MLB Player News

Sanchez is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Cubs, Jeff Sanders of The San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

The Padres have shown no hesitation about breaking Sanchez in as a full-time player since he was claimed off waivers from the Mets early last week. The 30-year-old has picked up starts at either designated hitter or catcher in each of the last five games, going 5-for-17 with a pair of home runs, four RBI and two additional runs. Austin Nola will get a turn behind the plate Sunday, but Sanchez still looks like the Padres' preferred catching option for the time being.

Murphy is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Diamondbacks, Justin Toscano of The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.

Murphy started the first two games of the series in Arizona and will take a seat for Sunday afternoon's contest. Travis d'Arnaud will start behind the plate with righty Michael Soroka on the mound for Atlanta.

Diaz is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Royals.

Diaz started the past six contests and will take a seat Sunday after he went 4-for-25 during that span. Austin Wynns will step in behind the plate to catch for lefty Kyle Freeland.

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

Fortes started three of the previous four games but will take a seat for Sunday's series finale. Jacob Stallings will step in behind the plate to catch for Sandy Alcantara.

Contreras is not in the starting lineup versus the Reds on Sunday.

Contreras gets a day off after going 2-for-4 with a homer and two runs in the Brewers' win over the Reds on Saturday. The backstop will get a breather for the series finale against Cincinnati with Victor Caratini getting the start at catcher in his absence.

Ruiz is not in the starting lineup for Sunday's game versus the Phillies, Andrew Golden of The Washington Post reports.

Ruiz went just 1-for-8 in the first two games against Philadelphia over the weekend, but his spot on the bench is about maintenance and not related to performance. The switch-hitting backstop takes a seat with Riley Adams starting behind the plate and hitting eighth.

Contreras is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Pirates.

Contreras had started behind the dish in each of the Cardinals' last four games, so he'll be getting a breather Sunday with the series finale beginning at 11:35 a.m. ET. Andrew Knizner will step in as St. Louis' starting catcher, working in a battery with Miles Mikolas.

Contreras went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Saturday's 4-3 loss to the Pirates.

He took Luis Ortiz deep in the second inning to get the Cardinals on the board. It was a welcome sight for those with Contreras shares, as the veteran catcher had gone a miserable 2-for-40 (.050) over his prior 11 games. The 31-year-old's first campaign with St. Louis has not gone according to plan so far, and through 55 contests he carries a career-worst .215/.301/.365 slash line with six homers, four steals, 22 runs and 26 RBI.

Murphy went 3-for-5 with a double in Saturday's 5-2 win over Arizona.

While Murphy had no direct involvement in the run production, he kept his bat hot with his second three-hit effort in his last five games. The catcher is batting .353 (18-for-51) over his last 13 contests, hitting safely in 12 of them, though just four of his knocks in that span have gone for extra bases. The surge has him up to a .294/.400/.553 slash line with 11 home runs, 38 RBI, 29 runs scored and 11 doubles through 48 games, putting him on pace for a career year nearly across the board.

St. Louis designated Barrera for assignment Saturday, John Denton of MLB.com reports.

Barrera will move off the 40-man roster after appearing in six games with St. Louis following his May 6 promotion from Triple-A Memphis. He went hitless in his two at-bats with the club. The Cardinals will announce a corresponding transaction before Sunday's game against the Pirates.