This article is part of our The Lineup Card series.
Projected Starters - A look at Friday's matchups (all times Eastern)Cardinals (Adam Wainwright – R) at Cubs (Travis Wood – L), 2:20
Nationals (Stephen Strasburg – R) at Phillies (Cliff Lee –L), 7:05
Blue Jays (Brandon Morrow – R) at Pirates (Gerrit Cole – R), 7:05
White Sox (John Danks – L) at Indians (Danny Salazar – R), 7:05
Rays (David Price – L) at Yankees (Vidal Nuno – L), 7:05
Athletics (Dan Straily – R) at Red Sox (Clay Buchholz – R), 7:10
Brewers (Wily Peralta – R) at Reds (Mike Leake – R), 7:10
Dodgers (Josh Beckett – R) at Marlins (Tom Koehler – R), 7:10
Giants (Tim Lincecum – R) at Braves (Mike Minor – L), 7:35
Mariners (Felix Hernandez – R) at Astros (Brad Peacock – R), 8:10
Tigers (Rick Porcello – L) at Royals (James Shields – R), 8:10
Orioles (Ubaldo Jimenez – R) at Twins (Ricky Nolasco – R), 8:10
Mets (Zack Wheeler – R) at Rockies (Jorge De La Rosa – L), 8:40
Rangers (Colby Lewis – R) at Angels (Hector Santiago – L), 10:05
Diamondbacks (Bronson Arroyo – R) at Padres (Andrew Cashner – R), 10:10
Day Game After Night Game: STL/CHC
Injuries
Day-to-Day
Matt Garza, SP, MIL (Thumb) – Swelling in thumb has gone down leading to bullpen session on Friday.
Donnie Murphy, 3B, TEX (Foot) – Will be ready to play on Friday after entering Wednesday's game as a defensive substitute.
Billy Hamilton, OF, CIN (Hand) – Expected to miss the next few games with a sprain to the hand.
Melky Cabrera, OF, TOR (Shin) – Did not play Thursday after suffering a shin contusion in Wednesday's game, but likely to return Friday.
Bruce Chen, SP, KC (Back) – Thursday side session cut short and is expected to be placed on the DL.
Ryan Braun, OF, MIL (Oblique) – Did not play Thursday although the injury has improved.
Wilin Rosario, C, COL (Hand) – Showed good improvement during Wednesday's batting practice session.
Jean Segura, SS, MIL (Head) – Returned to action on Thursday and will be ready for the weekend series facing the Reds.
Players on the DL
Devin Mesoraco, C, CIN (Hamstring) – Workouts are limited and has not resumed baseball activities yet.
Francisley Bueno, RP, KC (Finger) – Will start a rehab assignment over the weekend.
Wandy Rodriguez, SP, PIT (Knee) – Struggled in Thursday's rehab start and may be pushed back before being activated.
Tony Cingrani, SP, CIN (Shoulder) – Was placed on the 15-day DL Thursday with shoulder tendinitis.
Russell Martin, C, PIT (Leg) – Suspension appeal will be heard next week.
Nolan Reimold, OF, BAL (Neck) – Was able to take batting practice but still no timetable for a return.
Michael Almanzar, 3B, BAL (Knee) – Will stay sidelined a bit longer after a PRP injection.
Carlos Quentin, OF, SD (Knee) – Expected to return to San Diego on Friday before heading out on a rehab assignment.
Tim Collins, RP, KC (Elbow) – Expected to be activated soon after striking out five hitters over two innings in Thursday's rehab game.
Clayton Kershaw, SP, LAD (Back) – Expected to make his first start of the season on Monday.
Hisashi Iwakuma, SP, SEA (Finger) – Season-opening start pushed back to Saturday due to Wednesday's rainout.
Aroldis Chapman, RP, CIN (Head) – Started rehab assignment on Thursday although the Reds will be very cautious and not push a return.
Transactions - Players who have been demoted, called up, traded, released, you name it. We'll cover it here.
Activated from the DL
Manny Machado, 3B, BAL
Juan Lagares, OF, NYM
Troy Patton, RP, BAL
Placed on the DL (15-day DL, unless otherwise noted)
Tony Cingrani, SP, CIN (Shoulder)
Called Up
Steve Tolleson, SS, TOR
Red Patterson, RP, LAD
Kris Johnson, RP, MIN
Anthony Gose, OF, TOR
Curtis Partch, RP, CIN
Drake Britton, RP, BOS
Brad Boxberger, RP, TB
Sent Down (to Triple-A, unless otherwise noted)
Nick Buss, OF, LAD
Moises Sierra, OF, TOR
Steve Lombardozzi, 2B, BAL
Jonathan Diaz, SS, TOR
Kirk Nieuwenhuis, OF, NYM
Elian Herrera, OF, MIL
Yoslan Herrera, RP, LAA
Michael Roth, RP, LAA
Signed
Mitch Maier, OF, KC – minor league contract
Tim Dillard, RP, MIL – minor league contract
Closer Watch
Los Angeles Dodgers – Relax Kenley Jansen owners, your closer is in no way of losing his job; however, it is worth noting that reliever Chris Perez picked up the save on Thursday facing Minnesota. Perez entered the game in the eighth inning with two men on base and continued on to the ninth inning where he pitched a total of 1.2 innings to lock down the win for the Blue Crew. Jansen is one of the better closers in the game right now, so chalk up Perez' save to situational circumstance.
Key Matchups
Matchup Info | Career Matchup Stats | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Batter | Pos | Game | Pitcher | AB | H | XBH | HR | RBI | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
L. Valbuena | 3B | CHC vs STL 2:20PM | A. Wainwright | 11 | 4 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | .364 | .417 | .636 | 1.053 |
A. Craig | 1B | STL @ CHC 2:20PM | T. Wood | 22 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 1 | 4 | .318 | .348 | .636 | .984 |
M. Holliday | OF | STL @ CHC 2:20PM | T. Wood | 26 | 8 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 1 | 7 | .308 | .357 | .615 | .973 |
J. Jay | OF | STL @ CHC 2:20PM | T. Wood | 22 | 10 | 2 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 1 | .455 | .520 | .545 | 1.065 |
Y. Molina | C | STL @ CHC 2:20PM | T. Wood | 27 | 11 | 6 | 3 | 11 | 0 | 6 | .407 | .393 | .852 | 1.245 |
J. Kipnis | 2B | CLE vs CWS 7:05PM | J. Danks | 16 | 6 | 3 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 2 | .375 | .389 | .750 | 1.139 |
R. Raburn | OF | CLE vs CWS 7:05PM | J. Danks | 37 | 13 | 8 | 3 | 9 | 4 | 9 | .351 | .405 | .730 | 1.134 |
N. Swisher | 1B | CLE vs CWS 7:05PM | J. Danks | 20 | 6 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 5 | 1 | .300 | .440 | .600 | 1.040 |
B. Roberts | 2B | NYY vs TB 7:05PM | D. Price | 19 | 6 | 2 | 0 | 4 | 2 | 2 | .316 | .364 | .526 | .890 |
M. Teixeira | 1B | NYY vs TB 7:05PM | D. Price | 45 | 10 | 5 | 3 | 7 | 4 | 3 | .222 | .300 | .467 | .767 |
D. Espinosa | 2B | WAS @ PHI 7:05PM | C. Lee | 19 | 7 | 4 | 3 | 5 | 0 | 5 | .368 | .368 | .895 | 1.263 |
J. Werth | OF | WAS @ PHI 7:05PM | C. Lee | 28 | 10 | 4 | 2 | 4 | 0 | 9 | .357 | .345 | .679 | 1.023 |
R. Weeks | 2B | MIL @ CIN 7:10PM | M. Leake | 12 | 5 | 4 | 2 | 3 | 0 | 2 | .417 | .417 | 1.167 | 1.583 |
C. Crisp | OF | OAK @ BOS 7:10PM | C. Buchholz | 13 | 4 | 1 | 1 | 4 | 1 | 1 | .308 | .357 | .538 | .896 |
M. Cabrera | 3B | DET @ KC 8:10PM | J. Shields | 43 | 18 | 9 | 2 | 7 | 4 | 6 | .419 | .468 | .721 | 1.189 |
A. Jackson | OF | DET @ KC 8:10PM | J. Shields | 28 | 9 | 4 | 0 | 2 | 3 | 8 | .321 | .387 | .536 | .923 |
A. Gordon | OF | KC vs DET 8:10PM | R. Porcello | 31 | 11 | 4 | 2 | 7 | 1 | 6 | .355 | .375 | .613 | .988 |
E. Hosmer | 1B | KC vs DET 8:10PM | R. Porcello | 14 | 5 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 2 | 1 | .357 | .438 | .786 | 1.223 |
D. Wright | 3B | NYM @ COL 8:40PM | J. De La Rosa | 10 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 5 | 4 | .300 | .533 | .500 | 1.033 |
P. Fielder | 1B | TEX @ LAA 10:05PM | H. Santiago | 12 | 5 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .417 | .500 | .500 | 1.000 |
N. Hundley | C | SD vs ARI 10:10PM | B. Arroyo | 10 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | .500 | .545 | .900 | 1.445 |
X. Nady | OF | SD vs ARI 10:10PM | B. Arroyo | 24 | 7 | 3 | 2 | 5 | 0 | 2 | .292 | .292 | .583 | .875 |
Matchup Info | Career Matchup Stats | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Batter | Pos | Game | Pitcher | AB | H | XBH | HR | RBI | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
Matchup Info | Career Stats Allowed To Batters On Opposing Team | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pitcher | Game | AB | H | XBH | HR | RBI | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
Cliff Lee | PHI vs WAS 7:05PM | 156 | 46 | 22 | 7 | 17 | 4 | 39 | .295 | .315 | .535 | .850 |
Matchup Info | Career Stats Allowed To Batters On Opposing Team | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pitcher | Game | AB | H | XBH | HR | RBI | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
Matchup Info | Career Matchup Stats | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Batter | Pos | Game | Pitcher | AB | H | XBH | HR | RBI | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
J. Baker | C | CHC vs STL 2:20PM | A. Wainwright | 10 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .100 | .100 | .200 | .300 |
D. Barney | 2B | CHC vs STL 2:20PM | A. Wainwright | 29 | 8 | 3 | 1 | 5 | 0 | 5 | .276 | .276 | .448 | .724 |
N. Schierholtz | OF | CHC vs STL 2:20PM | A. Wainwright | 19 | 6 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 5 | .316 | .316 | .526 | .842 |
M. Aviles | SS | CLE vs CWS 7:05PM | J. Danks | 17 | 4 | 1 | 0 | 2 | 0 | 3 | .235 | .222 | .294 | .516 |
M. Brantley | OF | CLE vs CWS 7:05PM | J. Danks | 15 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .200 | .250 | .267 | .517 |
D. Murphy | OF | CLE vs CWS 7:05PM | J. Danks | 11 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .182 | .250 | .273 | .523 |
C. Santana | C | CLE vs CWS 7:05PM | J. Danks | 15 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 5 | 4 | .133 | .333 | .200 | .533 |
B. Gardner | OF | NYY vs TB 7:05PM | D. Price | 14 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 3 | .143 | .294 | .143 | .437 |
K. Johnson | 2B | NYY vs TB 7:05PM | D. Price | 17 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 0 | 5 | .176 | .176 | .353 | .529 |
J. Rollins | SS | PHI vs WAS 7:05PM | S. Strasburg | 18 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 7 | .111 | .158 | .278 | .436 |
A. LaRoche | 1B | WAS @ PHI 7:05PM | C. Lee | 19 | 4 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | .211 | .250 | .316 | .566 |
N. McLouth | OF | WAS @ PHI 7:05PM | C. Lee | 11 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 3 | .182 | .182 | .182 | .364 |
A. Rendon | 2B | WAS @ PHI 7:05PM | C. Lee | 10 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 0 | 4 | .200 | .200 | .500 | .700 |
Z. Cozart | SS | CIN vs MIL 7:10PM | W. Peralta | 14 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .143 | .143 | .214 | .357 |
B. Phillips | 2B | CIN vs MIL 7:10PM | W. Peralta | 16 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 3 | 2 | 1 | .188 | .278 | .188 | .465 |
R. Johnson | OF | MIA vs LAD 7:10PM | J. Beckett | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .100 | .100 | .100 | .200 |
J. Mathis | C | MIA vs LAD 7:10PM | J. Beckett | 10 | 2 | 2 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 4 | .200 | .200 | .400 | .600 |
A. Ramirez | 3B | MIL @ CIN 7:10PM | M. Leake | 24 | 3 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 4 | .125 | .160 | .167 | .327 |
A. Callaspo | 3B | OAK @ BOS 7:10PM | C. Buchholz | 20 | 4 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 0 | .200 | .238 | .200 | .438 |
J. Jaso | C | OAK @ BOS 7:10PM | C. Buchholz | 12 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 3 | .167 | .231 | .250 | .481 |
F. Freeman | 1B | ATL vs SF 7:35PM | T. Lincecum | 14 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 | .214 | .267 | .214 | .481 |
D. Uggla | 2B | ATL vs SF 7:35PM | T. Lincecum | 13 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | 6 | .000 | .133 | .000 | .133 |
N. Markakis | OF | BAL @ MIN 8:10PM | R. Nolasco | 10 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .000 | .000 | .000 | .000 |
R. Davis | OF | DET @ KC 8:10PM | J. Shields | 16 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 3 | .125 | .125 | .250 | .375 |
T. Hunter | OF | DET @ KC 8:10PM | J. Shields | 49 | 15 | 4 | 0 | 1 | 0 | 13 | .306 | .333 | .388 | .721 |
I. Kinsler | 2B | DET @ KC 8:10PM | J. Shields | 39 | 7 | 4 | 2 | 2 | 3 | 3 | .179 | .238 | .385 | .623 |
V. Martinez | DH | DET @ KC 8:10PM | J. Shields | 37 | 10 | 3 | 1 | 4 | 0 | 9 | .270 | .270 | .405 | .676 |
B. Butler | DH | KC vs DET 8:10PM | R. Porcello | 42 | 13 | 3 | 0 | 6 | 1 | 9 | .310 | .318 | .381 | .699 |
A. Escobar | SS | KC vs DET 8:10PM | R. Porcello | 21 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 4 | .048 | .048 | .048 | .095 |
S. Perez | C | KC vs DET 8:10PM | R. Porcello | 10 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 2 | .200 | .200 | .200 | .400 |
C. Young | OF | NYM @ COL 8:40PM | J. De La Rosa | 26 | 5 | 3 | 2 | 2 | 4 | 9 | .192 | .300 | .462 | .762 |
H. Kendrick | 2B | LAA vs TEX 10:05PM | C. Lewis | 20 | 4 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 7 | .200 | .273 | .400 | .673 |
A. Amarista | 2B | SD vs ARI 10:10PM | B. Arroyo | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | .100 | .182 | .100 | .282 |
C. Maybin | OF | SD vs ARI 10:10PM | B. Arroyo | 10 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 2 | 1 | .100 | .250 | .100 | .350 |
Matchup Info | Career Matchup Stats | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Batter | Pos | Game | Pitcher | AB | H | XBH | HR | RBI | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
Matchup Info | Career Stats Allowed To Batters On Opposing Team | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pitcher | Game | AB | H | XBH | HR | RBI | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
Travis Wood | CHC vs STL 2:20PM | 139 | 49 | 20 | 8 | 25 | 8 | 23 | .353 | .387 | .614 | 1.001 |
John Danks | CWS @ CLE 7:05PM | 175 | 48 | 24 | 8 | 25 | 20 | 29 | .274 | .342 | .514 | .856 |
Clay Buchholz | BOS vs OAK 7:10PM | 65 | 16 | 3 | 2 | 13 | 10 | 5 | .246 | .347 | .372 | .718 |
Matchup Info | Career Stats Allowed To Batters On Opposing Team | |||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Pitcher | Game | AB | H | XBH | HR | RBI | BB | K | AVG | OBP | SLG | OPS |
Recommended Pickup
Miguel Olivo, C, LAD – Olivo, who signed a minor-league contract with the Dodgers in March, has an excellent shot of picking up full-time catching duties until A.J. Ellis returns in a few weeks. Let's face it, backup catchers Drew Butera and Tim Federowicz just weren't getting the job done for the Dodgers. Olivo is an intriguing short-term pick up in shallow leagues where you churn through back-stoppers, but in deeper leagues Olivo represents solid seasonal value considering his power potential with the bat (12 HR in 2012).
Other Recent Recommendations:Scooter Gennett, Chris Denorfia, Jon Niese, James Loney and Matt Harrison
DraftStreet Value Picks
SP: Bronson Arroyo, ARI ($11,566)
C: Derek Norris, OAK ($5,079)
1B: Paul Goldschmidt, ARI ($7,232)
2B: Scooter Gennett, MIL ($5,890)
SS: Ian Desmond, WAS ($5,021)
3B: David Wright, NYM ($6,643)
OF: Leonys Martin, TEX ($5,021)