Detroit Tigers outfielder Parker Meadows is not in the starting lineup for Saturday's contest against the visiting Kansas City Royals. The young outfielder's tough season continued with an 0-for-2 effort in Friday's series opener, although he was robbed of a home run by the Royals' Adam Frazier at the right field wall. Meadows has been a major disappointment for fantasy managers who took a chance on the 24-year-old in drafts this spring as he's hitting just .079 (5-for-63) with two homers, three steals, and a .400 OPS across 72 plate appearances. He has posted a 12.5% BB% and has been bitten by a tiny .127 BABIP but he has also struck out in a whopping 40.3% of his plate appearances. His elite defense in center field has kept him in the big leagues but it wouldn't be surprising to see the club option him to the minors if his disastrous start at the plate continues.

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Chicago Cubs left-hander Justin Steele (hamstring) is moving on to the next step of his rehab and is likely to pitch for Triple-A Iowa on Wednesday, according to skipper Craig Counsell. The 28-year-old tossed 47 pitches in an extended spring game in Arizona on Friday and has seemingly come out of the outing feeling fine. The southpaw tossed 4 2/3 innings of one-run ball on Opening Day against the Texas Rangers but suffered a hamstring strain that has cost him significant time. Steele was in Cy Young contention for much of the 2023 season before struggling late in the year but still posted a 3.06 ERA and a 19.6% K-BB% on the back of an elite 5% BB% across 30 starts a season ago.

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Tampa Bay Rays right-hander Aaron Civale will look for a bounce-back effort on Saturday when he takes on the Chicago White Sox on the road. Civale was touched up for five earned runs on eight hits and a hefty five walks while striking out five across just 4 2/3 innings in his last start against the Yankees. The rough outing was a rare one as the 28-year-old had allowed just seven runs across his first four starts of the season and he allowed two runs or fewer across his first three starts of the campaign. Civale will enter Saturday's contest sporting a 3.90 ERA and a healthy 19% K-BB% on the back of an increased 26.7% K% across 27 2/3 innings of work.

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Texas Rangers outfielder Adolis Garcia is not in the starting lineup on Saturday afternoon against the Cincinnati Reds and right-hander Hunter Greene. It appears it's simply a day off for the slugger after the two teams played a night game on Friday when Garcia went 0-for-3 as part of a 2-1 series-opening win. The 31-year-old is enjoying a massive start to the 2024 season, hitting .290 with seven home runs, four stolen bases, and a .906 OPS across 27 games and 110 trips to the plate. While he slugged a career-high 39 home runs last season, Garcia swiped just nine bags after a 25-steal 2022 season. Fantasy managers will certainly welcome back his speed to begin this season while he continues to offer big-time power as one of the top outfielders in fantasy baseball.

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The New York Mets have placed outfielder Starling Marte on the bereavement list while infielder Mark Vientos has been recalled from Triple-A Syracuse to take his spot on the active roster. The 35-year-old has been off to a hot start this season, hitting .288 with four home runs, six stolen bases, and a .769 OPS across 111 trips to the plate, good for a 119 wRC+ that sits 19% above the league average. Marte plummeted down draft boards after a 2023 season that saw him hit .248 with only five homers alongside 24 stolen bases and a .625 OPS across 86 games in 2023, by far the worst offensive season of his career. However, he has rewarded managers who bet on a bounce back in drafts this spring.

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Baltimore Orioles starting pitcher Kyle Bradish (elbow) is slated to rejoin the Baltimore rotation, according to manager Brandon Hyde. The 27-year-old made three rehab appearances with Triple-A over the past two weeks and is officially on his way to the major leagues. Bradish looked great in his final rehab appearance on Friday, where he tossed five innings of one-run ball with ten punchouts. Last season, Bradish posted an overall 2.83 ERA and 1.04 WHIP but was especially outstanding down the stretch, where he posted a 2.34 ERA and 0.91 WHIP in the second half. Bradish should be rostered in all formats. He should be given ample opportunities to win games behind an excellent lineup and provide strong ratios.

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Washington Nationals outfielder Joey Gallo (shoulder) was placed on the 10-day injured list with a left-shoulder sprain on Saturday. Outfielder Alex Call was promoted from Triple-A Rochester as a result. The 30-year-old has posted a .122/.286/.311 stat line with three home runs and five RBI. Even though Gallo has struggled at the plate, he still maintained an impressive 19.4% barrel rate, which placed him in the 99th percentile among qualified hitters. Gallo should be expected to be sidelined for at least the next ten days. Call should make his season debut sometime next week. The 29-year-old flashed speed at times as he swiped nine bags last season and could be a target in NL-Only formats.

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Tampa Bay Rays starting pitcher Taj Bradley (pectoral) is expected to join Triple-A Durham for a rehab assignment beginning on Sunday, April 28. Bradley felt tightness in his pectoral muscle before a scheduled start on March 12 and has remained on the sideline since. This a great sign for the 23-year-old as he is nearing the final step of his recovery process. Bradley made his major league debut last season and showcased high strikeout potential as he tallied 129 punchouts in 104 innings. However, he did post a hefty 5.59 ERA and 1.39 WHIP. Bradley should be expected to join the Rays rotation when cleared and could be worth rostering in deeper formats.

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Tampa Bay Rays relief pitcher Pete Fairbanks (hand) underwent several screenings over the past week, and the final results came back clean on Friday, per manager Kevin Cash. Even though all of the tests do not show any severe or structural damage, it is still very uncertain when the 30-year-old will begin to throw again, but it does suggest that his injured-list stint may not be that lengthy. Fairbanks served as the primary closer in Tampa Bay last season and finished with 25 saves and was placed in that role in the early part of this season. Jason Adam should be expected to see the majority of save opportunities during his absence, especially since Colin Poche (back) landed on the IL on Friday. Adam is worth picking up in all formats, as he is riding a stellar 1.50 ERA and 0.50 WHIP through 12 innings.

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Tampa Bay Rays infielder Jonathan Aranda (finger) joined Triple-A Durham on Friday to begin a rehab assignment. The 25-year-old sustained a fracture in his right finger during spring training, which has kept him out of the 2024 season so far. He underwent surgery on March 21 and has not faced any setbacks. Aranda posted a .230/.340/.368 stat line last season with two home runs and 13 RBI in 34 games. When he returns to Tampa Bay, he should slot in as a utility infielder and is worth looking into in deeper formats.

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New York Mets outfielders Harrison Bader and Starling Marte are both out of Saturday's lineup. As a result, Tyrone Taylor will play in center field and bat seventh, and DJ Stewart will man right field and bat fifth. Bader has put up a solid .267 AVG during his first month in Queens but will get a breather since he has not registered a hit in his past three games. Marte, who has been off to a great start with a .288 AVG and four home runs, will miss his first game of the season. Both Taylor and Stewart have a tough matchup today as they will face Sonny Gray, who enters Saturday with a dominant 1.04 ERA and 0.87 WHIP, and both will be popular fades in DFS.

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Boston Red Sox right-hander Nick Pivetta (elbow) is scheduled to throw live batting practice on Saturday and will throw 50 pitches. As long as Pivetta doesn't suffer any setbacks with his elbow during the session, he should embark on a minor-league rehab assignment next week. It remains to be seen how many rehab starts the Red Sox want him to make, but he's clearly making progress and could be back in the team's starting rotation sooner than later. The 31-year-old has been sidelined since early April with a right-elbow flexor strain but was looking great before his injury. In his two starts for Boston in early April, Pivetta had a 0.82 ERA and 0.82 WHIP with 13 strikeouts in 11 innings pitched while going 1-1. Fantasy managers that drafted him need to hang onto him with his return around the corner.

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Baltimore Orioles right-hander Kyle Bradish (elbow) looked much better in his latest rehab start for Triple-A Norfolk on Friday, allowed an earned run on five hits while walking one and striking out six in five innings to pick up a win. He threw 77 total pitches in the outing, 49 of which were strikes. Although his fastball velocity isn't quite where it needs to be, this was an encouraging outing for the 27-year-old after he allowed four earned runs while walking three in 3 1/3 innings in his last rehab start. It remains to be seen if the O's want him to make another rehab start as he recovers from an offseason UCL sprain, but after his breakout in 2023, fantasy managers in mixed leagues should scoop him up if he's still on the waiver wire. Bradish is getting close to returning to Baltimore.

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Cincinnati Reds outfielder Jake Fraley (illness) was available to come off the bench on Friday night against the Texas Rangers, according to manager David Bell. Fraley has been sidelined with an illness since Sunday. "He's back," Bell said. "I wanted him to go through a full day of work today and not start him. But, he's available off the bench, available to start tomorrow." The 28-year-old left-handed hitter should be back in the starting lineup on Saturday when the team faces Rangers right-hander Michael Lorenzen, but fantasy managers will want to check back for Cincy's lineup. The former second-rounder of the Tampa Bay Rays in 2016 out of LSU typically starts against righties for the Reds and was hitting a strong .362 (17-for-47) with a homer, four RBI and five steals before his illness.

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Cincinnati Reds outfielder TJ Friedl (wrist) is working out at the team's complex in Arizona while he ramps up his baseball activities. Manager David Bell said Friedly could start playing in games this weekend as a defensive player only. If he continues to progress, he could start bunting in games this weekend. By the middle of next week, he could be ready to start a minor-league rehab assignment by joining Triple-A Louisville when they visit St. Paul. Bell projected Friedl would need between one and two weeks before being ready to return. The 28-year-old former undrafted free agent has yet to make his 2024 debut with the Reds because of the injury. In a career-high 138 games in 2023, he hit .279/.352/.467 with 18 home runs, 66 RBI and 27 stolen bases in 556 plate appearances.

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Boston Red Sox third baseman Rafael Devers (knee) has returned to third base on Saturday against the visiting Chicago Cubs, which has allowed outfielder Masataka Yoshida to return to the lineup as the designated hitter against right-hander Ben Brown. Devers is hitting in the two-hole, while Tanaka is batting sixth for the BoSox. Devers missed five games with a knee injury recently but has been hot at the plate since returning, going 7-for-13 with a homer, double, two RBI and three runs scored in three games. He's a must-start anytime he's active. Tanaka, meanwhile, returns to the fold after missing the last four games, although he has appeared as a pinch-hitter. The 30-year-old left-handed hitter has essentially become a DH only for Boston and is hitting .233 (17-for-73) with two homers and 10 RBI to start the year.

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Arizona Diamondbacks right-hander Zac Gallen (hamstring) left his start early on Friday against the Seattle Mariners with hamstring tightness, but after the game, both manager Torey Lovullo and Gallen were optimistic that it was just a cramp or spasm. Gallen thinks he might even be able to make his next start. "I didn't feel like it was really too severe, honestly," Gallen said. His next test will come Monday, when he's scheduled to throw his between-starts bullpen session. It's good news that both Gallen and the team don't think his injury are very serious, but it doesn't mean he won't eventually land on the injured list. The 28-year-old gave up three earned runs in five-plus innings on Friday and now has a 3.38 ERA in six starts. If he does make his next scheduled start next Wednesday against the Dodgers, he'll be extra risky in fantasy in a tough matchup.

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Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Max Muncy, shortstop Gavin Lux and outfielder Josh Outman, who all hit left-handed, are out of Saturday's lineup against left-hander Yusei Kikuchi and the Toronto Blue Jays. Enrique Hernandez will play third and bat sixth, Miguel Rojas is at shortstop and hitting eighth, and rookie Andy Pages is in center field and will bat seventh for the Blue. Muncy is hitting a modest .258 (23-for-89) this year with five home runs and 18 RBI, but he's gone just 5-for-25 (.200) with one homer and 10 strikeouts against lefties. Lux has struggled in general, hitting .183 (13-for-71) and has yet to go deep. Outman's fantasy stock has really fallen as he's fallen into a platoon with Pages. Hernandez is the DFS play to consider with a .256 career average and 55 homers in 1,417 plate appearances against southpaws. He's also hitting .308 in 13 career at-bats against Kikuchi.

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Toronto Blue Jays outfielder George Springer and utility man Isiah Kiner-Falefa are both out of the starting lineup on Saturday against the visiting Los Angeles Dodgers. This will be Springer's first off day since April 19. The 34-year-old veteran has gone 7-for-28 with a home run since then to drop his season line to .228/.322/.356 with three home runs, five RBI, three stolen bases and 11 runs scored in 101 at-bats. With Springer sitting on Saturday, rookie Addison Barger will make just his third major-league start, playing in right field and batting ninth against Dodgers right-hander Tyler Glasnow. Barger, the former sixth-round pick in 2018, has yet to get a hit in his first eight MLB at-bats and won't be a recommended DFS option in the nine-hole in a tough matchup.

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San Francisco Giants catcher Patrick Bailey blasted his third home run of the year in Friday's 3-0 win over the Pirates. It was Bailey's only hit in the game but it came at the right time. In a 0-0 tie in the bottom of the ninth, Pirates closer David Bednar walked the first batter he saw, then gave up a single, bringing Bailey to the plate. The 24-year-old deposited a four-seam fastball over the right field wall for the 3-0 walk-off win. Bailey is having a solid season at the plate thus far, slashing .297/.365/.516 with five doubles, three home runs, 10 RBI, six runs scored, and a stolen base in 75 plate appearances. For fantasy, however, those numbers don't really move the needle and he can be left to the waiver wire for now.

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