MLB Player News

Diaz went 1-for-5 with an RBI double Sunday against the Reds.

He's served as Pittsburgh's cleanup hitter nine times in the month of July, going 12-for-34. Speaking on his Sunday radio show, general manager Neal Huntington said the team is considering giving starting catcher Francisco Cervelli (concussion) occasional time at first base to keep Diaz's bat in the lineup. Given Cervelli's precarious status, fantasy owners might want to pick up Diaz for both the near term and future, especially now that Pittsburgh seems to have confidence in the 27-year-old. He's hitting .287 with seven homers and 25 RBI in 174 at-bats, but just keep in mind Diaz was a career .259 hitter in parts of nine minor-league seasons.

Hedges is out of the lineup for the second game of Sunday's doubleheader with the Phillies.

Unsurprisingly, Hedges will head to the bench after he went 0-for-4 while playing all nine innings behind the plate in the Padres' 10-2 win in Game 1. A.J. Ellis will handle the catching duties in the nightcap.

Narvaez is out of the lineup Sunday against the Mariners.

Narvaez will give way to Kevan Smith after starting the first two games of the series behind the plate. With a .421/.463/.618 batting line over 24 games since the beginning of June, Narvaez seems to have overtaken Smith as the club's preferred backstop.

Stassi is out of the lineup Sunday against the Angels.

It's a routine rest for Stassi, who started at catcher and went 2-for-7 with a run scored during the first two games of the weekend. Tim Federowicz will serve as the batterymate for Houston starter Lance McCullers in the series finale.

Maldonado is out of the lineup Sunday against the Astros, Jeff Miller of the Los Angeles Times reports.

Maldonado will receive his first breather of the second half after he was behind the plate for the first two games of the weekend. Jose Briceno checks in behind the plate, catching for Andrew Heaney.

Grandal is out of the lineup Sunday against the Brewers, Bill Shaikin of the Los Angeles Times reports.

He'll give way to Austin Barnes behind the plate with lefty Brent Suter on the mound for the Brewers. Though he's a switch hitter, Grandal has been far more productive versus right-handed pitching (.270/.362/.515 batting line, 139 wRC+) than southpaws (.206/.329/.302, 82 wRC+) this season.

Narvaez went 2-for-3 with a double and two runs scored Saturday against the Mariners.

Narvaez has emerged as the primary catcher for the White Sox and extended his hitting streak to a modest seven games. That has pushed his average up to .294, though his counting stats are unlikely to be noteworthy due to his position in the bottom third of the batting order and the poor White Sox offense.

Murphy recorded a solo home run in his only at-bat Saturday in a win over Diamondbacks.

Murphy entered the game in the eighth inning as a pinch hitter and delivered the go-ahead run on his first home run of the season. He remains the backup catcher behind Chris Iannetta, seeing just 55 at-bats in 20 appearances as a result. He has recorded seven extra-base hits in his limited playing time, hinting at what he may be capable of if he's given full-time at-bats.

Perez went 1-for-3 with a walk and a two-run homer in Saturday's 4-2 win over the Twins.

His first-inning shot off Lance Lynn gave the Royals a lead they wouldn't relinquish. Perez now has 14 homers on the year, putting him on pace top top 20 for the fourth year in a row, but his .223/.262/.405 slash line remains well below his usual standards.

Gomes went 1-for-4 with two runs scored and an RBI on Saturday against the Rangers.

Gomes hardly stood out in the offensive barrage the Indians put together Saturday but benefited from timely hits to have a productive night. He hasn't homered since July 3, but he has seven runs and five RBI since then, solid numbers considering the lack of depth at catcher.