MLB Player News

Maldonado is not in the lineup Sunday for the second time in three days.

Maldonado has seen the majority of the starts behind the plate since Jonathan Lucroy's departure, but fellow backstop Manny Pina has hit the ball far better than Maldonado this month, and is starting to cut into Maldonado's playing time.

Rupp is out of the lineup for Sunday's matchup against the Cardinals.

Carlos Ruiz will start at catcher and bat fifth as Rupp gets the day off. Rupp will likely be back in the lineup when the Phillies return to action against the White Sox on Tuesday.

Contreras is out of the lineup Saturday against the Rockies.

With Mike Montgomery on the mound in a fill-in situation, the Cubs will deploy veteran catcher Miguel Montero to take control of the game behind the plate. Contreras has cooled off considerably after an unsustainably hot start, but he still has a .730 OPS since the start of July, which is pretty impressive for a rookie catcher.

Grandal is not in the lineup for Saturday's game against the Reds.

A.J. Ellis will take over behind the plate, affording Grandal a day to rest his legs after five consecutive starts. Grandal has rewarded patient fantasy owners after a rough first three months of the season, as he's totaled 13 home runs since the calendar flipped to July. He's tied with Jonathan Lucroy for the most home runs among catchers (20).

Realmuto slugged his sixth home run of the season as part of a 3-for-3 night at the dish in a win over the Pirates on Friday.

The hot-hitting catcher also drew a walk on the evening, bringing his overall line to .312/.355/.418 on the year. He's also provided 23 doubles and 11 steals while scoring 45 runs and driving in 34 over 414 at-bats.

D'Arnaud is out of Friday's lineup versus the Giants, Marc Carig of Newsday reports.

The Mets will opt to start Rene Rivera over d'Arnaud for the second time in the last four days. D'Arnaud has been fantastic at the plate recently, having gone 9-for-17 with a home run over the last seven days.

Rupp is out of the lineup Friday against the Cardinals.

Carlos Ruiz will get the nod to start behind the plate for Friday's series opener against St. Louis. Rupp has improved at the plate in recent outings, posting a .314/.385/.600 line with three home runs over the last 14 games.

Realmuto is not in the lineup for Thursday's series finale against the Reds, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com reports.

Since his 11-game hitting streak ended Aug. 10, Realmuto has gone just 4-for-21 at the plate with one extra-base hit (a double). He'll get his regularly scheduled day off Thursday, with Jeff Mathis taking duties behind the plate and batting seventh, but Realmuto should rejoin the lineup Friday.

Barnhart is not on the lineup card for Thursday's series finale against the Marlins.

Likely just a scheduled day off for Barnhart, he will cede duties behind the plate Thursday to Ramon Cabrera, who will bat seventh for the Reds. Barnhart should rejoin the lineup Friday when Cincinnati welcomes the Dodgers to town.

Barnhart went 1-for-3 with a walk and a first-inning grand slam, his seventh homer of the season, in Tuesday's win over the Marlins.

Barnhart's big blast in the first inning extended his career-high hitting streak to 12 games. The catcher is batting .357 (15-for-42) with two homers during the streak, and .308 over his last 37 games to raise his batting average from .238 to .267. Barnhart, 25, is playing regularly for the first time this season, a necessity since late April when Devin Mesoraco was lost for the season because of left shoulder surgery.