MLB Player News

Barnhart will be on the bench for Saturday's game against the Pirates.

Barnhart sits for just the second time this season. Curt Casali will take over behind the plate.

Grandal went 2-for-4 with a solo home run and a second run scored in Friday's 13-10 win over the Cubs.

He took Jose Quintana deep in the third inning for his first homer of the season, one of five by Milwaukee hitters on the night. Grandal has started six of eight games so far, and a large workload in a potent Brewers offense should lead to big power numbers for the 30-year-old backstop.

Contreras went 1-for-1 with a walk, a solo home run and a second run scored in Friday's 13-10 loss to the Brewers.

He was also hit by a pitch. After hitting only 10 homers in 138 games last season, Contreras is off to a quick start in that department in 2019, going yard twice in six starts.

Mejia is catching and hitting eighth for San Diego against the Cardinals on Friday.

Mejia will slot in for Austin Hedges against St. Louis, the third start of the year for the 23-year-old backstop. He went 2-for-4 in his last start on Tuesday and is 3-for-9 with a double and an RBI to start the season.

Barnes is out of the lineup for Friday's game against the Rockies, Jorge Castillo of the Los Angeles Times reports.

Barnes will yield catching duties to Russell Martin once again as the pair has split playing time fairly evenly so far this year. Barnes is off to a strong start in 2019 as he is 6-for-15 with one double and two home runs.

Hedges is not in the lineup for Friday's game against the Cardinals.

Hedges has started five of seven games behind the plate entering Friday and is 4-for-13 with two walks and one RBI. Francisco Mejia receives the starting nod Friday for the Padres in his absence.

Bart is opening the year with High-A San Jose, Jim Callis of MLB.com reports.

The No. 2 overall pick in last year's draft demolished short-season pitching after signing, but this will be a much fairer test for the 22-year-old backstop. He will probably rake again in the California League, and his defense is good enough that it won't slow his ascent up the minor-league ranks.

Pindea will open the year with Low-A Hagerstown, Mike Rosenbaum of MLB.com reports.

One of the top catching prospects who has yet to make his full-season debut, Pineda could be primed for a breakout year. He just turned 19, but hit .273/.341/.388 (118 wRC+) with four home runs last year in short-season ball, so he is much more advanced at the plate than most of his peers at the position.

Herrera will open the year with Low-A Peoria, Mike Rosenbaum of MLB.com reports.

Herrera is one of the better catching prospects in the lower levels of the minors, and he will be given an aggressive assignment to Low-A as an 18-year-old. He hit .348/.423/.500 with a 15.4 percent strikeout rate in 28 games in the Gulf Coast League last year, but it would not be surprising if he struggled, at least initially, against Low-A pitching.

Stephenson has been assigned to Double-A Pensacola to begin the 2019 season.

Stephenson was the Reds' first-round pick in 2015 and has battled a slew of injuries in his professional career. He was able to make through most of 2018 unscathed, however, hitting .250/.338/.392 in 109 games at High-A Daytona.