MLB Player News

Sanchez is out of Tuesday's lineup against the Rays, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

He had two well-publicized lack-of-hustle plays in Monday's game, so in that sense it's not surprising to see him out of the lineup. However, there was also a report from Jon Heyman of FancredSports.com that Sanchez could have reinjured his groin, hence the lack of effort. More news should trickle out if he did indeed reinjure himself. Austin Romine will start behind the dish and hit ninth.

Barnhart is not in the lineup Tuesday against the Cardinals.

Barnhart will sit in favor of Curt Casali for the second time in four games. Casali's .298/.377/.489 line easily outpaces Barnhart's .249/.329/.350, though he's done it in a small sample of just 54 plate appearances. Barnhart has the clear edge in terms of defense behind the plate.

Sanchez may have reinjured his groin in Monday night's loss to the Rays, Jon Heyman of FancredSports.com reports.

Sanchez certainly looked slow late in the game, when he failed to run out a groundball. The incident appeared at first to be just a lack of hustle, though an injury would provide a believable alternative explanation. The catcher just returned from the disabled list after missing nearly a month with a groin strain. If he is indeed injured again and unable to run out grounders, another trip to the DL is a distinct possibility. The situation should become clearer in the next few days.

Grandal batted cleanup and went 1-for-4 with his 14th home run of the season in Monday's 7-6 win over the Phillies.

Grandal has experienced peaks and valleys offensively this season, but the overall numbers are strong -- he's posted a .255/.354/.472 slash line and 14 homers over 316 plate appearances -- especially for a catcher. The switch hitter will continue to sit in favor of Austin Barnes against southpaws.

McCann went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI in Monday's win over the Royals.

McCann has been struggling in July, as he entered this game slashing just .204/.250/.347 this month, and this was the catcher's first three-hit performance since June 15. Maybe this strong performance will get the 28-year-old going as it's generally been a disappointing campaign to date.

Narvaez is out of the lineup versus the Angels on Monday.

Narvaez will remain on the bench for a second straight game while Kevan Smith gets the start for the series opener in Los Angeles. Across 54 games this year, Narvaez is hitting .294/.365/.425 with 17 RBI.

Contreras went 2-for-4 with two RBI and a run scored in Sunday's 7-2 victory over St. Louis.

Fresh off his first All-Star appearance, Contreras continues swinging a hot bat. He's raised his batting average from .269 to .282 since the start of July with a couple homers and seven RBI during that span. On the year, the Venezuelan backstop has just eight home runs and 37 RBI after hitting 21 homers and 74 RBI in just 117 games last season.

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.