Friday Lineup Card: Guerra Gets Back on the Horse

This article is part of our The Lineup Card series.

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Friday's Starters

Reds (Homer Bailey – R) at Cubs (Chris Volstad - R), 2:20
Yankees (Ivan Nova - R) at Red Sox (Clay Buchholz - R), 3:05
Rangers (Matt Harrison - L) at Tigers (Rick Porcello - R), 7:05
Marlins (Carlos Zambrano - R) at Nationals (Ross Detwiler - L), 7:05
Cardinals (Lance Lynn - R) at Pirates (Charlie Morton - R), 7:05
Giants (Barry Zito - L) at Mets (Jon Niese - L), 7:10
Twins (Liam Hendriks - R) at Rays (Matt Moore - L), 7:10
Dodgers (Ted Lilly - L) at Astros (J.A. Happ - L), 8:05
Jays (Kyle Drabek - R) at Royals (Luke Hochevar - R), 8:10
Rockies (Jhoulys Chacin - R) at Brewers (Shaun Marcum - R), 8:10
Braves (Brandon Beachy - R) at Diamondbacks (Trevor Cahill - R), 9:40
Orioles (Brian Matusz - L) at Angels (Jerome Williams - R), 10:05
Indians (Ubaldo Jimenez - R) at Athletics (Graham Godfrey - R), 10:05
Phillies (Cole Hamels - L) at Padres (Edinson Volquez - R), 10:05
White Sox (Chris Sale - L) at Mariners (Hector Noesi - R), 10:10

Day Game After Night Game: NYY

Injuries

Day-to-Day

Justin Upton, OF, AZ (thumb) - Close to returning
Asdrubal Cabrera, SS, CLE (personal) - Expected back April 24
Jon Jay, OF, STL (shoulder) - Left Thursday with strain after crashing into the wall
Lance Berkman, 1B, STL (calf) - Headed for the DL
Michael Cuddyer, OF, COL (toe) - Optimistic for Friday
Juan Uribe, 3B, LAD (wrist) - Out for the second straight day Thursday
Travis Buck, OF, HOU (hamstring) - Back in less than a week
Kerry Wood, RP, CHC (shoulder) - Had cortisone shot and could be ready Friday
Brandon Phillips, 2B, CIN (hamstring) - Playing through lingering pain; bad sign
Joel Hanrahan, RP, PIT (hamstring) - Likely to avoid DL; could be available Friday
Glen Perkins, RP, MIN (forearm) - Scoreless inning Thursday; appears healthy
Coco Crisp, OF, OAK (illness) - Missed Wednesday and Thursday
Nolan Reimold, OF, BAL (neck) - Out Thursday with neck spasms
Drew Smyly, SP, DET (back) - Expects to make Sunday's start against Texas
Andy Dirks, OF, DET (hamstring) - Didn't play Wednesday or Thursday

Disabled List

B.J. Upton, OF, TB (back) - Set to come off DL Friday
Chris Young, OF, AZ (shoulder) - Out 2-3 weeks
Skip Schumaker, 2B, STL (oblique) - Set to be activated Friday
Brian Wilson, RP, SF (elbow) - Tommy John surgery happened Thursday
Tim Hudson, SP, ATL (back) - One more rehab start on tap for Tuesday
Carl Crawford, OF, BOS (wrist) - Homered in extended ST game Wednesday, but still DHing
Franklin Gutierrez, OF, SEA (chest) - Still no timetable
Rich Hill, RP, BOS (elbow) - Looked good in rehab appearance Wednesday
Andrew Miller, RP, BOS (hamstring) - Healthy, but struggling on rehab assignment
Robinson Chirinos, C, TB (concussion) - Moved to 60-day DL
Tsuyoshi Wada, SP, BAL (elbow) - Struggled in first rehab start
Brian Roberts, 2B, BAL (concussion) - Traveling with team; apparently still plays baseball - who knew?
Mike Carp, OF, SEA (shoulder) - Still needs to work in the field before returning
Bobby Cassevah, RP, ANA (shoulder) - Friday and Saturday rehab appearances on tap
David Huff, SP, CLE (hamstring) - Double-A rehab start scheduled for Friday
Brett Gardner, OF, NYY (elbow) - Placed on DL
Grady Sizemore, OF, CLE (back) - Supposed to be cleared for baseball activities next week
Daisuke Matsuzaka, SP, BOS (elbow) - Could start rehab trip soon

Transactions 

Placed on DL

Brett Gardner, OF, NYY (elbow)

Called Up

Cody Eppley, RP, NYY

Claimed off Waivers

Brandon Allen, 1B, TAM (from OAK)

Closer Watch

Pirates - With Joel Hanrahan temporarily on the shelf, Juan Cruz picked up saves Tuesday and Wednesday against his old Diamondbacks team. Unless Hanrahan has a setback, he'll be back quite soon, so there's no need to run out and add Cruz.

Dodgers - Javy Guerra got right back on the horse Thursday after blowing the save his last time out, throwing a perfect ninth with two strikeouts for closeout No. 6 on the year. In a mostly unrelated note, 37-year-old Jamey Wright, he of the 5.0 career K/9, somehow struck out five batters in two innings in that game. Who put all those steroids in the Dodgers' Gatorade? And why isn't James Loney allowed to have any?

Reds - Sean Marshall has seen precious few save chances in the early going, but he got one Thursday and took advantage, working around a single and striking out the side for his second save in two tries.

Orioles - Jim Johnson made it interesting Thursday, allowing a hit and a walk, but he struck out two and is now 6-for-6 in save opportunities with a perfectly delightful 0.00 ERA and somewhat scary 1.35 WHIP. His birds will come home to roost eventually, but really, who's going to take this job from him? Pedro Strop?

Mariners - Brandon League blew one Thursday against Cleveland, giving up his first runs of the year. He's got job security, though, as an established closer with a lot of inexperienced guys surrounding him in the 'pen.

Recommended Pickup

Drew Smyly, SP, DET - Okay, so after you pick up Smyly, don't go rushing him into your lineup for his next start against Texas. Nonetheless, the young lefty is one of the sneakiest pickups around, as the Tigers' 2011 Minor League Pitcher of the Year has struck out eight and allowed just one run in his first 10 MLB innings. There's been some shakiness too - four walks, 11 hits - but Smyly has solid stuff, great composure, and a supporting cast that can really hit the ball. Last year, the 2010 second-rounder put up a 2.07 ERA with a 130:36 K:BB in 126 innings split between High-A and Double-A, so there's both performance and pedigree here.

Other Recent Recommendations: Nolan Reimold, R.A. Dickey, Bryan LaHair, Danny Duffy, Santiago Casilla

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Draft Street Lineup

C - Buster Posey, SF ($5,910)
1B - Eric Hosmer, KC ($6,990)
2B - Jose Altuve, HOU ($6,529)
3B - Brett Lawrie, TOR ($7,211)
SS - Alexei Ramirez, CWS ($5,205)
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UT - Alex Presley, PIT ($5,353)
UT - Lucas Duda, NYM ($4,774)
SP - Chris Sale, CWS ($14,946)
SP - Edinson Volquez, SD ($10,858)
RP - Jonathan Papelbon, PHI ($2,780)
P - Craig Kimbrel, ATL ($2,669)

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