Fantasy Baseball Morning Update: Grandy, Hanley updates
A three-up, three-down save for Jose Valverde in his 2013 debut? Has he ever gotten one of those?
Who's off: Indians, Braves, Cardinals, Brewers, Padres, Giants
First pitch: The Pirates and Phillies get started at 1:05 p.m. ET, with the Royals and Tigers beginning three minutes later.
Interleague DH issues: None
Streaming starters: Lucas Harrell's strong outing raised our record to 13-8. Today's pick is Edwin Jackson (6.7 percent owned) at Miami, while Friday's choice is the improving Roberto Hernandez (0.8 percent owned) against the White Sox in Chicago. Hopefully, the Sox' bats won't wake up before tomorrow.
On to the news:
- Yankees OF Curtis Granderson has been cleared to take batting practice, and hopes to return to action by the first week of May. Ichiro Suzuki better start hitting if he wants to keep his job.
- Wait a second ... Hanley Ramirez thinks he might be activated by late next week, and start playing with a splint to protect his thumb? I'm no doctor, but I'll believe this when I see it.
- It sounds like John Axford might get his closer job back soon in Milwaukee.
- Another day, another save for Cardinals closer Ed Mujica, who is still available in 84.6 percent of FOXSports.com leagues. Come on, people!
- J.J. Putz owners who were alarmed when they saw David Hernandez get (and blow) a save chance on Wednesday might have reason to worry a bit, because something fishy seems to be going on. Diamondbacks manager Kirk Gibson said before the game that Putz is still his closer, and the team's website reported that Putz was "unavailable due to recent workload." Putz threw 16 pitches on Tuesday, and had pitched on two of the previous five days. Hmm ...
- Roy Halladay's strong Wednesday start was his third good one in a row. Have we all stepped back from the ledge?
- Your American League home run leader is ... Blue Jays C J.P. Arencibia. Of course it is.
- Here's an article on Joel Hanrahan's possible non-closerness. In related news, Andrew Bailey got another save last night. In more related news, a guy in my AL keeper league paid $32 for Hanrahan in our auction three weeks ago. Ouch.
- Rockies 1B Todd Helton, who has missed five straight games with a strained left forearm, might be headed for the DL.
- Read this and tell me how much Astros manager Bo Porter likes rookie OF Robbie Grossman. It's hard to say if Grossman will stick around when Justin Maxwell returns from the DL, but AL-only owners should check him out. He's a decent power/speed guy who knows how to get on base.
- This Angels update notes that SS Erick Aybar might come off the DL as soon as this weekend, but reports that Ryan Madson's rehab is going slowly.
- Brewers 3B Aramis Ramirez hopes to skip a rehab assignment before coming off the DL next week.
- A's OF Yoenis Cespedes plans to begin a rehab assignment today, and come off the DL on Sunday.
- Rays SS Yunel Escobar left last night's game with hamstring tightness, and is day-to-day.
- The Nats are talking about juggling their struggling lineup, which could mean more at bats in the short term for Steve Lombardozzi, and bench time for rookie 3B Anthony Rendon.
- It's chat day! We'll get started at 2 p.m. ET, as always. Who's in?
See you back here tomorrow morning.

