Fantasy Baseball Morning Update: Hamilton set to return
Did any more Blue Jays' pitchers hurt their elbows while I was sleeping? No? Good. Here's an update on their rotation, which has "TBD" listed for Tuesday and Wednesday. If you can throw 75 mph and e-mail the Jays' front office by noon ET today, you might be considered for one of the games.
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Dillon Gee wasn't bad on Friday, A.J. Burnett was good enough on Saturday, and Bartolo Colon pitched only two innings Sunday before leaving with an oblique strain. Colon will probably be out for awhile, and our streaming starter record is 45-30 for the season.
Today's pick is Anaheim's Jerome Williams (owned in 18.4 percent of FOXSports.com leagues) against the Giants, while Tuesday's selection is soft-tossing Twin Scott Diamond (19.3 percent owned) against the weak-hitting Pirates.
On to the news:
- Rangers OF Josh Hamilton is likely to return to action tonight after a weekend that included three missed games and a hospital stay due to a nasty virus. Manager Ron Washington said Sunday that there's a chance Hamilton will get one more day off, but if he does he'll be close to a lock to play on Tuesday. If owned Hamilton in daily leagues and had to make a decision before tonight's lineup is announced, I'd start him.
- Red Sox SP Josh Beckett is on the DL with a sore shoulder, and the team hopes he'll miss only two starts.
- With Brandon Beachy on the DL due to an elbow injury - a prognosis should be announced today or tomorrow - the Braves will bring Jair Jurrjens back from the minors to pitch on Friday. Jurrjens, who had a 2.96 ERA in 23 starts last season, has spent the last two months at Triple A after struggling through four April starts. My official reaction to Jurrjens' return is ... eh.
- Best wishes to Jason Bay, who is on the seven-day concussion DL after going head first into an outfield wall on Friday. Is it true that the Met fans booed Bay as he left the field?
- Doug Fister is back, baby!
- Roy Oswalt might make his Rangers' debut on Friday.
- AL-only owners should try to grab OF Ryan Kalish, who can expect to get plenty of playing time in the Red Sox' depleted outfield.
- Rays 3B Evan Longoria started his minor-league rehab assignment over the weekend, but doesn't have a timetable on when he'll return to the Tampa lineup.
- With John Danks (shoulder) not yet ready to return to the White Sox rotation, Zach Stewart will make a spot start tonight against the Cubs. Stewart has been so-so as a reliever this season, with a 5.18 ERA, excellent control and lots of ground balls. He IS pitching against the Cubs ...
- Back to the Blue Jays: Brett Cecil pitched well Sunday after getting called up from the minors. Cecil flamed out last season after a solid 2010, and while he's not a special talent, he's still just a couple weeks short of his 26th birthday, and Bluebird Banter was somewhat encouraged by his outing. AL-only owners might want to take a flier on Cecil.
- Tigers C Alex Avila aims to come off the DL on Thursday.
- After being relegated to pinch-hitting duty over the weekend, Royals 1B/DH Billy Butler will be back in the lineup tonight against southpaw J.A. Happ at Houston, with Eric Hosmer probably getting the night off.
- The Giants say they won't skip Tim Lincecum's next start. Don't cut him, no matter how much you might want to.
- Yankees OF Nick Swisher hopes to play tonight after missing Sunday's game with a bruised thigh.
- The Angels are making a catching change, with Hank Conger headed back to the minors, and Bobby Wilson getting reactivated today. Um, yippee?
- After Sunday's excellent outing, do you believe in Angels SP Garrett Richards? I don't think I do.
- Royals 2B Chris Getz will be re-evaluated today after injuring his leg on Sunday. The Kansas City Star also reports that Felipe Paulino is expected to come off the DL to start next Monday.
- Astros SP Bud Norris is on the DL with a sprained knee. It doesn't sound serious.
- Rays SP Matt Moore allowed one hit and whiffed eight over seven shutout innings Friday night. Get on the bandwagon, because here he comes.
- Rockies OF Carlos Gonzalez is day-to-day with a strained knee. Fortunately, the Rox don't play tonight. In other Rockies' news, SS Troy Tulowitzki will be examined today for a sports hernia, which would be bad.
- Even if Scott Rolen comes off the DL today, Todd Frazier is expected to keep getting plenty of playing time.
- Is anyone excited that the Cubs plan to activate C Geovany Soto today? Yeah, that's what I thought.
- This week's edition of Free Agent Frenzy is ready for your review. I'd like to report that since I decided to include Trevor Plouffe in the article last Tuesday, he's hit five more home runs.
See you back here tomorrow morning.
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