MLB Player News

Diaz went 1-for-3 with a walk and a solo home run in Sunday's 3-2 loss to the Dodgers.

Diaz's ninth long ball of the season briefly helped the Rockies recapture the lead after the Dodgers tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the first inning. Even after leaving the yard twice during the series in Los Angeles, Diaz is sitting on a modest .675 OPS for the season. Even for a catcher, that mark is nothing special, but it should be good enough to keep Diaz ahead of Dom Nunez (.633 OPS, 37.2 percent strikeout rate in 183 plate appearances) on the depth chart.

Smith went 1-for-3 with a solo home run and a walk Sunday in the Dodgers' 3-2 win over the Rockies.

After getting the day off Saturday, Smith checked back into the lineup for the series finale and provided the decisive hit of the afternoon, taking reliever Carlos Estevez deep to center field in the eighth inning to break a 2-2 tie. The home run was the 14th of the season for Smith, leaving him one shy of matching the career-best total he supplied as a rookie in 2019.

Knizner went 1-for-2 with a double, three walks and a run in a win over the Reds on Sunday.

Knizner drew another start for Yadier Molina (neck) and was a thorn in the side of Reds pitching all afternoon long. The reserve backstop has taken advantage of his current three-game stretch behind the dish in Molina's stead, going 3-for-7 with two doubles, two RBI, six walks and two runs over that span.

Nationals manager Dave Martinez said Sunday that Gomes (oblique) was able to do some baserunning work and jogging out of the batter's box, Jesse Dougherty of The Washington Post reports.

The activity marks another step forward in the rehab process for Gomes, who is on the mend from a left calf strain. If he continues to increase the intensity of his workouts in the next few days, he could be cleared to begin a minor-league rehab assignment by the end of the week. With Alex Avila (calves) also currently on the shelf, Tres Barrera has taken over as Washington's No. 1 catcher.

Stephenson went 3-for-3 with a pair of walks, an RBI and a run scored in Sunday's 10-6 loss to St. Louis.

The catcher has recorded multiple hits in four of his last six starts, although the other two games in that sample were 0-fers. All three of Stephenson's hits Sunday were singles. The 24-year-old is slashing .288/.378/.419 with five home runs, 27 RBI and 39 runs scored across 251 plate appearances. He remains the favorite for playing time behind the dish versus left-handed pitching, but he has drawn starts four times versus right-handers in the last eight games.

Perez is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Giants.

Perez has rewarded the Pirates with three extra-base hits (one triple, two doubles) between his last two starts, but he remains Pittsburgh's clear No. 2 catcher behind Jacob Stallings. Stallings will be in the lineup for the sixth time since the All-Star break, while Perez has picked up only three starts over the same stretch.

Casali will start at catcher and bat eighth in Sunday's game against the Pirates.

Casali will be checking back into the starting nine for the first time since Wednesday after Buster Posey's recent return from the injured list bumped Casali back to the No. 2 spot on the depth chart. Expect Casali to pick up about one or two starts per week the rest of the season while Posey is healthy.

Nola is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Marlins.

After being activated from the injured list Thursday, Nola started behind the plate in two of the Padres' subsequent three contests, going hitless with two walks across eight plate appearances. Though he'll sit in favor of Victor Caratini for the second time in the series, Nola should see the larger share of playing time between the two over the final two months of the season.

McCann is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Blue Jays.

McCann is likely just getting a maintenance day as New York wraps up its series with Toronto. Tomas Nido will work in a battery with starting pitcher Rich Hill on Sunday.

Barrera is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Orioles, Jessica Camerato of MLB.com reports.

Barrera gets a much-needed day off after he went 7-for-23 with three extra-base hits (one home run, two doubles) while catching in each of the Nationals' last six games. Rene Rivera will replace him behind the dish Sunday, but Barrera should continue to see the bulk of the starts at the position until one of Yan Gomes (oblique) or Alex Avila (calf) returns from the injured list.