In The Field
OF Evan Carter (quad) ran sprints on Wednesday and started a rehab assignment on Friday with Triple-A Round Rock. He has been out for two weeks with the injury. OF Alejandra Osuna and OF Sam Haggerty have been playing in the outfield in his absence. Carter hit .182 with 1 HR, 5 R, 3 RBI, and 3 SB in 37 PA before getting injured. 3B Yoan Moncada left Wednesday's game early with right knee soreness. He ran on the field before the game on Friday but was not in the lineup. OF Byron Buxton (concussion) was activated off the 7-day concussion IL on Friday. Buxton is hitting .261 with 10 HR, 33 R, 27 RBI, and 8 SB. SS Bo Bichette was out of the starting lineup on Wednesday due to back tightness but did enter as a pinch hitter in the ninth and delivered the go-ahead home run. Bichette has bounced back from a horrendous start. He is now hitting .273 with 5 HR, 23 R, 27 RBI, and 4 SB. 2B Andres Gimenez (quad) started a rehab assignment on Wednesday. He was struggling before the injury (.195 AVG with 3 HR, 17 R, 10 RBI, and 9 SB). The Blue Jays will want to get him back healthy and ready to contribute. 1B Christian Walker escaped injury on Wednesday when he was hit by a pitch on his right hand. X-rays came back negative, and he was back in the lineup on Friday. Walker has been a disappointment so far (.212 AVG with 7 HR, 23 R, 25 RBI, and 0 SB). The silver lining is that he is still hitting the ball hard (12% Barrels and 46% Hardhit) but does need to improve his plate skills (6% BB and 26% K) compared to a year ago (10% BB and 24% K). 2B Michael Massey was not in the Royals lineup on Wednesday due to ankle soreness but returned on Friday. OF Tyler O'Neill hit the 10-day IL on May 16 with left shoulder impingement. He started baseball activities this week and is expected to start a rehab assignment soon. O'Neill was hitting .188 with 2 HR, 9 R, 10 RBI, and 2 SB before the injury. His skills look good (16% Barrels, 10% BB, and 29% K), but he has been hurt by .245 BABIP (career .309). OF Steven Kwan left Wednesday's game early because of right wrist inflammation. He returned to the lineup on Friday. Kwan is hitting .311 with 4 HR, 28 R, 19 RBI, and 7 SB. His skills look almost identical to last year, except with more stolen bases. OF Luis Robert Jr. was not in the White Sox lineup on Wednesday due to knee soreness. He returned on Friday. Robert Jr. has struggled this year. He is hitting .190 with 5 HR, 24 R, 20 RBI, and 21 SB. A knee injury is concerning because most of his value this year has come from the 21 SB. OF Harrison Bader (finger) was not in the Twins lineup all week, which marked four games in a row that he has missed. Bader has been very good this year for the Twins and fantasy managers (.276 AVG with 5 HR, 18 R, 21 RBI, and 6 SB). OF Jonny DeLuca (shoulder) has suffered a setback on his rehab assignment. The Rays moved him to the 60-day IL on Tuesday. OF Victor Robles (shoulder) could return in September, according to general manager Justin Hollander. He is healing on schedule and could start baseball activities in July if everything continues to progress well. 1B Luke Raley (oblique) is expected to start a rehab assignment next week. He was taking on-field BP off a machine before Thursday's game. SS Corey Seager (hamstring) was activated on Wednesday. It is not a matter of skill with Seager, but how many games will he play each year? He is hitting .288 with 6 HR, 15 R, 12 RBI, and 0 SB in 27 GP this year. Zack Gelof (ribs) has not played this year after fracturing his hamate bone and then suffering a setback when he had a stress reaction in his ribs. He was cleared to start swinging a bat this past weekend, so he is trending in the right direction, but still not close to returning. OF Matt Vierling was placed on the 10-day IL on Tuesday due to right shoulder inflammation. This is the same injury that caused him to miss the first eight weeks. The Tigers recalled OF Wenceel Perez, who is expected to take the majority of the playing time that Vierling was getting. 1B Nick Kurtz was placed on the 10-day IL on Tuesday. He is suffering from a left hip flexor. He was .245 with 5 HR, 11 R, 15 RBI, and 0 SB in 108 PA. 1B Ryan Mountcastle left Friday's game early due to right hamstring discomfort. He is considered day-to-day. OF Lane Thomas was placed on the 10-day retroactive to Thursday due to right plantar fasciitis. This is unfortunate news because this is an injury that will most likely affect him all year. OF Adolis Garcia was not in the Rangers lineup on Friday after manager Bruce Bochy decided to give him a mental break. Garcia has struggled this year (.208 AVG with 7 HR, 16 R, 27 RBI, and 5 SB). His plate skills (5% BB and 27% K) and quality of contact (15% Barrels and 48% Hardhit) look in line with his recent seasons, but there are concerning signs. He is chasing a career-high 43% of the time and hitting more fly balls than ever (56% FB). Both lead to a lower batting average and inconsistencies. OF Anthony Santander was placed on the 10-day IL with left shoulder inflammation. Santander has had a rough start with Toronto (.179 AVG with 6 HR, 14 R, 18 RBI, and 0 SB). OF Matt Wallner (hamstring) is expected to be activated on Saturday. He had a strong start to the year prior to getting injured (.263 AVG with 1 HR, 7 R, 3 RBI, and 0 SB in 67 PA). Orioles manager Tony Mansolino said that they plan to activate OF Colton Cowser during their June 3-8 road trip. 1B Zach Dezenzo left Saturday's game early with left-hand discomfort. He had gotten four straight starts with OF Yordan Alvarez. Alvarez has been diagnosed with a fractured hand that is 60% healed. He has been shut down from hitting until it is completely healed. OF Daulton Varsho left Saturday's game with left hamstring discomfort. He is considered day-to-day until he gets an examination.OF Chandler Simpson was optioned to Triple-A on Friday. He hit .285 with 0 HR and 19 SB in 123 AB. He will be back at some point, but fantasy owners got exactly what they expected from him with 19 SB in a small sample.
On The Mound
Cole Ragans (groin) threw a bullpen on Wednesday and is scheduled to make a rehab start over the weekend. The expectation is that if everything goes well in the rehab start, it will be the only one before returning to the Royals rotation. Seth Lugo (finger) was activated on Friday and started against the Tigers (3.1 IP, 4 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, and 3 K). Grayson Rodriguez (lat/elbow) has started a throwing program. He has been out since spring training with the initial elbow inflammation and then a lat strain. The Orioles desperately need Rodriguez back, but they are not going to rush their best pitcher. He is currently without a timetable, but it is looking like a second-half return. Kyle Bradish (elbow) has been progressing in his recovery. He is throwing bullpen sessions with the hope of throwing live BP in early July. This would roughly put him to return in August. It is also important to consider pitchers coming back from Tommy John surgery often struggle with command and offspeed pitches, so counting on Bradish is extremely risky. Spencer Arrighetti (thumb) played catch on Wednesday, which was the first time since fracturing his right thumb on April 7. He isn't expected back until July. Arrighetti had 5.59 ERA (5.04 SIERA), 0.93 WHIP, and 8% K:BB prior to the injury. This comes on the news that Ronel Blanco is out for the year after having Tommy John surgery. Blanco had a 4.10 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, and 14% K:BB in 9 GS this year. Alex Cobb (hip) has started a rehab assignment with High-A West Michigan. He is going to need multiple rehab starts before making his Tigers debut. Max Scherzer (thumb) completed a 45-pitch bullpen on Monday and faced live hitters on Friday. The next step would be for Scherzer to start a rehab assignment. Tanner Houck (elbow) is throwing but is not considered close to returning. Houck was awful before hitting the 15-day IL on May 14 (8.04 ERA and 1.69 WHIP). Nathan Eovaldi (triceps) left Tuesday's game early but was expected to make his next start. However, he had his next start pushed back a couple of days. Eovaldi has been fantastic this year (1.56 ERA, 0.81 WHIP, and 24% K:BB). Bryce Miller (elbow) threw a bullpen on Monday and felt good afterwards. Bryan Woo is scheduled to start Friday, Bryce Miller on Saturday, and Luis Castillo on Sunday. The Mariners also got some good news when Logan Gilbert started his rehab assignment on Thursday with Tacoma. Kumar Rocker (shoulder) had his rehab moved to Triple-A Round Rock, where he started on Thursday night (4 IP, 0 ER, 0 H, 1 BB, and 5 K). Rocker is expected to make one more rehab appearance before returning. There has been a lot of talk about the Rangers considering Rocker as their closer, given his pure stuff and struggles as a starter (career 6.54 ERA and 1.67 WHIP through 31.2 IP). It is still too early to give up on him as a starter, but this is more than smoke at this point. Reese Olson (finger) threw a bullpen on Wednesday. He has been out since May 17. He will likely need one rehab start before being activated. Olson has been really good this year (2.96 ERA and 1.17 WHIP through 9 GS). Slade Cecconi was scratched from his start on Wednesday due to mild groin tightness. The injury is not considered serious because he started Saturday against the Angels. Luis Gil (lat) threw a bullpen on Friday. It was just 15 pitches, but it was a step in the right direction. Jackson Jobe was placed on the 15-day IL on Friday with a Grade 1 flexor strain. He left without talking to reporters after his most recent start, which was a sign that something was wrong. Sawyer Gibson-Long could be his replacement. He is close to returning from injury, so it would make sense for him to slide right into the rotation. We haven't seen him at the major league level since 2023, but in a small sample (20 IP), he showed interesting skills (32 %K, 10% BB, and 3.63 SIERA).
In The Bullpen
Fernando Cruz (shoulder) threw a 20-pitch bullpen on Wednesday. He is expected to be activated when first eligible on Tuesday. Cruz has been great this year (2.66 ERA, 0.97 WHIP, and 29% K:BB). Felix Bautista was perfect in save chances this week (2 SV). Overall, he has a 4.08 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, and 12% K:BB. The Yankees had three saves this week, and they all came from different players (Luke Weaver, Devin Williams, and Mark Leiter Jr.). The guy to own is still Weaver because he has been their best reliever (0.73 ERA, 0.69 WHIP, and 18% K:BB). Jeff Hoffman has struggled in May (13.00 ERA and 1.89 WHIP), but he did pick up two saves this week and now has 12 SV on the year. The Tigers played a lot of close games this week, which meant that Will Vest (3) and Tommy Kanhle (1) picked up saves. Carlos Estevez picked up both a win and a save this week. He now has a 2 W, 15 SV, 1.85 ERA, and 1.07 WHIP. Jhoan Duran might not have traditional closer usage, but he has continued to produce for fantasy (4 W, 9 SV, 1.03 ERA, and 1.06 WHP). The Rangers have officially moved to Robert Garcia as their closer. He picked up two saves this week with former closer Luke Jackson working in a setup role. There has also been mention of Kumar Rocker potentially being a closer, but they have more incentive right now to try to get him to work as a starter.
Players to add this week:
SS Jacob Wilson (ATH)- Wilson came into the game hitting .375 with 4 HR, 14 R, 15 RBI, and 3 SB in the month of May. On the year, he is hitting .344 with 7 HR, 30 R, 31 RBI, and 4 SB. To date, he has been the 19th best hitter ahead of guys like Trea Turner, Francisco Lindor, and Mookie Betts in terms of auction dollars earned. The average is legit considering he rarely strikes out (5% K). The power looks unsustainable given his barrel rate (3%) and hard hit data (27% Hardhit), but he puts enough balls in play that he is going to run into some balls, and his home park should be favorable to home runs as the weather warms. Wilson is going to be one of the better values considering where he was taken in drafts.
1B/OF Ryan O'Hearn (BAL)- Ryan O'Hearn has quietly become one of the Orioles' best hitters. He is hitting .335 with 9 HR, 24 R, 21 RBI, and 3 SB. He has plus plate skills (12% BB and 16% K) to go along with hitting the ball hard (9% Barrels and 50% Hardhit). He has also started to get at-bats against LHP, so he is no longer a platoon bat.
2B Brandon Lowe (TBR)-Brandon Lowe has been hot in the month of May (.289 AVG with 7 HR, 20 R, 15 RBI, and 2 SB). Over the hot streak, he has cut his strikeout rate (23% K). On the year, he is hitting .249 with 11 HR, 29 R, 30 RBI, and 2 SB. Lowe has hit the ball hard (12% Barrels and 45% Hardhit) and kept it off the ground (39% GB), which has helped his power numbers. The Rays are very strategic in their use of him, which has helped keep him healthy and from facing too many LHP. He isn't going to repeat his 2021 season (.247 AVG with 39 HR, 97 R, 99 RBI, and 7 SB), but he could get in the neighborhood (.240ish AVG with 25+ HR and 5-10 SB).
3B/OF Miguel Vargas (CWS)-Miguel Vargas has turned his season around in the month of May (.275 AVG with 7 HR, 15 R, 17 RBI, and 0 SB). He started out the year hitting .219 in April and looked like he might be on his way out of the big leagues. The recent run of success isn't just BABIP-driven. He has cut his strikeout rate (14% K) and raised his OPS (.948). Vargas is swinging the bat well and will play every day, so he is a viable waiver pickup.
SP Gavin Williams (CLE)-Gavin Williams started the year struggling (5.14 ERA in April). He has turned that around in May (3.28 ERA, 1.58 WHIP, and 16% K:BB). He has increased his strikeouts (29% K) but has struggled with control at times (16% BB), but a lot of that was a 6 BB game against the Dodgers. He is making a slight pitch change to include more sinkers and cutters to right-handed hitters, which was part of his problem. The control could improve as he gets more comfortable with his new pitch mix.
SP Zebby Matthews (MIN)-Zebby Matthews had struggled in his first two starts (7.71 ERA and 2.00 WHIP), but he has shown more than enough to be a viable fantasy option. He has thrown 51.2 IP at the major league level between last year and this year. Matthews has shown the ability to miss bats (27% K) with good control (7% BB). His Stuff numbers also suggest he has above-average stuff, which gives him a nice ceiling despite the rough start.
RP Robert Garcia (TEX)- Robert Garcia has taken over as the Rangers' closer. He does not have elite stuff like traditional closers, but he has been good this year (2.25 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, and 16% K:BB). It doesn't matter if he has an elite strikeout because he is a closer at the moment and isn't sharing opportunities.
SS Marcelo Mayer (BOS)-The injury to 3B Alex Bregman opened the door for the Red Sox to call up one of their top prospects in Marcelo Mayer. He was hitting .271 with 9 HR, 31 R, 43 RBI, and 2 SB in 43 GP at Triple-A. He is not going to be elite in any one category but should be a solid contributor across the board.
SS Cole Young (SEA)- Cole Young was called up and made his major league debut on Saturday, playing second base and batting 8th. Young was hitting .277 with 5 HR, 39 R, 26 RBI, and 4 B in 245 PA at Triple-A. He showed plus plate skills (13% BB and 11% K) and the ability to hit the ball hard (44% Hardhit). However, he does a heavy ground ball approach (49% GB), which is going to limit his power. Young is more of a floor player than a high upside option, but he should hit for average and steal bases, which gives him his floor.
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