MLB Player News

Ruiz is out of the lineup for Friday's matchup against Atlanta.

Ruiz will receive his second day off in the past three days as the Nationals take on Atlanta for the second game of a four-game set. Harry Ford will be behind the dish and batting seventh for Washington.

The Rockies will option Fulford to Triple-A Albuquerque prior to Friday's contest versus the Royals, Thomas Harding of MLB.com reports.

He'll be cleared off the active roster to make space for the return of Brenton Doyle (groin) from the injured list. The Rockies have been carrying three catchers but will revert to a two-catcher setup, with Brett Sullivan backing up Hunter Goodman.

Kelly is not in the lineup for Friday's contest against the Yankees.

Kelly will get a break during Friday's matinee after he started at catcher Thursday afternoon in St. Louis. Miguel Amaya is behind the dish for the Cubs in the series opener.

Rushing went 1-for-4 with a three-run home run Thursday in a 6-2 win against the Mariners.

Rushing's three-run blast in the fourth inning gave the Dodgers all the scoring they needed to emerge with the victory. The second-year backstop endured an 0-for-19, 10-strikeout stretch at the plate during a portion of July, but he's since turned things around, batting .375 with two homers and six RBI over his past seven contests. Rushing continues to work as Los Angeles' primary catcher, though Will Smith (neck) recently resumed baseball activities and could be back with the big club before the midpoint of August.

Rodriguez went 1-for-3 with a walk and two stolen bases Thursday against the Reds.

Rodriguez drew his second start since returning from the injured list earlier this week, and he turned in another productive performance. He's stolen three bases in that span, giving him a total of four for the season. Rodriguez has gone 3-for-11 in total since being activated, and he should continue to serve as Pittsburgh's top option behind the plate.

Susac went 1-for-3 with a home run and three total RBI in a 4-1 victory versus San Diego on Thursday.

Susac belted a two-run homer in the second inning and added a sacrifice fly in the fifth. After going homerless across his first 44 career MLB games, the backstop has now launched three homers over his past two contests. Susac had 18 home runs across 96 games in Triple-A last season, so the sudden homer surge isn't entirely incomprehensible. With that said, his StatCast power metrics are all below league average, so fantasy managers probably shouldn't expect Susac to turn into the second coming of Mike Piazza.

Cavanaugh is not in the lineup Thursday against the Padres.

It's the second straight game coming off the bench for Cavanaugh, though he still served as a pinch hitter Wednesday and delivered an RBI single. Daniel Susac is operating as the starting catcher Thursday and is batting seventh.

Crooks is not in the lineup for Thursday's game versus the Cubs.

Ivan Herrera has been the personal catcher for Andre Pallante this season, and those two will form the battery for the Cardinals in Thursday's series finale. The left-handed-hitting Crooks has started just one of the past six games, though three of those contests have been against southpaws.

Murphy (finger) has five hits over his last two games for Triple-A Gwinnett.

The veteran catcher began a rehab assignment at Gwinnett on July 25, and Murphy was able to play a full seven innings of defense Wednesday in the first game of a doubleheader. Given how much time he's missed the season with various injuries, Atlanta isn't likely to rush Murphy back from the IL, but he looks like he's finally 100 percent healthy, maybe for the first time in 2026. With the trade deadline coming Monday, Atlanta might wait until the dust has settled on any roster moves before finding room on the 26-man roster for Murphy.

Baldwin went 4-for-8 with a double and a run scored across both games of Wednesday's doubleheader against the Mets.

He got the start at DH in the matinee before handling catching duties in the nightcap, rattling off two hits in each contest. Baldwin extended his hitting streak to eight games in the process, a stretch in which he's batting .387 (12-for-31) with a double, two homers, five runs and five RBI.