MLB Player News

Smith is not in the Dodgers' starting lineup against the Mets on Wednesday.

Smith will not start for the second time in three games while Dalton Rushing serves behind home plate and bats eighth. Smith has gone 0-for-9 with one RBI over his last three games after going 8-for-17 with one home run and three RBI across the four prior contests.

Kelly is starting at catcher and batting third in Wednesday's game against the Nationals.

Kelly had been batting cleanup recently but will now move up to the No. 3 spot for the first time all season. The veteran has had a fantastic start to the year with a .927 OPS and nine home runs through 37 games. While Miguel Amaya is still in the mix behind the plate, Kelly has emerged as the team's top option due to his strong offensive production.

Senior director of sports medicine Todd Tomczyk said Wednesday that Bart has returned to full baseball activities but remains in the concussion protocol, Colin Beazley of the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette reports.

Bart is progressing in his recovery from a concussion, but he'll need to clear the league's protocol before returning. He was placed on the 7-day injured list May 28 after being struck in the head by a backswing. Henry Davis and Endy Rodriguez will continue to work behind home plate for the Pirates while Bart is sidelined.

Jansen is not in the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Rangers, Ryan Bass of FanDuel Sports Network Sun reports.

Jansen will be getting a routine day off after starting the first game of the series Tuesday. Matt Thaiss will fill in behind the plate and bat seventh.

Sanchez (wrist) was assigned to Triple-A Norfolk to begin a rehab assignment Wednesday, Matt Weyrich of The Baltimore Sun reports.

Sanchez has been sidelined since late April due to a right wrist inflammation but has been cleared to play in games. He could rejoin the Orioles' active roster as soon as this weekend, depending on how many rehab games he needs to get back up to speed.

Higashioka is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Rays.

Though he's on the bench Wednesday, Higashioka seems to have at least moved into a timeshare with Jonah Heim behind the dish. Over the last six games, Higashioka started five times (four at catcher, one at designated hitter), while Heim was included in the lineup three times during that stretch. Heim (.659 OPS) has still been more productive at the plate than Higashioka (.599 OPS), so the latter will likely need to string together some more quality offensive performances before emerging as the clear No. 1 option.

Baldwin is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Diamondbacks.

The Diamondbacks are sending Merrill Kelly to the bump Wednesday, but the left-handed-hitting Baldwin will take a seat for the second time in Atlanta's last four matchups with a righty. After he previously appeared content to deploy Baldwin and Sean Murphy in a platoon behind the plate, Atlanta manager Brian Snitker may be favoring more of a timeshare arrangement between the two backstops to keep both fresh. Baldwin and Murphy have now alternated starts over the last six games.

Quero is absent from the lineup for Wednesday's game versus the Tigers.

Quero has been alternating starts at catcher with Korey Lee since the latter returned from the injured list last week, although Quero received an additional start at designated hitter during that stretch. Still, the rookie catcher looks as though he may play a bit less with Lee around than he did when Matt Thaiss was still with the White Sox. Quero is slashing only .188/.263/.232 over his last 21 games and is still looking for his first major-league home run.

Davis is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Astros.

With Joey Bart (concussion) going on the injured list last week, Davis started behind the plate in four of the past five games, but the former might move into more of a timeshare at catcher as Endy Rodriguez becomes further removed from the index finger laceration that recently kept him on the shelf. Davis has supplied a middling .255/.326/.325 slash line since the beginning of May and could need to improve his production in order to gain more separation from Rodriguez in the battle for playing time between the two.

Adams will start at catcher and bat seventh in Wednesday's game against the Cubs, Mark Zuckerman of MASNSports.com reports.

Adams will be making just his 10th start of the season while top backstop Keibert Ruiz receives a rare day off. The lack of consistent playing time could be a factor in Adams' lackluster production at the dish; he heads into Wednesday's game with a .135/.135/.324 slash line and a 45.9 percent strikeout rate over 37 plate appearances.