MLB Player News

Collins elected to become a free agent Tuesday.

The 28-year-old catcher played in only two major-league games this season with the Guardians and heads to the open market with a career .188/.300/.329 batting line across 465 total plate appearances at baseball's highest level.

Stallings is starting at catcher and batting ninth in Game 2 of the NL Wild Card Series on Wednesday versus the Phillies.

Nick Fortes started behind the plate in Game 1 on Tuesday and went 0-for-2 with a strikeout as the Marlins lost 4-1. Stallings will get the nod Wednesday at Citizens Bank Park with Miami trying to avoid elimination in the best-of-three series.

Vazquez is absent from the lineup Wednesday for Game 2 of the AL Wild Card Series versus the Blue Jays.

Vazquez and Ryan Jeffers basically alternated starts at catcher during the regular season, but it's been Jeffers behind the plate for each of the first two games of the postseason. The only tweak the Twins made in their lineup from Game 1 to Game 2 was flip-flopping Jeffers and Matt Wallner in the batting order, with the former moving down to eighth and the latter up to seventh.

Bethancourt is not in the lineup Wednesday for Game 2 of the AL Wild Card Series against the Rangers.

Bethancourt also began Game 1 on the bench, although he did enter at catcher late after Rene Pinto was lifted for a pinch hitter. The Rays began leaning toward Pinto over Bethancourt behind the plate in September and that has carried over into the playoffs.

Stallings is not in the lineup for Game 1 of the NL Wild Card Series against the Phillies on Tuesday.

Nick Fortes will start behind the plate and bat ninth for the visiting Marlins. Stallings slashed just .191/.278/.286 across 276 regular-season plate appearances this year with Miami, though Fortes wasn't really any better at .204/.263/.299 in his 323 plate appearances.

Fortes will start at catcher and bat ninth Tuesday in Game 1 of the NL Wild Card Series versus the Phillies.

Fortes and Jacob Stallings both struggled offensively this year for the Marlins, but Fortes will get the call behind the plate in Tuesday's NL Wild Card Series opener as Stallings rides the pine.

Alvarez (heel) felt better Monday and the Mets are unconcerned about the catcher's health going into the offseason, Tim Britton of The Athletic reports.

Alvarez had to exit Sunday's regular-season finale after taking a ball off his heel, but it appears that it will be a non-issue heading into the winter. Although he faded after the All-Star break, Alvarez still finished with 25 home runs in his rookie season, which ranked second only to Cal Raleigh among catchers.

Heineman went 2-for-3 with a triple, a walk, three RBI and a run scored in Sunday's 12-8 loss to the Rays.

Heineman opened up the scoring for the Blue Jays with a two-run triple in the second and then added on with an RBI single in the sixth. Sunday was Heineman's second multi-hit game of the year and his first RBI of the season. For now, he's the team's backup catcher with Danny Jansen (finger) working his way back from a fractured right middle finger, but Heineman may lose his roster spot, with Jansen expressing optimism he could return for a potential postseason run.

Gallagher played in just eight games in September, going 1-for-20 (.050).

Gallagher's usage declined with Bo Naylor earning the starting role behind the dish and David Fry settling in as backup. Over 149 plate appearances this season, Gallagher slashed a terrible .126/.154/.168 with six doubles, seven RBI, six runs scored and no home runs. He's still a fine defensive catcher, but there's likely little future for him in Cleveland.

Stubbs went 2-for-3 with a walk, one RBI, a stolen base and two runs scored in Sunday's 9-1 win over the Mets.

Stubbs got into just seven games after the start of September, serving as backup to workhorse catcher J.T. Realmuto. The multi-hit effort Sunday was just the second such game for Stubbs all season. He slashed .204/.274/.283 with one home run, 12 RBI, 15 runs scored and two stolen bases across 125 plate appearances. Stubbs will likely see minimal playing time in the postseason.