MLB Player News

Kirk isn't in the Blue Jays' lineup Sunday against the Rockies, Keegan Matheson of MLB.com reports.

Kirk will get a day off after extending his hitting streak to five games Saturday. Tyler Heineman will get the nod behind the plate and bat ninth Sunday.

Fermin is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Red Sox.

Fermin appeared to be losing out on playing time as August came to a close, but he started each of the past four games behind the plate, going 5-for-15 with a double, a walk, two RBI and a run scored over that stretch. Salvador Perez will be behind the dish Sunday, but the Royals could continue to open up more starts at catcher for Fermin by deploying Perez at either first base or designated hitter.

Rogers is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the White Sox.

He'll be getting a routine breather for the day game after he started behind the dish in both of the past two contests while going 3-for-9 with an RBI and a run. Carson Kelly will form a battery with starting pitcher Tarik Skubal in the series finale.

Contreras is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Pirates, John Denton of MLB.com reports.

Contreras will get a well-deserved day off after catching both of the past two days and starting behind the plate or at designated hitter in each of the Cardinals' last 15 games. Andrew Knizner will handle the catching duties in Sunday's series finale.

Amaya is starting at catcher and batting ninth in Sunday's game against the Reds.

With Yan Gomes getting a day off, Amaya will enter the lineup for the second time in the last three days. The Cubs did have a doubleheader Friday, otherwise Amaya likely wouldn't have seen the lineup as frequently to begin the month. As long as Chicago remains in the playoff race, the team figures to ride the veteran Gomes, which will keep Amaya on the bench most days.

Diaz went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run in Saturday's 5-4 loss to the Yankees.

The rookie supplied the Astros' final offense of the night when he drove a Luis Severino slider the other way for an opposite-field homer. Diaz has cemented his spot in the lineup by slashing .303/.340/.574 since the beginning of August with seven of his 20 long balls on the season, and the 24-year-old has fallen into a pattern of starting two out of every three games -- once at DH and once at catcher.

Gomes is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Reds, Meghan Montemurro of the Chicago Tribune reports.

Gomes is 3-for-21 with a walk and an RBI in his past seven games and will take a seat for Sunday's contest. Miguel Amaya will step in behind the plate to catch for Jameson Taillon.

Moreno went 1-for-3 with a walk and a solo home run in Saturday's 7-3 loss to Baltimore.

Moreno's hot stick continued Saturday, but his ninth-inning home run was too little. The blast was the catcher's seventh of the season and fourth in the last 13 games. Since the All-Star break, Moreno has a 1.045 OPS with 11 extra-base hits (five home runs) and 15 RBI over 22 games.

Rutschman went 2-for-5 with a solo home run and an additional RBI in a 7-3 win over Arizona on Saturday.

Rutschman plated a run with a fourth-inning single and tacked on another with a seventh-inning solo shot. The long ball snapped a 19-game homerless stretch for the catcher, who had just three extra-base hits (all doubles) over 75 at-bats during that drought. Rutschman nonetheless has maintained a solid .274/.366/.424 slash line on the campaign while exceeding his rookie totals with 17 home runs, 64 RBI and 71 runs over 577 plate appearances.

Huff went 1-for-1 with a two-run home run Saturday in an extra-inning loss to the Twins.

After being recalled from Triple-A on Friday, Huff got the start at DH on Saturday. He slugged a 430-foot, two-run home run in the second frame in his first major-league plate appearance since Aug. 9 but was taken out in favor of lefty pinch hitter J.P. Martinez two innings later. Both of Huff's long balls this season have come against right-handed hurlers, but he's gone a respectable 5-for-19 with two doubles and two RBI (albeit with nine punchouts) against southpaws.