MLB Player News

D'Arnaud is not in the lineup for Friday's game against the Orioles, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

D'Arnaud started the last two contests but will head to the bench for Friday's game. Mike Zunino will start behind the plate and bat ninth in his absence.

Garver is out of the lineup for Friday's game against the Tigers.

Garver will sit for the fourth time in five games in favor of Jason Castro behind the plate. Garver has a .178/.229/.444 slash line with three doubles and three home runs through 12 games in August.

Contreras (hamstring) hopes to be able to ramp up baseball activities next week, Tony Andracki of NBC Sports Chicago reports.

He is still working through a strengthening routine but will travel with the team to New York next week, which is when he may be able to ramp up activities. Manager Joe Maddon said everyone in the organization is optimistic, but it still seems like Contreras is at least a couple weeks away from game action.

Diaz went 0-for-4 with a strikeout against Washington on Thursday.

His struggles both in the field and at the plate have proven perplexing. Even in the absence of former starting catcher Francisco Cervelli, Diaz has ceded time to Jacob Stallings. After posting a .286 batting average with 10 homers and .792 OPS in 252 at-bats last season, Diaz has hit .243 with one homer and .606 OPS in 251 at-bats this year. He's gone just 4-for-27 with no extra-base hits in August.

Caratini is not in the lineup for Friday's game against the Nationals.

Caratini started the last two contests and will take a seat Friday as he is 3-for-24 with nine strikeouts in his last nine games. Jonathan Lucroy will start behind the plate and bat seventh in his absence.

McCann went 2-for-4 with a solo home run, a double and another run scored in Thursday's win over the Rangers.

McCann launched a 416-foot homer in the third inning off Ariel Jurado to extend Chicago's lead to 5-0. Through 97 games this season, the 29-year-old catcher has found much success at the plate, batting .289/.340/.482 with 15 home runs, 54 runs scored and 50 RBI.

Smith is not in Thursday's lineup against the Blue Jays, Bill Plunkett of The Orange County Register reports.

Smith has been a godsend for fantasy owners since his callup. He is hitting .306 with seven home runs in 15 games this month. Russell Martin will get a start behind the dish and hit eighth.

Perez is not in the lineup for Thursday's game against the Mets.

Kevin Plawecki will handle catching duties and hit seventh against right-hander Noah Syndergaard. Perez remains the Indians' starting catcher despite slashing just .154/.241/.288 across 16 games during August. The right-handed-hitting backstop owns a .223 batting average and has 63 strikeouts in 202 at-bats against righties.

Stallings is not in Thursday's lineup against the Nationals.

Elias Diaz (head) returns behind the plate and will bat eighth. In related news, Francisco Cervelli (concussion) was released by the Pirates earlier in the day, so it is officially Stallings and Diaz's show behind the plate going forward.

Diaz (head) is starting behind the dish and hitting eighth Thursday against the Nationals.

He missed a couple games after getting hit by a bat on his catcher's mask in Monday's game, but is healthy enough to catch a full game against Washington. In related news, Francisco Cervelli (concussion) was released by the Pirates earlier in the day, so it is officially Diaz and Jacob Stalling's show behind the plate going forward.