MLB Player News

Murphy is not in the lineup Saturday against the Angels.

Murphy started behind the plate in the opener but will sit in favor of Austin Allen this time around. The exact playing-time split between the pair remains to be seen, though there hasn't been any indication that Murphy will be anything less than a true starter.

Jansen isn't in the lineup Saturday against the Rays, Hazel Mae of Sportsnet reports.

Jansen was able to score a run Friday, but he'll play a bench role in Saturday's contest. In his absence, Reese McGuire will start behind the plate, batting eighth.

Caratini is the starting catcher and batting seventh in Saturday's game against the Brewers.

After serving as the designated hitter in Friday's opener, Caratini moves behind the plate to serve as Yu Darvish's personal catcher, while Willson Contreras flips spots with him. It's encouraging to see Caratini start on consecutive days to begin the season, and it seems that he and Contreras could alternate between catching and serving as DH throughout the 60-game season to keep both players fresh.

Contreras is the designated hitter and batting fifth in Saturday's game against the Brewers.

In Friday's season opener, Contreras started at catcher while Victor Caratini served as DH. The two are simply flipping roles Saturday, and the Cubs could do this regularly throughout the season to keep both players in the lineup while limiting their time behind the plate.

Barrera was suspended 80 games Saturday after testing positive for a performance-enhancing drug, Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com reports.

Barrera wasn't expected to serve on the Nationals' major-league roster this season, but he'll be forced to sit out the entire 2020 campaign and part of next season. The catcher played most of the 2019 season with Double-A Harrisburg, where he hit .249/.323/.381 with eight home runs and 46 RBI.

Vazquez isn't in the lineup for Saturday's game against the Orioles.

Although Vazquez had a dominant stat line in the team's Opening Day win Friday, manager Ron Roenicke elected to exclude him from the starting lineup for Saturday's day game to prevent any injuries during the shortened season. Kevin Plawecki will start behind the dish Saturday, batting eighth.

Grandal is not in the lineup Saturday against the Twins.

Grandal will get a day off Saturday in a day game following Friday's night game, likely to preserve his long-term health. James McCann will start at catcher, batting eighth.

Vazquez went 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI and a run scored in Friday's 13-2 win over the Orioles.

Vazquez slotted in at sixth in the batting order, which was his primary slot in 2019, when he posted career highs in home runs (23) and OPS (.798). While it looks like he's trending up as a hitter, Vazquez has been up and down since becoming Boston's primary catcher.

Maldonado went 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored in Friday's 8-2 win over Seattle.

Maldonado helped pick up the lineup that didn't get much output from its top stars -- George Springer, Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman and Carlos Correa went a combined 3-for-17. As a career .219, Maldonado is not expected to carry much of the offense on this stacked roster.

Mejia started at catcher in Friday's win over Arizona, batting eighth in the lineup and going 0-for-2.

The Padres have been mostly vague about how they will divide playing time behind the plate between Mejia and Austin Hedges this season, so the decision to give Mejia the Opening Day start shouldn't be over-analyzed. Still, Hedges caught most of Chris Paddack's starts last year, thus Mejia's presence in the lineup Friday comes as a bit of a surprise. For what it's worth, Hedges came into the game to play defense after Mejia was lifted for a pinch hitter in the seventh inning, and the team has yet to announce which of the backstops will be in the lineup for Saturday's contest.