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Jered Weaver should be back early next week. His velocity was down prior to his non-throwing arm injury but one has to wonder if the time off will help or hurt his velocity upon his return. Jerome Williams has out-pitched Joe Blanton thus far and might stick in the rotation upon Weaver’s return. Ryan Madson has suffered another setback in his rehab from Tommy John surgery and the probability of getting saves from Madson at any point this season is slim. Tommy Hanson is likely to return sometime next week.
Jimmy Paredes is performing well since being called up and may be an option for those in need of an outfielder in an AL-only or deep mixed league.
Jed Lowrie was hit in the foot by a pitch but he should be fine within a couple days. Jemile Weeks is performing well and playing some shortstop at AAA. He would be a nice source of SB should he get called up and receive regular playing time.
Sean Nolin will be called up and start tomorrow against the Orioles. I think he is worth a flier if your league is deep enough. He’s a LHP who has displayed strong K/9 numbers in the minors thus far. He likely won’t be an impact guy for this season but he has a chance to be decent. Josh Johnson should be back within a couple weeks.
Brett Myers continues to make rehab starts in the minors but I’m not especially optimistic about his effectiveness while pitching with a partial UCL tear. Yan Gomes is getting hot at the plate right now but I wouldn’t overreact to his hot-hitting of late. He struggles with patience at the plate and will have to continue to hit to stay in the lineup. He’s worth a flier if you have the open roster slot and it isn’t going to cost you very much but to trade for him or send in a high bid for him would probably be a mistake.
Jesus Montero was sent down to AAA. He has some things to work on but if he heats up there then he should be back quickly. It’s conceivable that the Mariners could move Kendry Morales (his contract is expiring) around the all-star break and call up Montero to be their full-time DH soon thereafter. The Mariners called up Jesus Lucre, not Mike Zunino, to replace Montero. Mike Zunino should be called up soon enough if he can put together a couple solid weeks at AAA. Lucre won’t be valuable in fantasy but Schoppach is a deep league option with some pop and he’ll likely get regular playing time moving forward.
Last year’s first round pick Kevin Gausman will be called up to start today against the Blue Jays. I really like him and think he’s worth a pickup in pretty much all formats. He struck out over a batter per inning with just 5 BB on the year at AA. There is potential here for a dominant fantasy impact from Gausman. Check out Craig Goldstein's article on Gausman: http://www.faketeams.com/2013/5/23/4357142/waiting-in-the-wings-kevin-gausman. Middle-infield prospect Jonathan Schoop injured his back and will be out at about a couple months.
Ross Wolf was solid yesterday against the A’s. He’s not a top prospect and it was his first major league start at the age of 30. He was performing well in the minors but it’s unlikely that he will have a rotation spot moving forward. Colby Lewis is having some velocity issues in his rehab from shoulder surgery.
Jake Odorizzi was called up by the Rays earlier in the week and his next start will be against the Marlins on Monday. He’s definitely worth a pickup, at least for that start. Fernando Rodney blew a save yesterday and might be replaced by Joel Peralta as the team’s closer moving forward.
David Ross should be back this weekend after he spent some time on the DL with some concussion-related symptoms.
Salvador Perez is dealing with a hip injury but should be fine within a day or two. Mike Moustakas has been terrible thus far and is decent buy-low candidate if you need a 3B with some power.
Octavio Dotel is throwing again and is likely a few weeks away from returning. Brayan Pena has hit pretty well thus far this season and might be worth a shot depending on your situation as long as you are in a daily lineup league and know he’ll be in the lineup that day.
Vance Worley has been sent down to AAA after performing terribly thus far this season. Kyle Gibson might be called up to replace him but there’s no official word yet. Trevor Plouffe will miss about a week with concussion symptoms. Chris Colabello was called up from AAA and should provide a valuable fantasy bat on days that he is in the lineup. It’s questionable how much playing time he will receive but keep him on your radar.
John Danks will make his season debut tomorrow against the Marlins. I’m pessimistic about the possibility of him being an effective fantasy starter with his velocity still down after his shoulder surgery. It’s unclear who will be removed from the rotation after Danks is called up but I hope it isn’t Hector Santiago because I think he has the potential to be a dominant SP. He had 9 K and only 2 ER in 6 IP against the Red Sox yesterday.
Hiroki Kuroda was removed early yesterday with a tight calf but he should be fine moving forward. Vidal Nuno is going to start this Saturday against the Rays. I do not think he will be valuable fantasy SP and do not recommend picking him up in any format. Edurardo Nunez, Kevin Youkilis, Andy Pettitte, Ivan Nova, and Mark Teixeira could each potentially be activated within a couple weeks.