San Francisco Giants outfielder/first baseman LaMonte Wade Jr. (hamstring) tweaked his hamstring in the ninth inning on Friday evening and will be getting a day off to recover on Saturday. As a result, Wilmer Flores will play first base and bat in the fifth hole. Wade Jr. has been one of the best all-around hitters throughout the young part of the season. He is currently placed in the top 98th and 96th percentile with a .416 xwOBA and .312 xBA, respectively. In addition, he currently holds a 20.4% walk rate, which is the best in baseball. This injury does not seem serious, so Wade Jr. could rejoin the starting lineup on Sunday. Flores is probably best to fade this afternoon in DFS as he enters Saturday with a poor.215 AVG and .207 xBA as he will face Luis Severino who has allowed just one run or less in four in just under half of his starts this season.

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Kansas City Royals second baseman Michael Massey (back) is being held out of the starting lineup on Saturday against the Tampa Bay Rays after injuring his back on Friday night in the series opener. Massey left Friday's 8-1 win in the sixth inning with lower-back tightness and will be held out as a precaution for the second game of the series. Fantasy managers should consider the 26-year-old second baseman to be day-to-day for now. The good news is that he went 2-for-3 with a three-run home run before departing. Veteran Adam Frazier is starting at the keystone on Saturday and is hitting sixth against Rays right-hander Aaron Civale. Massey is in the midst of a fine season so far, batting .294 (30-for-102) with six home runs, 23 RBI and 17 runs scored for the upstart Royals. Check back on Sunday to see if he's in the starting lineup.

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When asked if relief pitcher Edwin Diaz could receive a ninth-inning opportunity on Saturday against the visiting San Francisco Giants, New York Mets manager Carlos Mendoza said, "He's our closer." However, Mendoza also referred to Diaz as "one of our options" and said "we'll piece it together." This comes after the skipper recently said last Sunday that Diaz's bullpen role would be more "fluid" given his recent struggles. The 30-year-old flamethrower allowed a season-high four earned runs on four hits (one homer) in just one-third of an inning last weekend but struck out two in a scoreless inning on Friday against the Giants for his second hold of the year. Diaz has already blown three saves in 2024 and hasn't recorded a save since May 6, but the Mets could work him back into the role if he can settle down and stack a few more good outings together.

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Milwaukee Brewers left-hander Jared Koenig is serving as the opener against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park on Saturday for the second straight day. Koenig will be followed by starter Colin Rea this time around. Koenig joins Zack Greinke as the only Brewers pitchers to start consecutive games. In his "start" in Friday's series opener in Beantown, Koenig allowed a hit and a walk and struck out one in two-thirds of an inning before giving way to right-hander Bryse Wilson. The 30-year-old southpaw won't go very long again in Saturday's contest and isn't a realistic fantasy streaming option. Rea, meanwhile, will still be worth considering as a deep-league streamer despite not actually starting this game. In his nine starts for the Brew Crew this year, he's gone 3-2 with a solid 4.07 ERA (4.67 FIP) and 1.39 WHIP while walking 17 and striking out 35 in 48 2/3 innings.

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The Tampa Bay Rays placed outfielder Josh Lowe (oblique) on the 10-day injured list (retroactive to May 23) on Saturday with a right-oblique strain and reinstated right-hander Chris Devenski (knee) from the 15-day injured list in a corresponding move. It will be the second time this year already that Lowe has been put on the IL, and fantasy managers should expect him to miss more than 10 days given the nature of his injury. The 26-year-old left-handed hitter left Wednesday's game early against the Boston Red Sox with right-side tightness, and an MRI exam on Thursday showed a dreaded oblique strain. Lowe's power/speed upside makes him worth stashing in all fantasy formats again while he's hurt. In the meantime, the biggest beneficiary in Tampa's outfield with Lowe hurt will most likely be Jonny DeLuca.

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Baltimore Orioles outfielder Cedric Mullins and infielder Jorge Mateo are both sitting out of the lineup on Saturday against the Chicago White Sox. Kyle Stowers will draw into the lineup in left field and will hit eighth, while Ramon Urias will play third base and bat ninth against White Sox right-hander Erick Fedde. Rookie Colton Cowser shifts over to center field and will hit sixth in the batting order. Mullins' fantasy stock continues to fall after going hitless on Friday to drop his season line to .195/.242/.336, although he does have six home runs, 20 RBI and 10 stolen bases in 149 at-bats for the O's. Stowers has only played in seven games in his third big-league season in 2024 and has gone 2-for-8 with an RBI and three strikeouts. He represents a low-upside DFS option near the bottom of the Baltimore batting order on Saturday.

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The Chicago White Sox reinstated rookie infielder Bryan Ramos (quadriceps) from the 10-day injured list on Saturday and optioned outfielder Zach DeLoach to Triple-A Charlotte in a corresponding move. Ramos, the team's No. 5 prospect per MLB Pipeline, is starting at third base and is batting sixth for the White Sox in his return from the IL on Saturday against the visiting Baltimore Orioles and right-hander Albert Suarez. The 22-year-old is returning from a mild left-quadriceps strain and should continue to play regularly moving forward for the rebuilding White Sox. In his first 10 contests in the big leagues, the Cuban infielder has held his own, going 9-for-32 (.281), although he has yet to hit his first home run. In two minor-league rehab starts with Charlotte, he went 2-for-4 with a run scored and two walks.

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Detroit Tigers first baseman Spencer Torkelson is not in the team's starting lineup on Saturday versus the visiting Toronto Blue Jays. Mark Canha will get the start at first base for Detroit and will bat third in the lineup against Blue Jays right-hander Jose Berrios. Torkelson is due for a day off after going hitless in 16 at-bats in his last five games to drop his season line to .207/.279/.330. The former first overall pick in 2020 out of Arizona State also has homered just three times in 188 at-bats so far this year while driving in 17 and scoring 21 runs for the Tigers. In the month of May, he's gone 15-for-77 (.195) with all three of his homers, six RBI and 18 strikeouts in 84 plate appearances over 21 games. Canha does have a solo homer in seven career at-bats against Berrios and could be a DFS sleeper despite his .226 average (37-for-164) in 2024.

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Toronto Blue Jays catcher Danny Jansen is taking the day off on Saturday in Detroit with the team taking on the Tigers. With Jansen riding the pine, Alejandro Kirk will step in to catch right-hander Jose Berrios while batting sixth against Tigers right-hander Reese Olson. Jansen got a late start to the 2024 season due to injury, but he didn't let the late start get to him, as he's currently hitting .313 (25-for-80) with five home runs, 13 RBI and 16 runs as he shares playing time with Kirk at catcher in Toronto. He has 18 hits in 54 at-bats (.333 average) in the month of May with three homers and 11 RBI. Kirk, meanwhile, hasn't been nearly as reliable for fantasy managers with a .207/.297/.287 slash line with just one long ball and 13 RBI in his 87 at-bats.

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Cleveland Guardians first baseman Josh Naylor went 1-for-4 with a solo home run and a walk in Friday's 10-4 win over the Angels. The home run was Naylor's 13th of the season, and with his career-high Barrel% of 11.6% he's on pace to eclipse his career-high home run mark of 20 set in 2022. The former first-round draft pick got off to a hot start this season, slashing .321/.387/.605 over his first 22 games but has gone cold the past month despite continuing to hit home runs, slashing just .183/.294/.441 over the last 26 games. Still, overall he's having a solid season, collecting 35 RBI and 27 runs scored with a .358 wOBA and 135 wRC+.

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Los Angeles Angels outfielder Jo Adell went 1-for-4 with a solo home run in Friday's 10-4 loss to the Guardians. The 435-foot blast was Adell's 10th of the year and sixth in his last 14 games, however, it seems he's traded power for average. The 25-year-old hit .327 in April with four home runs, but just .169 in May with six long balls. While Adell has improved his strikeout rates considerably over years past, the former first-round draft pick has had at least one strikeout in 13 straight games and is striking out at a 28.4% rate in May, as compared to 20.7% in April. Hopefully he can maintain his power-hitting going forward and start hitting for average again too, as he was looking like a fantastic early-season waiver pickup.

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Los Angeles Angels catcher Logan O'Hoppe went 2-for-4 with a home run in Friday's 10-4 loss to the Guardians. The homer was his fifth of the season, his second in the last three games, and it was the third multi-hit performance in his last five. The 24-year-old has been solid this season, posting a .263-5-24-19-0 line with a .325 wOBA and 109 wRC+. He sits right around the Top-12 for fantasy at the catcher position, although managers hoping for a true breakout have been underwhelmed so far after the backstop belted 14 home runs in just 182 at-bats with a 15.6% Barrel% last season (152 AB, 8.8% Barrel% in '24).

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New York Yankees starting pitcher Carlos Rodon pitched six innings of shutout ball in Friday's 8-0 win over the Padres. The lefty allowed just three hits and three walks while striking out two. It was the 31-year-old's fourth straight quality start, improving his record to 6-2 and lowering his season ERA to 2.95. The veteran also has a good 1.18 WHIP, although fantasy managers who were hoping for a return to 33% strikeout rates are surely disappointed. His K-BB% of 14.8% is more in line with 2023's disastrous season, although slightly better as the southpaw has reduced his BB% by more than 2%. Rodon has also lowered his HR/FB% from 15.2% to 10.3%, which has contributed to his success this season. The 2x All-Star will draw the Angels in his next start in Anaheim on Thursday.

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Houston Astros starting pitcher Justin Verlander struck out nine batters and picked up the win in Friday's 6-3 victory over the Athletics. The veteran scattered eight hits and hit a batter over six innings of work while walking none. It was the 41-year-old's fourth quality start in seven starts and a nice bounce-back game after giving up four runs in four-and-two-thirds-innings pitched. The righty is now 3-2 on the season and owns a 3.60 ERA, 1.23 WHIP, and a 12.6% K-BB%. Verlander gets a mouthwatering matchup with Seattle his next turn through the rotation on Thursday. The Mariners have the fourth-lowest team batting average on the season and have the most strikeouts in the entire league.

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St. Louis Cardinals starting pitching prospect Tink Hence struck out a season-high 13 batters on Friday across six shutout frames. Hence has been one of the best arms in Double-A this season and is on the brink of moving up to Triple-A. Through 45 innings at Double-A, he has struck out 59 batters with a 2.76 ERA and 1.07 WHIP. His ERA is a bit inflated due to one poor outing where he allowed six earned runs. The top prospect in St. Louis is projected to reach the major leagues this season, according to MLB Pipeline, which means a promotion to Triple-A could be right around the corner. Hence is a top-10 right-handed pitching prospect and is worth stashing in dynasty leagues.

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Oakland Athletics outfielder Miguel Andujar made his long-awaited season debut on Friday, going 3-for-4 with two RBI in a 6-3 loss to the Astros. Andujar is returning from a torn meniscus he suffered just prior to the beginning of the season. The 29-year-old had a strong showing in spring training, going 15-for-42 (.357) with five home runs and didn't strike out even one time. He also had a strong rehab stint where the right-handed hitter went 7-for-18 (.389) including four doubles and struck out just twice. If Andujar can find regular playing time and continue to hit, he could be a worthy waiver-add in fantasy, however, he's played no more than 45 games in a season since 2018. That season, the Dominican hit .297 with 27 home runs for the Yankees.

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Chicago Cubs outfield prospect Kevin Alcantara went 4-4 at the plate on Friday with a double, one RBI, and a stolen base. Alcantara entered this game, hitting a mere .200/.286/.280 line over the past week. This is the 21-year-old first true look at Double-A pitching, as he only appeared in five games at this level last year. This season he holds a solid .248/.298/.376 line with four home runs three stolen bases, but a poor 10:37 BB:K ratio. Alcantara has showcased his strong power and speed combination in the minor leagues before, with a 15/14 season at Single-A in 2022 and a 12/15 season at High-A last year. He is projected to join the major league roster next season but may have a difficult time finding a steady opportunity as the Cubs have three established outfielders on their roster and top prospect Pete Crow-Armstrong, who is expected to be the center fielder of the future. Nonetheless, Alcantara could be worth adding in dynasty leagues if he joins Triple-A Iowa this summer.

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Cleveland Guardians catcher David Fry continued his hot hitting in a 10-4 win over the Los Angeles Angels on Friday. Fry went 2-for-3 with a homer, two walks, two runs, and an RBI in the winning effort. The 28-year-old has been one of the Guardians' most unexpected producers this season as he's hitting .360 with six homers, 22 runs, 19 RBI, and three steals over 86 at-bats while playing all over the diamond. Fry has been red-hot of late, hitting .556 with three homers, eight runs, and seven RBI over his past seven games. Whether the veteran is able to produce consistently over an entire MLB season remains to be seen but Fry is worth a spot on all fantasy rosters until he slows down.

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Milwaukee Brewers right-hander Bryse Wilson turned in an excellent outing in his team's 7-2 win over the Boston Red Sox on Friday. Wilson entered the game in relief with two outs in the first inning and wound up matching his career-high with seven strikeouts in the game. He finished with two earned runs on six hits over 5 1/3 innings to earn the win. Wilson now has a 3-1 record, 2.86 ERA, 1.16 WHIP, and 38 strikeouts over 13 appearances (six starts). The veteran right-hander doesn't have big strikeout numbers but he's shown the ability to suppress the opposing team's run production, making him worth a look as a streaming option in deeper leagues moving forward.

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Detroit Tigers right-hander Jason Foley got the final out of a 6-2 win over the Toronto Blue Jays to earn the save on Friday. With runners on first and third, Foley needed just three pitches to induce a Danny Jansen groundout to secure the win for his team. The 28-year-old has been steady at the back of the Detroit bullpen this season, posting a 2-1 record, 2.41 ERA, 1.34 WHIP, and 16 strikeouts over 18 2/3 innings of work while converting 11 of his 12 save opportunities. While he doesn't post big strikeout numbers, Foley has fantasy value as Detroit's primary closer moving forward.

From RotoBaller