MLB Player News
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William Contreras C | MIL
Brewers' William Contreras: Back in lineup Tuesday
Contreras (head) is serving as the Brewers' designated hitter and batting second Tuesday against the Angels.
Contreras had to sit out Monday's contest after he was hit in the head during a play at the plate Sunday. He now seems to be in good enough shape to play again, though it will be Gary Sanchez behind the dish catching for Tobias Myers. Contreras still holds a .305 batting average on the season, but he has struggled to find consistent success recently, slashing just .232/.246/.321 since the start of June.
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Tom Murphy C | SF
Giants' Tom Murphy: Resumes baseball activities
Murphy (knee) has been taking batting practice and throwing out to 110 feet as of last week, MLB.com reports.
Murphy was seemingly cleared to resume baseball activities earlier this month, but he likely still has a few checkpoints to hit in his recovery from a left knee sprain before the Giants clear him to head out on a minor-league rehab assignment. The 33-year-old backstop is currently on the 60-day injured list and won't be eligible for activation until the first week of July.
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Patrick Bailey C | SF
Giants' Patrick Bailey: On bench versus lefty
Bailey is not in the starting lineup Tuesday against the Cubs.
Bailey will take a seat as the team faces off with left-hander Justin Steele of Chicago. Curt Casali will take over at catcher and bat ninth Tuesday. Bailey is in a platoon behind the plate with Casali, typically handling the starts versus right-handers while Casali enters the lineup versus southpaws.
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Joey Bart C | PIT
Pirates' Joey Bart: Resumes playing catch
Bart (thumb) was spotted playing catch on the field Monday, Andrew Destin of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.
The right-handed Bart is on the injured list with a Grade 1 sprain of his left thumb. Though he wasn't wearing his full catching gear Monday, the fact that he had a baseball glove on his injured hand would seem to indicate that the sprained thumb has healed on some level. The Pirates will likely wait and see how Bart responds to additional baseball activities before sending him out on a minor-league rehab assignment.
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Sean Murphy C | ATL
Braves' Sean Murphy: Idle Tuesday
Murphy is out of the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Tigers.
Murphy has struggled after missing the first two months of the season with an oblique injury, owning a .408 OPS and a 28.6 percent strikeout rate across 56 plate appearances with Atlanta. As Murphy works through the slow start, Atlanta will turn to Travis d'Arnaud behind the plate Tuesday for the fourth time in nine games.
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Jacob Stallings C | BAL
Rockies' Jacob Stallings: Taking seat Tuesday
Stallings is out of the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Dodgers.
Stallings had started in five of six games since Elias Diaz's (calf) injury, but he'll yield to Hunter Goodman behind the dish Tuesday. Both Stallings and Goodman have been red-hot at the plate lately, with Stallings riding a six-game hit streak with four extra-base hits and four runs scored since June 10 and Goodman swatting three homers over his last three games. Regardless, Stallings should see most of the catching work moving forward.
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Yasmani Grandal C | PIT
Pirates' Yasmani Grandal: Absent from lineup
Grandal is not in the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Reds.
Grandal has now started every other game across the last nine contests. It was initially Henry Davis (concussion) receiving the other starts, but with Davis sidelined, Jason Delay is doing the catching Tuesday.
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Nick Fortes C | TB
Marlins' Nick Fortes: Not in Tuesday's lineup
Fortes is out of the lineup for Tuesday's game against the Cardinals.
Fortes has started 11 of Miami's first 14 games in June despite going 3-for-31 during that stretch, but he'll take a seat for Tuesday's contest. Christian Bethancourt will work behind the plate and bat ninth in his place.
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Jacob Stallings C | BAL
Rockies' Jacob Stallings: Homers against Dodgers
Stallings went 1-for-3 with a solo home run Monday against the Dodgers.
Stallings has taken over as the Rockies' primary catcher in the absence of Elias Diaz (calf). He's started six of the team's last seven games, collecting seven hits across 18 at-bats with three RBI and four runs scored. Stallings has also hit cleanup in the past two contests.
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Patrick Bailey C | SF
Giants' Patrick Bailey: Goes deep Monday
Bailey went 2-for-4 with a solo home run and a walk against the Cubs in Monday's 7-6 victory.
Bailey brought San Francisco to within two runs with his eighth-inning solo blast. It was just his second extra-base hit over his past 16 contests, a span in which he's batted .264 (14-for-53). Bailey has a modest five long balls on the campaign, but he's been solid offensively with a .286/.360/.435 slash line, 23 RBI, 18 runs, two steals, an 11.5 percent walk rate and a 19.0 percent strikeout rate over 179 plate appearances.