MLB Player News

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

The Brewers are off Thursday before kicking off a three-game series with the Cubs in Milwaukee this weekend, so Grandal will effectively get two straight days of rest before re-entering the starting nine. Manny Pina will fill in for Grandal behind the dish in Wednesday's contest.

Barnhart is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Brewers.

Barnhart will get his first day off of 2019 after going 4-for-13 with a pair of walks and a run scored in the Reds' first four contests. Curt Casali checks in behind the plate in Barnhart's stead.

Mejia will start at catcher and hit seventh in Tuesday's game against the Diamondbacks.

It's the second start of the season for the 23-year-old backstop, who went 0-for-4 in his only other appearance against the Giants on March 30. Austin Hedges has drawn most of the action and is swinging the bat well with four hits in 11 at-bats, so he's drawing the majority of the workload at the outset of the season. Mejia had a standout spring at the plate, however, with a 1.005 OPS over 48 at-bats, and he'll look to transfer that over to the regular season and make a case for more starts.

Hedges is not starting Tuesday against the Diamondbacks.

Despite the day off, Hedges still appears to be ahead of Francisco Mejia in the pecking order in San Diego. He's started four games to Mejia's two.

Barnes will head to the bench Tuesday against the Giants, David Vassegh of AM 570 LA Sports reports.

The Dodgers have alternated games between Austin Barnes and Russell Martin behind the plate so far this season. Martin takes his turn Tuesday, but expect Barnes back in the lineup Wednesday if the pattern continues.

D'Arnaud (elbow) will begin a rehab assignment with High-A St. Lucie on Thursday, Matt Ehalt of The Bergen Record reports.

D'Arnaud is still working his way back from Tommy John surgery after missing nearly the entirety of 2018. It's not yet clear how long the team expects his rehab assignment to be.

Ruiz is opening the year back with Double-A Tulsa, Sam Dykstra of MiLB.com reports.

This comes as a bit of a surprise, as Ruiz was a league-average hitter over a full season at Double-A last year, so many expected him to jump up to Triple-A. That promotion should come after a month or two back in the Texas League. Ruiz is advanced enough that it would not be surprising for him put up really impressive numbers in a repeat tour as one of the youngest players on this circuit.

Grandal went 3-for-4 in Monday's 4-3 win over the Reds.

After an 0-for-11 start to his Brewers tenure, Grandal found his stroke in Cincinnati. The veteran catcher is stuck hitting seventh most nights in a stacked Milwaukee lineup, but he should still be plenty productive in 2019 after slugging at least 22 homers in each of the last three seasons.

Campusano (concussion) will begin the 2019 season at High-A Lake Elsinore, Jeff Sanders of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

Campusano isn't included on Lake Elsinore's 7-day injured list, making it safe to conclude that he's moved past the concussion that sidelined him for the final month of the 2018 campaign. The backstop will make the jump to the California League after slashing .288/.345/.365 over 284 plate appearances with Low-A Fort Wayne a season ago.

Contreras is not in the lineup Sunday against the Rangers.

Contreras will get the day off Sunday, a customary move given the earlier start time. Victor Caratini drawing the start behind the dish in his place. Contreras has swung a hot bat to start the season, reaching base in five of his first 10 plate appearances.