MLB Player News

Realmuto is not in the lineup for Sunday's series finale against the Marlins, Scott Lauber of The Philadelphia Inquirer reports.

Realmuto started off the season 4-for-25 but has picked things up a bit since receiving his first day out of the lineup last Saturday. The 28-year-old has seen a heavy workload for a catcher thus far with 12 starts in 14 games. Andrew Knapp will start behind the plate and bat eighth Sunday.

Gomes is not starting Saturday against the Pirates.

Gomes remains the primary catcher in Washington, starting eight of 13 games. He's hit a respectable .265/.306/.412 on the year. Kurt Suzuki starts in his place.

Diaz (illness) went 3-for-5 for Triple-A Indianapolis on Friday, giving him eight hits in 17 at-bats during his rehab stint split between two minor-league levels.

He must be activated by April 24 and with Pittsburgh struggling to create offense, it wouldn't be surprising to see him recalled prior the deadline. General manager Neal Huntington previously mentioned that Diaz needs a building-up period but added that the script could change if the catcher shows he is ready sooner.

Contreras went 3-for-4 with two solo homers in a 5-1 victory over the Angels on Friday.

The day off Thursday apparently did some good, as Contreras was 1-for-11 this week before his three-hit game to start the weekend series. The catcher is off to a very strong start this season, going 11-for-33 (.333) with five homers, nine RBI and 11 runs in 12 games. Behind five extra-base hits and seven walks, his OPS is a whopping 1.312.

Davis was called up from Triple-A Iowa on Friday, Patrick Mooney of The Athletic reports.

Victor Caratini will undergo surgery on his fractured left hand and be out 4-to-6 weeks, prompting Davis to be recalled. The 29-year-old has played in 13 games with the Cubs over the last two seasons, and is now set to serve as the team's No. 2 catcher behind Willson Contreras.

Caratini will undergo surgery on his fractured left hamate bone Monday, Bruce Levine of 670TheScore.com reports.

Caratini suffered the injury in his final at-bat Thursday against the Pirates. He's expected to be out 4-to-6 weeks. He'll head to the injured list, with Taylor Davis called up from Triple-A Iowa to back up Willson Contreras.

Caratini is scheduled for further tests Friday morning after injuring his left hand in his final at-bat Thursday against the Pirates, Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com reports. He went 2-for-3 with two doubles and an RBI prior to departing.

Caratini might have suffered a fracture to his hamate bone, per Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Tribune, although the Cubs won't know the severity of the injury until his CT scan Friday morning. He'd be looking at a 3-to-4-week recovery period if the bone is indeed fractured, according to Gonzales. The injury certainly puts a damper on a solid day at the plate for the backup catcher, as he turned in a multi-hit performance and drove in his fifth run of the season in a 2-0 victory for the Cubs.

Mejia is out of the lineup against the Diamondbacks on Thursday.

Mejia continues to share work with Austin Hedges, as he'll head to the bench after starting two straight games. Neither backstop is hitting particularly well to start the season, and they should be expected to continue to split duty unless one starts to separate from the other with some more consistent offensive output.

Hedges is catching and hitting eighth for San Diego's game against the Diamondbacks on Thursday.

Hedges will slide back into the lineup after sitting two out of the last three games. He's hitting .200 over 25 at-bats and is 1-for-17 over his five starts in the month of April, so he'll look to get on track at the plate in this contest against Diamondbacks starter Zack Godley.

Kelly is not in the lineup Thursday against the Padres.

Caleb Joseph will get his first start of the year behind the plate and will hit eighth in Kelly's place. Alex Avila (quadriceps) was placed on the 10-day injury list Sunday, leaving the catcher spot open to Kelly, Joseph and John Ryan Murphy. Kelly has started four out of the 12 games this year and should continue to see limited playing time as long as Arizona chooses to carry three backstops.