MLB Player News

Alvarez (thumb) was reaching exit velocities over 100 miles per hour during batting practice over the weekend, Will Sammon of The Athletic reports.

The 22-year-old catcher is still wearing a splint on his surgically repaired thumb, however, and the Mets aren't going to rush him back from the 10-day injured list. The team may also use his recovery period to have him work on his positioning behind the plate, as Alvarez has a tendency to be overeager reaching for pitches and is susceptible to getting his glove hand smacked by a swing. Alvarez was batting .236 (13-for-55) with one home run and eight RBI through 16 games when he was injured in mid-April.

Murphy went 1-for-4 with an RBI in Monday's loss to the Nationals.

Seeing his first MLB action since Opening Day, Murphy hit fifth in the order and brought home Marcell Ozuna with a groundout in the seventh inning. With Ronald Acuna (knee) lost for the season, Atlanta needs Murphy to quickly regain the form that saw him set career highs with 21 homers and an .843 OPS in 2023.

Diaz is absent from the lineup for Monday's contest in Seattle.

Victor Caratini will do the catching for Framber Valdez. Diaz -- who had started the last three games and five of the last six -- has just a .501 OPS in May.

Delay (knee) has been transferred to Triple-A Indianapolis to continue his rehab assignment, Kevin Gorman of TribLive.com reports.

Delay had been at Single-A Bradenton, where he was hitless with one walk in his lone game. The 29-year-old is coming back from meniscus surgery on his right knee and could be need by the big club, depending on the status of Joey Bart (thumb).

Thaiss went 1-for-2 with a two-run home run in Sunday's loss to Cleveland.

Thaiss made the most of just his second start behind the plate over the past week, walloping a 446-foot two-run shot in the fifth inning for his first homer of the campaign. The veteran is firmly behind 24-year-old backstop Logan O'Hoppe on the catching depth chart -- Thaiss has only 46 plate appearances on the season to O'Hoppe's 172. When he has played, Thaiss has mostly struggled, slashing .200/.304/.350 with a 32.6 percent strikeout rate.

Herrera went 0-for-4 with a stolen base in Sunday's 4-3 win over the Cubs.

Herrera is in a bit of a slump, having gone 1-for-12 with four walks and four strikeouts over his last five games. The catcher's steal Sunday was the first of his career. He's added a .262/.336/.355 slash line with three home runs, 15 RBI and 14 runs scored over 122 plate appearances this season. Herrera continues to occupy a starting role behind the dish with Pedro Pages as backup while Willson Contreras (forearm) is likely out until mid-July.

Marchan (back) was activated from the injured list and optioned to Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Monday.

Marchan will effectively continue his rehab assignment with Lehigh Valley with no pressing need for a third catcher at the big-league level. The 25-year-old backstop has not appeared in the majors since 2021, but he could get a look later in the season if there is an injury behind the plate in Philadelphia.

Langeliers went 1-for-3 with a solo home run and a walk in a loss to the Astros on Sunday.

Langeliers got to closer Josh Hader in the ninth, slugging a 411-foot shot to center for the Athletics' second and final run of the day. The blast was Langeliers' 11th of the season, and with 20 of his 34 hits now having gone for extra bases, the backstop boasts a .491 slugging percentage that helps make up for his paltry .214 average and .281 on-base percentage.

D'Arnaud is absent from the lineup for Monday's game against the Nationals.

Sean Murphy is making his long-awaited return from the injured list Monday, so d'Arnaud will begin this one on the bench. It's likely that Murphy won't shoulder too big of a workload initially, so expect d'Arnaud to continue seeing plenty of reps. The 35-year-old should retain value in two-catcher leagues even with his playing time expected to dip.

Atlanta activated Murphy (oblique) from the 10-day injured list Monday, David O'Brien of The Athletic reports.

Murphy missed more than eight weeks with a Grade 1 left oblique strain but is finally ready to rejoin Atlanta's lineup. He looked sharp during a four-game rehab stint with Triple-A Gwinnett, batting .278 with two home runs. Murphy will probably be eased back into primary catcher duties for Atlanta, as the club is keeping Chadwick Tromp around as a third catcher behind Murphy and Travis d'Arnaud for the time being. He is starting Monday's game, batting fifth against Mitchell Parker and the Nationals.