Friday Lineup Card: End Of A Rivera

This article is part of our The Lineup Card series.

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Friday's Starters

Dodgers (Chad Billingsley – R) at Cubs (Paul Maholm – L), 2:20
Rangers (Colby Lewis – R) at Indians (Jeanmar Gomez – R), 7:05
Reds (Johnny Cueto – R) at Pirates (Kevin Correia – R), 7:05
White Sox (Jake Peavy – R) at Tigers (Drew Smyly – L), 7:05
Phillies (Kyle Kendrick – R) at Nationals (Stephen Strasburg – R), 7:05
Orioles (Wei-Yin Chen – L) at Red Sox (Jon Lester – L), 7:10
Diamondbacks (Wade Miley – L) at Mets (Dillon Gee – R), 7:10
Athletics (Tyson Ross – R) at Rays (David Price – L), 7:10
Cardinals (Kyle Lohse – R) at Astros (Lucas Harrell – R), 8:05
Yankees (CC Sabathia – L) at Royals (Bruce Chen – L), 8:10
Braves (Tim Hudson – R) at Rockies (Guillermo Moscoso – R), 8:40
Blue Jays (Henderson Alvarez – R) at Angels (Ervin Santana – R), 10:05
Marlins (Josh Johnson – R) at Padres (Anthony Bass – R), 10:05
Twins (Carl Pavano – R) at Mariners (Jason Vargas – L), 10:10
Brewers (Zack Greinke – R) at Giants (Tim Lincecum – R), 10:15

Day Game After Night Game: None

Injuries

Day-to-Day

Ryan Braun, OF, MIL (Achilles) – Has soreness, but doesn't seem likely to miss much time
Mariano Rivera, RP, NYY (knee) – Suffered a torn ACL; could be career-ending, but awaiting confirmation
Andrew McCutchen, OF, PIT (stomach) – Removed Thursday due to queasiness
B.J. Upton, OF, TB (quad) – Expects to be back in Friday
Justin Morneau, 1B, MIN (wrist) – Could play Friday, but likely a few more days
Nick Swisher, OF, NYY (hamstring) – Sounds like he'll be back middle of next week
Jemile Weeks, 2B, OAK (groin) – Has tightness, but expected back in Friday
Adam LaRoche, 1B, WAS (oblique) – Will miss a few more days at least
Travis Hafner, DH, CLE (knee) – Held out Thursday
Rajai Davis, OF, TOR (hip) – Felt better Thursday, but didn't play
Andy Dirks, OF, DET (hamstring) – Pinch-hit Wednesday

Disabled List

Dan Hudson, SP, AZ (shoulder) – Feeling good; bullpen early next week
Cory Luebke, SP, SD (elbow) – May miss only two starts and return May 13
Chris Young, OF, AZ (shoulder) – Hit again Thursday
Chase Utley, 2B, PHI (knee) – Will join team to rehab with trainer; still a while off
Sergio Santos, RP, TOR (shoulder) – Hopes to return in about two weeks
Brett Gardner, OF, NYY (elbow) – Will hit in the cage Friday and take BP Saturday
Lance Berkman, 1B, STL (calf) – Took BP Wednesday, but not close to returning
Jorge De La Rosa, SP, COL (elbow) – Threw three innings in Thursday rehab outing; early June ETA
Daisuke Matsuzaka, SP, BOS (elbow) – Tentatively scheduled to start again Monday in Triple-A
Doug Fister, SP, DET (ribs) – Reportedly feels great and appears on track to return Monday
Takashi Saito, RP, AZ (calf) – Throwing again; no timetable
Jesse Crain, RP, CHW (oblique) – Won't return when eligible Sunday; possibly weeks yet
Jeremy Guthrie, SP, COL (shoulder) – Played catch Thursday; could start Tuesday
Miguel Cairo, 3B, CIN (hamstring) – Headed to A ball for rehab
Logan Forsythe, 2B, SD (foot) – Cleared to play in extended spring training

Transactions

Placed on DL

Pablo Sandoval, 3B, SF (hand)
Yuniesky Betancourt, SS, KC (ankle)
Eric Chavez, 3B, NYY (concussion)

Activated from DL

Ryan Dempster, SP, CHC
Kerry Wood, RP, CHC

Optioned to Triple-A

Jhoulys Chacin, SP, COL
Scott Maine, RP, CHC
Randy Wells, SP, CHC
Jose Iglesias, SS, BOS
Mike MacDougal, RP, LAD (DFA)
Jose Lopez, 2B, CLE (outrighted)

Called Up

Brooks Conrad, 2B, MIL
Carlos Torres, RP, COL
Irving Falu, 2B, KC
Conor Gillaspie, 3B, SF
Jayson Nix, 3B, NYY
Aaron Cook, SP, BOS

Traded
Ernesto Frieri, RP, LAA (from SD)
Alexi Amarista, 2B, SD (from LAA)

Closer Watch

Yankees – Mariano's out with the torn ACL, likely for the season and possibly forever. David Robertson appears to be the first man on the scene here, but Rafael Soriano will get consideration as well. Still, Robertson has been perhaps the best setup man in baseball for the last year-plus, so it seems only natural that he'd be the successor to Mo. Yankee fans just probably didn't expect the succession to happen quite so soon, but as we've seen in Game of Thrones, even the greatest king can fall at a moment's notice.

Cubs – Carlos Marmol laid another egg on Thursday, and now there's talk of him perhaps being replaced by a committee of Rafael Dolis and James Russell. Russell is more of a situational lefty, while Dolis – though young – is not exactly closer material with his 4:8 K:BB in 15.1 innings this year. That's right – he has twice as many walks as strikeouts. Kerry Wood could eventually figure into the mix as well if Marmol doesn't figure things out. However, look for Chicago to get Marmol back to throwing his fastball more; my guess is his absence from the closer role will be a brief one in which he's berated repeatedly for throwing 3-0 sliders.

Nationals – Henry Rodriguez, fresh off a disaster his last time out, nailed down the D-Backs in order on Thursday for his sixth save. He's starting to settle into the role, although Drew Storen will probably still return to closing (though perhaps not immediately) when he returns around midseason.

Marlins – The door opened for Edward Mujica on Thursday, as he allowed one hit in a scoreless ninth for his first save since 2009. Don't rush out to make the add, as the night before, Heath Bell got himself pulled and Steve Cishek pitched two innings of relief. Cishek is still the betting man's handcuff for Bell.

David Robertson, RP, NYY – This one's too easy. With Rivera out, Robertson is the likely successor, as noted above. He was dominant last year and he still hasn't given up a run in 11 innings (while striking out 18) this season. Robertson's one of those rare guys who not only gets a chance to step into a full-season closing job, but can be an elite closer essentially immediately. It's not a terrible idea to hedge your bets with Rafael Soriano if it works for you from a roster standpoint, but he hasn't been nearly as good.

Other Recent Recommendations: Johnny Damon, Patrick Corbin, James McDonald, Allen Craig, Mike Trout

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Draft Street Lineup

C: Brian McCann, ATL ($7,726)
1B: Freddie Freeman, ATL ($7,661)
2B: Jason Kipnis, CLE ($7,371)
3B: David Wright, NYM ($9,069)
SS: Jose Reyes, MIA ($6,896)
OF: Michael Bourn, ATL ($6,784)
OF: J.D. Martinez, HOU ($6,920)
OF: Jason Heyward, WAS ($8,093)
UT: Brett Lawrie, TOR ($6,771)
UT: Bryce Harper, WAS ($6,453)
SP: Drew Smyly, DET ($10,967)
SP: Anthony Bass, SD ($10,610)
RP: Sean Marshall, CIN ($2,061)
P: Henry Rodriguez, WAS ($2,346)

Total: 99,728

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