MLB Player News

Realmuto went 3-for-5 with a double, a home run and two RBI in Friday's 8-4 victory over San Diego.

Realmuto smacked a solo home run in the third inning and followed that up with an RBI double to right center in the fifth. The 28-year-old is now slashing .280/.332/.482 with 18 home runs and 65 RBI over 116 games this season.

Caratini is not in Friday's lineup against the Pirates.

Caratini heads to the bench in the midst of a 2-for-15 slump with six strikeouts over the past six games. Jonathan Lucroy will start at catcher, batting seventh.

Stallings (migraine) is starting behind the plate and batting eighth Friday versus the Cubs.

Stalling was scratched from Wednesday's starting nine due to a migraine, but he's good to go following Thursday's scheduled off day. The 29-year-old has a .192/.250/.500 slash line with two homers over eight games in August.

Barnhart went 2-for-4 with a home run, a walk and two RBI in Wednesday's 17-7 loss to the Nationals.

After slugging a pair of solo shots versus the Angels on Aug. 6, Barnhart had gone six games without an extra-base hit before leaving the yard in the blowout loss. Barnhart remains locked in atop the depth chart at catcher for Cincinnati, but his .223 batting average and lack of premium power have rendered him a low-end fantasy option this season. He'll be back behind the plate and will bat eighth in Thursday's series opener against the Cardinals.

Mejia went 2-for-3 with a walk and scored twice in Wednesday's win over the Rays.

Mejia walked in his first at-bat and subsequently came around to score San Diego's first run, then crossed the plate again after rapping a single in the fourth inning. The 23-year-old has now notched seven multi-hit games during a red-hot August in which he has slashed .515/.529/.758 with a pair of homers in 33 at-bats.

Realmuto went 2-for-4 with a double and a grand slam in Wednesday's 11-1 rout of the Cubs.

The catcher has now gone yard in consecutive games while collecting multiple hits in three straight, boosting Realmuto's slash line through 13 contests in August to .333/.415/.667. His numbers across the board look remarkably similar to his performance in 2017 and 2018, with the difference being that the Phillies still have 42 games left on their schedule for him to pad them further.

Stallings was scratched from Wednesday's lineup against the Angels due to a migraine, Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic reports.

Elias Diaz will take over for Stallings behind the dish, while Erik Gonzalez will enter the lineup at third base. Stallings will likely be reevaluated during Thursday's off day before the Pirates determine his status for Friday's series opener against the Cubs.

Smith is not in the lineup Wednesday against the Marlins.

Smith will head to the bench Wednesday with the Dodgers playing a night game before Thursday's afternoon contest. In his place, Russell Martin is starting behind the dish and hitting eighth.

Gomes is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Reds.

Gomes was already starting to fall below Kurt Suzuki on the depth chart at catcher toward the end of July and hasn't done much to improve his fortunes. While appearing in five games thus far in August, Gomes has gone 1-for-16 with five strikeouts. Kurt Suzuki will handle catching duties Wednesday for the third time in four contests.

Grandal went 2-for-4 with a walk and a three-run home run in Tuesday's 7-5 loss to the Twins.

His seventh-inning blast briefly gave the Brewers their first lead of the game, but Josh Hader quickly handed it back in the eighth. Grandal has now reached the 20-HR plateau for the fourth straight season, and his .253 batting average, .373 OBP and .849 OPS are the highest marks of his career since his 60-game rookie campaign in 2012.