Fantasy Baseball Morning Update: Interleague intrigue
I hope everyone that owns Reds RP Aroldis Chapman is OK this morning. It must have been awful to watch him give up his first earned run of the year last night. Hang in there, folks.
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So, um. J.A. Happ ... pffffffft. The Cardinals wrecked Happ last night to drop our streaming starter record to 39-26 for the season. The weekend selections are Kevin Millwood (owned in 3.8 percent of FOXSports.com leagues) versus the Dodgers today, Milwaukee's Michael Fiers (0.2 percent owned) against the Padres on Saturday, and A.J. Burnett (13.4 percent owned) in his Battle Royal on Sunday. We need to start another hot streak here - too many ups and downs lately.
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Hey, it's an interleague weekend! The main thing you need to consider when this happens is the American League lineups that are affected in National League parks. Here's a brief DH-related rundown:
- The Royals, at least for tonight, will move Billy Butler to first base, Eric Hosmer to right field, Jeff Francoeur to center field, and Jarrod Dyson to the bench.
- We noted yesterday that the Angels plan to have Kendrys Morales play first base a couple of times over the next week, with Albert Pujols shifting to third.
- I haven't seen anything about the Rangers' plans, but for tonight, figure that Michael Young will play first base with Mitch Moreland sitting against lefty Barry Zito.
- Rays DH Luke Scott is likely to be relegated to pinch-hitting duties against the Marlins.
- Beyond these three teams, none of the visiting AL teams should be affected by having to sit someone good. The A's appeared to have a bit of a decision to make, but Yoenis Cespedes' hamstring injury might limit him to pinch-hitting duties for the weekend, clearing other guys to stay in the lineup.
On to the rest of the news:
- Fatigue caused by a nasty stomach virus has landed Rangers SP Derek Holland on the DL. Alexi Ogando (not Roy Oswalt) will take Holland's place in the rotation on Sunday, but this sounds like a situation in which Holland needs only to build up his overall strength to get his job back.
- The Cardinals have placed southpaw Jaime Garcia on the DL with a shoulder injury, and I'm a little worried. One of the candidates to take Garcia's Sunday start is prospect Joe Kelly, who has a 2.86 ERA but a low K rate at Triple A.
- Braves 1B Freddie Freeman is likely to miss a couple of days due to a bruised left index finger. Freeman feared that the finger was broken, so this is good news.
- After Thursday's two-homer outburst, Braves OF Jason Heyward is batting .246 eight home runs, nine stolen bases, 28 RBI and 28 runs in 55 games. I feel like Heyward is being labeled as a disappointment, but his fantasy owners can't complain too much.
- Nationals OF Bryce Harper suffered a minor back injury last night, but said he won't miss any time. Stay tuned.
- Look for OF Austin Jackson to come off the DL and rejoin the Tigers' lineup on Saturday.
- Braves 3B Chipper Jones will go on a minor-league rehab assignment this weekend, and should return to the lineup on Monday.
- Hey, Clay Buchholz! Are you back?
- The Reds still aren't sure when OF Drew Stubbs (oblique) will return, though they don't want to put him on the DL. Bench Stubbs until you hear he's playing.
- Jeff Francis will return to his baseball roots and start for the Rockies on Saturday. Who's excited? Anyone? No? Me neither.
- We should know more about the status of Felipe Paulino's groin injury over the weekend.
- Angels C Chris Iannetta (wrist) will begin a rehab assignment this weekend, and might be able to return to the lineup in about a week.
- Brewers 3B Aramis Ramirez (quad) missed his fourth consecutive game on Thursday, but the team was on the fence about playing him. Let's hope he's back today.
- Andrew Cashner will be Saturday's starter for the Padres. He'll probably throw two or three innings, then go to the minors to build up enough endurance to join the Pads' rotation a few weeks down the road. Cashner has big stuff, and big control issues. He could become a solid starter someday, though.
- The Blue Jays expect to get 1B/DH Edwin Encarnacion (hand) back in the lineup tonight after a four-day absence.
- I love that I have a dynasty league staff that includes Cliff Lee and Matt Cain, but R.A. Dickey is my best pitcher.
See you back here Monday morning.
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