MLB Player News

Stephenson went 1-for-5 with a two-run home run and an additional run in Friday's 19-2 win over St. Louis.

Stephenson's 13th home run of the season was the Reds' third of the fourth inning and sixth and final long ball of the night, leaving the team one shy of matching a single-game franchise record. Though the Reds are one of the few teams in baseball still competing for a playoff spot in the final series of the regular season, Stephenson isn't necessarily a lock to start behind the dish Saturday and Sunday. He and Luke Maile have been splitting work at catcher of late, with the latter starting four games to Stephenson's three over the past seven contests.

Ruiz went 2-for-5 with a solo home run and two additional runs in Friday's 10-6 win over Atlanta.

Ruiz extend his hit streak to five games with a single in the fourth inning, then kicked off the scoring in the Nationals' three-run sixth inning with his 18th home run of the season. The young backstop has rebounded from a slow start to the season to emerge as a low-end No. 1 catcher or high-end No. 2 catcher in most 12-team mixed leagues -- roughly in line with how he had been valued heading into the season. He's hitting .291 in the second half and has provided nine of his 18 home runs and 32 of his 63 RBI since the All-Star break.

Smith went 1-for-3 with a two-run home run and an additional run scored in Friday's 6-2 win over the Giants.

Smith got the scoring started with his first-inning blast. The catcher has struggled a bit lately, going just 5-for-36 (.139) over his last 10 games, though he's still managed five RBI in that span. For the season, he's posted a .259/.357/.437 slash line with 19 long balls, 76 RBI, 79 runs scored, three stolen bases, 21 doubles and two triples over 125 games.

Bailey is out of the lineup Friday against the Dodgers.

Blake Sabol will catch and bat eighth for the Giants. Bailey has enjoyed some promising stretches this season, but the 24-year-old is slashing just .127/.172/.146 with 21 strikeouts in 58 plate appearances since the beginning of September.

The Giants optioned Bart to Triple-A Sacramento on Friday, Susan Slusser of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

Bart has spent most of this season in the minors and will now finish out the year there. Selected second overall in the 2018 MLB Draft out of Georgia Tech, the 26-year-old catcher owns a highly disappointing .219/.288/.335 career slash line in 503 major-league plate appearances. He could be a trade candidate this winter.

Campusano isn't in the Padres' lineup Friday against the White Sox.

Campusano hadn't appeared in the Padres' last three games either despite going 11-for-23 (.478) during a six-game hitting streak prior to that, but there's been no news of an injury for the 25-year-old catcher. Brett Sullivan will start behind the plate and bat seventh Friday.

Murphy isn't in Atlanta's lineup Friday against the Nationals, Justin Toscano of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

Murphy will sit on the bench for the second straight game Friday while Travis d'Arnaud starts behind the plate and bats seventh. Murphy has recorded just one hit -- a home run -- in 20 at-bats over his last six games.

The Nationals transferred Adams (wrist) to the 60-day injured list Friday, Andrew Golden of The Washington Post reports.

Adams underwent season-ending surgery on his left hand/wrist Sept. 11, so his move to the 60-day IL is simply procedural. The 27-year-old slashed .273/.331/.476 with 21 RBI through 158 plate appearances in 2023, and he is expected to be fully recovered before the start of spring training. Tanner Rainey (elbow) was reinstated from the 60-day injured list to fill Adams' spot on the 40-man roster.

Stallings is out of the lineup Thursday against the Mets.

Nick Fortes will start at catcher and bat eighth versus the Mets and left-hander David Peterson. Stallings went 0-for-4 with a strikeout Wednesday and is slashing just .189/.279/.288 across 267 total plate appearances this season.

Smith is out of the lineup Thursday at Colorado.

Austin Barnes will start behind the plate and bat ninth in the Dodgers' series finale against the Rockies. Smith had caught two straight games while going 1-for-8 with two RBI.