MLB Player News

Knizner isn't starting Thursday against the Brewers, Katie Woo of The Athletic reports.

Knizner started the last three games and went 1-for-8 with a walk and a strikeout. Ivan Herrera will take over behind the dish and bat ninth Thursday.

Narvaez isn't in the lineup for Thursday's game against St. Louis.

Narvaez went 0-for-7 with a strikeout over his last two games and will be excluded from the starting lineup for the third time in the last five matchups. Victor Caratini is starting behind the plate and batting sixth.

Perez is not in the starting lineup Thursday versus the Cubs.

Perez will sit Thursday after he went 2-for-8 with a solo home run over the last two contests. Tyler Heineman will take over behind the plate and bat eighth in the series finale.

Serven is not in the starting lineup for Thursday's series finale against the Marlins, Patrick Lyons of TheDNVR.com reports.

Serven will sit for the second game in a row Thursday as Elias Diaz draws the start at catcher, batting seventh. The two men continue to split time behind the plate with neither of them commanding the lion's share of playing time.

Stallings is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Rockies, Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald reports.

The Marlins and Rockies are closing their series with a day game after a night game, so Stallings will receive some routine maintenance after catching three of Miami's last four contests. Nick Fortes will check in for Stallings behind the plate, forming a battery with starting pitcher Braxton Garrett.

Diaz went 1-for-4 with a three-run homer Wednesday against the Marlins.

Diaz took Louis Head yard in the ninth inning to tally his fourth homer of the season. After failing to go deep for a 25-start stretch between May 1 and June 15, Diaz has hit a home run in back-to-back games. He's hitting a disappointing .216/.269/.333 for the season and has started only five of the team's last 12 games as a result.

Ruiz is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Orioles, Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com reports.

The Nationals are off Thursday, so Ruiz will effectively be in line for a two-day break after he was behind the plate for each of the team's last four games. Riley Adams will start at catcher and hit eighth.

Heineman is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Cubs.

Heineman is sitting for the third time in four games, and manager Derek Shelton looks like he may prefer to ride the hotter bat between his two catchers rather than anointing one as the clear top option. Michael Perez will be rewarded with another turn behind the dish after popping a home run in Tuesday's 7-1 win, but he still has more work to do to separate himself from Heineman as the two battle for playing time. Both have been equally unproductive this season, with Perez having supplied a .435 OPS while Heineman sits on a .432 mark.

Reds manager David Bell said Wednesday that Stephenson no longer needs a cast to protect his fractured right thumb, Charlie Goldsmith of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

Though the skipper noted Stephenson is "healing properly," the backstop remains without a clear timeline to resume baseball activities. When he first sustained the thumb injury June 9, Stephenson was projected to miss 4-to-6 weeks, so fantasy managers shouldn't count on him returning from the 10-day injured list until shortly before the All-Star break in a best-case scenario.

Casali is not in the starting lineup Wednesday versus Atlanta.

Casali will sit for the second consecutive day as Austin Wynns draws the start behind the plate and bats ninth. Casali has been dealing with a nagging hamstring issue, which could explain the back-to-back absences from the lineup.