MLB Player News

Raleigh went 2-for-4 with a pair of solo home runs in Monday's 6-2 win over the Red Sox.

Raleigh's pair of homers came against Boston starter Nick Pivetta. This was Raleigh's second multi-homer game of July, and he finished the month batting .239 (17-for-71) with five long balls and 10 RBI. The catcher is up to a .231/.306/.442 slash line with 16 homers, 43 RBI, 49 runs scored and 16 doubles over 91 contests this season.

Gomes went 3-for-4 with a double, an RBI and a run scored in Monday's loss to the Reds.

Gomes extended his hitting streak to nine games as his resurgent season continues. The veteran is now batting .286 with a .785 OPS. By comparison, Gomes batted just .235 with a .625 OPS last year. Due to his strong play, the 36-year-old should remain locked in as the Cubs' clear No. 1 catcher, ahead of Miguel Amaya and Tucker Barnhart.

Thaiss is out of the lineup for Monday's game against Atlanta, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reports.

Thaiss will give way to Chad Wallach after catching each of the Halos' last four games. Unless he makes an appearance off the bench Monday, Thaiss will wrap up a disappointing July with a .150/.297/.250 slash line to go with two home runs, five RBI, four runs and one stolen base over 20 games.

Higashioka is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Rays.

Ben Rortvedt will get the nod behind the plate while Higashioka rests for the series opener. Higashioka started at catcher in the final two games of the Yankees' series with the Orioles over the weekend, going 4-for-8 with a solo home run and an additional run.

Maldonado is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Guardians.

Yainer Diaz will get the nod behind the plate in the series opener while Maldonado rests. The 36-year-old started at catcher in five of the Astros' six games last week, going 4-for-15 with a solo home run and a double.

Jansen is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Orioles.

Jansen will get a breather after he was included in the lineup in each of the previous four games, with three of those starts coming at catcher. Alejandro Kirk will step in behind the plate Monday while Brandon Belt handles designated-hitter duties.

Stallings is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Phillies, Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald reports.

Stallings will sit for the second day in a row while the Marlins reward Nick Fortes with another turn behind the dish after he delivered an RBI double in Sunday's 8-6 win over Detroit. The Marlins' catching situation remains fluid, with neither Stallings nor Fortes having produced well enough at the plate this season to establish himself as the team's clear-cut No. 1 backstop.

Murphy is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Angels, Justin Toscano of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

Murphy received a breather Saturday, but Atlanta will give its top backstop another day off to begin its series with the Angels. The team hasn't provided any indication that Murphy is dealing with an injury, so his move to the bench for the second time in three days could just be a means of getting No. 2 catcher Travis d'Arnaud some extra work. Murphy could probably benefit from another day off anyway while he's gone cold coming out of the All-Star break; he's slashing .105/.227/.132 in his first 10 games of the second half.

Stephenson is not in Monday's lineup against the Cubs.

Stephenson hit .211 with one home run, 10 runs and four RBI in 57 July at-bats. Luke Maile will start behind the dish and hit ninth.

Ardoin was promoted from High-A Aberdeen to Double-A Bowie on Monday, Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com reports.

The 22-year-old backstop is known more for his defense than his offense. Ardoin had a .215/.369/.336 slash line with five home runs and a 32.1 percent strikeout rate in 68 games at High-A.