MLB Player News

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.

Grandal picked up three hits Tuesday, including a two-run home run, to go along with a walk, three RBI and three runs scored in the Dodgers' 15-5 win over the Phillies.

Grandal has been absolutely on fire lately, hitting .330/.454/.742 with 12 home runs in his past 30 games. He now has 19 homers on the year, a career-high already. Grandal's full-season batting average remains at just .234, but the switch-hitting catcher could certainly help many fantasy teams if he's still available in your league.

D'Arnaud is out of the lineup Tuesday against Arizona, Maria I. Guardado of NJ Advance Media reports.

Rene Rivera will get the nod to start behind the dish Tuesday, giving d'Arnaud the night off. D'Arnaud will likely return to the lineup for for Wednesday's series finale against the Diamondbacks.

Hernandez was sent back to Double-A Mobile following Sunday's game against the Red Sox.

Hernandez collected just two hits (though one home run) in eight at-bats for the Diamondbacks in his short time with the club but will now rejoin the team with which he slashed .196/.235/.433 over 29 games this season. The team didn't announce a corresponding move but it will likely be Welington Castillo's return from the bereavement list.