IN THE LINEUP
Miguel Andujar has been activated off the IL on Saturday and while he was playing third base for the Yankees Saturday, Aaron Boone says that he's going to get a decent amount of ABs at DH. Throwing is the issue for Andujar compared to hitting, so getting him back in the lineup at DH will help him get more at-bats quicker. ... Josh Harrison was placed on the IL this week, but his x-ray on Thursday came back clean so the team is expecting to get him back when he's eligible to be activated..... Skye Bolt was called up by the A's on Friday. Bolt was playing well in AAA but it's unsure how much playing time he's going to get with the A's.... Victor Reyes was called up to the Tigers, and then sent to AAA two days later.... Eloy Jimenez was placed on the IL last week and has resumed hitting off a tee. There's a chance he could begin a rehab assignment within the next week, meaning we could see Eloy return to the majors in Mid-May.... DJ Lemahieu returned to the leadoff spot for the Yankees on Saturday. He had been out of the lineup Monday with knee inflammation.... Eduardo Nunez is back with Boston slightly ahead of schedule after the team needed him back with Tzu-Wei Lin hitting the IL with a knee injury..... JD Martinez dealt with back spasms last weekend but has been in the lineup for every game this week.... Nate Lowe has been a regular in the Rays lineup since being called up on Monday. He's hitting .263 through Friday with a pair of doubles. Lowe was Baseball America's Player of the Year last year with 27 homers across three levels. If he's up for good he's definitely worth an add, and with how slow the Rays usually push their prospects it feels like there's a decent chance he is up for good.... Trey Mancini missed a handful of games early in the week but returned to the lineup on Wednesday. Mancini has struggled early on in his return going 0-for-9 with seven strikeouts between Wednesday and Friday..... Billy Hamilton returned to the lineup on Wednesday and played both ends of a doubleheader after missing a few games with a minor hamstring injury.... Troy Tulowitzki suffered a setback in his rehab on Wednesday and he's going to be down for about a week before he's able to resume baseball activities. Tulo had homered in his first rehab at-bat on Tuesday, but unfortunately, injuries are rearing their head again..... Shohei Ohtani wasn't traveling with the team to Mexico for this weekend's series, but Ausmus hasn't ruled out the possibility of him returning to the Angels this upcoming week. Right now he's going to be a DH/UTIL guy this season so he doesn't provide any sort of flexibility when he comes to your lineups.... Willians Austudillo is back running again already in his rehab from his hamstring strain. Willians is having an incredible season at the plate for catchers with a .327/.340/.531 triple slash with two homers and seven RBI.... Clint Frazier is doing some defensive work in Arizona as he's rehabbing from his ankle injury. The Yankees are hoping they will see him back in the everyday lineup at some point next week.... Lourdes Guriell Jr has been taking some reps in the outfield while in AAA and could potentially turn into a real super utility player if he's able to handle it well.... Matt Olsen could potentially return to the lineup next week. Olsen has been out since the second game of the season with a broken hand, and him returning to the A's lineup would give them a huge power boost..... Austin Meadows has been hitting off of a machine and he's expected to go on a minor league rehab assignment next week.....
IN THE ROTATION
Lucas Gilolito returned from the IL on Thursday and gave up three runs over five innings. Giolito has done well striking batters out this year but is still sitting with a 5.32 ERA over 23 innings this year.... Corey Kluber is going to miss significant time for the Indians after being hit in the forearm by a line drive on Wednesday. He suffered a non-displaced fracture of his right ulna, but the good news is that it sounds like he isn't going to need surgery and that they are going to re-evaluate him in 3-to-4 weeks. The tentative timeline for him is around three months for his return.... Casey Mize has been tearing through the minors this year, including a no-hitter in his AA debut on Monday. He completed the outing with just 98 pitches and now has allowed one run over 35 innings in his first professional season. There's a chance that we can see him in August or September if he keeps up this level of domination..... Nate Karns was dealing with some discomfort in his injured forearm early in the week, but on Thursday he was cleared by doctors to continue throwing again. Still no timetable for him to return to the Orioles though.... Ervin Santana elected to become a free agent Monday after being DFA'd by the White Sox. It's possible that he finds a landing spot somewhere else but not many teams are going to be rushing out to sign a player who owns a 9.54 ERA and had more walks than strikeouts in his time with the White Sox.... Wade Leblanc threw off a mound on Wednesday for 15 pitches, and there's optimism that the Mariners will activate him by the end of the month. He was supposed to throw a second bullpen session on Friday but I couldn't find any info on how it went. For the sake of injuries, we'll assume that no news is good news..... Griffin Canning pitched fairly well in his major league debut on Tuesday and Brad Ausmus said on Wednesday that Canning will get a second start next week against the Tigers. The Tigers are a terrific matchup for him and he's definitely a stream worthy option next week... Sean Manaea is going to throw his first bullpen session in his rehab process on Tuesday. We can still look for Manaea to return to the team around the All-Star Break, but he's still worth tracking until that point....
IN THE BULLPEN
Lou Trivino made his first appearance since April 17th on Wednesday, he's been dealing with a thumb issue but wasn't placed on the IL despite missing more than 10 days. Trivino has been an excellent non-closer RP this year, and is one of the top handcuff options were Blake Treinen to falter or get hurt. ... Speaking of that, Treinen is dealing with a little bit of elbow soreness and is unavailable for the weekend. It's uncertain if he's going to need a trip to the IL or not.... Hansel Robles right now is getting the majority of the save chances for the Angels while Ty Buttrey has been pitching in the 8th inning for the team. Cody Allen was a disaster for the Angels in the first month so Robles could have a decent shot at racking up some saves until Allen is able to re-establish his value..... Jose Leclerc has been removed from the closer role in Texas "for the time being." Leclerc has had an awful season with a 7.71 ERA and almost seven walks per nine. Leclerc was one of the best relievers in baseball last year but has completely lost his command and then lost the closing role. His stuff is too good for his swinging strike rate to stay at 8.2%, and there are some rumblings going around that he was tipping his pitches, which could go hand in hand for him getting destroyed on the mound. Shawn Kelly is now in the lead for saves in Texas....
Players To Add
Shawn Kelly is the man for the saves in Texas right now after Jose Leclerc was removed from the role. Kelly is striking out nearly a batter per innings this year and owns a 0.77 WHIP and 1.38 ERA. He has notched four holds on the season and locked down his second save of the season on Saturday. I still like Leclerc to eventually right the ship and get the role back (especially long term), but Kelly should be rostered in the meantime.
Yordan Alvarez is the next top prospect we could be looking at getting the call as he is currently destroying AAA for Houston. Alvarez is hitting .402 with 12 homers in just 24 games, just one season after hitting 20 homers over 88 games. There's no real timetable for him to get the call yet, and it's also a little tricky because of the fact he's not on the 40-man roster, but if you like to speculate early on potential prospect call ups he might just be the next impact prospect to get the call.
Michael Chavis now has six homers in 58 plate appearances for the Red Sox and he needs to be the Red Sox second baseman for the rest of the season. I know what Dustin Pedroia has done for the team in his years there, but it's time to turn over that era into the Chavis era in Boston. He's slashing .354/.466/.771 in this same span and he should be closing in on 2B eligibility soon to pair with his normal 3B eligibility.
Griffin Canning showed elite swing and miss capabilities against the Blue Jays in his first start and he's going to get a second start next week against the awful Detroit Tigers. He had a 22% swinging strike rate against the Blue Jays, and their offense has a lot more talent to it than Detroit. It' still uncertain exactly how long Canning is going to stick around, but for the meantime, I'm looking at him as a great streaming option for at least the next week.
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