MLB Player News

Delay will sit Friday against the Blue Jays.

Delay has emerged as the Pirates' primary catcher, starting four straight games prior to Friday's contest. Even in that role, however, he's unlikely to generate much fantasy interest, as he's slashing .232/.290/.293 with just one home run in 37 games this season. Tyler Heineman starts behind the plate Friday.

McCann will sit Friday against the Nationals.

Neither McCann nor Friday's starter Tomas Nido looks like a true starting catcher at the moment. McCann's .515 OPS certainly isn't starter material, but Tomas Nido's .534 OPS isn't much better.

Contreras remains on the bench for Friday's game against Miami.

Contreras started the final seven games of August, slashing .357/.400/.536 over that stretch. He's now been on the bench for the first two games of September, with Ronald Acuna's knee troubles limiting him to designated hitter duties and Travis d'Arnaud starting behind the plate both times.

Amaya (finger) returned to the Double-A Tennessee lineup Tuesday and has started at designated hitter in each of the club's last three games, going 3-for-12 with a double, a walk, an RBI and a run.

Amaya was out of action for nearly two weeks while recovering from a dislocated ring finger on his left hand, but it's apparently no longer an issue for him, at least while swinging a bat. The 23-year-old will be limited to DH duty for Tennessee the rest of the season as he also underwent Tommy John surgery last winter, but the Cubs expect him to resume his duties behind the plate in the Arizona Fall League, per Mark Gonzales of the Chicago Daily Herald.

Narvaez isn't starting Thursday against Arizona, Adam McCalvy of MLB.com reports.

Narvaez started three of the last four games and went 1-for-9 with two runs, an RBI, three walks and a strikeout. He'll get a breather while Victor Caratini takes over at catcher and bats eighth.

Sands was recalled from Triple-A Lehigh Valley on Thursday.

The 26-year-old catcher will make his first appearance in the big leagues as rosters expand to 28 players in September. He's slashed .308/.413/.428 in Triple-A this season and figures to serve as depth behind the plate for Philadelphia.

Contreras is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Rockies.

After a recent three-game absence due to soreness in his surgically repaired right knee, Ronald Acuna has been eased back into the lineup the last two days as Atlanta's designated hitter. As a result, Atlanta won't have room in the starting nine for both Contreras and Travis d'Arnaud, who gets the nod behind the plate Thursday. Contreras caught in Wednesday's 3-2 win over Colorado while d'Arnaud sat out, finishing with two base hits in three at-bats to lift his season-long average to .272.

The Mets announced Thursday that Alvarez has been diagnosed with a loose body in his right ankle but won't need surgery to address the injury, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports.

Alvarez, who hasn't played for Triple-A Syracuse since Aug. 23, will instead receive a pain-killing injection in the ankle with the hope of resuming baseball activities in 3-to-4 days. If the injection yields the desired effect and Alvarez responds well to workouts, he could slot back into the Triple-A lineup by mid-September. The time that Alvarez has missed in addition to his lackluster numbers at Syracuse since receiving a promotion from Double-A Binghamton in early July makes it unlikely that he'll get the call up to the Mets before the end of the season, even though the big club has received little production from catchers James McCann and Tomas Nido.

Nido is out of the lineup for Thursday's game against the Dodgers, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports.

The playing time at catcher has tilted in favor of James McCann lately, with Nido having now sat in three of the past four games. Even if Nido re-emerges as the preferred backstop for the Mets, he's unlikely to provide much of an imprint in fantasy leagues, given that he's hitting .222 with no home runs or stolen bases in 252 plate appearances on the campaign.

The Nationals recalled Barrera from Triple-A Rochester on Thursday, Jessica Camerato of MLB.com reports.

The addition of Barrera gives the Nationals a third catcher, which will perhaps allow the team to build in more rest days for No. 1 backstop Keibert Ruiz while allowing Riley Adams to pick up some work as a designated hitter. Barrera appeared in 14 games for Washington earlier in 2022, batting .182 with four RBI and two runs.