MLB Player News

Smith is not in the lineup for Friday's contest in Milwaukee.

Smith started at catcher in all three games against the Padres earlier this week, but he will get a breather for Friday's series opener versus the Brewers. Dalton Rushing will be behind the dish and batting eighth for the Dodgers.

The Royals designated Diaz for assignment Friday.

Diaz has shown some extra-base pop in 10 games with the Royals this season, slashing .227/.261/.591 with a pair of doubles, two homers, five RBI, three runs scored and a 1:5 BB:K across 23 plate appearances. He's now been booted from the 40-man roster.

Ruiz went 2-for-4 with a run scored in Thursday's loss to the Mets.

The 27-year-old backstop accounted for the Nationals' only run in a 2-1 loss, leading off the bottom of the fifth inning with a single before eventually being brought home by an Andres Chaparro groundout. Ruiz has hit safely in six straight games, and over 42 plate appearances in May he's slashing a sizzling .375/.381/.775 with seven doubles, three homers, eight runs and 13 RBI over 11 contests.

Campusano (toe) has progressed to swinging in the batting cage and catching off a pitching machine, per MLB.com.

Campusano is dealing with a small fracture in his toe that he sustained when he fouled a ball off his foot May 5. The backstop seems to have made significant progress in recent days, though he'll presumably need to get in a minor-league rehab stint before he's activated off the IL. It's possible that Campusano will make it back to the Padres before the end of May, but an early June return seems more likely.

Dingler went 2-for-4 with a double and a solo home run in Thursday's 3-1 loss to the Guardians.

Dingler was the only Detroit player with multiple hits and provided all of the team's offense in its sixth straight loss. The catcher's batting average has dipped some after a strong start in that category, but he's continued to hit for power with three home runs over his last 10 games. That's pushed Dingler up to nine long balls this season in 45 games after going deep 13 times in 126 regular-season contests last year.

Bailey went 1-for-3 with a solo home run in Thursday's 3-1 win over Detroit.

Bailey's solo home run the eighth inning provided some insurance in the final game of the Guardians' four-game sweep of the Tigers. It was his first home run and just the second hit since coming over from San Francisco earlier this month. In six games for his new team, Bailey is 2-for-18 with three RBI. Since Bailey's arrival, there's been an even split behind the plate between him and Austin Hedges.

O'Hoppe isn't in the lineup for Thursday's game against the Athletics, Rhett Bollinger of MLB.com reports.

O'Hoppe will get a break during Thursday's series finale after going 2-for-11 with two runs scored and four strikeouts across the first three games of the series. Sebastian Rivero will fill in behind the plate and bat eighth.

Wynns signed a minor-league contract with the Angels on Saturday and was assigned to Triple-A Salt Lake.

Wynns has gone 2-for-11 with a double through his first three games with Salt Lake. After the Athletics released Wynns earlier this month, the Angels elected to bring the 35-year-old aboard to bolster the organization's catching depth. Travis d'Arnaud (foot) is currently on the injured list and is without a clear timeline for a return, so Wynns should get the chance to play regularly at Salt Lake while Sebastian Rivero replaces d'Arnaud as the top backup to No. 1 catcher Logan O'Hoppe at the big-league level.

Wells isn't in the lineup for Thursday's game against the Blue Jays.

Wells will begin Thursday's game in the dugout after striking out in four of the five at-bats he's had in this series. J.C. Escarra will handle catching duties and bat ninth in the series finale.

Atlanta claimed Handley off waivers from the Orioles on Thursday and optioned him to Triple-A Gwinnett.

With both Drake Baldwin (oblique) and Sean Murphy (finger) on the injured list, Atlanta is a bit thin at catcher at the moment, so the team will bring in Handley to provide some extra depth at the position. He'll report to Triple-A and would likely join the big club only if an injury strikes another backstop. Hurston Waldrep (elbow) was transferred to the 60-day IL in a corresponding move.