Thursday Lineup Card: Boesch Bashers

This article is part of our The Lineup Card series.

Sponsored by DraftStreet

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

Blue Jays (Ricky Romero - L) v. Royals (Luke Hochevar - R) 4:10
Diamondbacks (Josh Collmenter - R) v. Pirates (Jeff Karstens - R) 7:05
Red Sox (Josh Beckett - R) v. Yankees (CC Sabathia - L) 7:05
Cubs (Randy Wells - R) v. Phillies (Kyle Kendrick - R) 7:05
Mariners (Doug Fister - R) v. Tigers (Justin Verlander - R) 7:05
Braves (Jair Jurrjens - R) v. Marlins (Chris Volstad - R) 7:10
Cardinals (Jaime Garcia - L) v. Astros (J.A. Happ - L) 8:05
Mets (Jon Niese - L) v. Brewers (Yovani Gallardo - R) 8:10
A's (Trevor Cahill - R) v. White Sox (Mark Buehrle - L) 8:10
Rangers (Derek Holland - L) v. Twins (Nick Blackburn - R) 8:10
Dodgers (Clayton Kershaw - L) v. Rockies (Juan Nicasio - R) 8:40
Nationals (Livan Hernandez - R) v. Padres (Aaron Harang - R) 10:05
Reds (Johnny Cueto - R) v. Giants (Madison Bumgarner - L) 10:15

Day Game After Night Game: TOR/KC

Injuries

Day-to-Day
Nolan Reimold, OF, BAL - (neck) - spasms will keep him out of the lineup for a couple of days
Bobby Jenks, RP, BOS - (back) - scheduled for precautionary MRI on Wednesday
Jed Lowrie, SS, BOS - (shoulder) - dull ache lingering for last 10 days; awaiting results of MRI
Ramon Santiago, SS, DET - (forearm) - may miss a couple of days before he can play without pain
Nick Blackburn, SP, MIN - (back) - threw bullpen session on Tuesday; scheduled to start on Thursday
Denard Span, OF, MIN - (illness) - lingering neck stiffness and dizziness will keep him out a couple of days
Mark Teixeira, 1B, NYY - (knee) - surprise starter Wednesday after being hit by pitch on Tuesday
Jorge Posada, DH, NYY - (personal) - his 11-year old son is facing cranial surgery and Jorge will be with him
Evan Longoria, 3B, TB - (illness) - immune system may need a day or two to recover
Endy Chavez, OF, TEX - (foot) - experiencing soreness and swelling in left foot
Matt Harrison, SP, TEX - (upper body) - has yet to pass a kidney stone
Yunel Escobar, SS, TOR - (quadriceps) - left Tuesday's game with stiffness in the limb
Edgar Renteria, SS, CIN - (back) - will travel with Reds to SF for weekend series
Scott Rolen, 3B, CIN - (illness) - dealing with strep throat
Jimmy Rollins, SS, PHI - (knee) - likely return to lineup in a day or two
Allen Craig, OF, STL - (knee) - bruised knee after running into outfield wall on Tuesday
Jayson Werth, OF, WAS - (ankle) - late scratch on Tuesday; should start in a day or two
Jerry Hairston Jr., SS, WAS - (back) - right side and lower back spasms

Players on the DL
Junichi Tazawa, RP, BOS - (elbow) - tossed three scoreless innings for High-A Salem on Monday
Travis Hafner, DH, CLE - (oblique) - hopes to take batting practice this weekend
Magglio Ordonez, OF, DET - (ankle) - expects to rejoin Tigers on Thursday
Bruce Chen, SP, KC  - (back) - scheduled to start Wednesday at Double-A
Kyle Davies, SP, KC - (shoulder) - scheduled to pitch Wednesday at Double-A
Jason Kendall, C, KC - (shoulder) - took batting practice for first time this season; aims to be back in a month
Kevin Slowey, SP, MIN - (abdomen) - began a throwing program in Fort Myers
Glen Perkins, P, MINN - (oblique) - threw bullpen session on Tuesday and will repeat later in the week
Brandon Beachy, SP, ATL - (oblique) - threw bullpen session on Wednesday; still faces a rehab stint
Nate McLouth, OF, ATL - (oblique) - eligible to come off DL; may take a couple of days to be game-ready 
Jason Heyward, OF, ATL - (shoulder) - may start swinging the bat on the weekend
Reed Johnson, OF, CHI-N - (back) - assigned to Triple-A Iowa for rehab stint
Jeff Baker, 2B, CHI-N - (groin) - begins a rehab assignment on Thursday at Triple-A Iowa
Alfonso Soriano, OF, CHI-N - (quadriceps) - will begin a rehab assignment on Sunday
Homer Bailey, P, CIN - (shoulder) - begins a rehab assignment on Saturday at Triple-A Louisville
Aroldis Chapman, P, CIN - (shoulder) - sent to Double-A Carolina for rehab assignment
Matt Daley, P, COL - (shoulder) - MRI confirms nothing more than an inflammation; rest will be the tonic
Brandon Lyon, RP, HOU - (shoulder) - registered second straight scoreless Triple-A outing
Jonathan Broxton, RP, LAD - (elbow) - scheduled for bullpen session on Thursday after good Tuesday session
Vicente Padilla, P, LAD - (neck) - out indefinitely with bulging disk
Kenley Jansen, P, LAD - (shoulder) - begins rehab assignment with Double-A Chattanooga on Thursday
Brian Schneider, C, PHI - (hamstring) - may begin rehab assignment next week
Brad Lidge, RP, PHI - (shoulder) - targeting a return around the All-Star break
Nick Hundley, C, SD - (oblique) - to be re-evaluated after fourth straight rehab game in Tucson
Barry Zito, SP, SF - (foot) - looked good in first of three rehab starts for High-A San Jose
Mike Fontenot, 2B, SF - (groin) - will begin running and taking batting practice next week
Pablo Sandoval, 3B, SF - (wrist) - homered for Triple-A Fresno on Tuesday, may rejoin Giants on weekend

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

Called Up
Mike Carp, OF, SEA
Cord Phelps, CLE, 2B

Sent Down
Mike Wilson, OF, SEA
Shelley Duncan, OF, CLE
Omir Santos, C., DET

Placed on DL
Alex White , P, CLE (finger - moved from 15 day to 60 day DL)
Jake Peavy, SP, CHI- A (groin)
Brett Anderson, SP, OAK (elbow)
Dexter Fowler, OF, COL (abdomen)
Eric Chavez, 3B, NYY (foot - moved from 15 day to 60 day DL)

Activated from DL
Vernon Wells, OF, ANA
Marco Scutaro, SS, BOS
Phil Coke, SP, DET

Claimed off Waivers
Jeff Marquez, P, NYY (from CWS)

Closer Watch

Toronto - The flip-flop in the back end of the Jays' pen continues, largely due to the continuing ineffectiveness of projected closer Frank Francisco. He has not had a clean, hit-free outing in his last seven appearances and has a 6.06 ERA over 16.1 innings of work. His struggles have once again opened the door for Jon Rauch, who has recorded two saves and allowed only one run in his last five appearances. More impressive than these two options is Octavio Dotel, who has allowed one hit and no walks in his last five appearances, while striking out four batters in those 4.1 innings of work. It's anybody's guess as to who will get the next save opportunity here.

Pittsburgh - The Pirates are hovering around the .500 mark for the first time in the color tv era (not quite, though it seems that way to long-suffering fans) and much of the credit for this new-found competitiveness is a lock-down closer in Joel Hanrahan. The big righty (6'4", 245 lbs) who had middling success in a similar role with the Nationals earlier in his career has been rock solid for the Bucs this season. He has converted 15 of 16 save opportunities and boasts an impressive 1.63 ERA in 27.2 innings of work.

Washington - Though he was knocked around for three earned runs on two hits and two walks in two-thirds of an inning last Sunday, Nats closer Drew Storen can point to four very impressive outings in the early days of June. Most recent among them was a quick six-pitch inning to earn his 12th save of the year on Tuesday night. If you need help at the back of your pen, don't ignore a pitcher on a perceived second-rate club because he will earn his share of saves, too. His 2.59 ERA in 31.1 innings of work marks an impressive beginning to the 2011 season.

Boston - Despite registering his 200th career save in 227 opportunities, and doing so in dramatic fashion with a strikeout of Alex Rodriguez last Tuesday, the little whispers are getting louder around Jonathan Papelbon. He now sports an ugly 4.50 ERA over 26 innings pitched and that bloated figure is not based on one bad outing. In fact, he has surrendered runs in five of his last seven appearances. That trend needs to be stopped if he expects to maintain the closer role in Beantown through the end of this season.

Recommended Pickup

Brennan Boesch, OF, DET - This young slugger has registered 12 hits in his last five games (22 at bats) yet is starting in fewer than half of the fantasy leagues out there right now. There is a lot to like about this big (6'4", 235 lbs) left-handed power hitter. He is on pace to improve on all of his core numbers from a decent rookie season and he is well-protected in this veteran-filled batting order. A 20+ homer, 90+ RBI season is not out of the question. Don't wait on him if he's still available in your pool.

Other recent recommendations: Charlie Morton, Dee Gordon, Freddie Freeman, Adam Kennedy, Brian Matusz

Draft Street Competition

If you missed out on our recent free roll with DraftStreet, don't worry - we have another chance for you to take home some serious cash.

Register for a free account at DraftStreet.com today and start practicing. Remember to use bonus code Rotowire on your first deposit to get some extra cash released into your account as you play.

As a reminder, the competition will be an MLB Salary Cap league where values for each player are set based on projected fantasy value each day and your mission is to find the bargains and make the best 14 player team possible within the $100,000 budget.

Be sure to come back to RotoWire's Daily Lineup Card every day for all the analysis you need to dominate the competition and take home cash on DraftStreet.

Draft Street Lineup

C – Jonathan Lucroy, MIL ($5,723)
1B – Prince Fielder, MIL ($7,394)
2B - Robinson Cano, NYY ($8,271)
3B – Alex Rodriguez, NYY ($7,397)
SS – Troy Tulowitzki, COL ($6,776)
OF – Coco Crisp, OAK ($7,693)
OF – Ichiro Suzuki, SEA ($5,994)
OF – Carl Crawford, BOS ($5,679)
UTIL – Carlos Gonzalea, COL ($5,045)
UTIL – Eric Hinske, ATL ($4,117)
SP – Yovani Gallardo, MIL ($14,437)
SP – Madison Bumgarner, SF ($9,427)
RP – Ryan Madson, PHI ($2,759)
P – Doug Fister, SEA ($9,173)

Total: $99,885

Register for a free account at DraftStreet.com and start playing daily fantasy sports games today!