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Seesaw Report: May 19-25

Presswire

I apologize for being a bit late in getting you this weeks Seesaw report. So with further delay, let's get to it:

Hitters Up

Matt Adams - The big (in more ways than one) call up from last week, Adams will attempt to fill the void left by Lance Berkman. Check out Jason Hunt's preview of Adams here. Adams should perform ably in Berkman's absence, and is worth a pickup in all leagues just to see what he could do.

Kevin Youkilis - Youk was activated from the DL and as I'm sure everyone knows by now, the Red Sox are not optioning his replacement Will Middlebrooks to Triple-A. Instead they've moved Adrian Gonzalez to the outfield and Youkilis to first base, so they can accommodate all three and David Ortiz in one lineup. Youkilis is obviously an immediate plug and play.

Josh Bell - Formerly a top prospect with the Dodgers, Bell was sent to Baltimore for George Sherrill and promptly posted some awful numbers in his big league time. Since then he's been toiling in the minors and was recently sent from Baltimore to Arizona. After demolishing the PCL for a couple weeks, the D'Backs decided to move Ryan Roberts into a utlity role and hand the third base keys to Bell. He's going to strike out a TON, so if that matters in your league, he's a straight up avoid. He does have some pop but his approach at the plate is brutal and he still struggles to identify pitches. I'm avoiding him in all my leagues. Cody Ransom was DFA'd as a result.

See more Seesaw Report after the jump...

Jerry Hairston Jr - Hairston was activated from the DL last night and immediately started at third base. He's a nice play in deep leagues for his positional eligibility. He will probably start most games at 3rd base right now while seeing time in the outfield corners when he isn't at 3rd.

Jimmy Rollins - Activated off the disabled list this week and you should use him as you normally would.

Drew Sutton - Sutton had a crazy 24+ hours, starting one day as a member of Triple-A Gwinnett, ending it as a Pirate and waking up the next morning as a Tampa Bay Ray. He's a useful player who won't set the league on fire, but Tampa seems to have something in the water, so if you're desperate at third base, you could do worse.

Carlos Gomez - Gomez was activated from the DL on Sunday. Use as you normally would.

Hitters Down

Lance Berkman - We welcomed Big Puma back in the last edition of the Seesaw Report, but we bid him farewell again this week and we won't be seeing him for a while. Berkman tweaked his knee stretching for a ball at first base, and though his first examination didn't reveal serious damage, Berkman still believed he might have an ACL tear. He avoided that potentially career-ending injury, but did suffer a meniscus tear and had a cartilage tear shaved down during his operation as well. He will miss the next 8-10 weeks. His replacement was discussed above.

Emilio Bonifacio - Bonifacio headed to the disabled list with a sprained left thumb. Chris Coghlan was recalled to take his spot but likely won't be of much help to fantasy owners. Replacements are wide ranging given the multiposition eligibility that Bonifacio provides. For cheap speed someone like Jarrod Dyson, Tony Campana or even the recently promoted Scott Podsednik should be available in shallow leagues.

Austin Jackson - Jackson hits the DL with an abdominal strain. The Tigers were hopeful that this wouldn't require a DL stint, and so are optimistic about his returning when first eligible. They may be optimistic, but as ESPN's Stephania Bell relates, experience tells us that abdominal strains and the similar oblique strains tend to take about 30 days on average. He might return before then, but I wouldn't expect him to be the same player for about a month.

Geovany Soto - The Cubs placed Soto on the 15-day DL a week ago today with a torn meniscus. He'll miss more than the minimum. His playing time will likely be split among a couple candidates. I liked Wellington Castillo the most of those replacements, but he too was sent to the DL this week. Randy Wells was recalled in a corresponding move.

Mark Ellis - Ellis was injured on a takeout slide, and was placed on the DL with what's being called a sprained left leg. Later reports indicated that if he had waited to go to the hospital even a 5-6 more hours, his leg might have needed to be amputated. He did have surgery and will miss at least six weeks. Ivan DeJesus was recalled in a corresponding roster move, but has only seen sporadic playing time. Elian Herrera is the Dodgers pick up for deep leaguers.

The Red Sox Outfield - Ok, so it was only two of the three starters, but still, Boston has gone through something like 45 players in the outfield this year. Cody Ross broke a bone in his left foot and will miss substantial time. Ryan Sweeney joined him on the DL with a concussion, though he's eligible to return within seven days due to baseball's relatively new 7-day concussion DL. The Sox have Marlon Byrd and Daniel Nava as viable fantasy replacements, and if Adrian Gonzalez isn't playing outfield that day, I like Nava as the best fantasy play of the Boston outfield.

Pitchers Up

Travis Wood - Chicago recalled Travis Wood who will see some time in the rotation. I wouldn't expect vast improvement over his recent stints in the majors. If what he did before can help you, go ahead and add him, otherwise avoid.

Will Smith - Yes. That Will Smith. No not really though. Smith made his professional debut against the Yankees last week, and wasn't given a warm welcome. Smith isn't a bad pitcher though and could be worth a spot start in favorable matchups. He's best left on the waiver wire in all but the deepest of leagues.

Chien-Ming Wang - Formerly big name pitcher Chien-Ming Wang was promoted to the big leagues on Tuesday, but he will be pitching out of the bullpen for now. I wouldn't be surprised if the Nats turned to him for a spot start if an injury occurs in their rotation, or when Strasburg is shut down.

Pitchers Down

Brandon McCarthy - McCarthy was scratched from his scheduled start and then sent to the DL a few days later with a strained right shoulder. The A's are optimistic he will only miss the minimum. His replacement, Graham Godfrey is best left untouched.

Neftali Feliz - Feliz proved his doubters right by heading to the DL with elbow inflammation. He will miss the next 8-10 weeks, and Scott Feldman will replace him in the rotation. He pitched well while in the rotation but the worry was always that he wouldn't last the whole season with such an increase in his workload.

John Danks - Danks heads to the disabled list the same week as the man he was traded for (McCarthy). At this point Danks has been replacement level or worse in shallower leagues and shouldn't be difficult to replace.