MLB Player News

Rodriguez is absent from the lineup for Wednesday's game versus the Cardinals, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

The two teams are playing a day game after a night game, so Rodriguez will take a seat after catching in Tuesday's win over St. Louis. Jason Delay will be behind the plate and will form a battery with starting pitcher Luis Ortiz.

Smith went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run in Tuesday's loss to the Guardians.

He gave the Dodgers an early lead by taking former battery-mate Noah Syndergaard deep in the first inning, but it didn't hold up. Smith is having a sluggish August by his standards, slashing .254/.295/.423 through 19 games with three of his 16 homers on the season and 11 of his 63 RBI.

Contreras was ejected from Tuesday's game against the Pirates after arguing about the strike zone, Justice delos Santos of MLB.com reports.

Contreras struck out swinging to end the top of the seventh inning with the bases loaded, though he appeared to be upset about a call earlier in the at-bat. Andrew Knizner took over behind the dish in his place.

Gomes is not in the lineup Tuesday against the Tigers.

Miguel Amaya will catch and bat ninth for the visiting Cubs. Gomes hit a double in Monday's series opener versus Detroit, but he's slashing just .182/.229/.296 through 48 total plate appearances so far in August.

Murphy is not in the lineup Tuesday against the Mets.

Travis d'Arnaud will start at catcher and bat seventh after Murphy went 0-for-8 with two strikeouts between Sunday's series finale against the Giants and Monday's series opener versus New York. Despite the recent struggles, Murphy still boasts an overall .903 OPS in 362 total plate appearances this season with the runaway NL East leaders.

Knizner went 1-for-3 with a solo home run and a walk in Monday's 11-1 loss to the Pirates.

Knizner's fifth-inning blast was all the offense the Cardinals could put on the board. He reached the 10-homer mark for the first time in his career, and five of them have come in 17 games since the All-Star break, a span in which he's hitting .345 (19-for-55). The catcher has added 28 RBI, 26 runs scored, eight doubles, one stolen base and a .267/.313/.497 slash line over 52 contests this year.

Rodriguez went 3-for-4 with an RBI, a walk and two runs scored in Monday's win over the Cardinals.

Rodriguez was on the basepaths all night, collecting three singles and drawing a walk in Pittsburgh's blowout victory. In 29 games since earning the promotion from Triple-A on July 17, the rookie catcher has posted a slash line of .267/.337/.430 with two home runs, eight RBI and 13 runs scored across 95 plate appearances. Rodriguez has showcased an impressive average exit velocity of 90.4 mph and an above-average walk rate of 9.5 percent. However, his 27.4 percent strikeout rate may impact his overall productivity.

Alvarez is out of the lineup for Monday's game against Atlanta, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports.

Alvarez is on the bench for the second game in a row, but the Mets haven't suggested that the young backstop is dealing with an injury. Instead, Alvarez's consecutive absences are likely part of a predetermined management plan, as manager Buck Showalter acknowledged over the weekend that the Mets intend to keep a close eye on the 21-year-old's workload heading into the final month of the season, per James O'Connell of the New York Daily News. Alvarez is still expected to remain the Mets' nominal No. 1 catcher down the stretch, though veteran Omar Narvaez could end up cracking the lineup more frequently than he has been for most of the season.

Stephenson entered as a pinch hitter and went 1-for-2 with a solo home run in Sunday's 10-3 loss to Toronto.

Stephenson homered as a pinch hitter for Luke Maile in the seventh inning and finished out the game behind the plate. The blast was Stephenson's ninth and first in 12 games. The Reds primary catcher has hits in four straight games but has struggled overall since the All-Star break, recording a .203/.276/.304 line over 25 contests.

Amaya went 1-for-2 with a walk and a solo home run in Sunday's 4-3 win over the Royals.

Amaya saw his first playing time in a week and made the most of it, blasting his fourth home run of the season in the eighth inning, which ended up being the deciding run. With the Cubs in the thick of a pennant race, veteran catcher Yan Gomes will likely see the bulk of the playing time moving forward, with Amaya capable of producing when called upon. The backup role limits the 24-year-old's fantasy outlook, at least for this year.