MLB Player News

Murphy will start at catcher and bat eighth Wednesday against the Astros.

In the lineup versus a right-handed starting pitcher (Jose Urquidy) for the second day in a row, the righty-hitting Murphy appears to have supplanted the lefty-hitting Cal Raleigh as the Mariners' preferred option at catcher. Though his OPS is down nearly 200 points this season from his career-best mark from 2019 (.859), Murphy has at least demonstrated a discerning eye at the plate of late, reaching base at a .405 clip over his last 10 games while striking out at a manageable 24.3 percent rate.

Raleigh is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Astros.

After sitting against Houston right-hander Jake Odorizzi on Tuesday, the lefty-hitting Raleigh will remain on the bench versus a righty (Jose Urquidy) for the second day in a row. At this point, Tom Murphy -- who will catch Wednesday's game -- appears to have usurped Raleigh on the depth chart. After going 0-for-17 over his last six games, Raleigh's batting average now sits at .157 since he was called up from Triple-A Tacoma on July 11.

Kirk went 3-for-4 with two solo home runs and a third run scored in Tuesday's 5-1 win over the Yankees.

The 22-year-old got the start at DH while Reese McGuire handled catching duties and Kirk embraced the 'hitter' part of his job description, taking Gerrit Cole the other way in the second inning before capping the scoring in the eighth with a blast off Clay Holmes. Remarkably, even though Kirk has only seven homers on the year, this was his second multi-homer performance, with the other coming April 30 against Atlanta. On the season, the young backstop is slashing .290/.362/.524 through 45 games, and the Jays will likely continue to find ways to get his bat in the lineup as they push for a playoff spot.

Contreras went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in a loss to the Reds on Tuesday.

The homer was Contreras' first since July 29 and it came in his fourth game back from a knee injury. He was batting leadoff against a lefty, which should be expected to be the norm down the stretch. While it's been a disappointing season overall for Contreras, only Will Smith of the Dodgers has more home runs among NL catchers.

Diaz isn't starting Tuesday's game against the Giants, AT&T SportsNet Rocky Mountain reports.

Diaz will be out of the lineup for the second time in the last three games after he went 0-for-3 with a walk Monday. Dom Nunez will start behind the dish and bat eighth.

Stassi isn't in the lineup Tuesday against the Padres, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reports.

Stassi started each of the last two games but went 0-for-6 with a run and two strikeouts. Kurt Suzuki will start at catcher and bat sixth.

Murphy isn't starting Tuesday's game against the White Sox, Martin Gallegos of MLB.com reports.

Murphy will be out of the lineup for the fourth time in the last five games after he went 1-for-4 with a two-run homer Saturday. Yan Gomes will start behind the dish and bat eighth.

Stallings will sit Tuesday against the Tigers.

Stallings sits after starting seven of the last eight games behind the plate. Michael Perez will catch for Dillon Peters this time around.

Ruiz (knee) remains on the bench for Tuesday's game against Atlanta, Pete Kerzel of MASNSports.com reports.

Ruiz fouled a ball off his knee Saturday against the Mets and hasn't appeared in a game since then. Riley Adams will catch for Paolo Espino this time around.

McCann will be on the bench for Tuesday's game against the Marlins, Mike Puma of the New York Post reports.

McCann has disappointed at the plate for most of the season, but he's been particularly poor over his last 15 games, hitting .146/.180/.229. Patrick Mazeika will take over behind the plate Tuesday.