MLB Player News

Realmuto will bat in the leadoff spot Sunday against the Diamondbacks.

This is a bit of a unique spot for Realmuto, who will bat leadoff for just the seventh time this season. Oddly enough, the backstop owns just a .209 on-base percentage against left-handed pitching this season, although he does sport a .290 career mark. In any case, manager Don Mattingly will elect to get things going with Realmuto, while the regular leadoff man, lefty Derek Dietrich, bats seventh in the order.

Stewart left Saturday's game against the Cardinals in the seventh inning with a left foot injury following a collision at the plate, Bill Brink of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

Making his first start in place of Francisco Cervelli, who was placed on the DL earlier Saturday and ruled out for four-to-six weeks with a broken bone in his left hand, Stewart couldn't get out of the game with his health in tact. He had already been limping around prior to the game after fouling off two pitches on the foot earlier this week, and aggravated the injury after the collision. Stewart's departure forced the Pirates to throw Erik Kratz into the fire right away behind the plate, after the veteran catcher was acquired Saturday from the Angels. It's likely that Stewart will garner the majority of the starts while Cervelli is out, but if Stewart's foot injury ends up sidelining him, Kratz would be next in line for increased opportunities in the lineup.

D'Arnaud (shoulder) is expected to catch nine innings for High-A St. Lucie on Monday, Adam Rubin of ESPN New York reports.

D'Arnaud has been taking reps primarily as the DH in his rehab assignment, but made his first start at catcher Saturday, and went 2-for-4 at the dish in the effort. It now looks as if the young backstop is starting to pick up the pace, and a return to the majors within seven-to-eight days is apparently a realistic possibility, according to Kristie Ackert of the New York Daily News. If d'Arnaud can bring any offense to the Mets, it will surely be an upgrade on the current situation, as the team isn't getting much offense out of either Rene Rivera (.143) or Kevin Plawecki (.204).

Realmuto blasted a solo home run in Saturday's loss to the Diamondbacks.

Realmuto's fourth inning solo shot gave the Marlins a two run lead that starter Jose Fernandez could not hold. The blast was just his third on the year, but is coupled with a very solid .305/.335/.415 slash line over 200 at-bats. The catcher has also chipped in three steals while scoring 22 runs and driving home 16 RBI on the year.

Barnhart is out of the lineup Sunday against the Athletics.

Consider it a typical maintenance day for Barnhart, who was behind the plate for the first two games of the series, going 3-for-6 with a double and a walk. Ramon Cabrera will spell him at catcher Sunday.

D'Arnaud (shoulder), who has been limited to serving as the designated hitter in rehab games, will catch for the first time Saturday, Marc Craig of Newsday reports.

Last Sunday, D'Arnaud kicked off his rehab assignment, which can last up to 20 days. He now has just shy of two weeks to show that his shoulder is fully healed and can handle the rigors of catching daily. Kevin Plawecki and Rene Rivera continue to man the backstop for the Mets, who could use d'Arnaud's solid bat in the lineup due to absences of Lucas Duda (back) and David Wright (neck).

Realmuto is not in Friday's lineup against the Diamondbacks, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com reports.

Realmuto has started more than five games in a row only once this season, so he'll take a seat while Jeff Mathis starts behind the plate. Realmuto was coming off a 3-for-4 performance on Thursday and is now hitting .306.

Rupp is not in the lineup Friday against the Nationals, Ryan Lawrence of the Philly Voice reports.

Rupp has started three of the last four games behind the plate for the Phillies and will get a day off for Friday's game. In his place, Carlos Ruiz is slotted at the catcher position, batting fifth. Rupp will likely be back in the lineup for Saturday's matinee game.

Realmuto went 3-for-4, was hit by a pitch and scored two runs in a 10-3 blowout of the Twins on Thursday.

The Marlins are shockingly rolling out five .300 hitters in their starting lineup and Realmuto's one of them, as he's up to .306 after this performance. He slotted in as the No. 8 hitter for this interleague game, but has most often been the seventh hitter for Miami this year; those non-premium lineup positions have conspired to limit his counting stats, but Realmuto's excellent contact skills play in any slot.

Hedges (hand) was activated off the 7-day disabled list Thursday, Dennis Lin of the Union-Tribune reports.

Hedges returns to the Triple-A El Paso roster after being on the shelf for six weeks due to a broken hamate bone in his hand. Given the length of his downtime, Hedges will likely remain at Triple-A for the foreseeable future while Derek Norris and Christian Bethancourt serve as the regular backstops up at the major league level for the Padres.