INDIANS OUTFIELD UPDATE

Michael Brantley will not be ready to play on Opening Day, his shoulder just isn’t ready. "He wasn't bouncing back quite as well," manager Terry Francona said. "I'm not really sure we expected him to be pushing it this much, this quick.” Brantley should be back in April, doesn’t sound like that has changed, but he’s starting the year on the DL. How well will he be able to drive the ball when he returns? That’s an open ended question. That situation has led to Tyler Naquin being named to the roster. Naquin could start the year as the starter in center field after hitting .300 with 13 steals in the minors last season. There’s no mixed league love here, but in AL-only leagues he’s now someone to throw more than a buck at. If he hits while in there, it’s possible that the man who will lose out once Brantley is healthy is the aging Rajai Davis.

TWINS ROTATION UPDATE

According to Rhett Bollinger, Tommy Milone appears to be a “lock” for the Twins’ rotation. That means the clubs fifth starter will either be Ricky Nolasco or Tyler Duffey. That’s because the cheap-ass Twins, yeah, I said it, chose to demote Jose Berrios to the minors. Terrible choice. Milone was really good last season given expectations as he posted a 3.92 ERA and 1.27 WHIP, but he’s always been a league average arm with career numbers of a 3.97 ERA and 1.30 WHIP. Toss in the below league average strikeout rate of 6.46 per nine and he’s a very boring fantasy arm – an AL-only target.

RAYS ROTATION UPDATE

The Rays have a bunch of off days early in the year which means that they may not need their fifth starter much in April. That has the sound of limiting the value early of Erasmo Ramirez. If it happens, don’t panic. Erasmo is still a nice, under-the-radar option in mixed leagues. Did you know that over his last 158 innings in 2015 that he went 11-5 with a 3.02 ERA and 1.04 WHIP? Erasmo was a terrific option on the bump last season even with a 6.84 K/9 ratio over those 158 innings. 

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HEALTH UPDATES

Ryan Braun is still bothered by his back. He isn’t feeling much better and though there is no doom and gloom coming from the team this is a decidedly scenario that is taking shape. He’s dropping in the Fantasy Alarm Rankings by the day.

Odubel Herrera will return from his finger injury Friday. There was a line of thought that was trending toward this issue being a significant burden for Herrera, but as is he missed less than two weeks. He will wear a finger guard but it sounds like he’s good to go. Still not a huge fan, not expecting growth, but it doesn’t sound like his health will be the reason he fails to improve.

Will Smith has a knee issue and it’s a growing concern. "It's a little concerning, because there's some swelling in his knee and we have 10 days to go," said manager Craig Counsell. "He's going to see a doctor and we'll know more then. But he's limping around, so we'll see." With each passing day it’s starting to look more and more like Jeremy Jeffress will open the year as the Brewers closer.

C.J. Wilson (shoulder) is not ready to return to throwing for at least a week. He’s not someone to even pay attention to in mixed leagues, and at this point he’s not worth more than a reserve round selection in AL-only leagues.

BATTING ORDER LOVE

It’s the time of year that we hear stories about where guys might hit in the lineup in the coming seasons. Here’s a list of players that seem likely to land in fantastic spots in the batting order.

Adonis Garcia, 4th, Braves

Sounds like Garcia might hit cleanup between Freddie Freeman and Nick Markakis. “I’m tinkering, you know?” manager Fredi Gonzalez. “Just so we can break up those left-handers a little bit. In a perfect world I would like to have a right-hander hitting behind Freeman. I like to separate those lefties. And I think that Garcia is a guy who’s capable of being able to scare the opponent a little bit.” Garcia, who will play third base, is already 30 years old but as a “rookie” he socked 10 homers with a robust .497 SLG last season. He only walked five times in 198 plate appearances which is hideous, it led to a .293 OBP, but it sounds like he has a shot to hit cleanup which is a huge boost to his outlook. Have to think, long-term, that the Braves would love to have Hector Olivera hit 4th, but for now Adonis appears to be the man.

Jean Segura, 1st, D’backs

Segura has holes in his game, see his Player Profile, but it sounds like he will bat leadoff to begin the year for the Diamondbacks after his smoking spring start (.523 over 44 at-bats). Couldn’t be in a better spot to reach his potential.

Justin Upton, 2nd, Tigers

Always loved this guy. Hitting second, ahead of Miguel Cabrera and J.D. Martinez is simply money. Upton may run a bit less, you don’t want to be running into outs with those boppers behind you, but batting second makes ya excited. Have to think he will get more fastballs, hurlers won’t be interested in putting him on base with off-speed stuff, and Upton has had success against heaters with a .274 batting average, .496 SLG and .222 Isolated Power mark the past three seasons on the fastball.

 

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).