MLB Player News

Ramirez is not in the lineup for Sunday's game against the Giants.

Ramirez started the previous eight games, but he'll hit the bench Sunday after posting a .206/.229/.353 slash line during that stretch. Liam Hicks will take over behind the plate while Heriberto Hernandez steps into the lineup for the series finale in San Francisco.

Smith (back) is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Cubs, Jack Harris of the California Post reports.

The veteran backstop was held out of the lineup Saturday due to back tightness and was expected to rejoin the lineup Sunday, but the Dodgers will instead give him an extra day to recover. Manager Dave Roberts said the injured list isn't currently being considered and indicated that Smith could play Sunday, if necessary. Dalton Rushing will pick up a second straight start behind the plate for the Dodgers.

Pages (hamstring) is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Mariners.

Pages exited Saturday's contest due to left hamstring soreness and will miss at least one game. According to Lynn Worthy of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, the 27-year-old backstop said that medical imaging came back clean, so he could rejoin the lineup for Monday's series opener in Pittsburgh. Ivan Herrera will step behind the plate Sunday as Ramon Urias enters the starting nine.

Alvarez is out of the lineup for the first game of Sunday's doubleheader against the Rockies.

Alvarez was never likely to be behind the plate for both games of Sunday's twin bill, and he'll sit for the matinee after a run of four straight starts. Luis Torrens is doing the catching for Nolan McLean in the opener.

Stephenson is out of the lineup for Sunday's game versus the Tigers.

Stephenson started the first two games of the series against Detroit and will receive Sunday off after going 1-for-6 with two walks, a double, an RBI and four strikeouts. Jose Trevino (back) will start behind the plate in his return from the injured list.

Ballesteros went 1-for-3 with a walk and a solo home run in Saturday's 12-4 loss to the Dodgers.

Ballesteros continued his strong start to the season, as he's now batting .397 with a 1.136 OPS and four home runs through 24 games. The 22-year-old has emerged as Chicago's top DH option due to his strong offensive production, though the team is still rotating other players into that spot, particularly when facing left-handed starters.

Amaya went 1-for-3 with a solo home run and an additional run scored in Saturday's 12-4 loss to the Dodgers.

Amaya lifted his second home run of the season in the fifth inning against Roki Sasaki. This was the catcher's 18th appearance of the year through 27 team games, while Carson Kelly has played in 21 contests so far. Kelly has also been a bit better offensively with a .900 OPS compared to a .728 OPS for Amaya, so it doesn't appear as if their playing time split will change any time soon.

The Reds reinstated Trevino (back) from the 10-day injured list Sunday, and he's starting behind the plate and batting eighth against the Tigers.

The 33-year-old has been sidelined for about three weeks due to a back strain, but he's back on the active roster after going 2-for-2 with a walk and two runs in one rehab game with High-A Dayton. Trevino went 1-for-11 with a walk in three games prior to going down with the injury. Now that he's healthy, he should operate as the backup catcher to Tyler Stephenson.

Herrera went 1-for-3 with a solo home run in Saturday's 11-9 loss to the Mariners.

The 25-year-old went back-to-back with JJ Wetherholt in the bottom of the first inning off Bryan Woo, as Herrera extended his hitting streak to eight games. He was also hit by two more pitches, boosting his painful league-leading total to eight. Herrera was back at DH on Saturday after playing his 10th game of the season at catcher Friday, gaining eligibility at the position in most fantasy formats. He could see a bigger workload behind the plate in the short term if Pedro Pages ends up missing significant time after exiting Saturday's loss with hamstring tightness.

Pages was removed from Saturday's game against the Mariners with left hamstring tightness, Derrick Goold of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports.

Pages went 3-for-3 with a two-run homer and a walk before his hamstring forced him out of the game in the seventh inning. The Cardinals haven't provided any information on the severity of his injury, though they could be waiting for imaging results before sharing those details. Ivan Herrera and Yohel Pozo would likely split playing time behind the plate if Pages has to miss additional time.