MLB Player News

Contreras is not in the lineup Sunday against the Braves.

Contreras went 1-for-5 with two RBI in Saturday's historic comeback victory over the Braves. He'll now be given the day off with Victor Caratini set to take over behind the plate. Contreras should return to the lineup Monday against the Cardinals.

Barnhart went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Saturday's loss to the Cardinals.

The Reds' offense failed to get any traction against the Cardinals Saturday afternoon, as Barnhart's blast wound up being the lone run scored by Cincinnati. The starting catcher is now hitting .265 with two home runs on the season, which puts him well on pace to top his career-high seven home runs.

Mejia's transition to the outfield is a work in progress, The Athletic reports.

Mejia has played left field twice in his first seven games for Triple-A Columbus this season. The Indians are reluctant to call him up until they feel more comfortable with him in the outfield, which may take some time. He may not be up with the big club until September, barring injuries to the Indians' primary catchers, Yan Gomes and Robert Perez.

Hedges is not in the lineup Saturday against the Giants.

A.J. Ellis will get the start behind the plate in his absence. Hedges has always had a high strikeout rate, but his 36.4 percent figure so far this year is really holding him back, leading to a .167/.205/.357 slash line through his first 44 plate appearances.

Perez (knee) will begin his rehab assignment with Double-A Northwest Arkansas on Sunday, Maria Torres of The Kansas City Star reports.

He will be deployed as the catcher for three-to-five innings and will then be the designated hitter the next day. The Royals plan to take things day by day, as his knee allows. He could return to the big leagues before the end of April.

Maldonado is out of Saturday's lineup against the Royals, 610 Sports Radio Kansas City reports.

He will sit for the fifth time in 16 games this season. Rene Rivera will start behind the dish and hit ninth. Maldonado is hitting .256/.341/.308 with a 13.6 percent strikeout rate in 39 at-bats.

Caratini was taken out of the lineup for Saturday's game against the Braves in order to make room for Albert Almora (illness).

Caratini was placed in the original lineup at first base though manager Joe Maddon elected to insert Almora once he was deemed healthy prior to Saturday's matinee. Ben Zobrist will move over to first and Ian Happ slides to left while Almora gets the nod in center.

Gosewisch agreed to a minor-league deal with the Nationals on Saturday, Mark Zuckerman of MASN Sports reports.

Gosewisch was released by Seattle just over a week ago after failing to make the club's Opening Day roster out of spring training. The 34-year-old will likely report to Triple-A Syracuse and provide some extra organizational depth for Washington this season. During 11 appearances with the Mariners in 2017, he went 2-for-28 with 14 strikeouts.

McCann went 2-for-3 with three RBI and his first home run of the season in Friday's loss to the Yankees.

McCann has been scuffling to start the season, as even after the two-hit night he's still hitting just .189. Perhaps the good performance will get him going. McCann hit a career-high 13 home runs last year, and fantasy owners are hoping he can eclipse that mark this season with more regular playing time now that Alex Avila is gone.

Diaz went 2-for-2 with a two-run homer and a walk Friday against the Marlins.

Making just his third start of the season, Diaz batted eighth and reached base three times. The catcher committed a costly throwing error, which led to Miami scoring three runs on a sacrifice fly, but he's in no jeopardy of losing his backup role. Diaz will likely start one or two games per week while patiently biding his time behind the injury-prone Francisco Cervelli.