MLB Player News

Kirk is absent from the Blue Jays' lineup for Tuesday's tilt against the Yankees, Mike Wilner of the Toronto Star reports.

Danny Jansen will catch Kevin Gausman. Kirk has seen his OPS fall to .658 after a 3-for-30 start at the plate this month.

Alvarez went 1-for-2 with two walks and a double in Monday's loss to the Nationals.

Hitting ninth against veteran southpaw Patrick Corbin, Alvarez drew multiple free passes in a game for just the second time in his brief big-league career. The 21-year-old backstop is having a fairly productive May so far, batting .257 (9-for-35) with four doubles, two homers, four RBI and four runs in 40 plate appearances, and he appears to be earning manager Buck Showalter's trust with his defensive work as well.

Wallach went 3-for-5 with a solo home run in Monday's 9-5 win over the Orioles.

Wallach was activated off the 7-day injured list and made his first start Monday since May 6. The catcher looked sharp in his return, recording his first three-hit game of the season while hitting his first home run since April 24. Matt Thaiss will likely get the bulk of starts at catcher when the Angels are facing right-handed pitching, but Wallach is the clear No. 2 with Max Stassi (personal/hip) and Logan O'Hoppe (shoulder) both unavailable for the foreseeable future.

Smith went 2-for-6 with a home run, two RBI and three runs scored in Monday's victory over the Twins.

Smith and Max Muncy went back-to-back in the first inning to give the Dodgers a 3-0 lead. Smith came around to score again on Muncy's second homer of the night in the third inning. The Dodgers' catcher is riding a six-game hitting streak and is in the midst of his best season, as he has a 1.025 OPS.

Knizner went 1-for-1 with a grand slam and two total runs in Monday's 18-1 rout of Milwaukee.

Knizner began the game on the bench, but he came in to pinch run for Paul Goldschmidt with St. Louis up by eight runs in the eighth inning. He came around to score when Nolan Gorman homered four pitches later, and Knizner then got a turn at the plate when St. Louis batted around to get back to Goldschmidt's original spot. Knizner delivered a grand slam off position player Mike Brosseau, putting the icing on a huge 10-run frame. It was the second straight game with a homer for Knizner, who went deep just once over his first 56 at-bats of the season. Though Knizner has been swinging a hot bat of late and recently completed a streak of nine consecutive starts, his playing time is expected to take a hit moving forward with the Cardinals having recommitted to Willson Contreras as their primary catcher.

Raleigh went 3-for-5 with two home runs, three total runs and four total RBI in Monday's 10-1 rout of the Red Sox.

After the two teams played to a scoreless draw through four innings, Raleigh broke the tie with a mammoth 438-foot two-run shot off righty Tanner Houck. The switch hitter then flipped to the other side of the plate against southpaw Brennan Bernardino in the sixth and hit another two-run shot, this time a 434-footer. In doing so, Raleigh became the first catcher ever to homer from both sides of the plate at Fenway Park, per Jon Morosi of MLB Network. The backstop is up to seven long balls and 22 RBI on the campaign after belting 27 homers and driving in 63 runs in his first full MLB campaign last season.

Barnhart remains out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Astros.

Barnhart had already been occupying the smaller side of a timeshare at catcher with Miguel Amaya early last week, but the former has seen his playing-time outlook become worse with the return of Yan Gomes (concussion) from the 7-day injured list. Even with Amaya now back in the minors, Barnhart has now sat out five times in the Cubs' last six games.

Knizner is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Brewers.

With Willson Contreras back behind the plate Monday for the first time since May 4, Knizner will retreat to the bench, ending a stretch of nine consecutive starts for the 28-year-old backstop. Despite Contreras' struggles with adapting to the St. Louis pitching staff in his first season with the team, the Cardinals have seemingly reaffirmed their commitment to him as their primary catcher. With that in mind, Knizner is expected to see his playing time take a big hit, even though he held his own defensively and at the plate (.281 average, six extra-base hits) during his nine-game starting run.

Contreras is starting at catcher and batting fifth Monday versus the Brewers, Katie Woo of The Athletic reports.

As expected, Contreras is starting at catcher for the first time since May 4 following a run at designated hitter while the team asked him to work on his defense. He'll be tasked with helping to coax better results out of right-hander Jack Flaherty, who brings a 6.18 ERA into his start Monday.

Trevino is out of the lineup for Monday's game against the Blue Jays.

Trevino will give way to Kyle Higashioka, who is catching for starting pitcher Jimmy Cordero in the series opener with Toronto. Over 11 games in May, Trevino has gone 4-for-30 with a home run, five runs and three RBI.