MLB Player News

Realmuto is out of the lineup for Friday's game against the Brewers.

Realmuto gets the night off Friday after catching each of the last seven games for the Marlins. Jeff Mathis will take over behind the plate in his stead Friday but Realmuto figures to get back into the lineup for Game 2 of the Marlins' series with the Brewers on Saturday.

Casali is in the starting lineup and batting eighth for Friday's game against the Blue Jays, Roger Mooney of The Tampa Tribune reports.

Casali is just 1-for-13 over the past five games and has brought very little offensive production over the course of the season, making his fantasy value slim-to-none.

Mesoraco is out of the lineup Friday against the Pirates.

He has been playing every other day for the past week, and has been completely ineffective offensively, slashing .140/.218/.160. Tucker Barnhart will start at catcher and hit sixth Friday.

Vazquez is not in the lineup for Friday's game against the Yankees.

Vazquez will get the day off while Ryan Hanigan gets the start against Masahiro Tanaka. The 25-year-old is hitting .226/.294/.323 through nine games this season.

Barnes continued his hot streak Thursday, going 1-for-4 with a walk against Omaha.

Barnes has been on a tear at Triple-A Oklahoma City since being sent down by the Dodgers on April 15. The young catcher has a .333/.488/.455 slash line to go along with nine walks in nine games. After a tough start to the season while in the majors, Barnes has clearly found his swing and is an intriguing prospect for a Dodgers team struggling in run production.

Realmuto hit his second homer of the year as part of a 2-for-4 evening with two runs scored against the Dodgers on Thursday.

Not a week ago, he was hitting .188; in the span of five games, Realmuto's racked up 10 hits in 19 at-bats, raising that average nearly 100 points to .284. That's April sample sizes for you. The 25-year-old catcher has been a workhorse early on, appearing in 18 of the Marlins' 21 games so far -- an amount of playing time that should keep him quite relevant across the majority of fantasy formats.

Grandal is out of the lineup Wednesday against Miami, Eric Stephen of SB Nation reports.

The Dodgers are taking on lefthanded starter Justin Nicolino on Wednesday, which has resulted in the decision to start A.J. Ellis behind the plate. As a switch-hitter, Grandal is a far better hitter from the left side of the plate (.167 against lefties, .296 against righties), so Wednesday's matchup against Nicolino provides Los Angeles with an ideal opportunity to give Grandal a day off.

Nicholas is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Yankees, Stefan Stevenson of the Fort Worth Star-Telegram reports.

Nicholas made three consecutive starts and collected hits in each of the past two; however, the 27-year-old will get the day off in favor of Bryan Holaday. Nicholas is hitting .240 since being called up in mid-April and is pushing Holaday for the starting role.

Hedges (hand) will undergo surgery on his hand and will be out four-to-six weeks, AJ Cassavell of MLB.com reports.

Hedges was originally given a timetable of six-to-eight weeks, but apparently things are better than initially expected, which could allow the catcher to return a bit sooner. Hedges was performing well with Triple-A El Paso, batting .333 with two home runs, so if he can return to that form and prove that his bat is on par with his defense, he could get the call to the big leagues once he's healthy.

Rupp is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Nationals, Ryan Lawrence of the Philly Voice reports.

This appears to be a regular say off for Rupp despite the fact that he's holding a modest six-game hit streak. Carlos Ruiz will catch and bat fifth with him out of the lineup.