MLB Player News

Ruiz is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Phillies.

Ruiz had started at either designated hitter or catcher in each of the Nationals' last 10 games, so he was probably overdue for a day off. Riley Adams will get a turn behind the dish in place of Ruiz, who went 0-for-8 over the first two games of the series.

Fortes is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against Atlanta, Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald reports.

Fortes will take a seat for the series finale while Jacob Stallings gets a turn behind the plate. Though Fortes sports a 62-point edge in OPS over Stallings on the season, the difference isn't significant enough for Fortes to truly dominate the playing time at catcher despite being the Marlins' nominal No. 1 option.

Stallings (ankle) will start at catcher and bat ninth in Sunday's game against Atlanta, Jordan McPherson of the Miami Herald reports.

Stallings was removed from Friday's 16-4 loss due to a sore left ankle, but after sitting Saturday, he'll be good to go for the series finale. The 33-year-old remains the No. 2 backstop behind Nick Fortes, though the latter's decline as a hitter this season has made Miami's catching situation more of a timeshare.

Stephenson is out of the lineup for Sunday's game versus the Padres.

Stephenson started the past three games behind the plate and will take a seat for Sunday's series finale against San Diego. Luke Maile will bat ninth and step in to catch for Andrew Abbott.

Smith is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Royals, Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Times reports.

Smith started the first two games of the series in Kansas City and will take a seat for the finale after going 1-for-9 with a triple and a run. Austin Barnes will step in behind the plate to catch for Tony Gonsolin.

Murphy is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Marlins.

Atlanta's top backstop will sit out the series finale in what appears to be a routine maintenance day. Travis d'Arnaud will check in behind the dish in place of Murphy, who went 3-for-6 with a home run, a double, a walk, four RBI and two additional runs while starting at catcher in the first two games of the series.

Alvarez went 1-for-3 with a solo home run in Saturday's 4-1 win over the Giants.

The Mets' first three runs all came on third-inning solo shots, and it was Alvarez who kicked off the barrage. The rookie catcher snapped a 15-game power drought with the blast, a stretch in which he batted a woeful .111 (5-for-45) with only one RBI, and on the season Alvarez's slash line has swooned to .217/.273/.467, albeit with 13 homers in 59 games.

Moreno went 3-for-4 with a stolen base and a run scored in Saturday's 3-1 win over the Angels.

Moreno logged his second consecutive multi-hit effort and picked up his first steal since May 29. The catcher didn't have a great June, batting just .190 over 19 contests, but he's off to a better start in July. For the season, he's maintained a .271/.308/.350 slash line with two home runs, four steals, 26 RBI and 16 runs scored across 64 games.

Diaz will sit Saturday against the Tigers, Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post reports.

Diaz will miss out on a start at Coors Field, a venue where he's hit .328/.362/.563 this season. Austin Wynns gets the nod behind the plate.

Contreras will sit Saturday against the Pirates.

Contreras finds himself on the bench for the second time in three games, which follows a stretch in which he started seven out of eight games behind the plate. His OPS has trended down each month this season, going from .779 in April to .746 in May and finally .710 in June, though producing in line with that latter mark for the rest of the season would still be perfectly acceptable for a backstop. Victor Caratini starts behind the plate Saturday.