MLB Player News

Realmuto went 2-for-4 with a double and a grand slam in Wednesday's 11-1 rout of the Cubs.

The catcher has now gone yard in consecutive games while collecting multiple hits in three straight, boosting Realmuto's slash line through 13 contests in August to .333/.415/.667. His numbers across the board look remarkably similar to his performance in 2017 and 2018, with the difference being that the Phillies still have 42 games left on their schedule for him to pad them further.

Stallings was scratched from Wednesday's lineup against the Angels due to a migraine, Rob Biertempfel of The Athletic reports.

Elias Diaz will take over for Stallings behind the dish, while Erik Gonzalez will enter the lineup at third base. Stallings will likely be reevaluated during Thursday's off day before the Pirates determine his status for Friday's series opener against the Cubs.

Smith is not in the lineup Wednesday against the Marlins.

Smith will head to the bench Wednesday with the Dodgers playing a night game before Thursday's afternoon contest. In his place, Russell Martin is starting behind the dish and hitting eighth.

Gomes is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Reds.

Gomes was already starting to fall below Kurt Suzuki on the depth chart at catcher toward the end of July and hasn't done much to improve his fortunes. While appearing in five games thus far in August, Gomes has gone 1-for-16 with five strikeouts. Kurt Suzuki will handle catching duties Wednesday for the third time in four contests.

Grandal went 2-for-4 with a walk and a three-run home run in Tuesday's 7-5 loss to the Twins.

His seventh-inning blast briefly gave the Brewers their first lead of the game, but Josh Hader quickly handed it back in the eighth. Grandal has now reached the 20-HR plateau for the fourth straight season, and his .253 batting average, .373 OBP and .849 OPS are the highest marks of his career since his 60-game rookie campaign in 2012.

Realmuto went 2-for-4 with a walk, a double, a home run, two RBI and two runs scored Tuesday against the Cubs.

Realmuto was the driving force of the Phillies' offense Tuesday, recording his 16th home run of the season in the fifth inning against Jose Quintana. Two frames later, he smacked his 26th double of the season to put the team up 3-2. The power surge was a welcomed development for Realmuto as it was first homer since Aug. 1 and his first extra-base hit since Aug. 5. For the season, he's hitting .275/.328/.461 across 448 plate appearances.

Smith went 2-for-4 with a walk, two home runs, three runs scored and three RBI in Tuesday's 15-1 rout of the Marlins.

The young catcher went deep in the fourth and sixth innings, leading the way in a six-homer barrage for the Dodgers. It was Smith's first career multi-home run performance, and he's slashing .324/.375/.817 through his first 23 big-league games with nine long balls and 26 RBI.

Mejia isn't starting Tuesday's game against the Rays.

Mejia is in line for a day off, opening the door for Austin Hedges to draw the start behind the dish and bat eighth. Mejia is batting .517 with two home runs, three RBI and a stolen base over nine games in August.

Diaz is not in Tuesday's lineup against the Angels.

He has started just once in the last six games, due largely to the fact he is hitting .167 with zero home runs in 60 at-bats since the All-Star break. Jacob Stallings will start behind the dish and hit eighth.

Caratini is not in Tuesday's lineup against the Phillies.

Caratini posted excellent offensive numbers as the backup catcher earlier this year, but his production has slipped over a stretch during which Willson Contreras has been battling injuries. Jonathan Lucroy is starting behind the plate and hitting sixth against lefty Jason Vargas.