MLB Player News

Ruiz is not in the starting lineup for Sunday's tilt against the Tigers, Andrew Golden of The Washington Post reports.

Ruiz will get a day of rest with Riley Adams hitting ninth and starting behind the plate. In the month of May, Ruiz has hit .167/.227/.317 with a pair of homers and eight RBI over 60 at-bats.

Gomes is not in the starting lineup Sunday against the Phillies.

Gomes will take a seat after he went 3-for-7 with an RBI and a run scored over the first two games of the series. Tucker Barnhart will take over at catcher and bat ninth in the series finale with Philadelphia.

Murphy is not in the starting lineup for Sunday's finale against Seattle, Justin Toscano of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

Murphy went 3-for-8 with a run scored over the first two games of the series against Seattle, bit the backstop will get a day off against George Kirby and the Mariners for the finale. Travis d'Arnaud gets the start behind the plate and is hitting cleanup.

Stephenson is not in the starting lineup Sunday versus the Yankees.

Stephenson will take a seat after he went 0-for-7 with three punchouts over the first two games of the series. Luke Maile will take over behind the plate and bat ninth in the series finale with New York.

Contreras went 1-for-4 with an RBI and a stolen base in Saturday's 6-5 win over the Dodgers.

Contreras has gone 5-for-24 (.208) with two homers, seven RBI and two steals in six games since he returned to being the primary catcher. He's now slashing .250/.333/.415 with four steals, five homers, 26 RBI and 21 runs scored through 45 contests this year. He's hit well enough to maintain a spot in the middle of the order.

Plawecki signed a minor-league contract with the Padres on Saturday, Jeff Sanders of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

Plawecki opted out of his minor-league contract with the Nationals on Tuesday, and it didn't take the veteran backstop long to find a new club. Plawecki will need to be added to the 40-man roster to help the Padres in 2023, but a strong showing in the Pacific Coast League could lead to him earning reps with San Diego before the campaign comes to a conclusion.

Smith will be on the bench for Saturday's game against the Cardinals, David Vassegh of AM 570 LA Sports reports.

Smith has delivered his typically excellent performance at the plate this season, slashing .314/.406/.571 with seven homers in 28 games. He'll get a rest Saturday with Austin Barnes taking over behind the plate.

Contreras will sit Saturday against the Rays.

Contreras will get a rest after starting seven of the last eight games. His numbers have taken a hit from his .278/.354/.506 line last season, but his .246/.340/.381 triple-slash in his first year as a Brewer is still perfectly acceptable for a catcher. Victor Caratini starts behind the plate in his absence.

Ruiz went 2-for-3 with a double, a two-run home run and a second run scored in Friday's 8-6 loss to the Tigers.

The catcher took Mason Englert deep in the seventh inning for his fourth long ball of the season, helping make the final score respectable after the Nationals had fallen into an 8-0 hole. Ruiz has had trouble building any momentum at the plate, slashing just .158/.222/.316 through 15 games in May, and it's possible the 24-year-old is already wearing down under a heavy workload -- only four other backstops in the league (Adley Rutschman, Willson Contreras, Salvador Perez and Tyler Stephenson) have more plate appearances in 2023 than Ruiz, but all four have seen more time at DH than he has.

Diaz went 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a run scored Friday against the Rangers.

Diaz accounted for the Rockies' only runs of the game with an RBI double before coming around to score in the sixth inning. He also hit third in the order against Martin Perez -- the third consecutive time he's done so against a southpaw. Diaz continues to put together a strong campaign and has maintained a 120 wRC+ and .373 wOBA across 142 plate appearances.