MLB Player News

Caratini isn't in the starting lineup for Saturday's game against the Reds.

Caratini failed to register a hit in Friday's matchup, so the Cubs will turn to Jonathan Lucroy behind the dish for the third matchup of the series.

Hedges isn't in the starting lineup for Friday's game against the Rockies.

Hedges will head to the bench for the second straight contest, as he also took a seat for Thursday's series opener. Francisco Mejia gets the nod behind the dish and is set to hit sixth in Hedges' place.

Stallings will start at catcher and bat eighth against the Cardinals on Friday.

He snapped an 0-for-13 skid with his third homer in Wednesday's loss to Milwaukee. Stallings is slashing .272/.337/.391 with three homers and six RBI in 101 plate appearances. The 29-year-old has become the regular catcher for both Joe Musgrove and Chris Archer, who starts Friday.

Diaz is not in Friday's lineup against the Cardinals.

He is hitting .182 with zero home runs in 55 at-bats since the All-Star break. Jacob Stallings is starting at catcher and hitting eighth.

Hedges is not starting Thursday against the Rockies.

Hedges will give way to Francisco Mejia behind the dish for Thursday's series opener following back-to-back starts. The soon-to-be 27-year-old is off to a slow start to August, going 0-for-10 with a walk and five strikeouts through four games this month.

Realmuto is not in Thursday's lineup against the Giants.

He had started the last four games and 13 of the last 14, hitting .276 with four home runs and one steal in 58 at-bats over that stretch. Andrew Knapp will start behind the dish and hit eighth.

Casali (knee) is expected to begin a rehab assignment for Triple-A Louisville on Friday, Bobby Nightengale of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

Casali has been inactive since July 18 due to right knee soreness. A mid-August return is becoming more likely for the veteran backstop who is slashing .253/.337/.420 in 172 plate appearances. Tucker Barnhart will likely split playing time with Casali once the latter is activated.

Caratini is not in the lineup Thursday against the Reds.

Caratini has started all four games behind the dish since Willson Contreras went down with a hamstring injury, but he'll take a seat for Thursday's series opener as Jonathan Lucroy, who signed with the Cubs on Wednesday, gets his first start with Chicago. The 25-year-old Caratini owns a solid .265/.355/.462 triple-slash through 52 games with the Cubs this season, though he's hitting just .205 with a .697 OPS in 19 games since the All-Star break.

Bart was promoted to Double-A Richmond on Thursday, Henry Schulman of the San Francisco Chronicle reports.

The 22-year-old catcher hit .265/.315/.479 with 12 home runs in 251 plate appearances in the California League. Double-A will be a fair test for Bart, as he was a little old for High-A. He will clearly hit for power and will clearly stick at catcher, but the jury is still out on whether he will be capable of posting high batting averages and on-base percentages against MLB pitchers. If he fares well in the upper levels of the minors, Bart could make his big-league debut next summer.

Barnhart is not in the lineup Thursday against the Cubs.

Barnhart has started the past four games behind the dish and gone 5-for-14 with three home runs and a 3:1 BB:K. Kyle Farmer is starting at catcher and hitting eighth in place of Barnhart in this one.