DFS DIAMONDS

*The following list of players are guys that Ray recommends as daily plays Monday.

CATCHER: Matt Wieters has six hits in 18 at-bats against Chris Archer. With the struggles of Archer, why not take a shot on Wieters who seems to like the nightlife (.310/.394/.483)?

FIRST BASE: Mark Teixeira has a hit in 3-straight games, five hits in total. He returns to Rangers Ballpark where he’s posted a .300/.374/.574 slash line there, in another life of course. He faces Cesar Ramos making just his 11th start of a big league career that began in 2009.

SECOND BASE: Brian Dozier has two homers with four runs and four RBI the last four games, finally breaking out of his early season slump. He’s also hit very well against Danny Salazar going 9-for-18 with two home runs.

THIRD BASE: Kyle Seager has struggled this season but that will stop Monday. Doug Fister is the opponent and Fister has been blasted by lefties this season to the tune of a .367/.387/.774. Blasted.

SHORTSTOP: Righties have five homers against Chris Archer with a .346/.424/.576 slash line. J.J. Hardy has hit .353 against Archer in his career and he’s also hitting .323 with a .966 OPS on the road this season.

OUTFIELD: Nick Markakis is hitting .407 with a .452 OBP over 31 plate appearances against Rick Porcello. Markakis has three homers his last 174 games, not good, but he’s driven in two his last two games and is batting .303 with a .410 OBP this season.

OUTFIELD: Taijuan Walker has struck out only four of 46 left-handed batters this season. Meanwhile Colby Rasmus has hit four homers with 10 RBI the last four games, and he’s only struck out four times in six games.

OUTFIELD: Jon Jay has hit .364 with a .826 OPS against lefties this season. Monday he faces Madison Bumgarner who he’s produced a .455/.500/.727 slash line against in 12 plate appearances.

 

INJURY UPDATES

Michael Brantley is expected to be activated early this week, perhaps Monday, as he thinks he’s physically ready to go after working his way back from shoulder woes. Brantley, who has surgery this offseason, is one of the better hitters in baseball. Never a power threat, it’s questionable how many big flies Brantley will be able to put in the seats this season. In three of his last four seasons though, Brantley hit at least 37 doubles and in each of the last two seasons he’s hit exactly 45 doubles, and we know the guy can get on base (his OBP is over .380 the last two seasons). Expecting a slowish start isn’t unreasonable given his health and how he performed in the minors (.238/.320/.333 over 25 plate appearances). He might also rest a bit at the start making him a rough play this week.

Carlos Carrasco is the big injury news of the day. Sunday he was forced from his game in the third inning with a strained left hamstring. A DL stint is coming. The only question is how much time will the righty miss? Carlos was unable to put any pressure on his leg coming off the field which would seem to signal that it might be more than 15 days before we see Carlos again. Trevor Bauer would appear to be the most logical replacement for Carrasco, just as he was on Sunday. If Bauer performs well, perhaps he can convince the Tribe to keep starting him when Carrasco returns, though Josh Tomlin has performed well thus far.

NOTE: Sounds like Carrasco is likely to miss 4-6 weeks.

Cole Hamels will skip his Monday start due to a sore left groin area. It doesn’t sound like the injury is serious, and Hamels has dealt with something similar before (last year). In each of the last six seasons Hamels has hurled at least 200-innings, and he’s been over 190-innings each of the last eight campaigns. He’s obviously shown an ability to pitch through injury previously.

Billy Hamilton (thumb) was used as a pinch hitter Sunday which means he ain’t headed to the disabled list. Doesn’t sound like most folks care. He’s one of the most vexing players to me because of the public perception of him. Last year he was a top-50 player according to everyone (not me). This year he was still a top-100 player on draft day according to most. Three weeks into the season folks are dropping him everywhere. Huh? I’ve long warned about the pitfalls of Hamilton, but let’s not go overboard here like everyone seems to have done. Hamilton can’t hit, no newsflash there, but he still has elite speed. Assuming he staying in the lineup, and let’s not forget as bad as he’s been that his OPS is actually up .035 points this season, there’s little reason to think that he couldn’t push 50-steals as he has each of the last two seasons. Limited? Yes. Drop worthy? Nope.

Scott Kazmir says he is fine and that he will make his next start despite dealing with an issue between his wrist/thumb since spring training. B.S. This Spring Kazmir made five starts with a 5.51 ERA, 1.84 WHIP and batters hit .347. In four regular season starts he’s posted a 6.63 ERA, 1.42 WHIP and has allowed five homers. He’s impossible to start and at this point it’s fair to consider replacing him on your roster as he’s clearly not right.

Jung Ho Kang has one hit in 15 plate appearances in the minors )Kang has walked four times in his minor league work so perhaps he’s not that far off). Working his way back from that broken leg, his return to the big leagues is immanent, though it appears he’s a bit rusty which is understandable. Kang had a .287/.355/.461 slash line last season. The only shortstop in baseball who qualified for the batting title last season that could match all three of those numbers was… nobody. At third base only Josh Donaldson could match it.

Russell Martin (neck) was out of action Sunday as he continues to battle health woes. He’s likely been battling that for a while given his pathetic .154/.237/.173 slash line. There’s still a top-10 catcher in there, but he’s nowhere to be found right now. Know that he’s not now, nor was he ever, going to replicate the 23 homers, 77 RBI and 76 runs scored from last season. Just wasn’t happening. Look at his 2014 numbers as a guideline – 11 homer, 67 RBI, 45 runs scored – minus the .290 batting average. Hard to drop him unless you are in a one catcher league. Even if you are, might be wise to try and hold him.

Lance McCullers (shoulder) threw a bullpen session Sunday, and he’s off to throw in extended spring action in Florida. "More of a controlled environment in extended spring training, more regular work," manager A.J. Hinch said. "We don't have to worry about weather. We don't have to worry about travel. We just get him in one spot and have a regiment in place." The big question is when will he return to the big leagues? McCullers hurled a game at Double-A on April 11th before suffering a setback that caused the team to slow things down with the righty. Back on the right track, he hopes to do some work for about a week before making another rehab start. So back to the question – when will we see him in Houston? Sounds like two weeks might be the earliest point. I certainly hope that the club leaves Mike Fiers in the rotation and demotes Scott Feldman to the bullpen when the time comes.

Joe Ross will miss his next scheduled start Tuesday versus the Phillies because of a blister. Max Scherzer will move up to start in his place. Ross is expected to miss just one start with the blister. In the long-run he should be fine, and with the Nats concerned about Ross exceeding 180-innings this season it’s fine anyway since Ross will certainly miss a start here and there.

 

Ray Flowers can be heard Monday through Friday, 7 PM EDT and Friday on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 6 PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).