MLB Player News

Casali was traded from the Rays to the Reds on Thursday.

The 29-year-old backstop figures to head to the big leagues after Cincinnati demoted Tony Cruz to Triple-A Louisville. Casali put together a .274/.327/.453 slash line with four homers and 20 RBI over 28 games at Triple-A Durham this season.

Grandal is not in the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Phillies.

Grandal will get the night off after starting the previous three games behind the dish. Austin Barnes will start at catcher and hit eighth in his stead Tuesday.

Plawecki is not in the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Braves.

Plawecki will give way to the hot-hitting Devin Mesoraco behind the dish after collecting a trio of hits and catching all nine innings in his first game back from the disabled list Monday. The two will likely settle into a timeshare behind the plate now that Plawecki is healthy.

Barnhart's last five starts have come with him batting second in the lineup, where he has been 8-for-25, albeit with no walks against four strikeouts.

Typically Barnhart is a pretty patient hitter, as he carries an 11.0% walk rate this year, though many of his walks in the past have come when he's been batting eighth in the lineup. If he can remain in this spot in the lineup, however, he should score more runs batting in front of Joey Votto and Scooter Gennett.

Plawecki went 3-for-4 with a walk, two runs scored and an RBI in a win over the Braves during the second game of Monday's doubleheader.

After being activated from the disabled list earlier in the day, Plawecki quickly demonstrated that he's 100 percent after recovering from a fracture in his left hand. Devin Mesoraco has looked good since joining the Mets in Plawecki's absence, posting a .261/.358/.630 slash line with five homers in 15 games, so the 27-year-old should split time behind the plate equally with his new teammate -- just as Plawecki was doing with Travis d'Arnaud (elbow) before both catchers got hurt.

Mesoraco went 2-for-3 with a home run, two RBI, two runs scored and a walk in the first game of Monday's doubleheader versus Atlanta.

Mesoraco drove in a run the easy way during the first inning by walking with the bases loaded. He also homered in the ninth to give the Mets a 3-2 lead that the bullpen would later surrender. Mesoraco has been on a hot streak of late, reaching base in each of his last five games and lifting his batting average to .241. He was batting a dismal .203 as of May 18.

Realmuto is out of Monday's lineup against the Padres, Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald reports.

The Marlins aren't trotting out a very fierce lineup against lefty Eric Lauer, with Bryan Holaday starting behind the dish and hitting eighth while Brian Anderson moves to the No. 2 spot in the lineup. Despite a lack of lineup protection, Realmuto is hitting .323/.380/.546 with six home runs and one stolen base in 130 at-bats this season.

Contreras is out of Monday's lineup against the Pirates.

He has started the last seven games, hitting .179 with nine strikeouts over that stretch. Chris Gimenez will start at catcher and hit seventh in his stead.

Nido was optioned to Double-A Binghamton on Monday, Tim Britton of The Athletic New York reports.

While Nido has spent time in the big leagues in each of the last two seasons, largely due to the fact he is on the 40-man roster, he belongs at Double-A, as he has played just six games at Triple-A and 107 games at DoubleA. Kevin Plawecki (hand) was activated from the disabled list as a corresponding move.

Plawecki (hand) was activated from the 10-day disabled list, but is not in the lineup for the first game of Monday's doubleheader, Tim Britton of The Athletic New York reports.

He hit .231/.333/.462 with a home run and three strikeouts in 13 at-bats during his rehab assignment with Triple-A. Devin Mesoraco, who is starting at catcher and hitting sixth against the Braves, will challenge Plawecki for playing time going forward. It figures to be a pretty even split for now. Tomas Nido was optioned to Triple-A in a corresponding move.