MLB Player News

Marchan remains out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Brewers.

Marchan had caught six consecutive games from Aug. 28 through Sept. 3, but he'll be on the bench for the third contest in a row as the Phillies begin their series in Milwaukee. Now that J.T. Realmuto has been cleared to resume catching duties after recently battling ankle and shoulder injuries, Marchan's playing time will likely be scarce the rest of the way.

Smith will sit Monday against the Cardinals, Juan Toribio of MLB.com reports.

Smith has just two hits in his last four games, though that follows a five-game stretch in which he went 9-for-18 with four homers. He'll get a rest for Monday's afternoon game, with Austin Barnes taking over behind the plate.

Kirk is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Yankees.

Kirk and Danny Jansen clearly appear to be ahead on the Blue Jays' depth chart at catcher ahead of No. 3 option Reese McGuire, who hasn't started since Aug. 29. Meanwhile, Kirk has caught four games since that time, while Jansen will draw his third start at catcher Monday. Look for Kirk and Jansen to remain in a rough timeshare for most of September, though the job battle could tilt more in Kirk's direction if he continues to thrive at the dish.

Ruiz will remain on the bench Monday while dealing with a bone bruise in his knee, Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com reports.

Ruiz took a foul ball off his knee Saturday. He missed Sunday's game with what was originally called knee soreness and will remain out with an updated diagnosis Monday. Alex Avila will catch Patrick Corbin.

Barnhart isn't in the lineup for Monday's game against the Cubs, C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic reports.

Barnhart has started mainly against right-handers this year, and he'll take a seat for the fourth time in the last five games with southpaw Justin Steele on the mound for the Cubs. Tyler Stephenson will start at catcher and bat second.

D'Arnaud went 1-for-3 with a solo home run and a walk in Sunday's 9-2 win over the Pirates.

D'Arnaud followed an Adam Duvall home run in the third inning with one of his own to go back-to-back off Ryan Feltner and put Atlanta up 6-0. He would later add a walk in the eighth to reach base for the second time. The 32-year-old has now homered in consecutive games and is slashing .228/.284/.412 with six homers, 20 RBI, 12 runs scored and 10:30 BB:K over 148 plate appearances.

Murphy went 2-for-3 with a run, two RBI and a walk in Sunday's 10-4 extra -innings win over Arizona.

Murphy hit a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning, singled in the seventh, walked in the ninth and brought home a run before scoring on an 11th-inning single. The backstop snapped an 0-for-9 stretch with his first multi-hit outing since Aug. 24, though he continues to share catching duties.

Sanchez went 2-for-4 with a grand slam and a two-run home run in Sunday's 8-7 loss to Baltimore.

The catcher had a monster effort Sunday, driving in six of the Yankees' seven runs. He slugged a grand slam off Baltimore starter Keegan Akin in the second inning before adding a two-run shot off reliever Marcos Diplan in the sixth. Despite the strong showing, Sanchez was just about the only Yankees bat to perform well -- only Anthony Rizzo had an RBI besides Sanchez, and no other hitter on the team logged an extra-base hit. Sanchez is slashing .216/.319/.448 with 20 long balls, 49 RBI and 49 runs scored through 373 plate appearances.

Kirk went 3-for-4 with a three-run home run, a double and two total runs scored in Sunday's 8-0 win over Oakland.

This was the catcher's first multi-hit effort in his last eight games, and he hit just .192 (5-for-26) in that span. Kirk solidified Toronto's lead with his third-inning blast, which was his fifth homer in 44 contests this year. He's added 20 RBI, 14 runs scored, eight doubles and a .275/.350/.467 slash line across 137 plate appearances.

Perez went 1-for-3 with a three-run homer and a walk in Sunday's 6-0 win over the White Sox.

Perez took Dylan Cease deep for a three-run blast in the first inning and later drew his 22nd walk of the year. The slugging catcher has belted 15 home runs since the start of August and eight over his last 11 games. He's up to 102 RBI with an .867 OPS through 555 plate appearances.