MLB Player News
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Padres' Elias Diaz: Sitting after three straight starts
Diaz is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Mets.
Though he'll take a seat in the series finale, Diaz may have at least temporarily overtaken Martin Maldonado as the Padres' top catcher. Diaz started in each of the Friars' last three games, going 3-for-12 with a double, five RBI and two runs.
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Drake Baldwin C | ATL
Braves' Drake Baldwin: Idle against lefty
Baldwin is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Royals.
The left-handed-hitting Baldwin will take a seat for the second time in the series while the Royals send another lefty starter (Angel Zerpa) to the bump. Since Zerpa is serving as an opener and may not cover more than an inning or two, Baldwin could be a candidate to replace Sean Murphy at catcher or Marcell Ozuna at designated hitter once Zerpa exits the contest.
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Rafael Marchan C | PHI
Phillies' Rafael Marchan: Filling in for resting Realmuto
Marchan will start at catcher and bat ninth in Wednesday's game against the White Sox.
He'll draw his 20th start of the season while top backstop J.T. Realmuto gets a breather for the day game after a night game. Marchan will head into Wednesday's contest with a .175/.268/.254 slash line to go with one home run, six RBI and five runs over 72 plate appearances on the campaign.
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Jose Herrera C | TEX
Diamondbacks' Jose Herrera: Losing out on playing time
Herrera is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Tigers.
Herrera will hit the bench for the fourth time in five games and appears to be falling into the shorter side of a timeshare at catcher with James McCann, who started in three of the previous four contests. Both McCann and Herrera will be left out of the lineup for the series finale in Detroit, however, as Arizona hands Adrian Del Castillo -- who had been serving as the club's primary designated hitter -- his first start of the season at catcher.
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Dalton Rushing C | LAD
Dodgers' Dalton Rushing: Unlikely to be dealt, per manager
Dodgers manager Dave Roberts said Monday that Rushing isn't a candidate to be moved ahead of the trade deadline, Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register reports. "I just don't see a world in which he's moved anyway, and I think he's smart enough to realize that," Roberts said.
The caveat, of course, is that the team's front office -- not Roberts -- is the entity responsible for making any trade decisions on Rushing. That said, Roberts' confidence about Rushing remaining with the club past the deadline isn't all that surprising, given that the rookie backstop entered the campaign as one of baseball's top catching prospects. Rushing has struggled at the plate since getting called up to the majors May 14, posting a .200/.270/.275 slash line with one home run, 11 RBI and a 40.4 percent strikeout rate over 89 plate appearances. That said, Roberts pointed out that a learning curve is understandable since the 24-year-old is having to adjust to sporadic playing time.
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Henry Davis RF | PIT
Pirates' Henry Davis: Idle Tuesday
Davis isn't in the lineup for Tuesday's game versus San Francisco.
Davis has gone 0-for-24 at the plate since July 11, and his recent struggles will cause him to give up another start behind the plate to Joey Bart, who will bat eighth Tuesday.
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Francisco Alvarez C | NYM
Mets' Francisco Alvarez: Getting breather Tuesday
Alvarez isn't in the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Padres, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports.
Alvarez's six-game hitting streak came to an end with his 0-for-2 performance Monday, though he still managed to reach base twice via walks. Luis Torrens will fill in for him behind the dish Tuesday and bat ninth.
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Martin Maldonado C | SD
Padres' Martin Maldonado: Sitting third straight
Maldonado isn't in the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Mets.
Maldonado will retreat to the bench for the third straight game Tuesday while Elias Diaz starts behind the dish. Neither backstop has been particularly productive at the plate this season, though the Padres may be starting to favor using Diaz as their primary catcher.