MLB Player News

Contreras is out of Saturday's lineup against the Red Sox.

Miguel Montero will get the start behind the dish and hit seventh with John Lackey on the mound for the Cubs. Contreras is hitting .254/.309/.413 with two home runs and a 29.4 percent strikeout rate through 63 at-bats.

D'Arnaud went 2-for-3 with a walk, two home runs and five RBI in Friday's 7-5 win over the Nationals.

Impressively, both homers came off Max Scherzer. With four homers and 15 RBI on the season, d'Arnaud has already matched last year's power production in 56 fewer games.

Rupp's average exit velocity is down to 89.9 mph this season after averaging 92.2 mph last year, Todd Zolecki of MLB.com reports.

Rupp said he has been missing too many good pitches this season. He has more than doubled his walk rate from 2016, but he thinks that may actually be problematic. "I'm seeing the ball," Rupp said. "I feel I need to be more aggressive when I get my pitches to hit as opposed to maybe falling deeper into counts. I think I had success last year swinging earlier. I don't want to get to two strikes and start seeing 95 mph sliders." Rupp has been getting an opportunity to work his way out of his early-season slump, but he could start to lose playing time to Andrew Knapp if he fails to get his bat going soon. The Phillies also have top catching prospect Jorge Alfaro at Triple-A, and he could be an option to come to the majors later this year.

Mesoraco will play in half of the team's next 10 games so that he will have the chance to catch each of the Reds' starting pitchers, C. Trent Rosencrans of the Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

Although this only a concrete plan for the next 10 games, Rosencrans also reported that he could continue to platoon with Tucker Barnhart going forward. However, if Mesoraco can show signs of the potential he displayed in his breakout 2014 season, regaining his status as everyday catcher is not out of the realm of possibility.

Mesoraco is batting seventh and catching Friday against the Cardinals.

It will be a long-awaited debut for Mesoraco, who last played in a major-league game on April 27 of last year. The 28-year-old backstop will likely be eased into the everyday catcher role ahead of Tucker Barnhart, but will need to show consistency at the plate after hitting just .170 in 13 rehab games for Double-A Pensacola.

Realmuto is catching and batting leadoff Friday against the Pirates.

With Dee Gordon getting the day off, Realmuto slides to No. 1 in the order for just the second time this season. The 26-year-old doesn't have blazing speed, but owns a .340/.373/.456 career slash line as a leadoff hitter, providing a consistent threat at the top of the lineup. He carries a seven-game hitting streak into Friday night's matchup against Jameson Taillon.

Murphy will receive a bone scan Friday in Arizona to assess the healing progress of his broken right wrist, Nick Groke of The Denver Post reports.

The backstop's last significant update came about two weeks ago, when it was reported he was not yet doing fielding drills. Murphy could return in the coming weeks to join an already crowded Rockies catcher pool, though his performance against live pitching and eventually minor-league hurlers will determine his immediate timetable. Still, in deep two-catcher fantasy leagues, he's a useful stash for his offensive potential at hitter-friendly Coors Field in the event he runs away with majority playing time.

Bethancourt will focus on pitching while at Triple-A El Paso, Dennis Lin of the Union-Tribune reports.

The Padres outrighted Bethancourt off the 40-man roster Tuesday after his struggles as both a reliever and as a hitter while with the big-league club. According to Lin, Bethancourt will leave open the possibility of going back behind the plate down the line, but wants to train primarily as a pitcher for the time being. Bethancourt has strong velocity on his fastball, sitting at 94.1 miles per hour, but he'll need time to hone in on his command. He walked a whopping eight batters in just 3.2 innings while with the Padres, but it's clear that the organization is confident enough in his upside to where they believe he can develop as a pitcher down the line.

Hedges is out of the lineup Thursday against the Diamondbacks, Steve Gilbert of MLB.com reports.

Hedges has shown tremendous power at the plate lately. Over the last seven games he's slugged four home runs and notched nine RBI across 22 at-bats. He'll get the night off as the Padres opt to start Luis Torrens at catcher.

Barnes is in the Dodgers' Thursday lineup against the Giants, hitting sixth and playing catcher, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports.

Barnes replaces Yasmani Grandal during the afternoon game against southpaw Matt Moore. He could be a sneaky daily fantasy play considering the platoon advantage.