MLB Player News

Realmuto is out of the lineup Thursday against the Diamondbacks, Matt Gelb of The Athletic reports.

It's a planned day off for Realmuto, who went 7-for-12 with two home runs, two doubles and two triples over the first three games of the four-game series at Arizona. Garrett Stubbs will start behind the plate in Thursday's matinee.

Hedges went 1-for-3 with a solo home run in Wednesday's loss to the Cubs.

Hedges took Drew Smyly deep in the fourth inning for his first home run of the year, extending Pittsburgh's lead to 5-1. The 30-year-old backstop has been relatively productive of late, going 7-for-27 (.259) with a .730 OPS over his last eight games. Still, Hedges isn't likely to provide much fantasy value outside of very deep leagues. He's slashing just .183/.240/.252 with 12 RBI and 10 runs scored through 131 plate appearances this season.

Barnes went 1-for-3 with a walk and one RBI in Wednesday's 8-4 loss to the White Sox.

Barnes had been out for nearly a week tending to an injured right wrist. The backup catcher has hit safely in five of his last 11 games dating back to May 8, but his playing time will remain limited behind Will Smith. Barnes owns a poor .111/.207/.136 slash line with five RBI, four runs scored and two stolen bases over 28 contests this season.

Smith is not in the starting lineup versus the White Sox on Wednesday, Juan Toribio of MLB.com reports.

Smith will take a seat with Austin Barnes (wrist) returning to the lineup for the Dodgers for the first time since Thursday. In the month of June, Smith has slashed .206/.289/.441 with two homers and five RBI over 34 at-bats.

Barnes (wrist) is hitting ninth and catching versus the White Sox on Wednesday, Juan Toribio of MLB.com reports.

Barnes will return to the lineup for the first time since Thursday when he was plunked by a pitch on his right wrist. Will Smith is getting Wednesday off while Barnes handles backstop duties.

Kelly will start at catcher and bat eighth in Wednesday's game against the Phillies.

Kelly has now started in three straight games since returning from the 60-day injured list Monday for his 2023 debut with the Diamondbacks and looks as though he'll operate as Arizona's top catcher ahead of Gabriel Moreno. However, given that Kelly is off to an 0-for-7 start at the plate since being activated, he may have to pick up the pace with the bat to ensure he sticks ahead of Moreno on the depth chart for the balance of the season.

Moreno is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Phillies.

After hitting .280 in his first 179 plate appearances of the season while also grading out well defensively, Moreno looked as though he had done enough to retain the Diamondbacks' No. 1 catching job when Carson Kelly was reinstated from the 60-day injured list Monday, but manager Torey Lovullo evidently felt differently. Moreno now finds himself on the bench for the third game in a row and looks like he could wind up serving as Kelly's backup.

Diaz will serve as the Rockies' designated hitter and cleanup batter in Wednesday's game against the Red Sox.

Austin Wynns will handle catching duties while Diaz sticks in the lineup in a non-defensive role. During the first two games of the series against the Red Sox, Diaz went 3-for-9 with four RBI and two extra-base hits to improve his slash line to .296/.352/.461 over 227 plate appearances this season.

Murphy is not in the starting lineup for Game 1 of Wednesday's doubleheader with the Tigers.

Murphy will take a seat for a second straight game in Wednesday's matinee. Travis d'Arnaud will draw another start behind the plate and bat fourth in Game 1 with Detroit.

Contreras is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Giants.

Contreras will effectively get two days to rest up, as the Cardinals are off the schedule Thursday before returning to action Friday versus the Mets. Andrew Knizner will step in behind the dish in place of Contreras, who went 0-for-9 with three walks and two runs while starting at catcher in each of St. Louis' previous three contests.