Saturday Lineup Card: Unheralded Prospect Gets Call to A's

This article is part of our The Lineup Card series.

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Saturday's Starters

Mariners (Felix Hernandez – R) at Yankees (Hiroki Kuroda – R), 1:05
Blue Jays (Ricky Romero – L) at Athletics (A.J. Griffin – R), 4:05
Rangers (Scott Feldman – R) at Royals (Will Smith – L), 6:10
Diamondbacks (Joe Saunders – L) at Phillies (Roy Halladay – R), 7:05
Indians (Ubaldo Jimenez – R) at Tigers (Doug Fister – R), 7:05
Marlins (Mark Buehrle – L) at Nationals (Jordan Zimmermann – R), 7:05
Angels (Ervin Santana – R) at White Sox (Gavin Floyd – R), 7:10
Orioles (Wei-Yin Chen – L) at Rays (Jeremy Hellickson – R), 7:10
Astros (Lucas Harrell – R) at Braves (Paul Maholm – L), 7:10
Twins (Cole De Vries – R) at Red Sox (Clay Buchholz – R), 7:10
Pirates (James McDonald – R) at Reds (Mike Leake – R), 7:10
Brewers (Mark Rogers – R) at Cardinals (Adam Wainwright – R), 7:15
Giants (Madison Bumgarner – L) at Rockies (Jeff Francis – L), 8:10
Mets (Jeremy Hefner – R) at Padres (Edinson Volquez – R), 8:35
Cubs (Chris Volstad – R) at Dodgers (Clayton Kershaw – L), 9:10

Injuries

Day-to-Day
Mike Aviles, SS, BOS (toe) – Back in the lineup Friday.
Josh Beckett, SP, BOS (back) – Will miss his start Sunday but team optimistic he'll rejoin rotation next week.
Michael Cuddyer, OF, COL (oblique) – Held out of lineup Friday.
Frank Francisco, RP, NYM (lat) – Activated from DL Friday but now dealing with a sore right lat.
Rafael Furcal, SS, STL (back) – Back in the lineup Friday against the Brewers.
Yadier Molina, C, STL (thumb) – Back in the lineup Friday against the Brewers.
Mike Moustakas, 3B, KC (knee) – Not in lineup Friday with knee soreness but expected back Saturday.
Joe Nathan, RP, TEX (rest) - Not used in Friday's game and could be rested for the entire weekend after struggling in recent outings.
Steve Pearce, 1B, HOU (undisclosed) – Scratched from Friday's lineup.
Aramis Ramirez, 3B, MIL (wrist) – Was scratched from Friday's lineup after receiving a cortisone shot for sore left wrist.
Justin Ruggiano, OF, MIA (back) – Sat out both games of Friday's doubleheader.
Chris Sale, SP, CWS (dead arm) – Will move up to start Monday against the Royals.
Michael Saunders, OF, SEA (leg) - Not in lineup Friday but injury not considered serious. Could be back Saturday.
Mark Teixeira, 1B, NYY (wrist) – Returned to lineup Friday.

Disabled List
Jhoulys Chacin, SP, COL (chest) – Pitched four innings for Double-A Tulsa in his second rehab start.
Dee Gordon, SS, LAD (thumb) – No longer wearing cast.
Ted Lilly, SP, LAD (shoulder) – Scratched from rehab start at High-A Rancho Cucamonga.
David Ortiz, DH, BOS (Achilles) – Will not play in the team's series this weekend.
Trevor Plouffe, 3B, MIN (thumb) – Felt pain while swinging Thursday and is unlikely to rejoin the Twins before the end of the team's road trip.
Wilson Ramos, C, WAS (knee) – Now walking without crutches.
Brian Roberts, 2B, BAL (hip) – Had successful surgery Friday to repair labral tear.
Johan Santana, SP, NYM (ankle) – Will make a rehab appearance in the minors Sunday or Monday. Not available for next week's series with Marlins.

Transactions

Called Up
Cory Burns, RP, SD
Ezequiel Carrera, OF, CLE
Brad Hand, SP, MIA
Chris Hatcher, RP, MIA
John Lannan, SP, WAS
Pat Neshek, RP, OAK
Derek Norris, C, OAK
Evan Reed, RP, MIA
Will Rhymes, 3B, TB
Shane Robinson, OF, STL
B.J. Rosenberg, RP, PHI
Mickey Storey, RP, HOU
Dan Straily, SP, OAK
Michael Taylor, OF, OAK

Sent Down (Triple-A unless otherwise noted)
Dan Jennings, RP, MIA
Jim Miller, RP, OAK
Evan Scribner, RP, OAK

Activated from DL
Andy Dirks, OF, DET
Frank Francisco, RP, NYM

Placed on DL (15-day unless otherwise noted)
Lance Berkman, 1B, STL
Francisco Cordero, RP, HOU
Seth Smith, OF, OAK

Traded
Joe Blanton, SP, from PHI to LAD
Chris Devenski, SP, from CWS to HOU
Garrett Mock, P, from BOS to HOU
Pat Neshek, RP, from BAL to OAK
Kurt Suzuki, C, from OAK to WAS
David Freitas, C, from WAS to OAK

Designated for Assignment
Johnny Damon, OF, CLE
Don Kelly, OF, DET
Carlos Maldonado, C, WAS
Kip Wells, SP, SD

Released
Wil Nieves, C, COL

Signed
Dewayne Wise, OF, CWS (minor league deal)

Closer Watch

Minnesota – Glen Perkins recorded a rogue save for the Twins in a 5-0 victory over the Red Sox, tossing two scoreless innings and striking out three. It was his sixth save of the season, but he continues to share opportunities with Jared Burton. Although his six saves outpace Burton's three, Perkins' left-handedness might ultimately confine him to situational matchups more often. Even so, the conversation is rather moot with save opportunities hard to come by for the 45-60 Twins.

Washington – Drew Storen's return from the DL sent many fantasy owners running to the waiver wire to add him in anticipation that he'd take back closer duties from Tyler Clippard, but Clippard continues to patrol the ninth inning. He pitched a scoreless ninth Thursday to record his 21st save of the season and his fifth since Storen returned. After surrendering two or more runs in three consecutive outings July 17-20, Clippard has given up just one run on one hit and four walks over six innings since. If he can avoid another rash of blown saves, he could stick as the closer until the season concludes despite Storen's presence.

Recommended Pickup

Dan Straily, SP, OAK – The digital age has been a godsend for baseball organizations in how they track their minor league prospects. The rise in available video footage and finely-detailed scouting reports, among other things, has made the job infinitely easier for management to keep tabs of the top players in their organization and others', making it extremely rare to overlook even the fringiest of prospects. Yet that's exactly what happened with Straily, who has left many observers channeling their inner Pete Townshend, demanding "Who Are You?"

Despite racking up a 154:40 strikeout-to-walk ratio at High-A Stockton last season, the 23-year-old righthander wasn't listed among the top 30 prospects in the Oakland organization by Baseball America going into 2009. Another highly-esteemed baseball man, Kevin Goldstein of Baseball Prospectus, didn't rank Straily in the team's top 20. Rest assured, Straily is now on every scout's radar after earning a call-up to Oakland by racking up 175 strikeouts (tops in all of professional baseball) across Double-A and Triple-A this season.

Straily boasts a four-pitch repertoire, usually settling at a velocity in the low-to-mid 90s, all while demonstrating pinpoint control. These skills should translate well to pitcher-friendly O.co Coliseum, where he made his MLB debut Friday against the Blue Jays. Though he might have a few rough patches early on, Straily is expected to be a reliable four-category contributor, with his most useful asset being his high strikeout rate. He needs to be owned in all AL-only formats, though a more prudent approach should be used in shallower mixed leagues.

Other recent recommendations:Josh Rutledge, Carlos Gomez, Greg Holland, Wade LeBlanc and Todd Frazier

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Draft Street Lineup
C: Chris Iannetta, LAD ($5,359)
1B: Ryan Howard, PHI ($4,263)
2B: Danny Espinosa, WAS ($5,788)
3B: Todd Frazier, CIN ($6,604)
SS: Mike Aviles, BOS ($5,153)
OF: Matt Kemp, LAD ($10,091)
OF: Carl Crawford, BOS ($7,842)
OF: Andre Ethier, LAD ($7,207)
U: Ben Zobrist, TB ($6,712)
U: Emilio Bonifacio, MIA ($5,331)
SP: Mark Buehrle, MIA ($8,607)
SP: Paul Maholm, ATL ($12,385)
RP: Ernesto Frieri, LAA ($1,688)
P: Wei-Yin Chen, BAL ($12,888)

Total: $99,898

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