Hey, it's another prospect callup! The Marlins have promoted 23-year-old lefty Andrew Heaney, who will make his first big-league start on Thursday against the Mets. Heaney, who was ranked as Baseball America's 30th-best prospect coming into the season, had a 2.47 ERA with a 1.10 WHIP across Double A and Triple A this season, striking out 79 batters against 15 walks in 76 2/3 innings.
The book on Heaney is that he has good stuff with very good control/command, and the latter makes him less likely to fall on his face in the short term. A friendly home ballpark and some weak NL East lineups are reasons to consider Heaney in 12-team mixed leagues, depending on who you'd have to drop in order to fit him on your roster. As always, you shouldn't get too excited about a rookie starter, but this one has a decent chance to hit the ground running.
One more thing: The Marlins say that Heaney will not necessarily need to be shut down before reaching his approximate limit of 170 innings. He might have some starts spaced out a bit, but he should be able to take just about every turn between now and the end of the season.
On to the rest of the news:
Last night's stud: Donnie Murphy hit two home runs for the Rangers. Murphy has fantasy eligibility at 2B/3B and isn't a bad hitter, but he plays mainly against lefties, and that's not often enough.
Last night's dud: Justin Verlander ... still not good. I don't really know what to tell you if you own Verlander and his 4.98 ERA. Keep hanging on, cross your fingers, etc. You can't cut him yet, can you?
Orioles C Matt Wieters will have Tommy John surgery today. His season is over.
Indians OF Michael Brantley left Monday's game after getting hit in the head while sliding into second base. Brantley passed all concussion tests after the game, but you've gotta consider him iffy for tonight.
Juan Oviedo got Monday's save for the Rays, and his fellow bullpen committee members - Grant Balfour, Joel Peralta and Jake McGee - all entered the game before the ninth inning. Oviedo is owned in 0.2 percent of FOXSports.com leagues and might get more saves in the near future, but I don't think he'll run away with the job.
Tigers OF Torii Hunter left Monday's game with a hamstring injury, and is day to day.
The Marlins have placed OF Christian Yelich (back) on the DL. Jake Marisnick (.264 BA, 6 HR, 17 SB at Triple A) was called up to take Yelich's roster spot, and had two hits, a run and two stolen bases on Monday. If you need speed, Marisnick can probably help you for awhile, though his .710 OPS and horrible walk rate in the minors suggest that his bat isn't quite ready.
Diamondbacks SP Bronson Arroyo (elbow) is on the DL for the first time in his career, and it might be an extended stay. Tommy John surgery is apparently a possibility.
Streaming starters: Brandon McCarthy was solid on Monday, so we're up to 43-32 for the season. Today's pick is Mariners' lefty Roenis Elias (19 percent owned) versus the Padres, while Wednesday's selection is Edinson Volquez (2.6 percent owned) against the underachieving Reds. Volquez has allowed three runs or less in each of his last five starts.
Seven one-hit innings for hard-throwing Red Sox SP Rubby De La Rosa, huh? Hmm ...
Mariners 1B Justin Smoak (quad) hopes to start a rehab assignment on Wednesday, so he could be days away from reactivation.
So, the Mets reactivated OF Eric Young Jr. from the DL before last night's game, and then batted him ninth, behind the pitcher? Here's the explanation, if you're interested in someone explaining a gimmick.
Remember what we said here yesterday about Carlos Martinez not having an extended outing in his Monday spot start? Martinez threw 59 pitches in four scoreless innings before coming out of the game.
Dodgers SP Chad Billingsley will have elbow surgery (again), and is done for the season (again).
Check out Ken Rosenthal's tribute to Tony Gwynn when you get a chance, because it's really good. RIP to a great hitter and - from what everyone says - a great person.
My colleague Ryan Fowler offered this note about Gwynn:
See you back here tomorrow morning.
