MLB Player News

Smith went 2-for-4 with two solo home runs in Monday's 5-2 win over the Twins.

Smith took David Festa deep in the fourth and sixth innings for the catcher's first multi-homer effort of the season. While he hasn't hit for a ton of power, Smith has often collected his homers in bunches, including six of them over a 12-game span from June 17 to July 4. He continues to be a steady bat in the heart of the order, slashing .326/.424/.556 with 15 homers, 48 RBI, 49 runs scored, 16 doubles, one triple and two stolen bases through 78 contests.

Kelly went 3-for-4 with a solo home run in Monday's 12-4 loss to the Royals.

While Kansas City's offense broke the game open, Kelly still managed to turn in his own solid effort. The Chicago catcher is now up to 13 home runs for the season, and he's been hot in July with a .350 batting average and four long balls in 12 games. The return of Miguel Amaya (oblique) may cut into Kelly's playing time a little bit, though the latter has earned a sizeable role due to his strong production at the plate.

Baldwin went 3-for-4 with two doubles, six RBI and two runs scored in Monday's 9-5 win over San Francisco.

The rookie backstop gave his team a 3-1 lead when he plated three runs on double in the first. Baldwin then returned in the fourth to knock home two more on a single before wrapping his career night by driving home one on a double in the sixth. Thanks to a solid .290/.358/.488 slash line with 11 homers, eight doubles, 39 RBI and 25 runs scored in 229 total plate appearances, Baldwin is emerging as a favorite for the NL Rookie of the Year Award.

Salas is healing from a stress fracture in his back slower than the Padres anticipated, and he remains without an official timeline for a return to game action, Kyle Glaser of the Foul Territory Network reports.

According to Padres team officials, Salas hasn't experienced any setbacks in his recovery from the injury, which initially forced him to Double-A San Antonio's 7-day injured list April 26. The 19-year-old backstop has been able to stay in shape by catching from a pitching machine and taking part in individual workouts, but he's not yet been cleared for rotational work. According to Glaser, Salas is unlikely to play again this season, but the Padres aren't officially closing the door on him being activated if he's able to make major strides in his recovery over the next few weeks.

Herrera is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Astros.

After starting in three of the Diamondbacks' previous four games, Herrera will get a breather for the series opener. James McCann will handle catching duties Monday for Arizona.

Heim is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Athletics.

Texas has been opening playing time for both Heim and Kyle Higashioka of late by frequently using one at catcher and one at designated hitter, but the former will be left out of the starting nine Monday while Cody Freeman gets a look at DH. Though Heim should continue to see a fair share of starts moving forward, the Rangers seem to be prioritizing Higashioka a little bit more. Higashioka is in the midst of an eight-game hitting streak and will stick in the lineup for a seventh straight game, while Heim is on the bench for the third time during that stretch.

Diaz is not in the lineup for Monday's game in Arizona.

Diaz will get a breather for Monday's series opener after he started the last three contests. Victor Caratini is catching and batting third for the Astros.

Arizona manager Torey Lovullo said Monday that Moreno's recent CT scan showed his fractured right index finger hasn't completely healed, and the catcher will likely need another couple weeks to recover before resuming full baseball activities, Nick Piecoro of The Arizona Republic reports.

The hope was Moreno's scans would show enough improvement for him to resume baseball work, but that's not the case. He's been on the shelf since June 19 and remains on the 60-day injured list, which ensures he won't rejoin the Diamondbacks until at least mid-August. Jose Herrera and James McCann are likely to continue sharing the catching duties in Moreno's absence.

Handley is nearing the completion of the concussion protocol, but he's nursing a wrist injury and will visit with a specialist in the coming days, Matt Weyrich of The Baltimore Sun reports.

Handley has been on the 7-day injured list since late June and evidently must have also hurt his wrist during a collision with the Yankees' Jazz Chisholm back on June 22. The Orioles haven't provided a timetable for his return from the IL.

Stallings is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Guardians.

Since the second week of July, Stallings had been seeing the bulk of the starts behind the plate for the Orioles, but he'll give way to Alex Jackson for the second day in a row. Baltimore may just be rewarding Jackson with another start after he provided a solo home run in Sunday's 5-3 win over the Rays.