MLB Player News

Contreras is not in the lineup against Minnesota on Friday.

Contreras will receive a standard breather following three straight starts behind the plate. Chris Gimenez will catch Mike Montgomery and bat eighth in his place. Look for Contreras to return to the starting nine Saturday.

Maldonado is not in the lineup against the Red Sox on Thursday.

Maldonado will receive a standard breather following four straight starts. In his place, Jose Briceno will catch and bat eighth in the order.

Stubbs went 1-for-4 with a home run for Triple-A Fresno in its 5-4 loss to El Paso on Wednesday.

It was only the second long ball in 179 plate appearances on the season for Stubbs, but power has never been regarded as a major component of the backstop's game. Instead, Stubbs draws raves for his exceptional bat-to-ball and on-base skills, which are evident in his meager 15.6 percent strikeout rate and 9.8 percent walk rate, the latter of which is actually his lowest mark at any stop of the minors. An inflated .403 BABIP has propped Stubbs' average up to .346, but his aforementioned plate approach should allow him to at least be a neutral asset in that category when he hits the majors. There are more questions about Stubbs' ability to handle the rigors of catching, however, as he has already proven susceptible to injury during his young pro career and lacks ideal size for the position (5-foot-10, 175 pounds).

Murphy is not in the lineup for Thursday's series finale against the Giants.

Murphy will take a seat for the second straight day and for the fourth time in the last seven games, with Tony Wolters garnering the start behind the plate. The 27-year-old has a .317/.333/.439 slash line with 17 strikeouts in 41 at-bats since being recalled from Triple-A Albuquerque on June 12.

Realmuto (wrist) will likely return to the lineup for Friday's game against the Mets, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com reports.

Prior to Thursday's tilt, Realmuto said that his wrist was doing much better and he anticipates catching Friday after sitting out every game of the series against Arizona. Across 57 games this year, he's slashing .308/.367/.549 with 10 home runs and 32 RBI.

Realmuto (wrist) is out of the lineup against Arizona on Thursday, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com reports.

Realmuto will miss a fourth straight contest due to a sore wrist/hand after being hit by a foul ball this past weekend. At this point, there has been no word on a potential stint on the disabled list, so continue to consider him day-to-day going into Friday's series with the Mets.

Perez (ankle) will begin a rehabilitation assignment at Double-A Frisco on Thursday, T.R. Sullivan of MLB.com reports.

It's uncertain if the Rangers intend to bring Perez back to the major-league roster when healthy. Since he was placed on the disabled list, manager Jeff Banister moved utility infielder Isiah Kiner-Falefa into the backup catcher job.

Contreras homered and drove in four runs in a 2-for-4 game Wednesday against the Dodgers.

Contreras hadn't driven in multiple runs since May 12, a 36-game span in which Contreras hit just .254/.364/.331 with one home run and six RBI. Thanks to his hot start, Contreras still owns a solid .272/.360/.444 overall slash line, but he has been coasting on his strong April for some time now. The Cubs will hope Wednesday's game is sign that he's rediscovering that form.

Casali went 2-for-4 in Wednesday's win over the Braves, raising his slash line with the Reds to .407/.448/.630 in 30 plate appearances.

The former Rays catcher has been used sparingly as Tucker Barnhart's caddy, having sat the previous four games. But he's done more than an adequate job in replacing Devin Mesoarco as the backup.

Leon went 2-for-4 with a home run and three RBI in Wednesday's win over the Angels.

Leon deposited a two-run shot over the Green Monster in the second inning, then later added an insurance run in the seventh on an RBI single. He's still sitting more often than not in favor of Christian Vazquez, but Leon has taken advantage of his playing time of late, going 5-for-12 (.417) with six RBI and a couple of runs scored over his last four starts.