MLB Player News

Mejia is not starting Monday against the Orioles.

Mejia has started three of the past four games, going 2-for-12 (.167) with a trio of strikeouts over that stretch. Austin Hedges is starting at catcher and hitting eighth in Monday's series opener.

Manager David Bell said Sunday that Casali (knee) is "getting close" to resuming baseball activities, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com reports.

Casali has been on the 10-day injured list since July 18 with the right knee issue and is expected to miss up to a month with the injury, per Sheldon. While the fact that Casali is progressing as anticipated suggests he's on track to return from the IL around mid-August, the Reds won't be able to pin down a target date for the backstop's return until he begins logging on-field work on a regular basis.

Realmuto went 1-for-4 with a grand slam Sunday against the Braves.

Realmuto extended his team's lead to six in the fifth inning with a grand slam over the fence in left field. He's now left the yard in three of his last four contests, putting him at 14 home runs over 99 games this season.

Gomes is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Dodgers.

Gomes is on the bench for the sixth time in nine games, signaling that he's fallen behind Kurt Suzuki on the depth chart at catcher. The downturn in Gomes' usage doesn't come as a surprise, given that he's batting just .194/.294/.299 since the beginning of May. For the season, Suzuki holds a 163-point edge in OPS.

Stallings will start at catcher and bat ninth Sunday against the Mets.

He'll be behind the plate for the fourth time in six games with manager Clint Hurdle opting for more of a timeshare at catcher lately in light of Elias Diaz's second-half struggles. Stallings has only marginally outperformed Diaz on the offensive end since the All-Star break and boasts a less impressive track record at the big-league level, so it's probably too early to anoint Stallings as Option 1A in the timeshare.

Diaz is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Mets.

Manager Clint Hurdle had settled into a pattern of alternating the catching starts between Diaz and Jacob Stallings over the past week, but Diaz will now sit for consecutive days to wrap up the series in New York. The downturn in playing time is likely a reaction to Diaz's 5-for-38 start to the second half, which has resulted in his season-long batting average dropping from .274 to .249.

Gomes went 1-for-4 with a solo homer in a 9-3 loss to the Dodgers on Saturday.

Gomes connected in the seventh inning off Joe Kelly to give Washington their third run. It was Gomes' second homer in his last two games, but he still holds a disappointing .213/.205/.325 slash line over 197 at-bats.

Smith went 3-for-3 with a solo homer, two doubles and six RBI in a 9-3 win over the Nationals on Saturday.

Smith connected for his fourth homer off Joe Ross in the third inning, hit a sacrifice fly in the fourth, and mashed two-run doubles in the sixth and seventh innings to lead the Dodgers. It was his first start since being recalled and named primary catcher. Over the full season, the 24-year-old now holds a .345/.394/.862 slash line in just 29 at-bats.

Grandal is not in Saturday's lineup against the Cubs.

Grandal has started the past four games, going 4-for-13 with three RBI and a 3:2 BB:K during that stretch. Manny Pina is starting behind the dish and hitting seventh in this one.

Diaz is not in the lineup Saturday against the Mets.

Diaz heads to the bench as he continues to split time over the past week with Jacob Stallings, who is starting at catcher Saturday and batting eighth. Diaz has been in a slump in the 13 games since the All-Star break, recording a .154 on-base percentage with nine strikeouts and one extra-base hit.