MLB Player News

Barnhart is out of the lineup Thursday against the Cardinals, C. Trent Rosecrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

After six consecutive starts behind the plate, Barnhart will take a seat for the early matchup Thursday. Ramon Cabrera will man the backstop in his stead.

Sanchez signed a minor-league contract with the Giants, Chris Cotillo of SB Nation reports.

Sanchez posted a poor line of .201/.292/.309 over 45 games with Toronto's Triple-A affiliate in Buffalo before being released on July 28. With Buster Posey at catcher for the Giants, the chances of Sanchez making it up to The Show this season are very slim. In the meantime, he'll simply provide depth behind the plate at Triple-A Sacramento.

Grandal is not in the starting lineup for the Dodgers on Wednesday.

A.J. Ellis will get the start behind the dish for the Dodgers at Coors Field on Wednesday. Grandal is swinging a hot bat over his last 10 games, hitting .313 with three home runs and six RBI in 32 at-bats. He should be back in the lineup on Thursday as the Dodgers face Rockies starter Tyler Chatwood.

D'Arnaud is not in the starting lineup for the Mets on Wednesday.

D'Arnaud will give way to catcher Rene Rivera on Wednesday. Expect d'Arnaud back in the Mets lineup on Thursday as they face Nathan Eovaldi at Yankee Stadium. On the season, d'Arnaud is hitting .250/.296/.371 with three home runs in 116 at-bats against right-handed pitchers.

Rupp went 1-for-5 with a three-run homer in Tuesday's 13-8 win over the Giants.

Rupp's eighth-inning blast put the game out of reach for good, transforming a tenuous two-run lead into a commanding five-run advantage. The catcher has been moved around in the lineup a lot lately, but perhaps hitting a homer in the clean-up spot will convince manager Pete Mackanin to keep him there long-term. Rupp's RBI potential would experience a nice uptick if that were to be the case.

Barnhart hit his sixth homer of the year in Tuesday's win over the Cardinals. He also drew two walks.

For the season Barnhart is now hitting .254/.320/.389, which is still somewhat underwhelming, yet an improvement and decent enough at a watered down catcher's position. He's been roughly around the 20th most valuable catcher this season, according to RotoWire's Earned Auction Value tool.

Stewart may go on a rehab assignment by the end of the week, Bill Brik of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

The team has increased Stewart's baseball activities over the past days, with the hope of having him playing rehab games by the weekend. However, it's unclear if Stewart will become the primary backup once he returns or if the team will opt to use him as added depth behind Eric Fryer.

Maldonado is in the lineup Monday against the Padres.

Now that Jonathan Lucroy has officially been traded, Maldonado will be seeing a lot more time behind the plate. Maldonado is hitting just .202 this season, but will be in a favorable matchup Monday night against struggling Padres starter Jarred Cosart.

Realmuto went 2-for-3 with a walk and two RBI in Sunday's win over the Cardinals.

He continues to enjoy a strong month of July and Realumto is now hitting .337 (29-for-86) with 15 runs scored and six steals since the calendar flipped over. With a .315/.349/.415 slash line on the season, he's been a key part of the Marlins' surprisingly successful year to date.

Barnes was optioned to Triple-A Oklahoma City on Sunday, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports.

Barnes had been acting as a utility player and emergency third catcher during his latest stint with the big club, but with the versatile Enrique Hernandez (ribs) cleared to return from the DL, there was no need for the Dodgers to keep both players on the 25-man roster. The 26-year-old Barnes was with the Dodgers for just over a week, recording one hit across four at-bats.