MLB Player News

Murphy will start at catcher and hit seventh Sunday against the Athletics, Patrick Saunders of The Denver Post reports.

Murphy will pick up his second start in a row and third in four games after tallying an extra-base hit in both of his previous two appearances. Though Murphy possesses the highest fantasy ceiling of the Rockies' three backstops, his lack of polish behind the plate may prevent him from displacing Chris Iannetta as the team's top option on the depth chart.

Barnhart is out of the lineup Sunday against the Phillies, Bobby Nightengale of The Cincinnati Enquirer reports.

Barnhart has caught the last four games for Cincinnati, collecting exactly one base hit in each outing to raise his season batting average up to .252. He'll head to the bench for the series finale, however, giving way to Curt Casali behind the plate.

Realmuto went 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run against the Nationals on Saturday.

Realmuto came to the plate with runners on first and second in the 10th inning and delivered a game-winning RBI single. He continues to produce, driving in six with a home run and two doubles to go along with five runs scored since the All-Star break.

Grandal is not in Saturday's lineup against the Braves, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports.

Grandal has gone 3-for-9 with a home run and three RBI over his previous two starts. He'll get at least most of the day off, as Austin Barnes gets the nod behind the dish.

Grandal went 1-for-5 with his 17th home run of the season in Friday's 4-1 win over the Braves.

Grandal stayed hot at the dish, upping his July slash line to .390/.507/.797 over 19 games. The 29-year-old tends to run hot and cold -- while also riding the pine against southpaws -- but his strong power output (17 homers and .237 isolated power) keeps him relevant in almost all fantasy formats.

Contreras is out of Friday's lineup against the Cardinals.

He had started five of the last six games, hitting .278/.381/.278 in 18 at-bats over that span. Victor Caratini is hitting ninth and catching starter Mike Montgomery.

Mesoraco is out of Friday's lineup in Pittsburgh.

He has started 13 of 22 games this month, hitting .239/.280/.348 with one home run in 46 at-bats over that stretch. Kevin Plawecki will start behind the dish and hit eighth.

Realmuto went 3-for-4 with two doubles, an RBI and a run scored Thursday against the Nationals.

Realmuto entered Thursday's game just 1-for-11 across his past three games, but recorded his 10th game with at least three hits this season. His .310 batting average is the best among all major-league catchers, and he also ranks among the top-10 in home runs, RBI and runs scored at the position despite missing half of April.

Mesoraco went 1-for-3 with an RBI and two runs scored Thursday against the Pirates.

Thursday's performance marked the first time Mesoraco has scored a run since July 6 and only his fourth multi-run game of the season. However, he has been relatively productive by driving in eight runs across 46 at-bats in July. Mesoraco is batting an unimpressive .227 for the season, but should continue to see regular at-bats as the regular backstop for the Mets.

Stallings was optioned to Triple-A Indianapolis on Thursday.

With Francisco Cervelli (concussion) coming off the disabled list, this was the obvious move. Stallings will continue to serve as organizational catching depth at Triple-A.