MLB Player News

Contreras (hamstring) was seen doing agility drills on the field Tuesday, Jesse Rogers of ESPN.com reports.

The young backstop continues to slowly work his way back from a hamstring strain that has kept him on the shelf since Aug. 9. Contreras should start to ramp up his activity in the next week, and while he still has a ways to go in his recovery, he's headed in the right direction. Barring any setbacks, Contreras could be back with the Cubs sometime in mid-September. In the meantime, Alex Avila and Rene Rivera will split duties behind the dish.

D'Arnaud is not in the lineup for Monday's game against the Diamondbacks.

D'Arnaud will get the day off after starting five of the last six games at catcher. Kevin Plawecki will take over behind the dish for him, batting eighth.

Hedges is out of Sunday's lineup against the Nationals.

He has started the last four games but will take a seat for the matinee prior to Monday's off day. Hector Sanchez starts behind the dish and will hit seventh.

Caratini was optioned to Triple-A Iowa on Sunday, Carrie Muskat of MLB.com reports.

The Cubs claimed Rene Rivera off waivers Saturday to serve as the backup catcher, so naturally Caratini was optioned as a corresponding move. He has hit .268/.318/.415 with one home run in 44 big-league plate appearances in his rookie campaign. Look for him to be back up when rosters expand in September, but his playing time will be extremely limited.

Grandal is out of Sunday's lineup against the Tigers, Andy McCullough of the Los Angeles Times reports.

He has started five of the last six games, but will take a seat in the day game. Austin Barnes, who will start behind the dish and hit eighth against righty Justin Verlander, leads all big-league catchers (minimum 100 plate appearances) with a 148 wRC+.

Grandal went 1-for-3 with walk and a solo home run in Saturday's 3-0 win over the Tigers.

The 28-year-old got off to a slow start in the month of August (.184/.295/.421 in 11 games), but he has picked things up in the power department over his last four contests with a double and two homers. Grandal now has 16 home runs on the campaign, and while his 7.4 walk rate is well below last year's 14.0 percent mark, he has replaced those free passes with base hits (.264 batting average compared to .228 last season). He will continue to see regular starts behind the dish against right-handed pitchers down the stretch.

Plawecki went 1-for-4 with a two-run home run during Saturday's win over Miami.

Plawecki should stick with the Mets for the remainder of the season after Rene Rivera was claimed off waivers by the Cubs. With Travis d'Arnaud likely to receive the bulk of starts behind the plate, Plawecki's fantasy value is likely to remain limited to cavernous settings. He projects start a couple of games a week to give d'Arnaud a breather, though.

D'Arnaud is not in the lineup for Saturday's game against the Marlins.

D'Arnaud will head to the bench for a breather after starting four straight games, going 2-for-15 (.133) over that span. Kevin Plawecki will draw a start behind the dish in his stead, batting eighth.

Plawecki was recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas on Saturday.

The Mets' backup catcher, Rene Rivera, was claimed off waivers by the Cubs, so they had to add a second catcher, and Plawecki was the obvious option. He hit .328/.375/.514 with nine home runs and a 13.8 percent strikeout rate in 275 plate appearances in the Pacific Coast League, although a lot of that production can be attributed to favorable hitting conditions. There is a chance he becomes useful in two-catcher formats, but he will likely only start two or three times per week initially.

Realmuto went 1-for-4 with a two-run homer in Friday's 3-1 win over the Mets.

His second-inning shot off Chris Flexen proved to be all the offense Justin Nicolino and the Marlins bullpen would need, Realmuto has already set new career highs in homers (14) and RBI (50) on the year, but his .196/.242/.339 slash line in August suggests he may be fading down the stretch as he continues to play nearly every day behind the plate.