MLB Player News

Stallings is unavailable Saturday against the Cubs due to back tightness, Jason Mackey of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

With two healthy catchers (Elias Diaz and Steve Baron) on the active roster, the Pirates may play it safe and hold Stallings out for the rest of this series and also take advantage of Monday's off day. Diaz will start at catcher and hit eighth.

Gomes is not in Saturday's lineup against the Braves.

He is the Nationals' primary catcher while Kurt Suzuki is out with an elbow injury. Gomes is hitting .161 with four home runs in nine games this month. Raudy Read will start behind the dish and hit eighth.

Contreras went 3-for-4 with a pair of solo home runs, a third run scored and a walk during a 17-8 victory over the Pirates on Friday.

The Cubs catcher went deep twice against Pirates starter Steven Brault in the first three frames. The first long ball gave Contreras a new career high in the homer category, and he set a new high-water mark in runs too. Contreras is batting .283 with 23 home runs, 62 RBI, 52 runs and one steal in 318 at-bats this season.

Stallings is out of the lineup for Friday's game against the Cubs.

Stallings went 2-for-4 with a solo homer Thursday and will receive a breather Friday afternoon. Elias Diaz will start behind the plate and bat eighth in the series opener.

Realmuto went 1-for-5 with a two-run home run in Wednesday's victory over the Braves.

The 28-year-old catcher extended Philadelphia's lead with a two-run homer in the eighth inning. The long ball was his 25th of the season, good for fourth among all catchers, while he's slashing .279/.332/.504.

Stallings went 2-for-4 with a solo home run in Thursday's victory over the Giants.

Stallings tacked on a key insurance run in the seventh inning with a solo homer to left, and Pittsburgh would come away with a 4-2 victory. The 29-year-old backstop has left the yard in two of his last three contests, though he sits with just six homers and 12 RBI over 64 games in 2019.

Smith is not in the lineup Thursday against the Orioles, David Vassegh of AM 570 LA Sports reports.

Smith will sit after starting the past two games and going 1-for-7 with a walk and two strikeouts. Russell Martin is starting at catcher and hitting ninth in his stead in this one.

Hedges is not in Thursday's lineup against the Cubs.

He is hitting .071 with zero home runs in 28 at-bats this month. Austin Allen is starting behind the dish and hitting seventh.

Contreras is not in Thursday's lineup against the Padres.

He is hitting .316 with two home runs this month but is 0-for-11 over his last three games. Victor Caratini starts behind the dish and will hit fifth.

Grandal went 0-for-1 with two runs scored and four walks in Wednesday's win over the Marlins.

The 30-year-old was 4-for-9 with a double, a home run and three RBI through the first two games of the series, and the Marlins looked like they wanted no part of him Wednesday and instead pitched to Mike Moustakas, who delivered two homers. Grandal has exploded over the last nine games, going 12-for-34 (.353 average) with five home runs, two doubles, 11 runs scored and nine walks.