MLB Player News

Murphy went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run in Tuesday's 7-4 loss to the Rangers.

His eighth-inning blast off Jonathan Hernandez capped the scoring for Atlanta. Murphy had gone just 4-for-25 (.160) over his prior seven games, but the backstop has mostly been very productive to begin his first season with his new club, slashing .268/.400/.575 with 10 homers and 34 RBI in 37 games.

Contreras went 1-for-3 with a double, two walks and a stolen base in Tuesday's loss to the Brewers.

Contreras drew multiple walks for the first time since April 23 and notched his third extra-base hit over his last five games with a double in the ninth. He wound up stealing second after walking in the fifth for his first stolen bag since April 17. He's put up pretty standard numbers at the plate thus far, slashing .252/.343/.395 with three homers, 18 RBI, 19 runs and a 20:35 BB:K over 169 plate appearances.

Realmuto went 2-for-4 with a double, a walk and two stolen bases in Tuesday's 4-3 loss to the Giants.

Realmuto hadn't stolen base a base since April 29, and he was caught stealing on his last attempt May 7. The catcher is up to seven steals on nine tries this season, putting him on pace to at least challenge the career-high 21 thefts he had last year. He's slashing .299/.326/.500 with three home runs, 15 RBI, 13 runs scored, 12 doubles and three triples through 36 contests.

Smith is not in the starting lineup Tuesday against the Twins.

Austin Barnes will take a turn behind the plate and bat ninth versus the Twins and right-hander Bailey Ober. Smith homered in Monday's series opener and is sitting on a stellar .323/.412/.613 batting line through 114 plate appearances this year.

Narvaez (calf) will begin a rehab assignment next week, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports.

Narvaez has been sidelined with a strained left calf since early April but is now nearing the point where he can return to game action. It's unclear how long the Mets plan on keeping him on assignment, but we'll likely know more as he recovers.

D'Arnaud is out of the lineup Tuesday against the Rangers.

Sean Murphy is catching and batting third, with Eddie Rosario filling the DH role and hitting fifth. D'Arnaud has gone 2-for-10 with zero extra-base hits and four strikeouts since returning last week from the concussion IL.

Alvarez went 1-for-2 with two walks and a double in Monday's loss to the Nationals.

Hitting ninth against veteran southpaw Patrick Corbin, Alvarez drew multiple free passes in a game for just the second time in his brief big-league career. The 21-year-old backstop is having a fairly productive May so far, batting .257 (9-for-35) with four doubles, two homers, four RBI and four runs in 40 plate appearances, and he appears to be earning manager Buck Showalter's trust with his defensive work as well.

Smith went 2-for-6 with a home run, two RBI and three runs scored in Monday's victory over the Twins.

Smith and Max Muncy went back-to-back in the first inning to give the Dodgers a 3-0 lead. Smith came around to score again on Muncy's second homer of the night in the third inning. The Dodgers' catcher is riding a six-game hitting streak and is in the midst of his best season, as he has a 1.025 OPS.

Knizner went 1-for-1 with a grand slam and two total runs in Monday's 18-1 rout of Milwaukee.

Knizner began the game on the bench, but he came in to pinch run for Paul Goldschmidt with St. Louis up by eight runs in the eighth inning. He came around to score when Nolan Gorman homered four pitches later, and Knizner then got a turn at the plate when St. Louis batted around to get back to Goldschmidt's original spot. Knizner delivered a grand slam off position player Mike Brosseau, putting the icing on a huge 10-run frame. It was the second straight game with a homer for Knizner, who went deep just once over his first 56 at-bats of the season. Though Knizner has been swinging a hot bat of late and recently completed a streak of nine consecutive starts, his playing time is expected to take a hit moving forward with the Cardinals having recommitted to Willson Contreras as their primary catcher.

Barnhart remains out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Astros.

Barnhart had already been occupying the smaller side of a timeshare at catcher with Miguel Amaya early last week, but the former has seen his playing-time outlook become worse with the return of Yan Gomes (concussion) from the 7-day injured list. Even with Amaya now back in the minors, Barnhart has now sat out five times in the Cubs' last six games.