July 22^nd 2013:

Hitting Injuries News and Notes:

Dodgers outfielder Matt Kemp was removed from the ninth inning of Sunday’s game because of a mild ankle injury. This is getting quite ridiculous for Kemp, as it seems he has a new injury every time he comes off the disabled list. Grady Sizemore anyone? More news will be available in the coming days about Kemp, but for now owners obviously need to take a wait and see approach.

Tampa Bay Rays outfielder Wil Myers was held out of Sunday’s game with a sore wrist. He has nine hits in his last 17 at-bats and 14 for his last 28. If the wrist becomes a problem for Myers we can expect him to begin slumping soon.

It seems the wrist injury is making its way around the league as Oakland outfielder Yoenis Cespedes and White Sox second baseman Gordon Beckham missed their respective games on Sunday with a sore wrist. For Beckham, this is a new development, unlike Cespedes who was dealing with this on Saturday as well. Beckham is expected to miss a few days according to Scott Merkin of MLB.com.

Pitching Injuries News and Notes:

Kansas City Royals pitcher James Shields took a comebacker off his shin in his start against Detroit. According to the Kansas City Star, Shields believes his sore thigh won’t prevent him from making his next start.

A follow up on Paul Maholm, Atlanta Braves starting pitcher, he will have his wrist examined by a team specialist today according to the Atlanta Journal Constitution. We still firmly believe though that Maholm should be dropped in all mixed leagues shallower than 15 teams, regardless of the results of the wrist examination. In similar news, Brandon Beachy has been considered as an option to start on Thursday, in addition to Alex Wood.

Now for some good news for a Major League Baseball team, San Diego Padres pitcher Jason Marquis has been placed on the 15-day disabled list with “afraid his ERA will continue to regress to his expected ERA and xFIP levels”. While many believe that is the reason he is on the DL, MLB.com has other ideas; they are calling it a right elbow strain.

Texas Rangers starting pitcher Yu Darvish returns today and will start against the Tigers. He is coming off the disabled list, and should be started in all formats.

Chicago Cubs manager Dale Sveum said Pedro Strop could slide into the closer role if they trade Kevin Gregg. This is according to Gordon Wittenmyer of the Chicago Sun-Times.

Three Up:

Kelly Johnson went 3-4 with a solo home run against the Blue Jays on Sunday. He is now 8-12 with five runs and two solo home runs in his last three games.

Brett Gardner went 3-4 against the Red Sox, scoring a run, driving in a run, and stealing a base. Gardner has back to back three hit games now, and has four steals in his past six games. and five in his past eight games.

Shane Victorino returned to the Red Sox lineup after a day off nursing a hamstring injury. He went 2-5, but most importantly he stole two bases. If his hamstring was at all a concern for either him or John Farrell, Victorino wouldn’t have received the green light to steal not one but two bases. If healthy, he can provide a lot of speed. The problem has been he just can’t stay on the field. He has four steals in his past four games.

Three Down:

Pedro Alvarez is at it again, as he went 0-4 on Sunday and his now hitless in his past 17 at-bats. This is just what Alvarez does. He’s extremely streaky, and his batting average is now down to .240. He’s still been incredibly valuable so far though, with 24 home runs on the year.

Justin Ruggiano went 0-4 on Sunday and is now on an amazing streak of 24 hitless at-bats and also has one hit in his last 38 at-bats. The Marlins outfielder is simply just a home run and steals threat and will never hit for batting average, thanks to the fact that he can only hit the fastball.

Giancarlo Stanton went 0-4 on Sunday and is now hitting .175/.356/.316 in July.

Stream-Em:

Ivan Nova @ Tex | vs. Yu Darvish | 38.1 percent owned

Tom Gorzelanny vs. SD | vs. Andrew Cashner | 11.2 percent owned

Samuel Deduno @ LAA | vs. Joe Blanton | 1.9 percent owned

Scott Feldman @ KC | vs. Wade Davis | 34.0 percent owned

Leave-Em:

Dillon Gee vs. ATL | vs. Julio Teheran | 7.0 percent owned