Here is a look at the latest news and notes from around the diamond to help you set your fantasy baseball lineup for week 21.
American League:
Francisco Liriano lost his status as a two start pitcher in week 21 when the Minnesota Twins decided to push him back to Thursday and instead moved up Nick Blackburn to start on Monday. Liriano will instead face Cliff Lee and Texas on Thursday.
Oakland A’s closer Andrew Bailey came off of the disabled list on Sunday and worked a scoreless innings with two strikeouts. He should immediately go back into the closer role so he should be active in all formats next week.
If you are looking for batting average in the infield in AL only leagues, Will Rhymes has been doing a good job filling in for the injured Carlos Guillen at second base in Detroit.Rhymes is hitting .310 on the season and has multi-hit games in four of his last five starts.
Bill Hall and Jed Lowrie will see additional at bats going forward in Boston with Dustin Pedroia going back on the disabled list. Hall has homered four times in his last 10 games and Lowrie is hitting .302 on the season.
With Lance Berkman going on the disabled list in New York, Austin Kearns should see additional at bats the next week or two.
Infielder Macier Izturis is headed to the disabled list for the third time this season for the Los Angeles Angels with pain in his shoulder.
National League:
Geovany Soto was supposed to be activated from the disabled list by the Chicago Cubs today, but was instead held back another day. Check the news early Monday for an update as it would reduce the number of at bats for his fill in Koyie Hill.
Eric Young looks to be the man at second base in Colorado and should see the majority of playing time over Clint Barmes. The release of Brad Hawpe earlier in the week should give some extra at bats to Dexter Fowler, Seth Smith and Ryan Spillborghs.
The decision by the Florida Marlins to release outfielder Cody Ross means that Cameron Maybin is headed back to the major leagues and should be a full-time player the last six weeks of the season. Maybin was hitting .300 over his last 10 games with two home runs, six RBI and a stolen base. He was 24-for-29 on stolen bases for the season in Triple-A.
The Los Angeles Dodgers picked up catcher Rod Barajas this week and he could see some playing time over Brad Ausmus at catcher going forward. If you are in a deep NL only league and in need of some power, he is a player to take a look at.
