MLB Player News

Smith is not in the lineup Wednesday against the Marlins.

Smith will head to the bench Wednesday with the Dodgers playing a night game before Thursday's afternoon contest. In his place, Russell Martin is starting behind the dish and hitting eighth.

Gomes is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Reds.

Gomes was already starting to fall below Kurt Suzuki on the depth chart at catcher toward the end of July and hasn't done much to improve his fortunes. While appearing in five games thus far in August, Gomes has gone 1-for-16 with five strikeouts. Kurt Suzuki will handle catching duties Wednesday for the third time in four contests.

Garver will start at catcher and bat leadoff Wednesday against the Brewers.

Garver will stick atop the lineup with the Brewers bringing a lefty (Gio Gonzalez) to the hill, but the backstop may have supplanted Jason Castro as the Twins' preferred catcher versus right-handed pitching, too. Manager Rocco Baldelli deployed Garver behind the plate in each of the Twins' prior three matchups with righties, during which the 28-year-old went 2-for-12 with a home run and a double.

Perez is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Red Sox.

Perez will just be receiving a routine maintenance day with the Indians and Red Sox wrapping up their series with an afternoon contest. No. 2 catcher Kevin Plawecki checks in behind the plate Wednesday.

Grandal went 2-for-4 with a walk and a three-run home run in Tuesday's 7-5 loss to the Twins.

His seventh-inning blast briefly gave the Brewers their first lead of the game, but Josh Hader quickly handed it back in the eighth. Grandal has now reached the 20-HR plateau for the fourth straight season, and his .253 batting average, .373 OBP and .849 OPS are the highest marks of his career since his 60-game rookie campaign in 2012.

Murphy went 2-for-4 with two solo home runs and a walk in Tuesday's 11-6 win over the Tigers.

Murphy went deep during the fourth and sixth innings to deliver his second multi-homer performance of the season. The 28-year-old is putting together a quality offensive season -- especially for a reserve catcher -- with a .273/.304/.541 slash line and 12 home runs in 50 games.

Realmuto went 2-for-4 with a walk, a double, a home run, two RBI and two runs scored Tuesday against the Cubs.

Realmuto was the driving force of the Phillies' offense Tuesday, recording his 16th home run of the season in the fifth inning against Jose Quintana. Two frames later, he smacked his 26th double of the season to put the team up 3-2. The power surge was a welcomed development for Realmuto as it was first homer since Aug. 1 and his first extra-base hit since Aug. 5. For the season, he's hitting .275/.328/.461 across 448 plate appearances.

Rogers went 1-for-3 with a walk and a two-run home run in Tuesday's 11-6 loss to the Mariners.

Rogers is batting just .194 through his first 11 MLB games, but he does have a solid .854 OPS, thanks in large part to the four home runs and seven walks he's picked up. The 24-year-old is Detroit's catcher of the future, and with the Tigers now sitting at 35-81, he should continue to receive ample playing time the rest of the way as the team turns its attention to next season.

Smith went 2-for-4 with a walk, two home runs, three runs scored and three RBI in Tuesday's 15-1 rout of the Marlins.

The young catcher went deep in the fourth and sixth innings, leading the way in a six-homer barrage for the Dodgers. It was Smith's first career multi-home run performance, and he's slashing .324/.375/.817 through his first 23 big-league games with nine long balls and 26 RBI.

Mejia isn't starting Tuesday's game against the Rays.

Mejia is in line for a day off, opening the door for Austin Hedges to draw the start behind the dish and bat eighth. Mejia is batting .517 with two home runs, three RBI and a stolen base over nine games in August.