MLB Player News

Hedges is not in the lineup Tuesday against the Angels.

Hedges will get a regular day off after starting four straight games behind the dish. A.J. Ellis will start at catcher and hit eighth in his stead.

Mesoraco is not in the lineup Tuesday against the Orioles.

Mesoraco will give way to Kevin Plawecki behind the dish after going 1-for-4 in Monday's loss to the Yankees. The backstop is hitting .220/.302/.381 across 74 games with the Reds and Mets this season.

Barnhart went 1-for-3 with a solo home run and two walks in Monday's 10-3 loss to Cleveland.

Barnhart gave his team an early one-run lead following his eighth home run of the season. After hitting .282 in June, the 27-year-old has struggled at the dish over the past two months, batting .179 in July and .178 thus far in August (10 games). Regardless, Barnhart has managed to surpass his previous season high in homers (seven), and he figures to exceed last year's RBI total (44).

Grandal is not in the lineup Monday against the Giants, Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times reports.

Grandal will head to the bench for Monday's series opener with the Dodgers set to face Madison Bumgarner, who Grandal is just 1-for-13 against in his career. Austin Barnes will set up behind the dish and hit eighth in his stead.

Stallings was recalled from Triple-A Indianapolis on Sunday.

With Francisco Cervelli (undisclosed) sidelined for the time being, the Pirates will call up Stallings to provide major-league catching depth. His stay may be short-lived if Cervelli avoids a disabled list stint, though. Jordan Luplow was optioned to Triple-A in a corresponding move.

Mesoraco is out of the lineup for Sunday's series finale against the Marlins.

Mesoraco hasn't start back-to-back games behind the plate since July 23-24, as Kevin Plawecki draws the start Sunday. Not helping matters is that Mesoraco is slashing .174/.310/.304 over 29 plate appearances in that span.

Starting for the second time in three games, Casali went 1-for-3 with a walk and scored the go-ahead run in Saturday's win over the Diamondbacks.

Casali remains a very competent backup to Tucker Barnhart. He's now hitting .294/.400/.456 in 81 plate appearances.

Realmuto is not in the lineup for Sunday's series finale against the Mets, Joe Frisaro of MLB.com reports.

Realmuto started the last five game for the Marlins, so he'll get a breather as he is 3-for-31 thus far in August. Bryan Holaday will bat seventh and start behind the plate against Noah Syndergaard and the Mets.

Manager Dave Roberts said he removed Grandal from Saturday's starting lineup so he wouldn't catch four days in a row, including three straight in the Denver altitude, Alanna Rizzo of SportsNet LA reports.

Roberts also said Grandal will return to the starting nine Sunday to catch Rich Hill. Austin Barnes is behind the plate and batting eighth for the Dodgers on Saturday.

Grandal was scratched from Saturday's game against the Rockies for an undisclosed reason.

Grandal was originally set to start behind the plate and bat seventh, but Austin Barnes will handle catching duties instead.