20 hours agoToronto Blue Jays outfielder
Kevin Kiermaier (knee) is back in the starting lineup on Saturday after missing the past two games with a bruised knee. The 34-year-old has posted a disappointing .200/.248/.317 with two home runs and through 50 games this season. While he is on pace to have the worst batting average of his career, he is still stealing bases at a high rate and already has four swiped bags through the earlier part of the season and is currently ranked in the top 87th percentile among hitters in sprint speed. He will bat in the nine-hole on Saturday afternoon, as he usually does, and will face 37-year-old
Carlos Carrasco, who enters this game with a hefty 5.50 ERA and could be a sneaky play in DFS today with this great matchup.
--Andy Smith - RotoBallerSource: Shi Davidi
20 hours agoCleveland Guardians All-Star third baseman
Jose Ramirez will miss the rest of the series in Toronto against the Blue Jays this weekend after being placed on the paternity list ahead of the birth of his second child. Outfielder
Johnathan Rodriguez has been called up from Triple-A Columbus to take Ramirez's spot on the roster. Fantasy managers will need to take J-Ram out of their lineups for the rest of the weekend, but he should be back for the start of a series on Tuesday against the visiting Seattle Mariners. With Ramirez out on Saturday,
Daniel Schneemann is starting at third base and batting seventh. The 31-year-old Ramirez is still one of the better position players in the big leagues. He's currently slashing .269/.330/.534 with an .864 OPS, 18 home runs, 62 RBI, 11 stolen bases and 51 runs scored in 264 at-bats in 2024.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: The Cleveland Plain Dealer - Joe Noga
20 hours agoToronto Blue Jays infielder/outfielder
Davis Schneider is out of the starting lineup on Saturday versus the visiting Cleveland Guardians. With Schneider getting a breather, rookie
Spencer Horwitz is playing second base and batting leadoff, while rookie
Addison Barger will man third base and bat seventh against Guardians right-hander
Carlos Carrasco.
Daulton Varsho is also in left field and is batting fifth. Schneider is hitting only .230 (45-for-196) but has already matched his career-high in home runs with eight that he set in his rookie campaign in 2023, and he's also seen run in the leadoff spot this year with
George Springer struggling. The lefty-hitting Horwitz has been hot in his first six games in 2024 for Toronto, going 7-for-19 (.368). He'll be an interesting DFS sleeper in the leadoff spot against Carrasco.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: Sportsnet.ca - Shi Davidi
20 hours agoToronto Blue Jays shortstop
Bo Bichette (calf) is dealing with a bit of right-calf soreness, according to manager John Schneider, and is out of the starting lineup on Saturday against the visiting Cleveland Guardians. The Blue Jays will keep an eye on how Bichette feels on Saturday and into Sunday. In addition to now being dinged up, Bichette has hit .204 (10-for-49) with no homers, four doubles, three RBI and 10 strikeouts in 13 games so far in June. Along with most of the Blue Jays hitters, he's disappointed in 2024 to the tune of a .237/.286/.342 slash line in 257 at-bats with only four homers, 28 RBI and four stolen bases. Fantasy managers should consider him day-to-day for now. With Bichette resting his calf on Saturday,
Isiah Kiner-Falefa is starting at short and batting eighth against Guardians right-hander
Carlos Carrasco. He has never faced Carrasco in his career.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: Sportsnet.ca - Shi Davidi
20 hours agoChicago Cubs infielder
Michael Busch is not in the team's starting lineup on Saturday against the visiting division-rival St. Louis Cardinals. Busch will take a seat in favor of
Cody Bellinger, who is playing first base and hitting third in the order. Rookie
Pete Crow-Armstrong gets the start in center field and is batting eighth against Cardinals right-hander
Andre Pallante. The 26-year-old Busch is currently in the midst of a four-game hitting streak and is batting .333 (9-for-27) with no homers, no RBI and two doubles in 11 games since the calendar flipped to June. Still, Busch was much hotter to start his first season in Chicago and hasn't homered since May 28. Busch typically is in the lineup against righties, but Pallante has been much better against lefty hitters.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: MLB.com
20 hours agoSt. Louis Cardinals rookie catcher
Pedro Pages is making another start behind the plate on Saturday and will bat in the nine-hole against the division-rival Chicago Cubs and left-hander
Shota Imanaga at Wrigley Field. Pages hit his first home run in the big leagues on Friday and will get a third straight start as a result. Regular catcher
Ivan Herrera is serving as the designated hitter and will bat sixth. The 25-year-old has seen an uptick in playing time of late, but he's gone just 4-for-32 (.125) on the season with the one home run, seven RBI and four runs scored in 16 games played in his first year in the majors. With
Willson Contreras (forearm) getting closer to a return from a fractured forearm, Pages is running out of time to impress the Cardinals.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: MLB.com
21
hours
agoOakland
Athletics
catcher
Shea
Langeliers,
second
baseman
Zack
Gelof
and
outfielder
Seth
Brown
are
all
getting
the
day
off
on
Saturday
against
the
hosting
Minnesota
Twins.
Kyle
McCannread more...
21 hours agoHouston Astros right-hander
Justin Verlander (neck) has been scratched from his scheduled start on Saturday versus the visiting Detroit Tigers due to "neck discomfort." Rookie right-hander
Spencer Arrighetti will now make the start in his place. Fantasy managers will want to check back soon for updates on why Verlander isn't making his scheduled start. The 41-year-old veteran hasn't looked great in his two starts in June against the Cardinals and Angels, allowing a combined eight earned runs on 14 hits (three homers) while walking two and striking out only seven. It's possible that he may not be fully, in which case the Astros could consider placing him on the injured list to rest him for a while. In any event, make sure to pull him out of your lineups for Saturday. Arrighetti hasn't allowed more than three earned runs in his last four starts and will have a nice matchup against Detroit.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: Julia Morales
21 hours agoMinnesota Twins outfielders
Byron Buxton and
Max Kepler are both out of the lineup on Saturday against the visiting Oakland Athletics. Both Buxton and Kepler are swinging hot bats at the moment, but the Twins will give them a day off in the third game of the series. In his last four starts, Buxton has gone 7-for-15 with a homer, triple, six RBI and four runs scored. Kepler, meanwhile, has gone 4-for-7 with a home run, four RBI and two runs scored in the first two games of the series.
Manuel Margot is starting in center field and is batting eighth, while
Trevor Larnach is in right field for the Twins and in the two-hole against A's right-hander
Joey Estes.
Austin Martin also draws into the lineup in left field and will bat ninth. None of Margot, Larnach or Martin has ever faced Estes in their career.
--Keith Hernandez - RotoBallerSource: MLB.com
23 hours agoPhiladelphia Phillies third baseman
Alec Bohm went 3-for-5 with two RBI in Friday's 5-3 win over the Orioles. The first two hits were singles, but the last was a two-run double in the top of the 11th inning that would prove to be the game-winner. Bohm had been scuffling coming into the contest, having gone 4-for-33 (.121) over his last eight games, but overall is having the best season of his young career so far. The 27-year-old owns a .292-6-54-31-2 line with a .350 wOBA and 127 wRC+ on the season, while striking out at a low rate (13.7%) and leading all of baseball in doubles with 24.
--Jarod Rupp - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
23 hours agoPhiladelphia Phillies reliever
Seranthony Dominguez earned his first save of the season in Friday's 5-3 victory over the Orioles. Dominguez picked this one up in the 11th inning after usual closers
Jose Alvarado and
Jeff Hoffman had already been used. After starting the season with a 7.71 ERA and 1.64 WHIP over his first 16 appearances, Friday's outing marked the righty's 10th straight scoreless appearance in which he's posted a 0.00 ERA, 0.52 WHIP, and a 2:7 BB:K. Dominguez has been good of late, but don't count on too many more save chances unless something were to happen to Alvarado and Hoffman.
--Jarod Rupp - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
23 hours agoBaltimore Orioles outfielder
Anthony Santander went 2-for-5 with his 15th home run of the season in Friday's 5-3 loss to the Orioles. The home run was a big one that knotted the game at 2-2 in the eighth inning, and came off of reliever
Matt Strahm, who hadn't allowed an earned run in 27 consecutive appearances prior to Friday. After hitting .211 over the first couple months of the season, Santander has turned it on in June, hitting .273 with six home runs in 14 games. The switch-hitter now owns a .224-15-38-36-0 line with a .335 wOBA and 121 wRC+.
--Jarod Rupp - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
24 hours agoPhiladelphia Phillies starting pitcher
Ranger Suarez picked up his ninth quality start of the season in Friday's 5-3 victory over the Orioles. Suarez went six-and-two-thirds innings, allowing just one earned run on six hits and two walks while striking out six, but did not factor into the decision. The lefty now owns a 10-1 record with an impressive 1.77 ERA, 0.88 WHIP, and a 21.8% K-BB% over 14 starts and has the second-best odds for the NL Cy Young Award, behind only teammate
Zack Wheeler. His next start lines up with the Padres at home next Wednesday.
--Jarod Rupp - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
1 day agoSan Diego Padres outfielder
Jackson Merrill went 1-for-3 with a home run in Friday's 2-1 loss to the Mets. It was his sixth home run of the season and third in his last two games. The former first-round draft pick has now hit safely in eight of his last nine games, a stretch in which he's gone 12-for-34 (.353) with four doubles, three home runs, five RBI, six runs scored, and two stolen bases. The left-handed hitter now has a .280-6-27-29-9 line on the season with a .313 wOBA and 108 wRC+.
--Jarod Rupp - RotoBallerSource: ESPN
1 day agoMinnesota Twins starting pitching prospect
David Festa tallied 10 punchouts for the third time this season on Friday. He allowed two runs across five frames with five hits and one free pass. This strong outing brings him to a solid 3.50 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, and 24:81 BB:K ratio through 54 innings in his first extended look at Triple-A ball. He tossed 12 ⅓ innings at this level at the end of last summer and held a 2.92 ERA, 1.54 WHIP, and 9:15 BB:K ratio. Festa currently sits at number 100 on MLB.com's prospect ranking list and number five in the Minnesota system. With his strong performance at Triple-A, Festa should reach the majors during the second half of the season and is worth stashing in deeper redraft leagues for the time being.
--Andy Smith - RotoBallerSource: MiLB.com
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