MLB Player News

Sullivan is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Yankees.

Though he'll take a seat in the series finale, Sullivan appears to have at least moved into a timeshare at catcher with Austin Nola, who is behind the dish Sunday. Sullivan owns a putrid .495 OPS on the season, but that's still more than 60 points better than the mark Nola has provided (.443) over 69 more plate appearances.

Ruiz is out of the lineup Sunday versus the Royals.

Ruiz will retreat to the bench after going 1-for-8 with an RBI and a run scored over the first two games of the series with Kansas City. Riley Adams will get the start behind the plate and hit ninth Sunday while Ruiz rests.

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

Contreras has struggled mightily at the plate as of late, as he hasn't picked up a hit since May 20. He'll get a chance to rest against Cleveland on Sunday with Andrew Knizner handling catching duties and hitting ninth.

Murphy went 2-for-4 with a double and a solo home run in Saturday's 2-1 loss to the Phillies.

He spoiled Philly's shutout bid in the ninth inning by taking Craig Kimbrel deep. Murphy extended his hit streak to eight games in the process, a stretch in which the backstop is batting .323 (10-for-31) with two of his 11 homers on the season.

Smith is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Rays.

With Sunday's game beginning at 11:35 a.m. ET, Smith will get a well-deserved breather after he had started behind the plate in each of the Dodgers' last six games. Austin Barnes will step in at catcher, forming a battery with starting pitcher Gavin Stone.

Alvarez went 2-for-4 with a three-run home run and a double in Saturday's 10-7 loss to the Rockies.

Alvarez has hit safely in his last seven games, going 11-for-25 (.440) with four homers and 10 RBI in that span. The catcher also has just one strikeout in that span, which came in Saturday's contest. It's been enough to earn him a starting role lately. Alvarez is slashing .273/.333/.545 with seven homers, 16 RBI, 13 runs scored and six doubles through 108 plate appearances.

Fortes is out of the lineup for Saturday's contest against the Angels.

Fortes has picked up multiple hits in two of his last three starts, but he'll take a seat against Shohei Ohtani and the Angels on Saturday. Jacob Stallings will get the start behind the plate and hit eighth.

Moreno (teeth) will bat seventh and start behind the plate Saturday against Boston.

Moreno sat for the last two games while recovering from root canal surgery, though he did appear off the bench Friday. He'll be involved from the start Saturday and look to continue a good run in which he has hit .327/.400/.429 with a homer and a pair of steals in his last 15 games.

Contreras is not in the lineup for Saturday's game against the Giants.

Contreras just had a day off Thursday, so it's a little surprising to see him sit again in favor of Victor Caratini. He's been in a bad way at the plate in recent weeks (.140/.260/.302 over his last 12 games), so perhaps manager Craig Counsell is simply trying to get his young catcher going again with some extra rest.

Bailey went 4-for-5 with a double, three RBI and a run scored in Friday's 15-1 win over the Brewers.

Bailey hit safely in four of the first five games in which he recorded an at-bat. He was able to enjoy his first big game Friday in the blowout win. Bailey's seeing consistent playing time, and he's done well with it, logging three extra-base hits and seven RBI while batting. 364 through 24 plate appearances.