MLB Player News

Stephenson isn't in the Reds' lineup Saturday versus Milwaukee.

After going 0-for-4 with a strikeout in the second game of Friday's twin bill, Stephenson will sit down against Frankie Montas and the Brewers on Saturday. Luke Maile will get the starting nod at catcher instead and bat ninth.

Amaya isn't in the Cubs' lineup for Saturday's game against the Nationals.

Amaya has been white-hot recently, going 13-for-26 with two homers, 13 RBI and seven runs scored over his last seven games. He'll get a chance to rest Saturday while Christian Bethancourt starts behind home plate and bats ninth.

Ruiz isn't in the Nationals' lineup for Saturday's game versus the Cubs.

Ruiz will get a breather Saturday after going 0-for-4 with two strikeouts during a loss in Friday's series opener. Drew Millas will catch instead for southpaw DJ Herz while batting eighth.

Langeliers went 2-for-5 with a two-run home run in a win over the Rangers on Friday.

The Athletics' offense remained hot Friday, and Langeliers produced one of four multi-hit efforts. The power-hitting backstop snapped a 12-game homerless drought with the ninth-inning round tripper, and the pair of RBI it produced were only his second and third since he drove in four during a 4-for-5 performance against the Mets on Aug. 13.

Wong went 2-for-4 with a double, a home run and two RBI in Friday's 7-5 extra-inning win over Detroit.

Wong doubled a run home in the fourth inning and then increased Boston's lead with a homer in the sixth. He'd gone eight games without an RBI and 11 without a home run. The catcher's unsustainable BABIP from earlier in the season has caught up to him in the second half, but Wong continues to be a clutch hitter for the Red Sox, posting a .309 average with runners in scoring position.

Smith went 1-for-4 with a three-run home run and a walk in Friday's 10-9 win over the Diamondbacks.

Smith's seventh-inning blast gave the Dodgers some insurance they would wind up needing when Arizona struck for four runs in the ninth. The catcher has had a largely forgettable August, going 12-for-68 (.176) over 19 contests. He's hit two homers and driven in 10 runs in that span. For the season, Smith has a .243/.325/.428 slash line with 17 homers, 66 RBI, 63 runs scored and 22 doubles across 108 games.

Wells went 2-for-4 with two home runs and four RBI in Friday's 6-3 victory over St. Louis.

The Yankees backstop extended his team's lead to 4-2 when he launched a 399-foot, two-run homer off Erick Fedde in the third inning. Wells later cracked another two-run homer in the eighth inning, launching it 413 feet off reliever Riley O'Brien to secure his first career multi-homer game. The 25-year-old has been one of the hottest catchers in the league coming out of the All-Star break, hitting .318 (35-for-110) with six homers, 22 RBI and 11 runs scored across his last 32 games.

Rutschman is out of the lineup for Friday's game against the Rockies.

Rutschman had started each of the Orioles' last eight games (six at catcher, two at DH) but will get the night off Friday. James McCann will fill in behind the dish while Eloy Jimenez handles DH.

Del Castillo is out of the lineup for Friday's game against the Dodgers.

The Diamondbacks are facing a lefty in Clayton Kershaw for the third time in four games, meaning the lefty-hitting Del Castillo will give way to Jose Herrera behind the plate once again. In 15 games with the D-Backs, Del Castillo is slashing .347/.418/.571 with three homers, 14 RBI and nine runs.

Heim is out of the lineup for Friday's game against the Athletics.

Heim had started each of the Rangers last five games against a left-handed pitcher, but he'll yield to Carson Kelly against JP Sears on Friday. Heim had caught three of the Rangers last four games, going 2-for-14 during that span.