MLB Player News

Grandal is not starting Saturday against the Dodgers.

Grandal has had a heavy workload for a catcher, starting 17 of 22 games. He's certainly earned the playing time, hitting .339 with five homers. Manny Pina gets the call in his place.

Pineda went 2-for-4 with two walks, two doubles, two runs scored and an RBI for Low-A Hagerstown on Friday.

The 19-year-old collected just one hit in his first 16 at-bats to begin the season but has started to find a rhythm at the plate, going 9-for-34 (.265) with a homer and five RBI over his last nine games. Pineda is a long way from the majors, but after a solid debut in the NY-Penn League last year, another strong campaign could have him moving up prospect lists quickly.

Contreras went 2-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a walk in Friday's win over the Diamondbacks.

Contreras tacked on an insurance run in the sixth inning on a single to right center, extending the Cubs' lead to five. The 26-year-old backstop has notched a base knock in five of his past six games and is 8-for-22 with three homers and six RBI over that stretch.

Gomes is on the bench Friday against the Marlins, Byron Kerr of MASN Sports reports.

Gomes hit .300 through his first eight games but has since gone hitless in his last three. He sits in favor of Kurt Suzuki for the third time in four games.

Barnhart is not in the lineup for Friday's game at San Diego.

The 28-year-old has alternated starts with Curt Casali over the last five games. Barnhart has enjoyed a solid start to the season by slashing .263/.404/.395 with a 9:7 BB:K over 47 plate appearances.

Realmuto went 1-for-4 with a two-run homer Thursday against the Rockies.

Realmuto's homer, his third of the season, was a one-out shot in the seventh inning off Carlos Estevez which brought the Phillies to within one run. After a slow start, the catcher has hit .342/.375/.553 over his last 10 games.

D'Arnaud went 0-for-2 with a walk in Wednesday's loss to the Phillies.

Since coming off the IL, d'Arnaud has gone just 1-for-14 in five games. The Mets have been giving Wilson Ramos frequent rest, taking him out of the starting lineup every fourth game or so, but d'Arnaud isn't exactly doing much to warrant a larger share of the workload. Barring an injury to Ramos, he'll remain well off the fantasy radar even in deep two-catcher formats.

Mejia went hitless and struck out once in three at-bats Tuesday in the Padres' 8-2 loss to the Rockies.

The unproductive night at the dish sunk Mejia's OPS to .386 for the season, but that was the least of the young backstop's problems Tuesday. The Rockies ran wild on Mejia all night, going 5-for-5 on steal attempts. Defense has never been Mejia's calling card, but he'll need to at least provide a token threat of controlling the run game to have any shot of unseating Austin Hedges as the team's top catcher.

Gomes is not in the lineup Wednesday against the Giants.

Gomes will sit for a second straight game as Kurt Suzuki picks up another start behind the dish in his place. Look for the 31-year-old Gomes to rejoin the starting lineup for Thursday's afternoon contest.

Barnhart is not in the lineup Wednesday against the Dodgers, Mark Sheldon of MLB.com reports.

Barnhart will hit the bench for Wednesday's matinee matchup after catching all nine innings during Cincinnati's 6-1 loss Tuesday night, going 1-for-2 with a walk and a strikeout. Curt Casali will start behind the dish and hit sixth in his place.