moved to the DL after suffering an injury to his pinky, though he then experienced a setback by suffering a bone bruise to his hand. 

The two teammates are scheduled to play together on Thursday. 

Royals catcher Salvador Perez will be held out of Wednesday's lineup against the Indians, the team announced.

Perez left Tuesday's contest after taking a foul tip off his face mask. Drew Butera will start at catcher and bat ninth. Butera is hitting .182 in 33 at-bats this season.

The Royals are the underdogs (+130) against the Indians on Wednesday.

Royals catcher Salvador Perez exited Tuesday's game against the Indians after taking a foul tip off of his face mask, according to FOX Sports Kansas City. 

Perez left the game as a precaution. He finished the night 1 for 3 and a single. He now has a slash line of .282/.293/.435. 

Royals manager Ned Yost told reporters he believes that catcher Salvador Perez will work through his issues and learn how to be a patient hitter at the plate. According to BrooksBaseball.com, Perez is swinging at 58 percent of the pitches outside the zone.

"It's all part of developing as a hitter," manager Ned Yost said. "You can try and tell guys to stop swinging at balls in the dirt. But that's foolish. They've got to get to the point where they trust themselves, they trust their teammates, and they control their emotions in those situations so you don't try to do too much.

"When will that time come? I don't know. But it will come."

Perez is hitting .281/.291/.439 with nine doubles, six homers and 25 RBI in 46 games.