The Lineup Card: Nick Evans Fighting From the Fringes

Projected Starters- A look at Thursday's matchups (all times ET)

A's (Gio Gonzalez - L) vs. Indians (Fausto Carmona - R) 12:05
Phillies (Vance Worley - R) vs. Reds (Mike Leake - R) 12:35
Blue Jays (Luis Perez - L) vs. Orioles (Tommy Hunter - R) 12:35
Royals (Danny Duffy - L) vs. Tigers (Jacob Turner - R) 1:05
Dodgers (Dana Eveland - L) vs. Pirates (Brad Lincoln - R) 4:05
Cardinals (Brandon Dickson - R) vs. Brewers (Yovani Gallardo - R) 4:10
Marlins (Clay Hensley - R) vs. Mets (Miguel Batista - R) 7:10
Yankees (A.J. Burnett - R) vs. Boston (Jon Lester - L) 7:10
Nationals (Chien-Ming Wang - R) vs. Braves (Tim Hudson - R) 7:10
Rays (Jeff Niemann - R) vs. Rangers (C.J. Wilson - L) 8:05
Angels (Ervin Santana - R) vs. Mariners (Chad Furbush - L) 10:10

Day After Night: OAK/CLE, PHI/CIN, TOR/BAL, STL/MIL

Injuries

Day-to-Day

Matt Wieters, C, BAL (quadriceps) - out of Wednesday's lineup due to tightness
Brennan Boesch, OF, DET (thumb) - no immediate target date for his return
Felipe Paulino. P, KC (back) - scratched from Wednesday start due to back spasms
Justin Morneau, 1B, MIN (shoulder) - has mild concussion symptoms and will miss, at least, a few games
Alex Rodriguez, 3B, NY-A (thumb) - likely to miss the rest of this week's series with Boston
Russell Martin, C, NY-A (toe) - nursing a sore thumb as well; should play on the weekend
Casey Janssen, P, TOR (back) - pulled after an inning on Tuesday due to tightness
Matt Guerrier, P, LAD (personal) - paternity leave
Jose Tabata, OF, PIT (wrist) - sat out Tuesday game with soreness in left wrist
Cameron Maybin, OF, SD (wrist) - MRI revealed no structural damage

Players on the DL

Bobby Jenks, P, BOS (back) - rehab assignment pushed back after getting ill last week
Kevin Youkilis, 1B, BOS (back) - began rehab assignment on Tuesday; expects to be activated September 2
Clay Buchholz, P, BOS (back) - threw for 10 minutes in outfield before Tuesday's game
J.D. Drew, OF, BOS (shoulder) - went 3-for-3 in rehab game on Tuesday at Triple-A Pawtucket on Tuesday
Philip Humber, P, CHI-A (head) - made five-inning rehab start against Triple-A Norfolk on Tuesday
Carlos Quentin, OF, CHI-A (shoulder) - making progress in batting practice; may be activated early next week
A.J. Pierzynski, C, CHI-A (wrist) - went 0-for-3 at catcher in rehab game with Triple-A Charlotte on Tuesday
Grady Sizemore, OF, CLE (knee) - expects to begin rehab assignment Wednesday with Double-A Akron 
Travis Hafner, DH, CLE (foot) - still in walking cast; hopes to return before year-end
Michael Brantley, OF, CLE (wrist) - had successful surgery on Wednesday; ready for spring training 2012
Carlos Guillen, 2B, DET (wrist) - went 1-for-3 in first rehab start for Triple-A Toledo on Monday
Alexi Casilla, SS, MIN (hamstring) - had a setback during his rehab at High-A Fort Myers
Denard Span, OF, MIN (concussion) - will soon return to Twins to begin working out again
Michael Wuertz, P, OAK (thumb) - scheduled for one more rehab appearance before rejoining the A's
Jon Rauch, P, TOR (stomach) - threw a bullpen session on Tuesday; on track to be activated by Thursday
Juan Gutierrez, P, ARI (elbow) - will undergo Tommy John surgery
Andrew Cashner, P, CHI-N (shoulder) - struck out all three batters he faced in Monday rehab appearance
Hanley Ramirez, SS, FLA (shoulder) - left Tuesday's rehab game after four innings with shoulder discomfort
Manny Parra, P, MIL (elbow) - had successful surgery, on Tuesday, to remove bone spur in left elbow
Ike Davis, 1B, NY-N (ankle) - will head to Florida for infield work and batting practice
Joe Blanton, P, PHI (elbow) - scheduled to throw bullpen session on Friday; should return in September
Jimmy Rollins, SS, PHI (groin) - targeting his return for September 6
Stephen Strasburg, P, WAS (elbow) - scheduled to make major league return on September 7
Jayson Werth, OF, WAS (foot) - missed Tuesday game with sore foot and sore hand

Transactions - Players who have been demoted, called up, traded, released, you name it. We'll cover it here.

Traded

Matt Diaz, LF, (from PIT to ATL)
Matt Treanor, C, (from KC to TEX)
Mike Gonzalez, P, (from BAL to TEX)
John Bowker, OF, (from PIT to PHI)

Waiver Claim

Jeremy Hermidia, OF, SD (from CIN)

Called Up

Josh Lindblom, P, LA-N
Josh Roenicke, P, COL
Neil Wagner, P, OAK
Mark Hamburger, P, TEX
Blake Tekotte, OF, SD
Leonys Martin., OF, TEX
Jeanmar Gomez, P, CLE
Brad Brach, P, SD
Brett Pill, 1B, SF
John Bowker, OF, PHI
Jerry Blevins, P, OAK
Zachary Phillips, P, BAL
Wilmer Font, P, TEX

Sent Down

Michael Schwimer, P, PHI
Daniel Camarena, P, NY-A
Mark Hendrickson, P, BAL (dfa'd)
Scott Atchison, P, BOS
Matt LaPorta, 1B, CLE
Erik Hamren, P, SD
Jerry Blevins, P, OAK
Brian Tallet, P, TOR (dfa'd)
Miguel Tejada, SS, SF (dfa'd)
Aaron Rowand, OF, SF (dfa'd)
Kyle Phillips, C, SD (dfa'd)
Tim Wood, P, TEX (dfa'd)

Placed on DL

Nelson Cruz, OF, TEX (hamstring)
Darren O'Day, P, TEX (shoulder)
Jose Contreras, P, PHI (elbow-moved to 60 day dl)
George Sherrill, P, ATL (left elbow inflammation - retroactive to August 27)
Dustin Moseley, P, SD (shoulder; moved to 60 day dl)
Brian Fuentes, P, OAK (bereavement leave)

Activated from DL

Troy Patton, P, BAL (from restricted list)
Carlos Villanueva, P, TOR
Pat Burrell, OF, SF

Closer Watch

Orioles - The Orioles' closer position has belonged to Kevin Gregg all season and in recent weeks he has faltered, as he has pitched to a 9.00 ERA over his last 10 appearances in August. He has given up 12 hits and six walks in nine innings over that span, while only striking out three batters. The challenge for the Orioles and Gregg's fantasy owners is to determine whether he is less focused owing to the club's status as a non-contender or is he losing his grip on the role. He has only converted 19 of 25 opportunities this year and has a 4.41 ERA in 54 appearances-ugly numbers for a closer.

Rangers - The heat of a pennant race often gives us an extra insight into players. Neftali Feliz has risen to the occasion for the Rangers during the month of August. In his last 10 appearances he has not surrendered an earned run (9.1 innings pitched), giving up only two hits and five walks, while fanning nine batters. Ideally, you want your closer to be virtually untouchable at crunch time and Feliz is at that high level when it matters the most for Texas. All of these numbers are most impressive when we remind ourselves that half of his appearances take place in the hitter haven of the Rangers' home park.

Cardinals - Fernando Salas has registered only three saves in his last 10 outings, but that is due largely to a lack of save opportunities. A closer look at his numbers during that stretch shows that he is overpowering hitters, registering 12 strikeouts and only four hits allowed in his last 9.1 innings of work. He has permitted only two earned runs in that span. All of these numbers are in keeping with the solid year that this rookie closer has put together in St. Louis.

Dodgers - During a season in LA-LA land that can be best described as tumultuous, the Dodgers have suffered, at least in part because of the absence of a reliable closer at the back of their bullpen. Javy Guerra, who was used sporadically during the early part of this, his rookie season, has been given a shot at the role since early July and he has done very well. He has recorded 12 saves in 13 tries and pitched to a 2.14 ERA in 33.2 innings. His k/bb rate is better than three to one and he has held opponents to a .238 batting average. He has stopped the early season carousel of closer candidates here and made a determined bid to hold the role heading into 2012.

Recommended Pickup

Nick Evans, 1B, Mets - This four-year pro has been battling to stay on the fringes of the Mets roster since 2008. Recently, he has made the most of some consistent playing time to rank among the hitters in the big leagues as he has produced eight hits in his last 19 at bats, including two doubles and a homer. His corresponding 1.160 OPS in the past week is also among the best in the game and should make fantasy owners sit up and take notice of a power bat that has emerged and is a player who may finally have found his way into a prominent and regular role in New York. He has 18 hits in 64 at bats this season and has also earned 12 walks. His only downside is that he would like to cut down on his strikeouts (21).

Other recent recommendations: Tom Milone, Brad Lincoln, J.D. Martinez, Steve Cishek