MLB Player News

Diaz is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Braves.

Jacob Stallings will work in a battery with Chris Archer for the latter's second straight turn in the rotation, but that doesn't necessarily indicate that manager Clint Hurdle has committed to Stallings as Archer's personal catcher. Instead, the day game after the night game probably represents the main reason why Diaz isn't starting in the series finale. With 12 hits in 28 at-bats to go with nine RBI over his past seven games, Diaz has cemented himself as the Pirates' top option behind the plate and may even warrant ownership in weekly leagues that start only one catcher.

Murphy went 1-for-4 with a two-run homer in Wednesday's 14-1 win over the Astros.

Murphy swatted a two-run homer off reliever Brady Rogers in the sixth inning for his fourth long ball of the season. In his limited opportunities at the plate as Seattle's backup catcher, the 28-year-old is hitting an impressive .300/.329/.529 with eight RBI and seven runs scored through 23 games.

Sanchez went 2-for-5 with a home run and two RBI overall in Wednesday's 11-7 loss at Toronto.

Sanchez put the Yankees on the board in the fourth inning with his 426-foot blast to left field and also delivered an RBI single in the following frame. The 26-year-old is slashing .270/.345/.660 through 42 games, and with 19 home runs, he's now exceeded the 18 he compiled last season over 197 additional plate appearances.

Contreras went 2-for-3 with a double, an RBI and three runs scored in Wednesday's 9-8 win over the Rockies.

Contreras continued his strong season, as he's now up to 32 runs scored and 34 RBI to go along with a robust .976 OPS. After a disappointing 2018 campaign, the 27-year-old has bounced back in a big way so far in 2019.

Grandal went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run Wednesday against the Marlins.

Grandal took Adam Conley deep in the ninth inning for his 13th home run of the season. He's hit well of late, smacking five homers and recording five multi-hit performances in his last 11 contests. That's simply the latest installment of a strong campaign for Grandal, who's now hitting .279/.375/.537 across 224 plate appearances.

Narvaez is not in the lineup Wednesday against the Astros, Shannon Drayer of 710 ESPN Seattle reports.

Narvaez will sit after starting the past three games, going 2-for-10 with a pair of RBI in those contests. Tom Murphy gets the start behind the dish in this one, hitting eighth.

Vazquez is not in the lineup Wednesday against the Royals, Pete Abraham of The Boston Globe reports.

Vazquez will retreat to the bench for Wednesday's night contest with a matinee game on the docket for Thursday. In his place, Sandy Leon is starting at catcher and hitting ninth.

Sanchez (elbow) is starting at catcher and hitting third Wednesday against the Blue Jays.

As expected, Sanchez won't be forced to miss any time after getting hit by Lourdes Gurriel's bat in Tuesday's 4-3 loss to the Blue Jays. The backstop, who is hitting .273/.341/.584 with seven homers and 14 RBI in his last 20 appearances, will face right-hander Trent Thornton in this one.

Garver is not in the lineup Wednesday against the Indians.

Garver has started each of the past two games after returning from the injured list over the weekend, going 1-for-7 with an RBI and a run scored in those contests. Jason Castro is starting behind the dish and hitting eighth in place of Garver on Wednesday.

Hedges is not in the lineup Wednesday against the Phillies.

Hedges has a .797 OPS over his last 13 games. He'll head to the bench in favor of Austin Allen for Wednesday's contest.