MLB Player News

Smith will be on the bench Saturday against the Giants.

Smith sits for the second time in three days, with the Dodgers seemingly prioritizing rest in the final week of the regular season. He's one homer shy of his third straight 20-homer campaign but will have to wait until the final game of the season to try for it, unless he appears as a pinch hitter Saturday. Austin Barnes will start behind the plate in Smith's absence, catching for Clayton Kershaw.

The Padres placed Campusano on the 10-day injured list Saturday with a right ankle sprain.

Campusano's injury could help explain why he's missed each of the Padres' last four games, and it will officially keep him out for the final two. The 25-year-old backstop put up a .319/.356/.491 slash line through 174 plate appearances in 2023, and he projects as San Diego's primary catcher for 2024.

Alvarez will sit for the first half of Saturday's doubleheader against the Phillies, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports.

Alvarez won't be asked to start twice in one day but could still get one or two more starts in before the end of the year. After hitting .238/.295/.514 in the first half, he's managed just a .168/.263/.305 line since the break, though his overall 93 wRC+ and 23 homers makes for a more than adequate performance from a 21-year-old catcher. Omar Narvaez will crouch behind the plate Saturday afternoon.

The Mets recalled Perez from Triple-A Syracuse on Saturday.

Perez will come up from the minors to give the Mets a bench bat as Brandon Nimmo (shoulder) lands on the injured list. Perez played two games with the Mets in May, going 4-for-7 with a run scored. With Francisco Alvarez and Omar Narvaez already on the big-league roster, Perez's chances of starting one of New York's final games are low.

Stephenson went 1-for-5 with a two-run home run and an additional run in Friday's 19-2 win over St. Louis.

Stephenson's 13th home run of the season was the Reds' third of the fourth inning and sixth and final long ball of the night, leaving the team one shy of matching a single-game franchise record. Though the Reds are one of the few teams in baseball still competing for a playoff spot in the final series of the regular season, Stephenson isn't necessarily a lock to start behind the dish Saturday and Sunday. He and Luke Maile have been splitting work at catcher of late, with the latter starting four games to Stephenson's three over the past seven contests.

Ruiz went 2-for-5 with a solo home run and two additional runs in Friday's 10-6 win over Atlanta.

Ruiz extend his hit streak to five games with a single in the fourth inning, then kicked off the scoring in the Nationals' three-run sixth inning with his 18th home run of the season. The young backstop has rebounded from a slow start to the season to emerge as a low-end No. 1 catcher or high-end No. 2 catcher in most 12-team mixed leagues -- roughly in line with how he had been valued heading into the season. He's hitting .291 in the second half and has provided nine of his 18 home runs and 32 of his 63 RBI since the All-Star break.

Smith went 1-for-3 with a two-run home run and an additional run scored in Friday's 6-2 win over the Giants.

Smith got the scoring started with his first-inning blast. The catcher has struggled a bit lately, going just 5-for-36 (.139) over his last 10 games, though he's still managed five RBI in that span. For the season, he's posted a .259/.357/.437 slash line with 19 long balls, 76 RBI, 79 runs scored, three stolen bases, 21 doubles and two triples over 125 games.

Bailey is out of the lineup Friday against the Dodgers.

Blake Sabol will catch and bat eighth for the Giants. Bailey has enjoyed some promising stretches this season, but the 24-year-old is slashing just .127/.172/.146 with 21 strikeouts in 58 plate appearances since the beginning of September.

The Giants optioned Bart to Triple-A Sacramento on Friday, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Bart has spent most of this season in the minors and will now finish out the year there. Selected second overall in the 2018 MLB Draft out of Georgia Tech, the 26-year-old catcher owns a highly disappointing .219/.288/.335 career slash line in 503 major-league plate appearances. He could be a trade candidate this winter.

Campusano isn't in the Padres' lineup Friday against the White Sox.

Campusano hadn't appeared in the Padres' last three games either despite going 11-for-23 (.478) during a six-game hitting streak prior to that, but there's been no news of an injury for the 25-year-old catcher. Brett Sullivan will start behind the plate and bat seventh Friday.