MLB Player News

Hedges went 2-for-4 with a solo home run in Wednesday's 6-4 loss to the Mets.

It was only his fifth homer of the year, but three of them have come in July. Hedges isn't going to come close to last year's 18 homers without a monster second half, and with Francisco Mejia now in the organization behind him, Hedges could see his playing time take a hit down the stretch if the Padres decide to give the former Cleveland prospect a long look.

Diaz is out of the lineup Wednesday against the Indians.

The Pirates will hold Diaz out for the day game after the night game after the backstop made his sixth consecutive start in Tuesday's 9-4 win. Jacob Stallings will catch for Jameson Taillon in the series finale.

Grandal is not in the lineup against the Phillies on Wednesday.

It shouldn't come as a surprise that Grandal will get a little rest after going 3-for-7 with two home runs during Tuesday's 16-inning defeat. Austin Barnes will handle the catching duties for the series finale while batting eighth in the order.

Mesoraco is out of the lineup Wednesday against the Padres, Anthony DiComo of MLB.com reports.

Mesoraco is just getting a routine day off after he was behind the plate for the first two games of the series. Kevin Plawecki checks in as the Mets' catcher, working as the batterymate for starting pitcher Corey Oswalt.

Grandal went 3-for-7 with two solo home runs and four strikeouts during Tuesday's 16-inning loss at Philadelphia.

Grandal now has four homers in his last five starts, but will almost assuredly get the day off Wednesday after catching all 16 innings and 233 pitches Tuesday night. The 29-year-old has a .259/.356/.493 slash line with 16 home runs and 50 RBI in 278 at-bats in 2018.

Realmuto went 1-for-3 with a home run, two runs scored and four RBI in Tuesday's win over the Braves.

Realmuto also added a sacrifice fly to help bring his season RBI total to 49. The 27-year-old has been a consistent force this season with a .304/.529/.884 slash line and 13 home runs in 74 games.

Mejia was held out of action by the Padres following their trade for him until Tuesday because of a bruised arm, the San Diego Union-Tribune reports.

Mejia made his debut Tuesday night for Triple-A El Paso. He had been repeatedly hit in the same place by foul balls. It'll be interesting to see how long the Padres keep Mejia at catcher, as his defensive abilities there have been questioned, whereas the incumbent Austin Hedges is considered a strong defensive catcher.

Contreras is not in the lineup Tuesday against the Diamondbacks.

Contreras will sit for the third time in seven games since the All-Star break. Victor Caratini will get the nod behind the plate in his place.

Barnhart is not in the lineup Tuesday against the Cardinals.

Barnhart will sit in favor of Curt Casali for the second time in four games. Casali's .298/.377/.489 line easily outpaces Barnhart's .249/.329/.350, though he's done it in a small sample of just 54 plate appearances. Barnhart has the clear edge in terms of defense behind the plate.

Grandal batted cleanup and went 1-for-4 with his 14th home run of the season in Monday's 7-6 win over the Phillies.

Grandal has experienced peaks and valleys offensively this season, but the overall numbers are strong -- he's posted a .255/.354/.472 slash line and 14 homers over 316 plate appearances -- especially for a catcher. The switch hitter will continue to sit in favor of Austin Barnes against southpaws.