Victor Martinez to the DL

The knee finally got him. V-Mart was sent to the DL with left knee inflammation. Martinez had basically been resting for the past few days, and Monday night he tweaked his knee when he tried to beat out a double-play ball. This is the same knee that was surgically repaired this offseason, and obviously there are huge concerns at the moment given that the Tigers have felt, all along, that a 15-day stint on the DL likely wouldn’t do much to help. Still, with the tweak Monday, and the fact that he’s produced 12 hits in 85 at-bats batting left-handed (.141), Victor simply isn’t helping the Tigers at all. Expect him to be on the DL for longer than 15 days, so you need to be making other plans for your 1B/UT spot as Martinez is a mess right now with no signs that sunshine is about to break through the clouds. To take his roster spot the Tigers called up outfielder Tyler Collins who was hitting .248 with a .639 OPS at Triple-A. Yippee. Looks like Rajai Davis will see an uptick in playing time with Collins likely being a bench bat.

Wil Myers ISN'T OK

Myers has a sprained wrist, and the hope was that he would be back in action Tuesday. Well, manager Bud Black told MLB Network Radio that the club will need to make a decision with Myers soon - and that decision was him being placed on the DL Tuesday afternoon. Myers has scored 28 runs while hitting five homers and batting .291 in an excellent start to his big league career with the Padres. Look for Wil Venable to have some short-term value as a mixed league addition with signifcant playing time until Myers is back (Abraham Almonte will also see some work as well).

Jayson Werth to the DL

The wrist issue that is effecting Werth caused him to be placed on the DL by the Nationals (retroactive to May 16th). There is no ligament damage according to an MRI, but he’s going to need some time to heal. For now, Michael Taylor figures to pick up a lot of playing time. Taylor has tremendous skills, he hit 23 homers with 37 stelas in just 110 minor league games last season, and through 119 big league at-bats Taylor has four homers and four steals with a .740 OPS. He’s worth a pickup in deep mixed leagues if you’re looking for a short-term fill-in. Still, if the outfield is healthy in Washington, Taylor is the clear cut 4th outfielder.


JOSE REYES MAKING EXCUSES ALREADY

Jose Reyes has been out since April 27th because of a cracked rib, and listen to the quote he dropped Tuesday. "I'll probably have to deal with it all season," said Reyes. Well that’s not great at all. Can’t really deal Reyes at this point, what the heck would you get from him, so you’re kind of stuck holding on to him. He hopes to return to the bigs by the end of the month.

MARINERS ADD CATCHER

The Mariners got a backup for Mike Zunino Tuesday when they picked up Welington Castillo in exchange for reliever Yoervis Medina who heads to the Cubs. The 28 year old catcher is a competent if unspectacular hitter as over 1,006 big league at-bats he has a .717 OPS (.252/.320/.398) and he hits lefties pretty darn well (.296/.364/.466). Still, he’s really nothing more than an AL-only add at the moment who figures to play consistently, if not at a high rate. Zunino is a good defensive backstop, though his offensive game is woeful at the moment. I mean, the guy’s batting .195 over his last 544 at-bats. He does have 27 big flies in that time, but he’s just not hitting righties (.185/.252/.368) killing his fantasy value as well.
 

LAST TWO WEEKS

Jason Kipnis is batting .444 with 12 runs scored.

Brandon Belt has 13 runs in 12 games.

Eric Hosmer has 14 RBIs in 13 games. Kris Bryant has the same total.

Edwin Encarnacion has five homers. Bryce Harper only has nine. Harper is also batting .512 over his last 12 games.

Yadier Molina is batting .412.

Coco Crisp has a .228 OPS.

Jake Marisnick has a .372 OPS.

Evan Gattis has a .397 OPS.

Hanley Ramirez has a .480 OPS.

Ian Desmond has a .560 OPS. His season long mark is .642. His career mark is .743.

 

Ray Flowers can be heard Monday through Friday at 7 PM EDT on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 7 PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).