MLB Player News

Smith is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Mets, David Vassegh of AM 570 LA Sports reports.

Smith will get what looks like a routine rest day after catching the first two games after the break, as well as several innings for the National League in the All-Star Game. Austin Barnes will catch for starter Bobby Miller as Max Muncy moves up to the three hole against right-hander Max Scherzer.

Contreras is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Nationals.

Contreras has collected multiple hits in four of his last five games and is slashing .514/.600/.919 over his last 11 contests. The Cardinals are now carrying three catchers with Andrew Knizner (groin) back from the injured list, but Contreras seems to have regained his confidence and should have the clear edge in terms of playing time down the stretch.

Rogers is starting at catcher and batting eighth in Sunday's game against the Mariners.

Rogers will end up starting the bookends of the weekend series, with Eric Haase having picked up the Saturday start behind the plate. If this is any indication, Rogers looks like he still has a slight edge over Haase to begin the post-break part of the schedule, though Haase can also play some in the outfield.

Perez is slated to have his fractured left thumb evaluated by a doctor at some point this coming week, the team's official site reports.

Perez has been on the shelf since July 4 with the fracture, and it was subsequently determined he would not require surgery. If the veteran's progress is deemed to be sufficient during his evaluation, he could be cleared to begin strengthening activities as the next step in his recovery.

Knizner (groin) was activated from the 10-day injured list and will start Sunday's game against the Nationals, John Denton of MLB.com reports.

The Cardinals will roll with three catchers for the time being, as Ivan Herrera remains on the roster despite Knizner's return. Knizner has popped a career-high five home runs, but even so his performance has graded out as replacement level across 35 games so far this season. He has negative fWAR for his career.

Naylor isn't in the Guardians' lineup Sunday versus Texas, Andre Knott of Bally Sports Ohio reports.

Naylor will take a seat Sunday versus left-hander Martin Perez, allowing David Fry to start behind the dish and bat sixth.

Bethancourt isn't in the Rays' lineup Sunday against the Royals, Marc Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times reports.

Bethancourt has essentially alternated starts with Francisco Mejia all season, and Sunday will bring up Mejia's turn behind the plate. Bethancourt is slashing just .167/.211/.167 across 19 plate appearances since the beginning of July.

Moreno is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Blue Jays.

The 23-year-old started Friday in the Diamondbacks' first game back from the break and extracted a bit of revenge against the team that traded him this past winter, homering as part of a two-hit effort. However, that was not enough to earn him another start in the series. Carson Kelly will catch for starter Tommy Henry on Sunday.

Murphy is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the White Sox.

Murphy will get a breather for the series finale after going 0-for-9 in his first two games back from the All-Star break. Of course Murphy didn't get much of a break -- he started the All-Star Game for the National League and caught several innings -- so he could probably use the day off more than most. Travis d'Arnaud will catch for starter Kolby Allard.

Mejia went 2-for-5 with a home run, two RBI and two runs scored across both games of Saturday's doubleheader against the Royals.

Mejia drew the start in the first game of the doubleheader and blasted his fourth homer of the season -- three of which have come in his last 16 games. However, he's hit only .200 in that span and has started only five of the Rays' last 15 games while losing out on playing time to Christian Bethancourt.