MLB Player News

Diaz went 1-for-4 with a three-run homer Wednesday against the Marlins.

Diaz took Louis Head yard in the ninth inning to tally his fourth homer of the season. After failing to go deep for a 25-start stretch between May 1 and June 15, Diaz has hit a home run in back-to-back games. He's hitting a disappointing .216/.269/.333 for the season and has started only five of the team's last 12 games as a result.

Ruiz is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Orioles, Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com reports.

The Nationals are off Thursday, so Ruiz will effectively be in line for a two-day break after he was behind the plate for each of the team's last four games. Riley Adams will start at catcher and hit eighth.

Heineman is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Cubs.

Heineman is sitting for the third time in four games, and manager Derek Shelton looks like he may prefer to ride the hotter bat between his two catchers rather than anointing one as the clear top option. Michael Perez will be rewarded with another turn behind the dish after popping a home run in Tuesday's 7-1 win, but he still has more work to do to separate himself from Heineman as the two battle for playing time. Both have been equally unproductive this season, with Perez having supplied a .435 OPS while Heineman sits on a .432 mark.

Reds manager David Bell said Wednesday that Stephenson no longer needs a cast to protect his fractured right thumb, Charlie Goldsmith of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

Though the skipper noted Stephenson is "healing properly," the backstop remains without a clear timeline to resume baseball activities. When he first sustained the thumb injury June 9, Stephenson was projected to miss 4-to-6 weeks, so fantasy managers shouldn't count on him returning from the 10-day injured list until shortly before the All-Star break in a best-case scenario.

Casali is not in the starting lineup Wednesday versus Atlanta.

Casali will sit for the second consecutive day as Austin Wynns draws the start behind the plate and bats ninth. Casali has been dealing with a nagging hamstring issue, which could explain the back-to-back absences from the lineup.

D'Arnaud isn't starting Wednesday's game against San Francisco.

D'Arnaud drew starts in the last three games and went 3-for-13 with two homers, four RBI, three runs and three strikeouts. William Contreras is starting behind the plate and batting fifth.

Serven is not in the starting lineup for Wednesday's contest against the Marlins,

Serven will get a day off Wednesday after he went 0-for-5 with two punchouts in Tuesday's loss. Elias Diaz will take over behind the plate and bat eighth.

Mack is dealing with a hamstring strain and is expected to miss approximately 4-6 weeks, Daniel Alvarez-Montes of El Extrabase reports.

Mack has appeared in just four games this year while battling a hamstring issue, and he'll focus on his rehab process after being diagnosed with a strain. The 19-year-old will presumably attempt to return to game action sometime in late July or early August.

Wynns went 3-for-4 with a three-run home run, an RBI double, and an additional run scored in a 12-10 win over the Braves on Tuesday.

Wynns hit his first home run of the season and knocked in four runs in a career night. The veteran catcher was picked up by the Giants when rookie Joey Bart was sent down to the minors after early-season struggles. Wynns has played in nine games since June 9 and is slashing .320/.370/.520 over a small sample size of 31 plate appearances. His figures to continue backing up Curt Casali for the time being.

Stallings has lost his arbitration hearing and will get $2.45 million this year from the Marlins, Jon Heyman of the New York Post reports.

He filed for $3.1 million, so it was not an insignificant gap between player and team. Stallings, 32, was worth 2.6 fWAR with the Pirates last season, but he has been worth -0.6 fWAR with a .204/.276/.268 slash line in 54 games this year with Miami.