MLB Player News

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

Tucker Barnhart will draw the starting nod behind the plate for the series opener in Milwaukee after Gomes caught all 10 innings of the Cubs' 8-6 loss to the Guardians on Sunday night. Gomes continues to be hurt by the Cubs rostering three backstops; all of Gomes, Barnhart and Miguel Amaya have picked up starts at catcher within the past five games.

Murphy went 2-for-2 with a solo home run and two walks in a win over the White Sox on Sunday.

Murphy continued to reward manager Scott Servais for affording him one of his occasional starts, slugging his fifth homer of the season in the sixth inning and serving as a thorn in the side of Rays pitching throughout the afternoon. The 32-year-old has pushed his season slash line to a stellar .281/.337/.551 across 98 plate appearances, with the latter figure largely the byproduct of Murphy lacing 14 of his 25 hits for extra bases. Murphy has notably drawn starts in three of his last four games -- the first time that's happened all season -- and the combination of his hot bat and ability to fill in at both designated hitter and catcher could afford him similarly frequent playing time moving forward.

Sabol went 1-for-2 with a two-run home run in Sunday's 8-4 loss to the Mets.

Sabol went deep in the seventh inning, but the Giants' comeback effort fell short. He snapped a 20-game homer drought. The 25-year-old has hit safely in four straight games, going 4-for-13 (.308) over that span. For the season, he's slashing .250/.313/.413 with eight homers, 28 RBI, 25 runs scored and two stolen bases over 218 plate appearances. He continues to see regular time between catcher, left field and designated hitter.

Stephenson went 1-for-1 with a two-run homer in Sunday's 4-3 victory over the Padres.

After initially getting the day off, Stephenson was called upon in crunch time, entering the game as a pinch hitter with two outs in the ninth inning. He delivered his seventh home run of the season -- surpassing his 2022 total -- and drove in Stuart Fairchild to give Cincinnati a 4-2 lead and the eventual victory. Through 79 games, Stephenson boasts the third-most runs scored and the sixth-most RBI among catchers while slashing .258/.334/.382.

D'Arnaud went 1-for-3 with a two-run home run in Sunday's win over the Marlins.

After going 0-for-2 with a walk in his first three plate appearances, d'Arnaud came through for fantasy managers in the eighth inning by clubbing a two-run homer off Andrew Nardi. The long ball was his seventh of the campaign and his fifth in his last 10 games. Through 34 appearances, d'Arnaud is slashing .279/.358/.492 while striking out at an 18.2 percent clip.

Rogers went 1-for-3 with a solo home run, an additional run scored and a walk in Sunday's 14-9 win over the Rockies.

Rogers was steady in June, batting .286 (14-for-49) with four homers over 17 games. He kept his power up in his first contest in July, giving him 11 long balls on the year. The catcher continues to have a slight edge over Eric Haase for playing time, though that could change when the Tigers get some outfielders back from the injured list. Rogers is slashing .203/.304/.473 with 26 RBI, 23 runs scored and seven doubles through 172 plate appearances, and he's hit safely in six of his last seven games.

Sabol is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Mets, Maria I. Guardado of MLB.com reports.

While moving between designated hitter, left field and catcher, Sabol had started in each of the Giants' last eight games while going 5-for-26 with a pair of doubles. The lefty-hitting rookie will hit the bench with a southpaw (David Peterson) on the bump for the Mets, but Sabol's multiple pathways to the lineup should continue to make him at least a semi-regular starter against right-handed pitching.

Contreras went 2-for-5 with a three-run homer in Sunday's win over the Pirates.

Contreras got the Brewers on the board with a three-run, 435-foot shot off Rich Hill, giving Milwaukee a 3-2 lead in the third inning. It was Contreras' first homer since June 10 and his ninth of the season. The 25-year-old backstop has gone 6-for-20 (.300) over his last five games, boosting his slash line to .247/.337/.421 with 29 RBI and 34 runs scored across 267 plate appearances this season.

Naylor is out of the lineup for Sunday's game against the Cubs, Joe Noga of The Cleveland Plain Dealer reports.

Naylor appears to be receiving some routine maintenance after he started behind the dish in the first two games of the series in Chicago while going hitless in seven at-bats. Cam Gallagher will form a battery with starting pitcher Aaron Civale in the series finale.

Zavala will start at catcher and bat ninth in Sunday's game against the Athletics.

With top backstop Yasmani Grandal getting the day off, Zavala will enter the lineup for the fourth time in five games. With manager Pedro Grifol having shown an increased willingness to deploy Grandal at designated hitter of late, Zavala could continue to see more playing time than the typical No. 2 backstop. Zavala helped his case for earning more work by slugging two home runs in an 11-5 win over the Angels on Wednesday, but he's still holding down a weak .552 OPS on the season.