MLB Player News

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.

D'Arnaud isn't starting Wednesday's game against San Francisco.

D'Arnaud drew starts in the last three games and went 3-for-13 with two homers, four RBI, three runs and three strikeouts. William Contreras is starting behind the plate and batting fifth.

Serven is not in the starting lineup for Wednesday's contest against the Marlins,

Serven will get a day off Wednesday after he went 0-for-5 with two punchouts in Tuesday's loss. Elias Diaz will take over behind the plate and bat eighth.

Mack is dealing with a hamstring strain and is expected to miss approximately 4-6 weeks, Daniel Alvarez-Montes of El Extrabase reports.

Mack has appeared in just four games this year while battling a hamstring issue, and he'll focus on his rehab process after being diagnosed with a strain. The 19-year-old will presumably attempt to return to game action sometime in late July or early August.

Wynns went 3-for-4 with a three-run home run, an RBI double, and an additional run scored in a 12-10 win over the Braves on Tuesday.

Wynns hit his first home run of the season and knocked in four runs in a career night. The veteran catcher was picked up by the Giants when rookie Joey Bart was sent down to the minors after early-season struggles. Wynns has played in nine games since June 9 and is slashing .320/.370/.520 over a small sample size of 31 plate appearances. His figures to continue backing up Curt Casali for the time being.

Stallings has lost his arbitration hearing and will get $2.45 million this year from the Marlins, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports.

He filed for $3.1 million, so it was not an insignificant gap between player and team. Stallings, 32, was worth 2.6 fWAR with the Pirates last season, but he has been worth -0.6 fWAR with a .204/.276/.268 slash line in 54 games this year with Miami.

Perez went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Tuesday's 7-1 win over the Cubs.

The 29-year-old backstop took Matt Swarmer deep in the second inning as the Pirates raced out to an early lead. Perez has three homers in 72 plate appearances on the season, but occasional pop is all he offers, and his .435 OPS is somehow even worse than his career .539 mark.

Smith went 2-for-4 with a solo home run and an additional RBI during Tuesday's 8-2 win at Cincinnati.

Smith started the scoring with a solo home run during the opening frame, and he also delivered a sacrifice fly during the eighth to bring home Los Angeles' final run of the day. The 27-year-old had five home runs through his first 41 contests of the season, but he's found his power stroke of late with four long balls in his past 13 games.