ANOTHER CHANGE IN THE 9th INNING

Joe Nathan, who struggled mightily last season and continued those struggles into the pres-season, has been placed on the DL with a elbow flexor strain. Consider me shocked. OK, maybe not. We had Joe Nathan ranked 38th in our final 2015 Fantasy Rankings as we were basically sold on there being little to no chance of Nathan holding on to 9th inning duties all season long for the Tigers. The man we had ranked 31st was... you guessed it... Joakim Soria. Back to Nathan. Brad Ausmus said that Nathan does not have any UCL damage, and the hope is that he will be back in "a few weeks." Ausmus went on to say that while Soria will close for now that Nathan would get the job back when healthy. "That's the plan." I'm still not buying it. Nathan's performance has stunk for a year now, his velocity is down, and now he's starting to have a hard time staying healthy. Still predicting that Soria leads the Tigers in saves. Add him immediately where possible. 

Speaking of the Tigers...

Anibal Sanchez tossed 6.2 scoreless innings against the Twins Wednesday. It's all about health with the righty. When he is "right" he's one of the more effective righties in baseball. His Player Profile is worth a read. 

BATTER NOTES

So much for Billy Burns being a break option early in the year. The A's brought in Cody Ross to face lefties, and to open up a spot on the roster Burns was sent back to Triple-A. I said it earlier this spring, I would have taken Craig Gentry over Burns if pushed to make a call. 

Torii Hunter is batting cleanup for the Twins. Huh? Hunter turns 40 in July. Hunter hasn't hit 20 homers since 2011. The last time he had a SLG of .475 was 2009. Hunter has hit 4th 450 times in his 2,234 game career, but come on. He hasn't been worthy of hitting cleanup since 2007. I would much rather season Kennys Vargas or Oswaldo Arcia in that spot followed by Hunter batting 5th and then the other younger player 6th. 

James Loney heads to the DL with a right oblique strain. He said he was fine. So much for that. Might be time to hit up the like of Kendrys Morales Mitch Moreland if you need a boost in mixed leagues. 

Cameron Maybin is starting for the Braves Wednesday. He's batting 8th. He might run a ton hitting out of that spot, but if that is where the Braves stick him long-term it kills his value. 

Matt Wieters is playing catch every other day for the last week as he tries to get over some tendinitis that developed after Tommy John surgery. There is no timetable for his return but we could be looking at him missing out on the majority of April. If you're looking for a boost at catcher I would suggest Chris Iannetta or Stephen Vogt (if he qualifies at catcher in your league which he may not with only 15 games, and eight starts, at catcher last season). I'm a big fan of Iannetta who should see a lot of work this season given the Angels backstop situation. Iannetta has three seasons of 14 homers and 50 RBIs under his belt, but much like Mike Napoli, he's had a hard time convincing his managers to give him daily work. Chris has never picked up 350 at-bats in a season, ever. Per 400 at-bats though, a number he could reach this season for the first time, Iannetta has hit .236 with 16 homers and 60 RBIs. That will play in most leagues, won't it? Even more interesting in an OBP league is Iannetta with his career .357 mark that he has exceeded each of the last two campaigns (.358 and .373).