MLB Player News

Caratini went 2-for-5 with a solo home run in Saturday's 8-6 win over the Cardinals.

Caratini launched a moonshot off of St. Louis starter Adam Wainwright in the fifth inning, giving him a career-high 11 home runs this season. In fact, the 26-year-old came into 2019 with only three career MLB home runs in 107 games. Caratini has some definite talent, though the likes of Willson Contreras and Anthony Rizzo are keeping him from receiving everyday playing time in Chicago.

Garver went 2-for-3 with a pair of runs and a pair of doubles in Saturday's win over the Royals.

Garver scored half of his team's runs in the 4-3 win. He's continued his remarkable season at the plate, slugging .630 and hitting 31 homers, good for second among all catchers and blowing his previous career high of seven out of the water.

Thaiss is out of the lineup for Saturday's game against the Astros.

The 24-year-old has been splitting time at third base with Kaleb Cowart over the last week, and the latter receives the starting nod Saturday. Thaiss has a .196/.281/.364 slash line in 160 major-league appearances this season.

Sanchez is not in Saturday's lineup against the Rangers, Lindsey Adler of The Athletic reports.

He went 0-for-3 with three strikeouts Friday in his first game back from a groin injury. Austin Romine is starting behind the dish and hitting eighth.

Mejia is not starting Saturday against Arizona.

The Padres don't appear to have a true starting catcher at the moment. Mejia and Luis Torrens have each started three of the last 10 games behind the plate, while Saturday's starter Austin Hedges had started four times in that stretch.

Contreras is not in the lineup Saturday against the Cardinals.

Contreras hasn't had his typical heavy workload since the Cubs were eliminated from playoff contention. Jonathan Lucroy starts behind the plate on this occasion.

Stallings will sit Saturday against the Reds.

Stallings sits after starting five of the last seven games behind the plate. Steve Baron will catch James Marvel on Saturday.

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

After posting a .222 OPS in his first 11 games in September, Smith has a 1.012 mark over his last five contests. Russell Martin starts behind the plate in his absence.

Nola went 2-for-3 with an RBI single and a walk in a win over the Athletics on Friday.

Nola is seemingly getting back on track at the plate as the season comes to a close. He's now hit safely in three straight games after a brief 0-for-14 skid and has driven in a run in each of the last two contests, pushing him over the 30-RBI mark for the season. The 29-year-old rookie has generally made good use of his long-awaited first exposure to big-league pitching, slashing a solid .268/.341/.455 across 259 plate appearances.

Perez is not in the lineup Saturday against the Nationals.

Cleveland will rest several starters after getting eliminated from playoff contention Friday. Eric Haase gets the start behind the plate.