MLB Player News

Diaz isn't in the starting lineup for Tuesday's game against the Braves.

Diaz will head to the bench after drawing four consecutive starts behind the dish. Jacob Stallings is set to handle the catching duties and hit eighth with Diaz out of the lineup.

Knizner was optioned to Triple-A Memphis on Tuesday.

Knizner went 0-for-7 over two games, so he'll return to the minor leagues still in search of his first big-league hit. Yadier Molina (thumb) was activated from the injured list in a corresponding move.

Vazquez is back behind the plate Tuesday against Texas, Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe reports.

Vazquez had only caught one of the last five games, though he'd also appeared twice as a designated hitter. He owns a poor .196/.237/.304 slash line over his last 18 games.

Barnes isn't in the starting lineup for Monday's game against the Angels, J.P. Hoornstra of the Los Angeles Daily News reports.

Barnes will get his second night off in three days, as the Dodgers are likely taking it easy with the 29-year-old backstop following his return from a groin injury. Russell Martin is set to handle the catching duties and hit seventh in Barnes' absence.

Contreras is not in the lineup Monday against the Rockies.

Contreras will take a seat for Monday's series opener after starting the past two games behind the dish and going 1-for-8 with five strikeouts during those contests. In his stead, Victor Caratini is starting at backstop and hitting sixth.

Gomes is not in the lineup Monday against the White Sox.

Gomes has started three of the past four games behind the dish, going 3-for-10 during those contests. Kurt Suzuki is starting at catcher and hitting eighth in this one.

Vazquez will sit Monday against the Rangers, Ian Browne of MLB.com reports.

Sandy Leon has caught four of the last five games for the Red Sox, including Monday's contest. Vazquez sat on two of those occasions but has also filled in for J.D. Martinez (back) as the designated hitter in two games.

D'Arnaud went 2-for-4 with a double and a sacrifice fly in a win over the Red Sox on Sunday.

The veteran backstop's blistering hot June continued in impressive fashion Sunday, with d'Arnaud generating his third consecutive two-hit effort. After a 1-for-19 start to his Rays career following a May 10 trade from the Dodgers, d'Arnaud is hitting .394 (13-for-33) with three doubles, three home runs, 11 RBI, four walks and nine runs over the subsequent 10 games. The surge was enough to prompt the Rays to option Michael Perez, who opened the season splitting time with Mike Zunino behind the dish prior to suffering an oblique injury, down to Triple-A Durham upon his activation Monday. That leaves d'Arnaud to serve as Zunino's new platoon partner in a yet-to-be-determined playing time split for the time being.

Murphy went 2-for-5 with a pair of home runs and three RBI in the Mariners' 9-3 win over the Angels.

Though Omar Narvaez has handled the bulk of the starts behind the dish this season, Murphy's recent production may have the Mariners' catching situation trending into more of a timeshare. After Sunday's monstrous performance, Murphy is now sitting on a nine-game hitting streak and has slugged five home runs in his last five starts. Murphy's surge has prompted manager Scott Servais to alternate starts between the two backstops over the past six games, a pattern that could continue until the 28-year-old's bat cools off.

Perez (oblique) was activated from the 10-day injured list and optioned to Triple-A Durham on Monday, Juan Toribio of MLB.com reports.

It had seemed likely that Perez would reclaim his roster spot as the backup catcher behind Mike Zunino once healthy, but he won't get the chance to do that just yet. Travis d'Arnaud, who owns a .256/.323/.481 slash line in 19 games with the Rays, will keep the job instead, with Perez seemingly waiting for an injury to open up a spot on the roster.