MLB Player News

Contreras went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Saturday's 4-3 loss to the Pirates.

He took Luis Ortiz deep in the second inning to get the Cardinals on the board. It was a welcome sight for those with Contreras shares, as the veteran catcher had gone a miserable 2-for-40 (.050) over his prior 11 games. The 31-year-old's first campaign with St. Louis has not gone according to plan so far, and through 55 contests he carries a career-worst .215/.301/.365 slash line with six homers, four steals, 22 runs and 26 RBI.

Murphy went 3-for-5 with a double in Saturday's 5-2 win over Arizona.

While Murphy had no direct involvement in the run production, he kept his bat hot with his second three-hit effort in his last five games. The catcher is batting .353 (18-for-51) over his last 13 contests, hitting safely in 12 of them, though just four of his knocks in that span have gone for extra bases. The surge has him up to a .294/.400/.553 slash line with 11 home runs, 38 RBI, 29 runs scored and 11 doubles through 48 games, putting him on pace for a career year nearly across the board.

St. Louis designated Barrera for assignment Saturday, John Denton of MLB.com reports.

Barrera will move off the 40-man roster after appearing in six games with St. Louis following his May 6 promotion from Triple-A Memphis. He went hitless in his two at-bats with the club. The Cardinals will announce a corresponding transaction before Sunday's game against the Pirates.

Amaya was recalled from Triple-A Iowa by the Cubs on Saturday, Maddie Lee of the Chicago Sun-Times reports.

Amaya will grab the roster spot opened up by Justin Steele (forearm) being placed on the injured list. In his previous stint with the Cubs, Amaya went 3-for-13 (.213 average) with a pair of RBI over six MLB contests.

Gomes is out of the lineup for Saturday's tilt against the Padres.

Gomes will get a day of rest against San Diego in the middle game of the three-game set against the Padres. Tucker Barnhart is behind the plate and hitting ninth.

Alvarez isn't starting Saturday against the Blue Jays.

Alvarez is currently in the middle of an 0-for-10 stretch across his last three games, so he'll get a day off Saturday to regroup. Tomas Nido will take over behind the plate for New York and bat ninth.

Stephenson isn't in the Reds' lineup Saturday against Milwaukee.

Stephenson is just 2-for-19 at the plate across his last five games, so he'll get a day off Saturday to regroup. Curt Casali will take over behind the dish and bat ninth.

Hedges isn't starting Saturday against the Cardinals, Kevin Gorman of TribLive.com reports.

Hedges has been less than impressive at the plate all season, and a .322 OPS across the past two weeks surely isn't helping. Jason Delay will take over behind the plate Saturday and bat ninth.

Diaz went 2-for-4 with a double and two RBI on Friday against the Royals.

Diaz entered the game having gone hitless in each of his last three games -- a span of 11 at-bats. He snapped that brief slump with a leadoff single in the seventh inning before also delivering a two-RBI double one frame later. Diaz has done the majority of his damage at home this season, and he has only four hits with two RBI across 20 at-bats and the first five games of the Rockies' current road trip.

Caratini went 0-for-5 with two RBI in Friday's extra-inning victory over the Reds.

Caratini was held without a hit, but he did record multiple RBI in a game for the second time this season. Caratini has not made much contact of late, picking up just three hits over his last 37 at-bats, but he has gotten a fair share of opportunities, starting eight of Milwaukee's last 18 games. Starting catcher William Contreras opened the other 10 games behind the plate and also served as the designated hitter three times over that span.