Fantasy Baseball Morning Update: Scherzer scratched again
R.A. Dickey goes for his 20th win today. Did anyone bet on that during the preseason at odds of one kajillion-to-one?
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Clayon Richard wasn't so good for us yesterday, dropping the streaming starter record to 103-61. The weekend picks are Kevin Correia (owned in 9.2 percent of FOXSports.com leagues) against the Mets today, followed by Oakland's A.J. Griffin (31.1 percent owned) against the Mariners on Friday, Milwaukee's Marco Estrada (11.1 percent owned) versus the Astros on Saturday, and Edinson Volquez (9.3 percent owned) against the Giants at PETCO on Sunday.
There are seven afternoon games today, starting with Brewers-Reds at 12:35 p.m. ET, so set your lineups accordingly. The Correia-Dickey matchup mentioned above is at 1:10.
Note: There won't be a new baseball post here on Friday. If you have specific questions about players, you can always reach me on Facebook or Twitter.
On to the news:
- Max Scherzer's shoulder (his deltoid, technically) is acting up again, and the Tigers have scratched him from Friday's start. We'll need to wait for news on whether Scherzer will make another start before the end of the regular season, but you don't need to wait before waiving him and picking up someone else if you need pitching help. The not-so-bad Drew Smyly will start in Scherzer's place on Friday.
- The Marlins are hoping that OF Giancarlo Stanton (oblique) returns to the lineup on Friday.
- Cardinals 3B David Freese, who has missed a couple of games with a sprained ankle, hit off a tee on Wednesday. The team's website reports that a weekend return "has not been ruled out," and while that language isn't too positive, Freese says the ankle is getting better. He thinks he'll be ready to play this weekend.
- Coco Crisp was out of the A's lineup again last night, and this Twitter update suggests that his case of pinkeye isn't getting much better. Don't wait on Coco if you need steals now, and don't ever get pinkeye.
- Rangers ace Yu Darvish, who was scratched Tuesday due to a stiff neck, is tentatively scheduled to pitch Sunday, but might start sooner. Keep an eye on the Rangers' probables.
- It sounds like the Pirates are going to shut down 2B Neil Walker instead of waiting to see how his bad back feels every day. Cut Walker if you haven't already. Look for Josh Harrison to continue to start in Walker's place.
- Look for Roy Halladay to make his final start of 2012 on Saturday.
- With seven days left in the season, Yankees 1B Mark Teixeira might play in an intrasquad game today at the Yankees' Florida complex. You're not still waiting for him, right?
- The Mets plan to let rookie Jeurys Familia start a game next week. This isn't big news, but the Mets did hint at letting Familia close at some point, so that's out now.
- The Indians have shut down SP Ubaldo Jimenez because of a sprained ankle. He finishes the season at 9-17 with a 5.55 ERA and a 1.61 WHIP. Good riddance, Ubaldo.
- Reds OF Ryan Ludwick (groin) will be out of the lineup again today. His weekend status is TBD.
- The Braves hope that OF Michael Bourn (thumb) will return today after being scratched again Wednesday.
See you back here tomorrow morning with a football post, and on Monday with more baseball news.

