MLB Player News

Barnes went 2-for-3 with a solo home run in a 4-3 win over Atlanta on Wednesday.

Barnes gave primary catcher Will Smith a breather and contributed to the win with a third-inning solo shot to left field. The long ball was his second in his past three games and sixth overall this season. Though Barnes and Smith opened the campaign in a semi-timeshare, the latter's offensive performance -- Smith leads all NL catchers with 22 homers -- has propelled him to a clear-cut role as the team's top option behind the plate. Barnes has tallied 195 plate appearances this season to Smith's 414.

Narvaez isn't starting Thursday's game against the Giants.

Narvaez started each of the last four games and went 4-for-17 with three runs and three RBI. Luke Maile will start at catcher and bat eighth.

Murphy isn't starting Thursday's game against the Tigers, Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Murphy started each of the last two games, but he'll get a chance to reset after he went 0-for-7 with a walk and four strikeouts. Yan Gomes will start behind the dish and bat eighth.

Realmuto (ankle/shoulder) will bat cleanup and play first base Thursday against the Nationals.

Realmuto has started just one of the Phillies' last four games while battling ankle and shoulder issues, and he had to leave that start early. He's advanced to the point where the Phillies are comfortable getting his bat back in the lineup, but he's not yet ready to catch. He should spend a fair amount of time at first base down the stretch with Rhys Hoskins out for the year with an abdominal injury.

Vazquez went 3-for-4 with a solo home run and two RBI in Wednesday's victory over the Rays.

The catcher opened the scoring in the game with a second-inning RBI single, scoring teammate Alex Verdugo. He then delivered a game-tying solo blast in the seventh inning off of Rays reliever Colin McHugh. Vazquez collected multiple hits for the third time in his last seven contests, but overall his triple slash on the season of .258/.312/.663 are his lowest numbers since 2018.

Maile was recalled from Triple-A Nashville on Wednesday.

Maile last saw the majors in May and will rejoin the big-league club Wednesday with Manny Pina (oblique) heading to the injured list. Maile has a .211/.318/.263 slash line in 22 plate appearances this season and should see occasional starts behind primary catcher Omar Narvaez.

Smith is out of the lineup Wednesday against Atlanta, Fabian Ardaya of The Athletic reports.

Smith will head to the bench for a breather after starting the past two games behind the plate. Austin Barnes will catch for Max Scherzer in Wednesday's series finale.

Sanchez isn't starting Wednesday's game against the Angels.

Sanchez homered in Tuesday's loss to the Angels but has gone just 1-for-14 with a homer, two runs and a walk across the last four games. Kyle Higashioka will start behind the plate and bat sixth.

McGuire remains out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Orioles.

On the bench for the fourth time in five games, McGuire looks to be the No. 3 option on the depth chart at catcher behind Danny Jansen and Alejandro Kirk, in some order. None of the three backstops has performed well enough to truly run away with the No. 1 role, but McGuire is still expected to see the fewest opportunities among the trio in September.

Kirk will start at catcher and bat sixth Wednesday against the Orioles.

Kirk was on the bench for Tuesday's 4-2 loss, which coincided with Danny Jansen (hamstring) making his return from the 10-day injured list. Though Jansen is the top defender among the three catchers on Toronto's active roster, his underwhelming .635 OPS means he likely won't dominate the playing time behind the plate in September. Look for Kirk and Reese McGuire to remain part of a timeshare at catcher with Jansen until one of the three clearly separates himself from the others in the competition for at-bats.