MLB Player News

Smith isn't in the Dodgers' lineup for Wednesday's game against the Rockies, Juan Toribio of MLB.com reports.

Smith will get a chance to clear his head Wednesday after going just 1-for-18 at the plate over his last five games. Austin Barnes will take over behind the dish while batting ninth.

Rortvedt is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Twins.

The lefty-hitting Rortvedt typically sits against left-handed pitchers, but he'll head to the bench Wednesday against righty Joe Ryan, affording Alex Jackson a turn behind the dish. Rortvedt looks to be receiving some routine maintenance after he had started at catcher in each of the Rays' last three games.

Wong is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Blue Jays, Mac Cerullo of the Boston Herald reports.

After making four consecutive starts behind the plate, Wong finds himself on the bench for the second game in a row. Wong still looks to be the Red Sox's No. 1 catcher, but manager Alex Cora may have wanted to reward backup Reese McGuire with another start after he drew two walks in Tuesday's 4-3 win.

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

With solid counting statistics (12 home runs, two stolen bases, 37 RBI and 28 runs) and a non-toxic batting average (.234), Jeffers has been one of the top fantasy catchers this season, but he's started to lose some of his shine in recent weeks. He's slashing just .153/.240/.259 overall since May 15, and his ongoing struggles at the dish have begun to cost him some playing time. He'll give way Wednesday to Christian Vazquez, who remains the Twins' No. 2 catcher but seems to have moved his way into more of a timeshare with Jeffers behind the dish.

Murphy went 4-for-4 with a pair of two-run homers and three total runs scored in Wednesday's 7-0 win over the Tigers.

Murphy extended Atlanta's lead to 3-0 in the third inning with a two-run blast off Tarik Skubal before cranking a second two-run homer in the fifth off Mason Englert. It's the first multi-hit game of the year for Murphy, who was batting just .135 with a lone homer through his first 15 games this season. Perhaps Wednesday's outburst is a sign of things to come for the 29-year-old backstop -- Murphy posted an .843 OPS with 21 homers across 438 plate appearances last year.

Alvarez went 3-for-4 with a double and two RBI in Tuesday's win over the Rangers.

The Mets' offense has suddenly roared to life, scoring 52 runs over the course of a seven-game win streak, and it's perhaps no coincidence that Alvarez returned from his thumb injury the day before the streak started. The 22-year-old backstop has delivered back-to-back three-hit performances, boosting his slash line on the season to .269/.305/.372 through 24 contests with a homer, nine runs and 14 RBI.

Bethancourt went 2-for-4 with a home run and two RBI in Tuesday's extra-inning win over the Cardinals.

The veteran catcher launched a solo shot off Lance Lynn in the sixth inning, Bethancourt's second homer of the season. The hits were his first since May 27, and the 32-year-old has offered little at the plate as the backup to Nick Fortes, slashing a woeful .159/.198/.268 on the year in 88 plate appearances.

The Yankees promoted Ramirez from Double-A Somerset to Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre on Wednesday.

Ramirez, 22, earned the promotion by slashing .290/.372/.570 with 16 home runs and 13 stolen bases over 58 games with Somerset. He plays catcher and first base and will slide into a spot on the Triple-A roster vacated by Ben Rice, who was called up by the Yankees on Tuesday.

The Cubs signed Nido to a one-year contract Wednesday, Taylor McGregor of Marquee Sports Network reports.

The Cubs will swap out Yan Gomes -- who was designated for assignment -- for Nido. Nido was designated for assignment himself and eventually released by the Mets earlier this month but he quickly lands on his feet in Chicago, where he'll share catching duties with Miguel Amaya.

Stubbs is out of the lineup for Wednesday's game against the Padres.

Stubbs will get some rest in the series finale after he caught three of the Phillies' last four games. Rafael Marchan will settle in behind the plate in Wednesday's day game.