MLB Player News

Realmuto was activated from the paternity leave list Thursday, Clark Spencer of the Miami Herald reports.

Realmuto should be back in the lineup for Friday's series opener against the Phillies after being away from the team for the past three days due to the birth of his child. In a corresponding move, Chad Wallach was optioned to the minors.

Mesoraco is out of the lineup versus the Nationals on Thursday.

Mesoraco will receive a standard day off after starting the past two games, and four of the previous five, behind the plate. Kevin Plawecki will catch Steven Matz during the series opener.

Smith went 3-for-4 with a home run, double and three RBI for Double-A Tulsa in its 9-5 loss to Northwest Arkansas on Wednesday.

It's the fourth consecutive game with a home run for Smith, who upped his season count to 16, placing him in a tie for second place in the Texas League. Nine of those long balls have come in his last 14 games, with Smith slashing an otherworldly .447/.542/1.128 over that span. The 23-year-old has been sharing time at Tulsa this season with the Dodgers' top catching prospect, Keibert Ruiz, with Smith receiving starts at third base and designated hitter on days when he's not catching.

McCann went 2-for-4 with a two-run home run in Wednesday's 4-2 loss to the Rays.

After getting a breather Tuesday, McCann supplied all of Detroit's offense from the No. 7 spot in the lineup Wednesday. The 28-year-old catcher has been scuffling this season, as he's batting just .227 with a .607 OPS, but maybe this strong effort will get him going.

Perez went 2-for-5 with a three-run homer and two strikeouts in Wednesday's loss to the Twins.

Perez went deep in the first inning to give the Royals an early three-run lead, though they'd eventually give it all back in the 8-5 loss. The backstop is hitting an uncharacteristically-low .217 with a .257 OBP -- both of which would be career lows -- but he's provided solid power and counting totals, all things considered, for being in the middle of a lineup that ranks last in runs per game.

Grandal is out of the lineup for the second day in a row Wednesday against the Padres.

Austin Barnes will make his second straight start and his third start in four games. Grandal has now sat against the last seven lefties the Dodgers have faced, including Joey Lucchesi on Wednesday. Grandal is a switch hitter, but he does have a platoon split, posting a 119 career wRC+ against righties compared to a 103 wRC+ against lefties. The right-handed Barnes has a similar split in the opposite direction (118 wRC+ against lefties and 98 wRC+ against righties), so it would make sense for the platoon to continue moving forward.

Stassi is out of Wednesday's starting lineup against the Athletics.

Stassi will take a seat after going 3-for-13 with one double and two RBI over his last four games. Tim Federowicz is slated to handle the catching duties and bat eighth.

Rupp was cut by the Twins on Wednesday, Brandon Warne of ZoneCoverage.com reports.

Rupp appeared in 52 games for Triple-A Rochester in 2018, putting together a .226/.316/.446 slash line with 11 homers and 32 RBI. He'll look to latch on elsewhere following his release.

Sanchez (groin) took part in some running and on-field drills out of the crouch prior to Wednesday's tilt against Baltimore, Coley Harvey of ESPN.com reports.

Sanchez worked on his throws down to second and third base out of the crouch, but more importantly, he managed to get in some running. He also participated in agility drills in the outfield, Bryan Hoch of MLB.com reports. If Sanchez can successfully run the bases within the next few days, there's a good chance he'll begin a minor-league stint by the weekend.

Contreras is out of the lineup against the Giants on Wednesday.

Contreras will take a seat after going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts during Tuesday's victory. Victor Caratini will set up behind the plate and catch Mike Montgomery during the series finale.