MLB Player News

Maldonado is not in the lineup Sunday against the Diamondbacks, per Brian McTaggart of MLB.com.

Maldonado started the past 10 games and went 4-for-30 during that stretch, so he'll receive a day to reset Sunday. Dustin Garneau takes over behind the plate and will bat ninth for the Astros.

Bart is not in the lineup for Sunday's game against the A's.

John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle suggests it could end up being a two-day break for Bart, with Johnny Cueto slated to start Monday's opener against Colorado. Bart, like most young players, will need to make some adjustments; he is just 2-for-his-last-19 and is batting .241/.302/.304 through 86 plate appearances.

Perez is not in the lineup Sunday at Detroit.

Perez started the past three games and will receive the day off after going 2-for-10 with three walks. Sandy Leon will take over behind the plate and bat eighth in Sunday's series finale.

Grandal is not in the lineup for Sunday's game against the Reds.

Grandal was part of the team's back-to-back-to-back homer parade in the eighth inning Saturday against Robert Stephenson. He had been a bit cold before that and will take a seat Sunday, affording James McCann a start behind the plate. Nick Madrigal moves up to the two hole against right-hander Michael Lorenzen.

D'Arnaud went 1-for-3 with a walk and a solo home run in Saturday's 7-2 loss to the Mets.

The catcher took Jeurys Familia deep in the top of the eighth inning to bring Atlanta within a run, only for the Mets to pull away with two homers of their own in the bottom of the frame. On the season, d'Arnaud is slashing an impressive .336/.400/.566 with nine home runs and 31 RBI in only 38 games.

Grandal went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Saturday's 5-0 win over the Reds.

The catcher has only seven homers on the season, but three of them have come in the last 12 games. Grandal's power stroke has been lagging a little, but he's still been adept at getting on base, slashing .234/.358/.421 through 41 contests.

Mejia was optioned by the Padres on Saturday.

The Padres simply didn't need Mejia, as they acquired both Austin Nola and Jason Castro while he was out for a month with a bruised left thumb. Nola presumably lines up as the team's starting catcher heading into next season, but Castro will be a free agent, so Mejia could earn a bench spot next year. He won't necessarily have the job locked down, though, as he hit just .077/.143/.179 in 42 plate appearances this season, dragging his career line down to .225/.282/.386 in 362 trips to the plate. Eric Hosmer returned from a fractured finger in a corresponding move.

According to Padres manager Jayce Tingler, Campusano (wrist) is "a little behind" the return schedules of recently activated Tommy Pham and Eric Hosmer (finger), Dennis Lin of The Athletic reports.

Tingler did not set a target date for Campusano's return, though it's worth nothing that the other players he mentioned have since been activated. That could mean that Campusano has a chance to rejoin the club before the end of the regular season, though it would be wise to wait until a more concrete update is provided before making such an assumption. With Francisco Mejia optioned to the team's alternate training site Saturday, Campusano could have a spot on the active roster as the Padres' third catcher if he is able to make it back on the field before the end of the season.

Murphy (foot) was recently shut down in his recovery process and sent home by the Mariners, Shannon Drayer of 710 ESPN Seattle reports.

Murphy fractured his left foot during summer camp and was never able to make it back to game action during the shortened 2020 season. Although the 29-year-old was shut down for the remainder of this season, he could certainly be ready for the 2021 campaign as he should compete for playing time behind the plate.

Smith is not in the lineup Saturday against the Rockies, Ken Gurnick of MLB.com reports.

Smith finds himself sitting for the second game in a row, something that hadn't happened yet this season except during the period that he was sidelined with a neck injury. This doesn't seem to be a sign of him losing playing time, which would be quite a surprise given his 1.013 OPS, but it's instead due to the fact that Clayton Kershaw will throw to his personal catcher Austin Barnes, who's caught all of his starts this season.