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Red Sox OF Hanley Ramirez bruised his left hand last Wednesday when he got hit by a line drive. The team seemed to think the injury was minor, but Ramirez didn't play all weekend, and he left the team's road trip to return to Boston for an MRI. It sounds like a DL stint might be needed, and we'll probably know more later today.
If you want to replace Hanley, look no further than his real-life replacement, Alejandro De Aza, who has hit three homers in four games since Ramirez exited the lineup. De Aza is owned in just 1.1 percent of FOXSports.com leagues.
In other news ...
Do you think we saw enough AMAZIN' MATZ or MEET THE MATZ headlines yesterday? Not that they were bad, but they were everywhere. The New York Post's STEVEN BATZ was somewhat clever. Anyway, here's a link to Sunday's Mets' boxscore. The Mets' lefty is up to 36.9 percent ownership in FOXSports.com leagues.
It sounds like Rays LHP Matt Moore (Tommy John surgery) will come off the DL to make his 2015 debut on Thursday or Friday. Jake Odorizzi (oblique) is scheduled for a Thursday rehab start, and to keep him on regular rest for a return next Tuesday, Moore might start Friday. Moore is owned in 14.8 percent of FOXSports.com leagues and had a 2.95 ERA with 24 strikeouts against eight walks in 21 1/3 innings during his rehab stint. Moore has big strikeout potential, and even though bad control gets him in trouble, I'd try to catch lightning in a bottle and pick him up if I needed a pitching boost. I'll admit to some personal bias, as I once saw a 21-year-old Moore whiff 11 batters in five innings during a Triple-A game. His stuff can be electric.
Remember when we though Matt Kemp might never hit another home run? He has five this month, along with a respectable .754 OPS. Kemp has also whiffed 31 times with just four walks in June. Far from perfect, but not terrible. Hold Kemp if you own him, but don't get tempted to buy low if you think you still can.
Jays' rookie Roberto Osuna got a four-out save on Sunday. He's not still available in your league, right?
The Orioles are planning to call up Kevin Gausman to start Thursday's game, but it's unclear if he'll stay in the rotation.
The Cubs have placed SP Tsuyoshi Wada (shoulder) on the DL, and hope to get rookie Jorge Soler (ankle) back this weekend after a brief rehab assignment.
The White Sox will skip Carlos Rodon's next start. Figure that he'll be back on the mound Sunday or Monday (but hopefully not Monday, since the opponent would be the lefty-killing Blue Jays).
Streaming starter update: Alex Colome wasn't very impressive on Friday, Jeremy Hellickson got knocked around while whiffing eight batters on Saturday, and Mike Fiers looked strong on Sunday. Tonight's pick is Oakland's Kendall Graveman (5.9 percent owned) against the Rockies. Over his last four starts, Graveman has a 1.86 ERA, with 23 strikeouts against five walks in 29 innings.
DFS advice (based on 50/50 games, salaries from DraftKings): No aces throw tonight, so Graveman looks good at $6,200. Your other reasonable options seem to be Lance McCullers ($7,7000), Nathan Karns ($7,100) and Mike Leake ($6,900). I'll try Karns against the struggling Indians ... Whatever pitchers you use, there will be plenty of money for good bats. Your best stacks appear to be the Orioles, Angels and Dodgers, but I'd never argue with the Blue Jays ... If Chris Iannetta ($3,200) plays, he's a strong and cheap start against CC Sabathia ... If you don't want to pay at 1B, use Adam Lind ($4,300) vs. the Phillies ... Astros 2B/3B Luis Valbuena ($4,400) isn't a bad play against Joe Blanton ... Angels 3B David Freese ($3,700) is a bargain against Sabathia ... Carlos Correa is up to $5,300, huh? Pass. Jose Reyes ($4,500) looks better ... My favorite inexpensive OF is Yankee Chris Young ($3,500) in his matchup with C.J. Wilson. Young should bat near the top of the order tonight ... Guys I'd pay up for with my extra money are Trout, Goldschmidt, Braun, Bautista.
See you back here tomorrow morning.
