MLB Player News

Haase is starting at catcher and batting sixth in Sunday's game against the Diamondbacks.

Haase sat out the first two games of the series in favor of Jake Rogers but will return to the lineup Sunday. Neither player has been a consistent offensive performer, as Haase has just a .566 OPS, while Rogers is a bit better at .692 though he's batting only .167. Haase may be unable to separate himself from Rogers any time soon behind the plate, though he can also pick up some starts in the outfield, which gives a slight boost to his overall outlook.

Grandal is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Marlins.

Grandal will get a breather for the series finale. Seby Zavala will catch Lucas Giolito and hit ninth in Grandal's stead.

Realmuto is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Dodgers, Todd Zolecki of MLB.com reports.

Garrett Stubbs will check in behind the dish while Realmuto rests up for the day game after he started at catcher in each of the Phillies' last eight contests. He went hitless with six strikeouts across the last four games, dropping his season-long batting average down to a career-low .242.

Garver is not in the starting lineup Sunday versus the Rays.

Garver will remain on the bench for a second straight game Sunday after he went 0-for-3 with two punchouts Friday. His absence is likely just in order to get the 32-year-old some added rest after he just returned from the 10-day injured list June 2. Corey Seager will slot in at designated hitter while Robbie Grossman enters the lineup in left field after some shuffling by Texas.

Contreras went 1-for-1 with a solo home run in Saturday's 2-1 loss against the Athletics.

Victor Caratini started the game at catcher and went 1-for-4 with a stolen base, but Contreras pinch-hit for Rowdy Tellez in the bottom of the eighth and smoked a game-tying solo home run off left-hander reliever Richard Lovelady. Contreras was hitting just .207 with only one home run over his first 29 at-bats in June, so his pinch-hit heroics Saturday could turn things around for the 25-year-old, who's taken over as the primary catcher during his first campaign in Milwaukee.

Langeliers is not in the starting lineup Sunday versus the Brewers.

Langeliers will take a seat after he went 0-for-3 with a walk and two strikeouts in Saturday's extra-inning win over the Brewers. Carlos Perez will start behind the plate and bat seventh in the series finale with Milwaukee.

Rutschman is out of the starting lineup for Sunday's contest versus the Royals, Roch Kubatko of MASNSports.com reports.

Rutschman will take a breather after going hitless in the first two games of the series against Kansas City, and the second-year backstop has hit just .182/.250/.212 over 33 at-bats in the month of June. James McCann will be behind the plate for the Orioles on Sunday and hit ninth.

Maldonado is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Guardians, Julia Morales of AT&T SportsNet Southwest reports.

Maldonado is receiving some routine maintenance after he started behind the plate each of the past three days. Cesar Salazar will get a rare turn at catcher in place of Maldonado, who has gone hitless in his last five starts and is now slashing a deplorable .186/.272/.276 for the season.

Alvarez went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Saturday's 5-1 win over the Pirates.

The 21-year-old catcher went yard for the fourth time in the last four games during the eighth inning, when Colin Holderman let a sweeper catch too much of the plate. Alvarez has hit second for the Mets in three straight games, and with Pete Alonso (wrist) potentially unavailable for the rest of June, the youngster figures to remain in a prime spot in the lineup. He's been up to the task -- over his last 18 games, Alvarez is slashing .290/.333/.758 with nine of his 12 homers and 19 of his 25 RBI.

Mejia went 2-for-4 with a double and a three-run home run in Saturday's loss to Texas.

Mejia got the start behind the plate and accounted for most of the Rays' run output with his three-run blast off Nathan Eovaldi in the fourth inning. The backstop has hit safely in each of his past five games and is batting .444 (8-for-18) over that span, but he continues to split time at catcher with Christian Bethancourt. The latter has outhomered Mejia 7-2 on the campaign and has superior numbers overall, so Mejia's big performance Saturday isn't likely to result in a changing of the guard.