6 days agoArizona Diamondbacks outfielder
Lourdes Gurriel Jr. is not in the team's starting lineup for the start of a series on Thursday against the division-rival San Francisco Giants on the road. The 30-year-old will take a seat for a day of rest, with outfielder
Jake McCarthy playing left field and batting ninth and
Randal Grichuk in right field and hitting eighth versus Giants right-hander
Logan Webb. McCarthy is hitting .375 with an RBI in 16 career at-bats against Webb but will have limited DFS upside in the nine-hole. Meanwhile, Grichuk has one hit in his 10 career at-bats against Webb. Gurriel has five home runs and 20 RBI already this year in 18 games played, but he has just one hit (a homer) in his last 16 at-bats over four games, so he could use a little breather here.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: MLB.com
6 days agoArizona Diamondbacks catcher
Gabriel Moreno (thumb) is back behind the plate and is batting sixth in the lineup on Thursday against the San Francisco Giants and right-hander
Logan Webb. Moreno injured his right thumb on a wild pitch on Monday against the Chicago Cubs and was scratched from the starting lineup on both Tuesday and Wednesday. The 24-year-old did appear as a defensive replacement late in Tuesday's extra-inning game, though. Moreno is still looking for his first home run of the year while going 11-for-46 (.239) in his first 16 games of the 2024 season. Webb isn't the greatest of matchups for those setting DFS lineups, but don't ignore the fact that Moreno is currently hitting .444 in nine career at-bats against Webb.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: MLB.com
6 days agoChicago Cubs outfielder
Christopher Morel struggled at the plate after a hitless game with two strikeouts Wednesday. Morel is now 5-for-37 in his last 10 games with one double, one homer, seven RBI, and 11 strikeouts. Like his outfield partner,
Ian Happ, he had a strong start to the season but has also hit a wall. He should be able to get back on track with favorable matchups in the upcoming series versus the Miami Marlins.
--Shaun Evans - RotoBallerSource: ESPN.com
6 days agoChicago Cubs outfielder
Ian Happ's hitting struggles continued Wednesday as he went hitless. Happ had five plate appearances with only one walk. This makes it six games out of his last 10 where he has not recorded a hit. After a solid start to the season, the Chicago Cubs outfielder has hit a wall. He is now batting .247 (18-for-73) on the season with 14 runs, 12 RBI, and one homer. Happ will have a favorable matchup on Thursday evening with left-hander
A.J. Puk on the mound for Miami.
--Shaun Evans - RotoBallerSource: ESPN.com
6 days agoLos Angeles Angels left-hander
Reid Detmers put forth another strong effort on Wednesday in a road start against the Tampa Bay Rays. Detmers worked 5 1/3 innings of one-run ball, and while he yielded seven hits, he also walked just one against four punchouts on the night. With the outing, the 24-year-old improved to a tidy 1.19 ERA and a massive 26.7% K-BB% across his first four starts of the season. Additionally, Detmers has grown his ground-ball rate to 43.8% on the season, a mark well above his 36.6% career mark, aiding him in not allowing a home run through his first 22 2/3 innings in the 2024 campaign.
--Brenton Kemp - RotoBallerSource: MLB.com
6 days agoDetroit Tigers outfielder
Parker Meadows slugged his first homer of the season on Wednesday in a 5-4 loss to the visiting Texas Rangers. It was a welcomed swing for the 24-year-old who has struggled mightily to begin the season. Following a big spring training, Meadows is now hitting just .077 (3-for-39) with a triple, a homer, and eight walks with a hefty 17 strikeouts across 47 trips to the plate. His excellent defense in center field has kept him in the lineup fairly regularly to begin the season but it's tough to see him sticking around in the big leagues if the bat can't turn around. He hit .232 with three homers and eight steals across 37 games in his MLB debut last season.
--Brenton Kemp - RotoBallerSource: MLB.com
6 days agoNew York Mets pitching prospect
Calvin Ziegler (elbow) will undergo Tommy John surgery and will miss the remainder of the 2024 season and likely a good chunk of the 2025 campaign as well. A 2021 second-round pick, Ziegler made just one appearance in the 2023 season due to injury and has pitched all of 53 2/3 innings since making his professional debut in the 2022 season. The 21-year-old owns a 3.96 ERA with 86 strikeouts and 37 walks across those 53 2/3 frames, but injury woes have decimated his young professional career.
--Brenton Kemp - RotoBallerSource: Anthony DiComo
6 days agoThe Boston Red Sox on Thursday placed outfielder
Tyler O'Neill (head) on the seven-day injured list (retroactive to April 16) and reinstated outfielder
Rob Refsnyder (toe) from the 10-day injured list in a corresponding move. O'Neill had cleared the league's concussion protocol after colliding with third baseman
Rafael Devers in the outfield on Monday, but he hadn't played since and required eight stitches to close up a cut on his forehead. It's a bummer for O'Neill's fantasy managers that he wasn't able to return this weekend, but based on the fact that he had cleared concussion protocols this week, his stay on the seven-day IL should be a short one. Keep him stashed everywhere after his hot start to the year. Refsnyder isn't on the fantasy radar in mixed leagues and will serve as outfield depth behind
Jarren Duran,
Ceddanne Rafaela and
Wilyer Abreu.
UPDATE: O'Neill has been diagnosed with a mild concussion.--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: MassLive.com - Chris Cotillo
6 days agoThe Pittsburgh Pirates currently have a hole in their starting rotation with lefty
Marco Gonzales (forearm) on the injured list, but MLB Pipeline's No. 3 prospect, right-hander
Paul Skenes, isn't getting called up because he needs to continue to build up for his first full professional season. Skenes has yet to allow a run with Triple-A Indianapolis through his first three outings, striking out 19 with just six baserunners allowed over 9 1/3 innings. However, he was capped at just three innings in his first two outings and has had his pitch count purposefully limited early on. "We don't want to go from zero to 100 right away. Paul's so important to us long term, so we want to be really thoughtful about that," general manager Ben Cherington said. The 21-year-old will almost certainly be with Pittsburgh this year, but fantasy managers in all formats are going to need to be patient.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: MLB.com - Alex Stumpf
6 days agoCincinnati Reds first baseman
Christian Encarnacion-Strand (illness) was scratched from the team's lineup on Wednesday against the Seattle Mariners due to an illness. He was the second Reds starter in as many days to be held out of the lineup with an illness, as
Jeimer Candelario was scratched on Tuesday with flu-like symptoms. Candelario was also out on Wednesday, so it appears there's a bug going around Cincy's clubhouse right now. The good news is that the Reds are off on Thursday, so hopefully Candelario, Encarnacion-Strand and anyone else not feeling well will be feeling good enough on Friday to play against the visiting Los Angeles Angels. CES has two home runs and 12 RBI so far this year, but he's off to a slow start, hitting .192 (14-for-73) in his first 17 games played.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: MLB.com
6 days agoTexas Rangers manager Bruce Bochy said that there isn't a firm number of rehab at-bats that first baseman
Nathaniel Lowe (hamstring) needs, but said it could be "about 30, could be more." As of right now, Lowe has only had 16 at-bats on his minor-league rehab assignment for Double-A Frisco and Triple-A Round Rock, so the 28-year-old left-handed slugger may not necessarily be ready to return from the 10-day injured list to make his 2024 debut with the Rangers this weekend. Barring a setback, though, Lowe should be able to make his season debut with Texas at some point next week. When he returns, Lowe will be the team's regular first baseman, pushing
Jared Walsh to a bench role. If he isn't already, Lowe should be rostered in all fantasy formats.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: Dallas Morning News - Shawn McFarland
6 days agoBoston Red Sox infielder
Romy Gonzalez's (wrist) MRI exam came back clean, according to manager Alex Cora. The Red Sox sent Gonzalez for testing after he felt pain in his left wrist when swinging the bat on Wednesday, but the 27-year-old has dodged a bullet in terms of structural damage in his wrist. He's still on the 10-day injured list, though, and probably isn't going to be ready to return to the big-league club when he's eligible to return. Gonzalez went 1-for-4 with a walk and a strikeout in his two games played with the BoSox this year before getting hurt. When healthy, he'll serve as middle-infield depth (mainly at second base) and isn't much of a fantasy asset.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: Boston Herald - Gabrielle Starr
6 days agoBoston Red Sox right-hander
Nick Pivetta (elbow) is throwing at 120 feet on Thursday and Friday and is scheduled to throw a bullpen session on Saturday. Pivetta is on the 15-day injured list due to a right-elbow sprain, and while he's making progress in his throwing program, he still has a ways to go and will eventually need to go on a minor-league rehab assignment before returning to Boston's starting rotation. Fantasy managers definitely shouldn't expect the 31-year-old to make it back before the calendar flips to May, but Pivetta should be stashed after looking excellent in his first two starts of 2024. He allowed just one earned run on eight hits (one home run) while walking one and striking out 13 in 11 innings pitched for a 0.82 ERA.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: The Athletic - Jen McCaffrey
6 days agoBoston Red Sox outfielder
Tyler O'Neill (head) remains out of the lineup on Thursday in the series finale against the Cleveland Guardians. O'Neill has passed the league's concussion protocols after colliding with third baseman
Rafael Devers in the outfield on Monday but needed stitches for a cut on his head and hasn't played since. The 28-year-old should be able to avoid going on the seven-day concussion list and he could even return to the lineup as early as Friday against the Pittsburgh Pirates.
Jarren Duran is starting in left field again and batting leadoff, while
Wilyer Abreu is in right and hitting third against Guardians right-hander
Carlos Carrasco. Fantasy managers are hoping O'Neill can return as soon as possible, as so far he's hitting .313 (15-for-48) with seven home runs, eight RBI and one stolen base.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: MLB.com - Ian Browne
6 days agoLos Angeles Angels catcher
Logan O'Hoppe and outfielder
Aaron Hicks will both start on the bench for Thursday's series finale against the Tampa Bay Rays. It's not surprise that O'Hoppe is out for the day game following a night game.
Matt Thaiss is doing the catching and batting fifth, while
Mickey Moniak is in right field and batting sixth against Rays right-hander
Ryan Pepiot. Neither Thaiss nor Moniak have faced Pepiot in their careers. O'Hoppe has been very hot to start the year, going 18-for-53 (.340) with two home runs and seven RBI in his first 16 games, while Hicks has been the opposite, going 7-for-44 (.159) with a homer and four RBI in his first 13 games with the Halos. Hicks has started just one of the team's last four games and is losing fantasy value quickly in AL-only leagues.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: Orange County Register - Jeff Fletcher
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