MLB Player News

Diaz went 2-for-3 with a double, a walk and an RBI on Friday against the Brewers.

Diaz has been stuck in a nearly exact even split of playing time behind the dish with Brian Serven for much of July. However, Diaz has made the case for a larger share of playing time of late, collecting multiple hits in each of his last five starts. In that span, he's hit .526 with four RBI and two runs scored across 19 at-bats.

Grandal went 0-for-4 with an RBI on Friday against the Guardians.

Grandal missed just over five weeks due to a back injury but made his return Friday, starting behind the plate while hitting fifth. He managed to tally his 16th RBI of the season on a groundout in the third inning. Grandal is hitting a disappointing .181/.288/.232 across 205 plate appearances on the season.

Contreras went 2-for-3 with two walks, a double, a solo home run and two runs scored in Friday's 15-2 win over the Phillies.

Contreras had two of the Cubs' 19 hits in the easy win. The catcher now has 14 home runs, which is second on the team to Patrick Wisdom, to go along with a solid .843 OPS. With Chicago sitting at just 36-57, the veteran Contreras remains a likely trade candidate before the upcoming deadline. The Cubs moved all of Anthony Rizzo, Kris Bryant and Javier Baez before the deadline last year, leaving Contreras, Jason Heyward and Kyle Hendricks as the lone remaining players from the 2016 championship squad.

Mejia went 2-for-4 with a double, two RBI and two runs scored in a 7-3 win over the Royals on Friday.

Mejia had a productive night at the plate, helping lift his team over the Royals with an RBI single during a four-run fourth. He later cashed in Taylor Walls for an insurance run with a double in the eighth. The 26-year-old catcher has seen increased competition for playing time since Christian Bethancourt was traded to the Rays, so it will be important for him to continue producing at the dish. Mejia is slashing an excellent .324/.342/.649 in July.

Maldonado went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Friday's 5-2 win over the Mariners.

Maldonado's fifth-inning solo shot stood as the game-winning hit. The catcher has tapped into his power in July, hitting five of his 10 homers this season in his last 16 games. For the season, he has a .166/..235/.341 slash line with 27 RBI, 25 runs scored and eight doubles through 70 contests. This is the fourth year in Maldonado's career he's reached double digits in homers.

Vazquez went 3-for-4 with two solo homers in Friday's 28-5 loss to Toronto.

The Red Sox were manhandled Friday but it didn't stop Vazquez from producing one of his best performances of the year. He took Kevin Gausman deep with a solo shot in the fourth inning and then hit another solo home run against Jeremy Beasley in the sixth. It was Vazquez's first multi-homer game of the year and he's up to eight long balls on the campaign. He's slashing .281/.324/.442 with 26 extra-base hits and 38 RBI through 75 games.

Jansen went 3-for-6 with two home runs, six RBI, four runs scored and a walk in Friday's 28-5 win over Boston.

Jansen knocked a three-run homer off of Austin Davis in the fourth inning before launching a two-run shot against Darwinzon Hernandez in the sixth. He's up to nine home runs on the year after going deep for the first time since June 1. He's now 6-for-17 (.353) with five runs scored in five games since returning from the injured list. Jansen improved his season slash line to .260/.329/.644 with 10 extra-base hits and 19 RBI through 82 plate appearances.

Nido left Friday's game against the Padres with a left hand contusion, Deesha Thosar of FoxSports.com reports.

X-rays came back negative, providing some hope that Nido will avoid a long-term absence. If he's forced to miss further time, the Mets catching depth will be tested with James McCann (oblique) also sidelined.

Stephenson suffered a broken right clavicle Friday against St. Louis.

Stephenson was hit in the shoulder by a foul ball and he was unable to complete a throw to first base a few pitches later. No timetable has been announced for his return, though he'll likely miss a large portion of the rest of the campaign.

Wong was optioned to Triple-A Worcester on Friday.

With Kevin Plawecki back from the COVID-19 injured list, Boston no longer needed Wong as insurance behind the plate. He has accrued only nine plate appearances in Boston this season, collecting two hits. Yolmer Sanchez was recalled to take Wong's spot on the roster.