Yasmani Grandal gets day off with sore elbow

Yasmani Grandal is out of the lineup for the Dodgers on Saturday night against the Diamondbacks, with Carlos Ruiz starting at catcher in the third game of the four-game weekend series.

Grandal, who started the previous three games and 30 of the last 37 games, has been dealing with soreness in his right elbow for a while, manager Dave Roberts told reporters on Saturday.

Normally, Grandal’s off days coincide with facing left-handed pitchers, against whom Ruiz generally fares better. Right-hander Shelby Miller starts for Arizona on Saturday, with left-hander Robbie Ray starting on Sunday.

Grandal is 4-for-29 (.138) with a home run and a double on the road trip, with no walks and 11 strikeouts. On the season, Grandal is hitting .223/.329/.471 and leads all major league catchers with 25 home runs. He is fourth among catchers with at least 300 plate appearances with a 117 wRC+.

With 97 starts and 877⅓ defensive innings at catcher in 2016, Grandal is three starts and seven innings shy of his career highs, both set last year.

Ruiz makes his fifth start in 21 games since joining the Dodgers. He is 2-for-13 (.154) with two walks and a hit by pitch so far with LA.

Andrew Toles gets the start in left field on Saturday. He is 2-for-2 with a double against Miller, whom he faced on Sept. 6 in Los Angeles.