In The Field
OF Kyle Tucker was optioned to Triple-A with the Astros calling up Jake Marisnick. 2B Ian Kinsler was placed on the 10-day DL with a left hamstring injury. OF Mike Trout is dealing with a wrist injury and sat out Thursday-Saturday. 2B Jose Altuve will not be activated when first eligible on Sunday. Manager A.J. Hinch also said Altuve could miss the two game series with San Francisco starting on Monday. SS Carlos Correa began a rehab assignment on August 2nd and expects to only need a week of action before returning. C Brian McCann has started baseball activities as he recovers from knee surgery and expects to be back by early September. Blue Jays GM Ross Atkins said that 3B Josh Donaldson is making "rapid progress" and could soon be ready for simulated game action. A rehab assignment would follow that before being activated. It has been a frustrating season for Donaldson owners so until we see him on the field it is hard to get excited. SS Lourdes Gurriel Jr. was placed on the 10-day DL on August 1 and is expected to miss 2-6 weeks with both knee and ankle sprains. 2B Jonathan Villar might have been one of the biggest winners from the trade deadline because he now gets a full time role in Baltimore. He does have fantasy value due to his stolen base potential but that is also capped due to manager Buck Showalter who simply doesn't steal bases. This doesn't mean that Villar won't get any SB the rest of the way but he also isn't going to get the green light to run whenever he wants either which lowers his fantasy value despite a full time role. OF Nomar Mazara is still recovering from a sprained thumb. He has been able to hit off a tee but there as has been no indication that he is close to a return. Newly acquired OF Tommy Pham is going to be out 2-3 weeks with a right foot fracture. Despite an opening in their outfield the Rays will not be calling up OF Austin Meadows. They are content running out Joey Wendle, Kevin Kiermaier, Mallex Smith, or Carlos Gomez. SS Xander Bogaerts sat out Thursday and Friday with right hand soreness after getting hit by a pitch but did return to the lineup on Saturday. 3B Rafael Devers (hamstring) expects to be ready on Wednesday when he is first eligible to come off the DL. C/UTIL Blake Swihart was placed on the 10-day DL with a right hamstring injury. OF Brian Goodwin was placed on the 10-day DL on July 31 with a groin strain. When he does comeback he should be slotted into a full time role and he does offer an interesting power/speed combo. OF Jorge Soler is still not closer to returning. He is still running on an underwater treadmill and it is looking like more of a possibility that he miss the remainder of the season. OF Aaron Judge is expected to start swinging a bat this week as he recovers from a fractured wrist. OF Delino DeShields was placed on the 7-day concussion DL. 2B Daniel Robertson was placed on the 10-day DL on Saturday.
On The Mound
Aaron Sanchez (finger) continues to throw bullpens but no mention of a rehab assignment has been made. Erasmo Ramirez (shoulder) has started a rehab assignment and could provide the Mariners with rotation depth down the stretch. Blake Snell (shoulder) was activated on Saturday to start against the White Sox. Eduardo Rodriguez (ankle) is ready to throw a bullpen session which is a big step in his recovery. From there he is going to need to make a couple of rehab starts before returning to the Red Sox rotation. Chris Sale (knee) is only going to miss one start and will be activated on Wednesday. Jesse Hahn (elbow) has progressed to Double-A in his rehab stint. Based on his usage so far it looks like the Royals plan on using him out of the bullpen. Mike Fiers (shin) is expected to make his next start after taking a line drive to the shin in his previous start. Michael Fulmer (oblique) is throwing and progressing well. He is targeting a September return but the Tigers have said that they want to be extra cautious with him. Daniel Norris is still experiencing soreness in his groin. He can't begin throwing until he is pain free which puts him in jeopardy of missing the rest of the season. Michael Pineda (TJS) is set to begin a rehab assignment on August 6th. He could make a return to the Twins before the end of the year but he won't have any fantasy value. J.A. Happ was placed on the 10-day DL with hand, foot, and mouth disease. He is expected to come off the DL when first eligible. Yankees called up pitching prospect Chance Adams to start against the Red Sox. Adams has a 4.50 ERA over 21 starts at Triple-A. It remains to be seen if he is is going to get more than this one start. Tyler Skaggs was placed on the 10-day DL with a left adductor strain which could have been the reason for his most recent blow up.
In The Bullpen
Blue Jays manager John Gibbons said that Ken Giles is going to be his closer which means that Ryan Tepera loses significant value. Juan Nicasio (knee) was placed on the 10-day DL. Chris Devenski (hamstring) was placed on the 10-day DL on August 3rd. Nate Jones has begun a throwing program but is still weeks away from a return. The White Sox bullpen is a headache for fantasy owners. Jace Fry blew his first save opportunity which has led Luis Avilan and Hector Santiago to pick up saves this week. The Indians closing situation is one to continue to monitor with both Cody Allen and Brad Hand getting a save this past week. Allen seems to be first in line but if he were slip Terry Francona has shown that he has no problems going to Hand.
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