MLB Player News

Alvarez is slashing only .191/.286/.265 over his last 20 games with one home run and three RBI, but the Mets believe he's close to emerging from his slump, Tim Britton of the Athletic reports.

The 23-year-old catcher began revamping his swing mechanics in the offseason, but a fractured hamate bone this spring derailed Alvarez's progress, and he's struggled to get comfortable at the plate since coming off the IL. "The past week, I feel like he's hitting the ball in the air, hitting the ball hard - something we didn't see early on when he got back from the injury," Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said Wednesday. "I like some of the takes with some of the breaking balls. I know he's working." The team has had internal discussions about optioning Alvarez to Triple-A until he turns things around, but a lack of catching depth in the organization makes that tricky, especially while he's still contributing defensively. Should that prove to be necessary, Luis Torrens would take over as New York's No. 1 catcher until Alvarez regains his confidence as a hitter.

Pages is absent from the lineup for the first game of Thursday's doubleheader versus the White Sox.

Ivan Herrera will start at catcher and Alec Burleson will serve as the designated hitter for the Cardinals in the first game of Thursday's twin bill. Pages is a good bet to be behind the dish for the second contest.

Smith hit a solo homer as a pinch hitter in a 4-3 win against the Padres on Wednesday.

Smith began the contest on the bench, continuing his regular routine of resting every three games. However, the star backstop was called upon to pinch hit with the game tied 3-3 in the bottom of the ninth inning and came through with a walk-off solo shot to right-center field. Smith extended his on-base streak to 10 games with the blast, and he's batting .378 with three home runs, 10 RBI and 11 runs scored over that stretch. As a pinch hitter this season, Smith has gone 4-for-7, and he's batting a robust .333 overall on the campaign to lead the National League.

Maldonado is not in the Padres' starting lineup against the Dodgers on Wednesday.

Maldonado will sit after going 1-for-4 with a double across the first two games of the series. Elias Diaz will serve behind home plate and bat eighth while catching pitches from Stephen Kolek.

Smith is not in the Dodgers' starting lineup against the Padres on Wednesday.

Smith will be on the bench for the start of Wednesday's game while Dalton Rushing serves behind home plate and bats ninth. Smith has reached base safely in each of his last nine starts, and over that span he has gone 13-for-36 (.361) with 10 runs scored, three doubles, one triple, two home runs and nine RBI.

The Giants reinstated Bailey (neck) from the 10-day injured list Wednesday, Shayna Rubin of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Bailey needed only a minimum stint on the injured list to recover from a neck strain. Logan Porter was optioned to Triple-A Sacramento in a corresponding move and Andrew Knizner will serve as the backup catcher now that Bailey is back in the mix.

The Giants optioned Porter to Triple-A Sacramento on Wednesday, Alex Pavlovic of NBC Sports Bay Area reports.

Porter was brought up from Triple-A last week when Patrick Bailey hit the IL with a neck strain. Now that the latter is healthy, Porter will return to the minors, where he's slashed .237/.350/.319 across 161 plate appearances this season.

Murphy is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Mets.

Murphy had started both of Atlanta's last two games, marking the first time he's been behind the dish for consecutive contests since May 27 and 29. The veteran backstop has produced a .487 OPS thus far in June, so he doesn't seem to have built much momentum toward overtaking Drake Baldwin as Atlanta's No. 1 catcher. Though Baldwin will get the start Wednesday, he's also started to slow down at the dish following a hot start to the season, so the playing time between him and Murphy could be distributed in fairly equitable fashion for the foreseeable future.

Davis is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Tigers.

Davis' brief run as the Pirates' No. 1 backstop appears to have come to an end after Pittsburgh activated Joey Bart from the 7-day injured list Tuesday. Bart will make his second straight start behind the plate Wednesday, while Davis takes a seat for the third game in a row after he had previously received a breather in Sunday's loss to the Cubs before Bart was activated.

Alvarez is absent from the lineup for Wednesday's contest in Atlanta.

Luis Torrens will do the catching and bat sixth as the Mets try to even the series. Alvarez went hitless in Tuesday's game and is 1-for-14 over his last four tilts.