MLB Player News

Casali (head) is not in the lineup for Friday's game against the Red Sox, The Tampa Bay Times' Marc Topkin reports.

Casali appeared to have suffered a bruise after getting hit with a back swing in the head during Wednesday's matchup with the Angels. He is not in the lineup for Friday's game, but the Rays have been going back and forth with him and Hank Conger. Casali could be back in the lineup this weekend, but the Rays could choose to have him sit out until after the All-Star break as a precaution.

Contreras will start in left field and bat cleanup Friday against the Pirates.

Friday's start in the No. 4 spot will be the ninth for Contreras, and it will be his ninth start in left field as well. The 24-year-old is now batting a ridiculous .319/.397/.623 through 78 plate appearances, doing similar damage against both handedness of pitcher. It seems he's firmly locked into the heart of the Cubs' order.

D'Arnaud is not in the lineup Friday against the Nationals.

Rene Rivera will catch for starer Noah Syndergaard as d'Arnaud sits for the second time in three games. D'Arnaud hit his first two home runs of the season this week, giving him 14 hits in 44 at-bats since his return from the DL (.318 average). He remains the primary backstop in New York but he's among the biggest injury risks in baseball.

Perez finished 3-for-4 with a double, two RBI and a run scored in Thursday's 4-3 win over the Mariners.

Perez entered Thursday's contest having gone hitless in his last 23 at-bats, but he delivered his first three-hit effort in roughly three weeks, the last of which came in the form of a walk-off, two-run double in the bottom of the ninth. Perez's average still sits at a respectable .280 after ending his slide, and he will look to generate some further momentum before what should be an enjoyable All-Star break.

Perez (thumb) will move his rehab to Single-A Lake County next week, MLB.com reports.

Perez is working his way back from a thumb injury and is thus in the early stages of his rehab assignment. He's likely to return as Cleveland's backup catcher once he's able to get back to full health.

d'Arnaud went 1-for-5 with a solo homer Thursday against the Nationals.

d'Arnaud's second homer of the year came in the fourth inning to pull the Mets within two runs in a game they'd eventually win. He's now blasted homers in two of his last three games, and he's slashing .256/.309/.356 in 92 at-bats on the season.

Rupp is starting behind the dish and batting fifth against Colorado on Thursday, Todd Zolecki of MLB.com reports.

Rupp sat Wednesday's contest with Carlos Ruiz getting the start behind the plate but is back in the lineup against Jeremy Hellickson and the Rockies on Thursday. Rupp has collected hits in 10 of his last 11 games, slashing .349/.404/.721 during that time.

Gomes is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Yankees.

Gomes -- batting .103 over his last eight games -- will sit for a second game in a row in favor of Chris Gimenez who gets the start behind the dish. Gomes and Gimenez have been splitting time evenly at catcher recently, seeing 33 and 27 at-bats, respectively, since June 22.

Casali (head) appears to have suffered no more than a bruise after getting hit with a back swing in Wednesday's loss to the Angels, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

The 27-year-old's medical evaluation seemed to go reasonably well, with manager Kevin Cash reporting that "[Casali] seems to be okay, he's a little beat up." Casali sat in favor of Hank Conger for Thursday's series finale against the Angels and remains day-to-day.

Stephenson (wrist) has begun a rehab assignment in the Arizona Rookie League, RedsMinorLeagues.com reports.

Stephenson's development time has stalled because of the wrist injury, but the good news is that they expected him to take awhile, given that he was drafted from high school. The bad news for him is that the Reds drafted another catcher early this year in Chris Okey, who was taken in the second round, and Okey has already been promoted to Low-A Dayton, where Stephenson was playing prior to the injury.