Arizona Diamondbacks outfielder Pavin Smith will take a seat on Saturday afternoon, facing Washington southpaw Mitchell Parker. Fantasy managers should expect Smith to return to the starting nine on Sunday afternoon when they face Washington right-hander Brad Lord. Smith has typically hit the bench when facing left-handed pitchers. Instead, Randal Grichuk will get the starting nod as a designated hitter. Through the first seven contests of the regular season, Smith has held a .313/.450/.500 slash line with three doubles and a 4:9 BB:K. Last season, Smith was very productive against right-handed pitching, as he posted a strong .282/.356/.564 line. Grichuk is worth a look as an option in DFS competitions, facing Parker, who held a 4.29 ERA last season.

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Baltimore Orioles catcher Adley Rutschman and first baseman Ryan O'Hearn are not in the starting lineup on Saturday afternoon when they face the Kansas City Royals. Rutschman will receive a maintenance day as he has started in each of the first eight games of the regular season. During the start of the campaign, Rutschman has held a .258/.343/.484 line with one double and two round trippers. He will cede catching duties to Gary Sanchez this afternoon. O'Hearn has not tallied a hit in each of his past two contests and will leave the designated hitter spot open for Gunnar Henderson. Ramon Urias will enter the lineup and cover the hot corner as well. Fantasy managers should expect Rutschman to return to the lineup on Sunday, facing southpaw Kris Bubic. However, O'Hearn will likely continue to ride pine as he typically sits against left-handed pitching.

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New York Yankees infielder Oswaldo Cabrera is not in the starting lineup on Saturday afternoon when the Yankees continue a series against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Instead, the Yankees will give Oswald Peraza the starting nod at the hot corner. Fantasy managers should expect Cabrera to return to the starting lineup on Sunday afternoon. Cabrera has started in six of the first seven games of the regular season. He has seen time at the hot corner and the outfield. Across the opening week, Cabrera has held a .316/.381/.316 slash line with no extra-base hits. He has brought in four runs and scored twice. This afternoon. Peraza will bat in the eight-hole and is worth a look as a budget play in DFS batting in a potent Yankee lineup facing Pittsburgh left-hander Bailey Falter.

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Arizona Diamondbacks shortstop Geraldo Perdomo will bat at the top of the order on Saturday afternoon against the Washington Nationals. With Ketel Marte (hamstring) hitting the 10-day injured list, the Diamondbacks will move Perdomo up to the top of the batting order. This is surprising as Corbin Carroll has also seen time as a leadoff hitter this season and throughout his career. Fantasy managers should continue to monitor Perdomo's deployment as he could have increased short-term value batting in the leadoff spot. Through the early part of the campaign, Perdomo has posted a strong .379/.375/.552 slash line with two doubles and one home run across eight contests. This afternoon, he carries value in DFS formats facing Washington southpaw Mitchell Parker.

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New York Yankees outfielder Cody Bellinger (back) remains out of the starting lineup on Saturday when the Yankees continue a series against the Pittsburgh Pirates. Bellinger was unable to play in the series opener due to back stiffness. Fantasy managers should continue to monitor his status leading up to Sunday's contest. As a result, Trent Grisham will remain in the starting lineup and cover center field. He will bat ninth. The Yankees acquired Bellinger in the offseason via trade from the Chicago Cubs. Through his first six games in the Bronx, Bellinger has tallied five total hits, with one home run and six RBI. Grisham has tallied four hits over his past two contests and holds an overall .462 AVG through the opening week of the campaign. He is a sneaky value play in DFS facing Pittsburgh southpaw Bailey Falter.

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San Diego Padres outfielders Gavin Sheets and Jason Heyward are not in the starting lineup on Saturday afternoon, as the Chicago Cubs will send left-handed pitcher Matthew Boyd to the mound. Fantasy managers should expect both Sheets and Heyward to return to the starting lineup on Sunday when they face scheduled starter right-handed pitcher Ben Brown. Instead, the Padres will have Yuli Gurriel serve as the designated hitter for Sheets and Brandon Lockridge to cover left field in favor of Heyward. Sheets has enjoyed an impressive start to the campaign, hitting a .421 AVG with five RBI across seven contests. Both Gurriel and Lockridge are not worth targeting in DFS facing Boyd, who tossed five shutout frames in his season debut.

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Chicago Cubs catcher Miguel Amaya is not in the starting lineup when the Cubs continue a series against the San Diego Padres on Saturday afternoon. Instead, Carson Kelly will be behind the dish and bat in the nine-hole. Amaya has been given the starting nod in six of their first 10 regular-season contests. During the start of the season, Amaya has held a .250/.250/.417 line with four doubles (six hits) and seven RBI. Fantasy managers should expect Amaya to return to the starting nine on Sunday afternoon. Kelly has enjoyed an impressive start to his Cubs tenure. On March 31, the veteran backstop hit for the cycle and brought in five RBI. This afternoon, Kelly will have a tough matchup against San Diego right-hander Nick Pivetta, who did not allow a run in his first outing of the campaign.

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The Arizona Diamondbacks are promoting infield prospect Tim Tawa to the major leagues. In a corresponding move, the team is placing second baseman Ketel Marte (hamstring) on the 10-day injured list. Tawa has enjoyed an impressive start to the Triple-A regular season and is being rewarded with an early promotion. Through the first six games of the Triple-A regular season, the 25-year-old has posted a stellar .391/.462/.957 line with two doubles and three home runs. Last season, Tawa made his Triple-A debut and held a strong .304/.376/.616 line with 10 doubles and 11 long balls across 37 contests. The Stanford is worth picking up in deeper formats for the time being, as he could carve out a role at the keystone while Marte is sidelined. Garrett Hampson could also see opportunities, but given how well Tawa has been swinging a bat, the team may opt to ride the hot hand.

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Minnesota Twins infielder Brooks Lee (back) has made good progress in his recovery and will begin participating in scrimmage games. Lee has been on the injured list since the start of the regular season due to a lumbar strain. Fantasy managers should continue to monitor his progress, but it appears the 24-year-old could be approaching a rehab assignment. Last season, the Cal Poly product made his MLB debut and held a .221/.265/.320 slash line across 50 contests. He went deep three times and added six doubles. The former eighth overall selection from the 2022 MLB Draft has posted a cumulative .266/.330/.500 line with 15 doubles and 13 home runs across 63 contests. While Lee remains sidelined, fantasy managers should expect Jose Miranda and Willi Castro to continue seeing most opportunities at the hot corner.

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Arizona Diamondbacks second baseman Ketel Marte (hamstring) was placed on the 10-day injured list with a strained left hamstring. Marte was pulled from Friday's contest after he was seen limping off the field. As a result, Marte will miss at least the next 10 days of action. Fantasy managers should continue to monitor his status as he begins his recovery process. Through the early part of the campaign, the 31-year-old has posted a .346/.469/.462 slash line with nine total hits. Last season, Marte enjoyed an impressive campaign as he tallied 23 doubles with 36 home runs and held a .292/.372/.560 slash line. In a corresponding move, the Diamondbacks promoted infield prospect Tim Tawa from Triple-A Reno. While Marte is sidelined, fantasy managers should expect Garrett Hampson or Tawa to see time at the keystone.

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St. Louis Cardinals catcher Ivan Herrera is retreating to the bench for Saturday's game at Fenway Park against the hosting Boston Red Sox. Pedro Pages will be behind the plate to catch right-hander Andre Pallante and will hit seventh against Red Sox right-hander Richard Fitts. Herrera has already proven that he's the team's primary backstop this week -- Willson Contreras has moved to first base -- by hitting four home runs and driving in nine runs in the last two games. The 24-year-old backstop put on an offensive display in Wednesday's 12-5 win over the Los Angeles Angels by clubbing three home runs. He'll get a little breather on Saturday after opening the 2025 campaign on fire with eight hits in 20 at-bats, including two doubles and a league-high 11 RBI in six games. Pages has swung the bat well, too, going 4-for-10 with a homer, a double and three RBI in his first 10 plate appearances.

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Detroit Tigers second baseman Gleyber Torres (oblique) took swings off a tee in the batting cage on Saturday morning and said he felt great, according to MLive's Evan Woodbery. There's no timeline for Torres to return from the injured list, but he said, "I'm getting close. I really feel way better." When he initially injured his oblique, Torres was hoping to avoid an IL stint. Although the 28-year-old is eligible to come off the IL on Tuesday, it's unlikely that will happen. Still, it's good news that he's feeling better, which means he could return to Detroit's starting lineup sooner than later. In his first two games with the Tigers before getting hurt, he went 3-for-7 with a solo homer, two runs scored, and a walk. Until Torres is able to return, Detroit figures to continue using Colt Keith at the keystone, opening up regular playing time for Spencer Torkelson at first base.

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After the Los Angeles Dodgers lost their first game of the season on Friday night, catcher Will Smith will get the day off on Saturday at Citizens Bank Park. Austin Barnes will do the catching for rookie right-hander Roki Sasaki and will hit ninth versus Phillies right-hander Aaron Nola. Smith, one of the best hitting catchers in the best lineup in baseball, has gotten off to a great start at the plate in 2025, going 9-for-22 with a home run, a double, five RBI, five runs scored, nine walks and seven strikeouts in his first nine games. When active, the two-time All-Star backstop should be in all starting fantasy lineups. Barnes is a light-hitting backstop that should be avoided for DFS purposes, especially against Nola, who he is hitless against in just two career at-bats.

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Atlanta Braves right-hander Spencer Strider (elbow) looked great on Friday in his second minor-league rehab start for Triple-A Gwinnett, holding Triple-A Charlotte hitless on 74 pitches over 5 1/3 innings while striking out eight. Strider averaged 96 mph with his four-seam fastball and topped out at 97.7 mph. He struck out 10 of the 16 batters he faced in spring training and had six punchouts in three innings in his first rehab start for Gwinnett. Although he's a little less than a year removed from an internal-brace procedure on his right elbow, Strider could be back in Atlanta's starting rotation very soon. From 2022-23, the 26-year-old had 483 strikeouts with a 3.36 ERA in 318 2/3 innings pitched. His impending return to the big leagues will give the Braves a much-needed boost with 2024 All-Star Reynaldo Lopez needing arthroscopic right-shoulder surgery on Tuesday.

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New York Yankees right-hander Clark Schmidt (shoulder) is making his first minor-league rehab start on Saturday for Double-A Somerset, according to the team. Schmidt dealt with a minor right-shoulder injury near the end of spring training, and rather than having him push through it to start the year in the rotation, the Yankees played it safe and had him start the year on the injured list. The 29-year-old has gotten up to 46 pitches during simulated games to this point, but now he'll stretch himself out even further as he returns to game action on the farm. Fantasy managers stashing Schmidt in deeper leagues should expect him to make at least a couple of rehab starts before he rejoins New York's starting rotation. Despite missing three months with a lat strain in 2024, Schmidt had a strong year and posted a career-best 2.85 ERA and 1.18 WHIP with 93 K's and 30 walks in 16 starts.

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Washington Nationals second baseman Luis Garcia Jr. is taking a seat for Saturday's contest at Nationals Park with Arizona Diamondbacks left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez on the mound. Amed Rosario will start at the keystone and hit second against E-Rod. Rosario is hitting just .125 in eight career at-bats against Rodriguez, but the Nats want to get Garcia off his feet against another left-hander. The 24-year-old does have a home run and three RBI in his first six games of the season, but he has just three hits in his first 21 plate appearances with four strikeouts as well. The 29-year-old Rosario is in a prime lineup spot to be a DFS sleeper, and he's also recorded three hits (one homer) in his first eight at-bats of the 2025 campaign as a backup infielder for Washington.

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Boston Red Sox outfielder Ceddanne Rafaela is on the bench to start Saturday's contest against the visiting St. Louis Cardinals at Fenway Park. Jarren Duran will slide to center field and bat leadoff, second baseman Kristian Campbell is starting in left field and batting seventh, and David Hamilton will start at second base and bat eighth against Cardinals right-hander Andre Pallante. Rafaela has been hitting at the bottom of Boston's batting order early on in 2025 and has started out slow offensively, going 3-for-26 with three RBI, two runs scored, two walks and four strikeouts in his first eight games played. The 24-year-old was needed on the infield a lot in his rookie year in 2024 due to an injury to Trevor Story, but hopefully he can get settled in offensively eventually now that he'll be staying in center field on a full-time basis this year.

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Washington Nationals catcher Keibert Ruiz and outfielder Jacob Young are both resting on Saturday against the visiting Arizona Diamondbacks at Nationals Park. Riley Adams will do the catching for left-hander Mitchell Parker and will bat ninth, while Alex Call will start in right field and bat sixth against D-backs left-hander Eduardo Rodriguez. Dylan Crews is sliding from right field to center. Ruiz entered Friday's lost to Arizona riding a six-game hitting streak to begin the year but had it snapped when he went 0-for-4 . The 26-year-old Venezuelan has gone 8-for-25 in the early going with two homers, five RBI and four runs scored. Young, meanwhile, has struggled with just one hit in 15 at-bats in his first six games of the year. Adams is hitless in just one career at-bat against E-Rod, while Call has never faced him in his career.

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Cleveland Guardians third baseman Jose Ramirez reminded everyone on Friday night in the Los Angeles Angels' home opener why he finished just one homer and one steal short of just the second-ever 40-40-40 season in 2024. In Cleveland's 8-6 win at Angel Stadium, Ramirez went 3-for-4 with three home runs, four RBI, three runs scored, a walk and a strikeout to raise his early-season average to .381 and his OPS to an absurd 1.488. It was the seven-time All-Star's 26th multi-homer performance but just the second time in his career he's homered thrice in one contest. The 32-year-old Dominican switch-hitter might not be very big (5-foot-8, 190 pounds), but he packs a punch and is one of the best all-around players in baseball. He heads into the second game of the series in Anaheim on Sunday with four homers, two doubles, six RBI and four runs scored in his first six games of the 2025 season.

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Boston Red Sox closer Aroldis Chapman picked up the save in Saturday's 13-9 win over the Cardinals. Cooper Criswell came on for the Sox in the ninth with a 13-6 lead, but allowed three hits and three runs to score before exiting the game with two runners on. Chapman walked the first batter to load the bases, but coaxed a game-ending double play from Cardinals catcher Ivan Herrera to secure the win and record the save. It was the lefty's second save of the season, now with no runs allowed in three appearances to go along with a 2:2 BB:K. The veteran racked up 14 saves last season for the Pirates, and as Boston's primary closer, he should surpass that total with ease so long as he keeps performingwell.

From RotoBaller