Here is a look at the latest news and notes from around the diamond to help you set your fantasy baseball lineup for week 8.
American League:
The return of Jacoby Ellsbury and Mike Cameron in Boston means that Darnell McDonald goes back to being a bench player or possibly sent back to Triple-A so make sure he is not in your starting lineup in week 8. Same goes for Jeremy Hermida and Bill Hall. Who would have guessed we would see Bill Hall get 20 at bats in a week in 2010?
Since Edwin Encarnacion returned from the disabled list this week, he has hit five home runs with nine RBI in five games. Needless to say it is safe to get him active for week 8. The return of Encarnacion pushes Jose Bautista back to the outfield which means Toronto will have a glut of outfielders when Travis Snider returns from the disabled list next week.
The rise of David Ortiz from the ashes has pushed Mike Lowell back into a reserve role in Boston. Lowell only gets starts against left-handed pitching and with no southpaws on the Red Sox schedule this week, he will likely sit for the majority of the games.
Jason Donald and Trevor Crowe have both moved into the starting lineup in Cleveland due to injuries and are players to start in American League only formats if you are in need of stolen bases.
The combination of Jack Cust coming up from the disabled list and Coco Crisp returning from the disabled list means Eric Patterson will return to the bench. Crisp should be active for AL leagues and possibly mixed leagues if you are desperate for stolen bases.
Michael Saunders had one week of nice stats for the Seattle Mariners and then immediately returned to the bench upon the return of Milton Bradley. Mike Sweeney has quietly taken over for Ken Griffey Jr. as the designated hitter and immediately added a jolt to the Seattle lineup with five home runs and 11 RBI in his last seven games.
Hank Blalock was a hot pickup in free agent pools last week, but the fact remains with all of the options that Tampa Bay has to pick through for their daily lineup, Blalock will sit against left-handed pitching, meaning he likely misses two games in week 8.
National League:
Seth Smith has taken over in the starting outfield in Colorado in place of Dexter Fowler and becomes a nice play for the rest of the season for his batting average and power upside as he gets the majority of starts. He is tough to start in shallow mixed leagues because Fowler will still get starts, bu if you are in a deep mixed league format, it should be okay to roll with him in the starting lineup.
Shortstop Rafael Furcal is expected to return to the Los Angeles Dodgers lineup by the weekend from the disabled list. If you have been using Jamey Carroll in NL only leagues, be aware he might only see at bats for the first half of the week in week 8.
Reed Johnson is a sneaky play in week for the Dodgers with a chance to possibly start four games against left-handed pitching with Andre Ethier out of the lineup. Johnson is hitting .333 against southpaws this season.
NL only leagues looking for outfield help could find some value in San Diego with Kyle Blanks and Scott Hairston both on the disabled list. Tony Gwynn, Oscar Salazar and Chris Denorfia are three players rotating in two spots with Will Venable being the only full-time player for now.
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