The Lineup Card: Mini-Ellsbury

This article is part of our The Lineup Card series.

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Projected Starters- A look at Friday's matchups (all times Eastern):
Marlins (Clay Hensley - R) at Phillies (Roy Oswalt - R), 7:05
Yankees (A.J. Burnett - R) at Orioles (Tommy Hunter - R), 7:05
Royals (Felipe Paulino - R) at Indians (Ubaldo Jimenez - R), 7:05
Rays (James Shields - R) at Blue Jays (Henderson Alvarez - R), 7:07
Braves (Tim Hudson - R) at Mets (Chris Capuano - L), 7:10
Nationals (Chien-Ming Wang - R) at Reds (Dontrelle Willis - L), 7:10
Athletics (Gio Gonzalez - L) at Red Sox (Tim Wakefield - R), 7:10
Angels (Dan Haren - R) at Rangers (Derek Holland - L), 8:05
Cubs (Rodrigo Lopez - R) at Brewers (Randy Wolf - L), 8:10
Tigers (Rick Porcello - R) at Twins (Scott Diamond - L), 8:10
Pirates (James McDonald - R) at Cardinals (Jake Westbrook - R), 8:15
Padres (Wade LeBlanc - L) at Diamondbacks (Josh Collmenter - R), 9:40
Rockies (Esmil Rogers - R) at Dodgers (Ted Lilly - L), 10:10
White Sox (Jake Peavy - R) at Mariners (Charlie Furbush - L), 10:10
Astros (J.A. Happ - L) at Giants (Madison Bumgarner - L), 10:15

Day Game After a Night Game: None

Injuries - A brief look at players that have been missing time with minor ailments and their expected returns.

Day-to-Day (includes players expected to make their return from the DL)

Ronny Paulino, C, NYM (toe) - Being examined in NY; may have fractured toe, but could avoid DL even so
Alfonso Soriano, OF, CHC (forearm) - Out Thursday after Wednesday HBP
Ryan Theriot, SS, STL (hamstring) - Out again Thursday
Colby Rasmus, OF, TOR (wrist) - Out Thursday; DL possible if soreness continues
Alex Gordon, OF, KC (elbow) - Took a pitch to the elbow Wednesday; out Thursday
B.J. Upton, OF, TB (shoulder) - Out for third straight game Thursday
Adam Jones, OF, BAL (chest) - Out Thursday due to chest pains
Danny Valencia, 3B, MIN (dental work) - Wisdom tooth out, so no go Thursday
Joe Mauer, C, MIN (neck) - Was available off the bench Thursday, but didn't play
Miguel Cabrera, 1B, DET (personal) - Back Friday after kid is born
Brennan Boesch, OF, DET (thumb) - Left Wednesday's game with injury and out Thursday
Carlos Quentin, OF, CHW (shoulder) - Will miss weekend series; DL still possible
Scott Downs, RP, LAA (hamstring) - Expected to be available this weekend

Players on the DL

Tommy Hanson, SP, ATL (shoulder) - Back in Atlanta to get examined again
Sergio Escalona, RP, HOU (elbow) - Placed on DL with tendinitis
Manny Parra, RP, MIL (elbow) - Will have surgery to replace an old screw in his elbow
Ryan Ludwick, OF, PIT (back) - Placed on DL with spasms
Francisco Liriano, SP, MIN (shoulder) - Placed on DL after hurting himself in Thursday start
Kevin Youkilis, 1B, BOS (back) - Could be back when eligible Sept. 2
Bobby Jenks, RP, BOS (back) - Will start rehab assignment Saturday, weather permitting
Adrian Beltre, 3B, TEX (hamstring) - Won't be cleared for rehab assignment 'til at least Saturday
Jose Reyes, SS, NYM (hamstring) - Playing five innings Thursday in Double-A; looking at Monday return

Transactions - Players that have been demoted, called up, traded, released, you name it. We'll cover it here.

Called Up
Omir Santos, C, DET
Scott Diamond, SP, MIN
J.A. Happ, SP, HOU

Sent Down
Josh Lindblom, RP, LAD
James Darnell, 3B, SD
Pat Neshek, RP, SD
Aaron Thompson, SP, PIT
Pedro Ciriaco, 3B, PIT
Darin Mastroianni, OF, TOR
J.B. Shuck, OF, HOU

Placed on DL
Francisco Liriano, SP, MIN

Activated from DL
Kenley Jansen, RP, LAD
Chase D'Arnaud, SS, PIT
Alex Presley, OF, PIT

Closer Watch - A closer look at intriguing ninth-inning situations (check out our Closer Grid with the link to the left).

Giants - With Brian Wilson still shelved, Santiago Casilla got the call Wednesday, and he preserved Tim Lincecum's one-run lead for his first save of the year. Casilla isn't quite the guy while Wilson's on the DL, though, as Ramon Ramirez, Jeremy Affeldt and Javier Lopez will get their chances. In short, this is a mess for fantasy purposes.

Cubs - Carlos Marmol nailed down his 11th save in 12 chances and No. 30 on the year Wednesday with a clean inning and two strikeouts. Now if only he could stop with the occasional implosions.

Marlins - Steve Cishek relieved Edward Mujica after the latter, given the save opportunity, gave up a two-run homer Wednesday against the Reds, and Cishek nailed down the last two outs, no problem, for save No. 2. Leo Nunez got the day off due to having given up nine runs in his last three outings. Nunez is still the closer, but Cishek, Mujica, Mike Dunn and Jose Ceda are all steadily gaining on him.

Mets - Bobby Parnell collected his first save of the year Wednesday, working around a couple walks in a scoreless ninth in Philadelphia and touching 102 on the radar gun. He's still expected to share duties with Jason Isringhausen, which is just ridiculous. There's no need for Izzy to be closing for the Mets at all for the rest of the year.

Key Matchups

Recommended Pickup

Peter Bourjos, OF, LAA - The widely unowned spark plug has been doing his best mini-Ellsbury lately, tearing it up to the tune of a .359/.405/.667 line with five homers and three steals in the month of August. Things are gonna get more complicated in the Angels' outfield with the recall of Mike Trout, but with the way Bourjos has been hitting, it's tough to imagine it'll be at his expense, especially because his defense keeps him in the lineup as well.

Other recent recommendations: Jose Tabata, Alex White, Ramon Ramirez, Mike Trout, Stephen Strasburg

DraftStreet Lineup

C - Geovany Soto, CHC ($5,017)
1B - Adam Lind, TOR ($7,781)
2B - Howie Kendrick, LAA ($6,754)
3B - Ryan Zimmerman, WAS ($7,737)
SS - Starlin Castro, CHC ($6,075)
OF - Hunter Pence, PHI ($7,139)
OF - Matt Kemp, LAD ($8,219)
OF - Drew Stubbs, CIN ($5,202)
UT - Jason Kubel, MIN ($4,814)
UT - Johnny Giavotella, KC ($4,666)
SP - Madison Bumgarner, SF ($12,430)
SP - Roy Oswalt, PHI ($10,433)
RP - Jose Valverde, DET ($2,858)
P - Jake Peavy, CHW ($10,549)

Total: $99,695

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