MLB Player News

Barnhart is not in Wednesday's lineup against the Mariners.

He is hitting .150 with zero extra-base hits in 20 at-bats this month. Curt Casali will start behind the dish and hit ninth.

McCann is not starting Wednesday against the Royals.

McCann owns a poor .491 OPS over his last 12 contests, though his season OPS remains quite strong (especially for a catcher) at .785. Welington Castillo starts behind the plate in his absence.

Garver will sit Wednesday against Washington.

Garver has started every other game at the plate over the last six games, adding a start as a designated hitter as well. Jason Castro gets the call behind the plate Wednesday.

Murphy went 3-for-5 with two home runs, three runs scored and four RBI in Tuesday's 21-7 rout of the Astros.

The rookie has been impressive to begin his big-league career, going deep three times in his first three starts and slashing .357/.400/1.000 through 15 plate appearances. Murphy remains in a timeshare with Josh Phegley behind the plate for now, but if he keeps raking he could overtake the veteran as Oakland's No. 1 catcher with the club pulling out all the stops in an effort to make the postseason.

Maldonado went 2-for-3 with a pair of solo home runs in Tuesday's 21-7 loss to the Athletics.

Maldonado is hitting just .226 since joining the Astros but has homered five times in 62 at-bats. Slugging is not typically a part of his repertoire, so view this stretch as an anomaly.

McGuire went 2-for-3 with a solo home run and walk during a 4-3 victory against the Red Sox on Tuesday.

That gives McGuire five long balls already in just 65 at-bats. He's batting .323 too, and with three doubles to go with the homers, McGuire owns a .600 slugging percentage. Of course, it's still a small sample, as McGuire has played just 20 games. He also has eight RBI and nine runs.

Garver went 1-for-3 with a two-run home run and a walk in Tuesday's 5-0 win over the Nationals.

Garver started the scoring with his 425-foot blast to left-center field during the seventh inning to put the Twins in control of the contest. The 28-year-old is having a spectacular season with a .275/.364/.646 slash line, 30 home runs and 64 RBI in only 83 games.

Realmuto went 1-for-3 with a walk and solo home run Tuesday against the Braves.

Realmuto took Max Fried deep in the first inning to record his 24th home run of the campaign. He's hit the ball of late, and this performance extended his hitting streak to seven games. In that span, he's smacked four home runs while recording nine RBI and seven runs scored. For the season, Realmuto is slashing .282/.333/.504 across 136 games.

Davis cleared waivers and was outrighted to Triple-A Iowa on Tuesday, Andersen Pickard of MLBDailyDish.com reports.

Davis unsurprisingly went unclaimed on waivers, as he's 29 years old and has just 39 big-league plate appearances under his belt. He'll remain as organizational depth for the Cubs.

Stassi (side) remains out of the lineup Tuesday against the Indians.

Stassi has not appeared in a game since Sept. 3. He's been nursing a side injury and it's not clear when he's expected back. Kevan Smith and Anthony Bemboom have been splitting time behind the plate in Stassi's absence.