IN THE FIELD
Edwin Rios underwent successful surgery on his injured shoulder this week. He suffered a torn labrum that will most likely cost him the rest of 2021. He could be fantasy relevant next season though depending on what the Dodgers do with Justin Turner next season and if the DH comes to the NL... Ketel Marte was activated from the IL on Wednesday and returned to the starting lineup on Thursday. He was slotted into the number two spot for his return in his normal CF spot... Albert Pujols homered for the first time as a Dodger on Thursday. He's played in every game since signing with LA since he was signed as a free agent, but will find his way back to the bench once the injured players begin to return to action... William Contreras homered on Thursday, giving him four for the season. Contreras has taken over the starting job in Atlanta due to injuries and the job may just be his for good... Zach McKinstry started his rehab assignment on Friday. McKinstry landed on the IL in mid-April with an oblique injury. He was playing extremely well for the Dodgers when he went down with a .297 average and three homers... Cody Bellinger started his rehab assignment on Friday and Dave Roberts told reporters on Friday that he could return to the Dodgers next weekend... Nick Ahmed was held out of the lineup on Thursday in the midst of his skid at the plate. Josh Rojas played shortstop for Arizona... Josh Reddick was called up from AAA by the Diamondbacks and got the start in right field. Reddick hit fifth in the lineup and we'll have to see exactly how much playing time he's going to get for the club... Ender Inciarte was reinstated from the paternity list on Thursday. Guillermo Heredia started in centerfield Thursday and I'd expect the two to split time in center going forward. Christian Pache is currently on the IL with a leg injury, but he could find himself in AAA due to his struggles at the plate if Inciarte and Heredia remain serviceable... Jacob Stallings sat out two games with a bruised quad but returned to the lineup in Atlanta. He homered in his first game back... JT Realmuto has been dealing with a hand issue that has kept him out of the lineup, and he was ultimately placed on the IL Friday. He will be out at least through next week. Andrew Knapp will be the primary catcher for the team... Victor Robles had x-rays on his ankle Thursday, but they were negative and he remains day-to-day for the Nationals. He also underwent an MRI on Friday and those results have not been made public yet... Jason Heyward was placed on the IL with a hamstring strain on Thursday. Nick Martini was called up to the majors to replace him and started in RF. The Cubs are known for rotating players around the diamond, so I'd expect the breakdown of playing time in rightfield to be fairly sporadic... Mike Moustakas and the Reds are hoping for a minimum stay on the IL with his heel issue. Moustakas wasn't immediately placed on the IL last week when he was hurt and played twice off the bench this week so his stint can't be backdated to last week. The fact that he still appeared in-game though with the issue makes me think he won't be out for two long... Nick Senzel has been out of the lineup with his sore knee and he was placed on the IL Friday. The first day he can return to the team will be next Friday... Asdrubal Cabrera has opted against surgery on his hamstring and will choose to rehab it instead. WE should get updates about his progress on a weekly basis... Fernando Tatis Jr is back with the Padres after his bout with COVID-19... The Mets are dealing with a ton of injuries in the outfield, which is how you end up with Cameron Maybin as a regular in the lineup. He should play a decent amount for the team but isn't someone we need to worry about fantasy-wise... Pete Alonso was placed on the IL after missing a handful of games with a sprained hand. The team is expecting him to be on the IL for the minimum amount of time and Dominic Smith will be the primary first baseman for the Mets in the meantime... Jose Peraza left Friday's game with a bruised calf. He's considered day-to-day for now... Paul Dejong will miss more than two weeks with his rib fracture and could be out until June for the Cardinals. Dejong still hasn't started baseball activities for the team and there's no real timetable for that to start... Trent Grisham left Friday's game with a heel bruise. Grisham reached base three times in the game and it's not extremely obvious as to when he might have had the injury. With the Padres blowing out the Mariners there's a pretty good chance that it's just minor and the game score factored into him coming out... X-rays on Kolton Wong's arm came back negative after he was hit by a pitch Friday. Daniel Robertson filled in at second for Wong but Luis Urias would likely be the primary second baseman for the team after the acquisition of Willy Adames... Carson Kelly has begun hitting as he works his way back from his broken toe. Still, no real timetable for him to return to the team... Christian Walker has been out since May 11th an oblique injury. He has recently begun hitting so it sounds like he may be ready for a rehab assignment in the near future... Kevin Pillar underwent surgery on his nose and will be out for at least two weeks... Jorge Alfaro will remain on his rehab assignment at least through the weekend... Brandon Belt returned to the lineup for the first time since May 15th with his side issue. He started at first base and hit cleanup for the Giants... Tyler O'Neil has been cleared for baseball activities. He's been out with a broken finger and there's no set timetable for his return... Brendan Rodgers was activated off the IL and he was in the starting lineup Friday. With the Rockies being the Rockies, it's uncertain how much playing time he will for sure get but he was having an extremely strong spring before suffering his hamstring strain. It's at least something to monitor now that he's back and healthy... Willy Adames was traded to the Brewers and will take over the SS job from the struggling Luis Urias. Adames isn't exactly going to blow the doors off the building, but Urias has had some significant defensive struggles lately so Adames can at least steady the ship there... Cole Tucker was called up by the Pirates on Friday from AAA. Tucker was off to an extremely slow start in AAA but since the Pirates aren't in the mix for anything this year, there's no real reason to not just let him work at the highest level... JD Davis is expected to return to the Mets next week. He homered Saturday while on his rehab assignment... Dylan Carlson was scratched late on Saturday as he deals with a tight back. He's listed as day-to-day for now... Manny Machado is dealing with a tight shoulder and sat out for the second day in a row. Ha-Seong Kim played third base in Machado's absence.
IN THE ROTATION
David Price made his first start of 2021 on Thursday, tossing two innings and allowing three hits. Price struggled to start the season for LA but has allowed just one run over his last nine innings pitched... Vincent Velasquez was scratched just before first pitch with a finger issue and David Hale took the spot start for him... Jacob deGrom has a successful rehab start in Low-A on Thursday, throwing 41 pitches at full velocity with a good majority of them hitting the 100 MPH mark. It's uncertain where his next start on Tuesday will come... Stephen Strasburg started for the Nationals on Friday and struck out four batters over 5.1 innings. There was certainly some rust here with four walks and he threw just 72 pitches. His next start comes against the Reds at home... Logan Webb was placed on the IL with a strained shoulder. The Giants were initially hopeful that he wouldn't need to miss a start, but an MRI revealed a strain and that forced him to land in the IL. The team is still hopeful that he'll return to the team next week and only miss a single start... Eric Fedde has been placed on the COVID-19 IL after testing positive, but the fact he is vaccinated should help with his recovery process. He is currently asymptomatic which also should help his timetable... Wade Miley left Wednesday's start after tweaking his foot and David Bell said that he could have stayed in, but that the team didn't want to chance anything. Further testing on Miley revealed no further injury so baring something new he'll make his next scheduled start... Trevor Cahill is day-to-day after feeling some discomfort in Wednesday's start. With Carlos Martinez and Miles Mikolas returning from the IL, Adam Wainwright's start is being bumped back to Sunday. Nothing he but just some extra rest for the veteran. Martinez allowed two runs over six innings in a no-decision on Friday. Mikolas left Saturday's start after just four innings with forearm tightness... Trevor Bauer had his start bumped back to Friday... Luke Weaver is getting a second opinion on his injured shoulder as the initial results of testing came back as relatively inconclusive. Hopefully, after a second opinion, we'll have more of a timetable as to what his return could look like... Zac Gallen has started playing catch as he deals with his UCL sprain. This comes as good news for sure, but it's still a tough spot for him to be with the risk of reinjury... Taylor Widener could be activated off the IL to start on Sunday. Widener threw a rehab start in AAA on Tuesday followed by a bullpen session Thursday, which puts him in line to return this weekend. It sounds like it'll be either Widener or Corbin Martin that gets that start... Madison Bumgarner had a muscle spasm in his last start, but after a normal bullpen session this week and is in line to start on Saturday... Bryse Wilson started for the Braves Saturday and picked up the win over the Pirates. The Braves are currently bouncing a few players around in the back end of the rotation so we'll have to see what happens with Wilson following this outing.... Scott Kazmir started for the Giants on Saturday, marking his first appearance in the majors since 2016... Jordan Yamamoto will likely start for the Mets this weekend... Spencer Howard was called up to start Saturday against Boston... Matt Moore was placed on the IL with back spasms.
IN THE BULLPEN
Nate Jones was activated by the Dodgers and will join the bullpen. Jones was awful with the Braves earlier this season but maybe the Dodgers see something more in him than was in Atlanta... Blake Treinen earned his second save of the year Friday. Kenley Jansen had thrown three times in the last four games so he was unavailable in the game... Tommy Hunter was placed on the IL with lower back pain... Kyle Crick threw a live BP session on Wednesday. Krick has been on the IL since May 11th with his triceps strain.
PLAYERS TO ADD
Tyler Rodgers, San Francisco Giants - Rogers has been outstanding all season in the Giants bullpen and has been getting more and more save chances as the season has progressed. After getting one save in all of April, Rogers has notched three saves over the last 10 days. Over 25.2 innings Rogers has just a .70 ERA and a 0.82 WHIP, but his strikeouts are the area where he falls short with just 13. His groundball rate though is closing in on 70% and he's allowed just 1.3% solid contact, and just a 26.6% hard-hit rate. All of his expected stats rate among the best in baseball as limiting hard contact and keeping the ball on the ground is a recipe for success.
Ian Happ, Chicago Cubs - Happ is back and healthy with the Cubs and is having an extremely strong May after a rough April. For May he's slashing .375/.405/.850 with five homers compared to a .133/.293/.173 line he posted in the first month of the season. His hard-hit rate is among the best in the league at 56% (93rd percentile). His roster percentage is definitely climbing lately but it's still low enough where it's worth looking to be sure he's out there.
Gavin Lux, Los Angeles Dodgers - Lux probably was going to make the list even before he picked up SS eligibility, but now that added flexibility makes him an extremely solid option in leagues. Lux also has had a strong May with a .319/.373/.464 triple slash and he's struck out just 13 times in 75 plate appearances after fanning 19 times in 61 April PAs. Lux is the primary shortstop for the team while Corey Seager misses time with his broken hand, and the former top prospect is showing serious signs of breaking out over the second month of the season.
