MLB Player News

Gomes is out of the lineup against Minnesota on Thursday.

Gomes will get a breather after starting the first two games of this series, during which he went 2-for-8 with a pair of singles and three strikeouts. Roberto Perez will handle the catching duties in his stead.

Casali will start at catcher and bat sixth Thursday against the Brewers, C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic Cincinnati reports.

After starting at first base Wednesday and finishing 3-for-5 with an RBI in the Reds' 13-12 loss in 10 innings, Casali will move behind the plate for the series finale with regular backstop Tucker Barnhart receiving the day off. The absence of Joey Votto (lower leg) has allowed Casali and Barnhart to rotate duties at catcher and first base over the last several games, but with Votto returning from the DL on Thursday, the two will likely be limited almost exclusively to catching duties going forward. Expect Barnhart, a 2017 Gold Glove winner, to see the overwhelming share of starts at catcher in the season's final month, leaving few opportunities left over for Casali.

Barnhart is out of the lineup against the Brewers on Thursday, C. Trent Rosecrans of The Athletic reports.

Barnhart will get a standard day off with a day game after a night game. The backstop, who had made 16 consecutive starts at either catcher or first base, turned in one of his better performances of the second half in Wednesday's 13-12 loss in 10 innings, finishing 2-for-3 with a home run, double, two walks and three runs. With the Reds activating Joey Votto from the disabled list Thursday, it's expected that Barnhart will see scant duties at first base going forward, which will result in Curt Casali losing out on time behind the plate.

Grandal went 1-for-2 with a solo home run, a walk and a strikeout in Wednesday's win over the Rangers.

Grandal provided an insurance run with his one-out homer in the eighth, giving the Dodgers a three-run lead in the eventual 3-1 win. The 29-year-old leads all National League catchers with 22 long balls, and now with 60 RBI he sits within striking distance of topping his previous career bests in both home runs (27) and RBI (72).

Stassi went 1-for-2 with a walk and a run scored in Wednesday's win over the Athletics.

Stassi's fourth-inning single was his first hit in two weeks, breaking an 0-for-13 skid. An unproductive bat -- the hit raised his second-half average to .173 -- is one reason why Stassi has lost playing time to newcomer Martin Maldonado, who has started seven of the last 10 games behind the dish. With Brian McCann (knee) expected back when rosters expand Sept. 1, Stassi's playing time may drop even further.

Caratini went 1-for-2 with a two-run homer in Wednesday's loss to the Reds.

After entering the game in the seventh inning as a defensive replacement, Caratini blasted a two-run homer in the ninth inning, though the game was already lost. It was his first homer in 55 games this season.

Garver is out of Wednesday's lineup against the Indians, Phil Miller of the Minneapolis Star Tribune reports.

He started the last two games, but will make way for Willians Astudillo in this one. Garver is hitting .230/.262/.410 with two home runs in 61 at-bats this month.

Jansen is not in the lineup Wednesday against the Orioles, Shi Davidi of Sportsnet.ca reports.

Jansen sits after starting seven of the Jays' last 10 games. He's hit an excellent .313/.395/.563 in 38 plate appearances since making his debut in mid-August. Russell Martin will start behind the plate Wednesday.

Perez is not starting Wednesday against the Braves, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Perez sits for just the third time in the Rays' last 14 games. He's hit just .231 with a .526 OPS over that stretch. Jesus Sucre will start behind the plate.

Narvaez is not in the lineup Wednesday against the Yankees.

Narvaez will get a rest after starting seven of Chicago's last eight games, a stretch in which he went 8-for-24. Kevan Smith will get the call behind the plate.