We noted George Springer's injury in this space Thursday, but it's more serious than originally thought. Springer's right wrist is broken, not bruised. According to the Astros' website, "the six-week mark would be the soonest (GM Jeff) Luhnow imagines the club would clear Springer to resume baseball activities." If that's the case, we shouldn't expect to see Springer on the field until somewhere around Sept. 1, and that's if all goes well with his recovery.
Springer is such a good fantasy player that you should try to stash him for your stretch drive if possible. However, if your bench is short, we won't hate you if you need to make the difficult call to cut him. Springer owners looking to replace his power-speed combo as much as possible can target Cameron Maybin (owned in 35.7 percent of FOXSports.com leagues), Dexter Fowler (21.1 percent owned), or perhaps Springer's real-life teammate, Jake Marisnick (6.8 percent owned). Marisnick is currently on a rehab assignment, and should return from his hamstring injury soon.
In other news ...
Thursday's 2015 pitching debuts: Jose Fernandez was solid, while opponent Matt Cain was weak. Matt Moore was his up-and-down self, and Manny Banuelos went toe-to-toe with Max Scherzer before leaving his game in the sixth inning due to dehydration.
Baltimore's Kevin Gausman threw 6 1/3 shutout innings against the Rangers, striking out seven batters. The O's aren't sure if Gausman will get another start, presumably because Bud Norris (6.79 ERA) has compromising photos of high-level people in the organization.
The Yankees say they won't reactivate OF Jacoby Ellsbury (knee) for tonight's game. It might happen Saturday or Sunday, though.
Hot hitter alert: Marlins 1B Justin Bour (0.8 percent owned) has homered in three consecutive games.
Have you ever spent two nights in the hospital due to a stomach bug? Sonny Gray did, but he's out now. Gray's next turn in the rotation is scheduled for Sunday, but the A's aren't sure if he'll be ready.
Twins 3B Miguel Sano batted sixth, hit a single and whiffed twice in his big-league debut. Who wants to bet on Sano taking Jeremy Guthrie deep tonight?
The Rangers have activated RP Neftali Feliz and sent SP Nick Martinez to the minors. According to the Dallas Morning News, the team is looking to limit Martinez's innings, and he'll probably return after the All-Star break.
Cardinals OF Jon Jay (wrist) is on the DL again. Peter Bourjos should get playing time in Jay's place, but Matt Holliday (quad) could be activated as soon as next week.
The Phillies placed SP Aaron Harang (foot) on the DL, and will have open, public tryouts for rotation candidates today. If you throw harder than 70 mph, you've got as good a chance as anyone to be their second starter behind Cole Hamels.
Jeremy Hellickson did a fine job as Thursday's streaming starter. The weekend selections are: Arizona's Chase Anderson (9.2 percent owned) against the Rockies tonight; Oakland's Kendall Graveman (9.3 percent owned) versus the Mariners on Saturday; and the Dodgers' Mike Bolsinger (37.5 percent owned) against the Mets on Sunday.
DFS advice (based on 50/50 games, salaries from DraftKings): Clayton Kershaw ($13,100) is expensive, but there's a good chance the Mets will score negative runs against him ... Anderson is an interesting SP2 at $5,300, as is Oakland's Jesse Chavez ($7,000) ... The Angels, Orioles and D-backs appear to be tonight's best stacking options ... At catcher, we always look to use Josh Phegley ($3,100) vs. a mediocre LHP ... Why would you stop using Phillies 2B/SS Cesar Hernandez ($2,800) when he's averaging 12.33 DK points over his last six games, and has been in double digits in all of them? ... I don't know why Kolten Wong ($4,000) and Matt Carpenter ($3,900) carry such middling prices against Andrew Cashner, but they're both solid plays ... Adam Jones might not be all the way back from his shoulder injury, but he's certainly worth $4,400 vs. John Danks.
See you back here Monday morning.
