MLB Player News

Bart is out of the lineup for Saturday's game against Cincinnati.

Bart will give way to Yasmani Grandal behind the dish Saturday against Rhett Lowder and the Reds. Bart is 8-for-39 (.205) with a home run and five RBI in his last 12 games.

Contreras went 4-for-5 with a two-run home run in Friday's 7-4 loss to the Diamondbacks.

The star backstop took Zac Gallen deep in the fifth inning as the Brewers rallied from an early 4-0 deficit, but the Milwaukee offense failed to score a run in any other frame. Contreras is red hot with the playoffs looming, slashing .400/.490/.700 over his last 12 games with three doubles, three homers, eight runs and 12 RBI, and he sits four runs and eight RBI short of reaching 100 in each category for the first time in his career.

McCann went 2-for-3 with two home runs and three RBI in Friday's win against the Tigers.

McCann knocked a two-run shot in the fourth inning and then capped off Baltimore's seven-run night with a solo shot in the sixth. He's hit four home runs over his last 11 appearances dating back to Aug. 20. The veteran catcher owns a .645 OPS with 16 extra-base hits through 221 plate appearances this season.

Stephenson went 3-for-5 with a home run, a double, five RBI and three total runs scored in Friday's 8-3 win over the Pirates.

Stephenson opened the scoring with a solo home run off Mitch Keller in the first inning before driving in three more runs with a bases-clearing double in the third. Stephenson would pick up a fifth RBI with his third hit of the game in the fourth frame. The 28-year-old catcher has gone 8-for-14 over his last five games, boosting his slash line to .265/.344/.459 on the season with 19 homers, 64 RBI and 67 runs scored across 486 plate appearances.

O'Hoppe is absent from the lineup for Friday's game in Houston, Matt Kawahara of the Houston Chronicle reports.

O'Hoppe wore the golden sombrero in Thursday's loss to the Astros, striking out in all four of his plate appearances, so he'll get a breather in this one. Matt Thaiss is doing the catching for the Angels and will bat fifth.

Jeffers is out of the lineup for Friday's game against the Red Sox.

Jeffers is mired in a 4-for-32 slump and will take a seat for Friday's series opener in Boston. Christian Vazquez will step in behind the plate to catch for right-hander David Festa.

Alvarez is absent from the lineup for Friday's game versus the Phillies, Tim Healey of Newsday reports.

Alvarez homered Thursday for the second time over the last three games, but he will be given a day of rest Friday. Luis Torrens will catch for the Mets and bat seventh.

Rortvedt is not in the lineup for Friday's game against the Blue Jays.

Rortvedt is sporting an unsightly .136/.214/.173 batting line with a 32.6 percent strikeout rate since the beginning of August. He will yield to Logan Driscoll on Friday in the series opener.

Amaya is not in the lineup for Friday's contest against the Nationals.

Amaya caught each of the last two games but will get a breather during Friday's afternoon tilt. Christian Bethancourt will be behind the dish and bat ninth for the Cubs.

Triple-A Charlotte activated Quero (back) from the 7-day injured list Thursday, James Fegan of SoxMachine.com reports.

Quero was placed on the 7-day injured list in late August after injuring his back, but he's healthy for the final week-plus of the season. The 21-year-old appeared to have a chance of making his MLB debut with the White Sox down the stretch prior to the injury, but that's increasingly unlikely with just nine big-league games left on the schedule.