MLB Player News

Maldonado is not in the lineup for Saturday's game against the White Sox, Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle reports.

The 34-year-old went 0-for-2 with a pair of walks Friday and is now hitting .194 with four free passes in his last 10 games. Lefty-hitting Jason Castro will catch and bat eighth against Chicago's Lucas Giolito.

Jeffers (knee) is batting sixth and catching in Game 2 of Saturday's doubleheader against the Tigers.

Thanks to the All-Star break, Jeffers has had nearly a week to recover from a left knee contusion. Before the injury, he hit .161 with two home runs, four RBI and eight walks in his last 10 games.

Diaz will be on the bench for Saturday's game against the Dodgers.

Anyone who calls Coors Field home is theoretically an interesting fantasy option, but that hasn't been the case for either of the Rockies' backstops this season. Diaz is hitting just .209/.282/.374 on the year, while Dom Nunez, who starts behind the plate Saturday, is hitting just .171/.274/.355.

Rogers is on the bench for Game 2 of Saturday's doubleheader against the Twins.

The 26-year-old went 1-for-2 with a double in the afternoon contest, raising his average to .239 on the season and .290 in his last 10 games. Eric Haase will catch and bat sixth Saturday evening.

Murphy is not starting Saturday's game against Cleveland, Matt Kawahara of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

The 26-year-old doubled in a 1-for-4 effort Friday and is now hitting .225 in his last 10 starts. Aramis Garcia is catching and batting ninth Saturday.

Barnhart will be on the bench for Saturday's game against the Brewers.

Barnhart is having a good season at the plate, as his .762 OPS represents a career high. Fellow backstop Tyler Stephenson owns an even better .807 OPS, however, so the Reds will likely continue to give Barnhart fairly frequent rest in the second half. Stephenson will catch Luis Castillo on Saturday.

Perez is not in the lineup for Saturday's game against the Athletics.

He's gone 6-for-23 in six games since returning from the injured list, with three of those hits being home runs. Perez has driven in six runs in that span. Austin Hedges will take over behind the dish.

McGuire is not starting Saturday's game against the Rangers.

McGuire went 1-for-4 and scored a run Friday. The 26-year-old is hitting a lowly .095 against left-handed pitching this season, so he understandably gets a day off against southpaw Kolby Allard. Danny Jansen starts behind the dish and bats ninth Saturday.

Stassi went 2-for-4 with a solo home run in Friday's 6-5 loss to the Mariners.

Stassi went deep off Chris Flexen in the second inning to tie the game. He was the only Angel to score off Flexen. Since June, when Stassi took over as the primary catcher, he has slashed .322/.402/.578 with six homers, 16 RBI and 22 runs in 102 plate appearances. The 30-year-old trailed just Yasmani Grandal among all catchers in runs scored (17) in June while batting .303.

Smith went 2-for-4 with a double, a walk, four RBI and a run Friday in the Dodgers' 10-4 win over the Rockies.

The four RBI established a new season high for Smith, who had driven in four runs combined over his final nine games prior to the All-Star break. Smith hit out of the cleanup spot Friday, and his presence in the heart of a loaded Los Angeles lineup should continue to make him one of the most valuable fantasy catchers during the second half.