Player Notes

Jeff Baker went 2-for-2 with a two-run homer before being removed for a pinch-hitter Friday against the Mariners.
Advice: Baker is only playing against left-handers, so manager Ron Washington made the switch back to David Murphy when the Mariners brought in a righty. Baker has been terrific at his job so far, hitting .354 with five homers in 48 at-bats. Still, his fantasy value is quite limited while he plays on average twice a week.

Joe Saunders fell to 3-5 after giving up six runs in five innings against the Rangers on Friday.
Advice: The Mariners had to know Saunders would give up more than his share of homers and hits after adding him to their rotation; the surprise is that he's already walked 22 batters in 57 2/3 innings. Last year, he walked a total of 39 in 174 2/3 innings. Saunders is at best a matchup guy in AL-only leagues. He'll be worth playing next week when he gets a road start in San Diego.

Brandon Beachy (elbow) allowed two runs over four innings in his first official minor league rehab start Friday with Triple-A Gwinnett.
Advice: It was his first game action since undergoing Tommy John surgery last June. Beachy is expected to make around five starts in the minors, so he should be an option for the Braves' rotation in 3-4 weeks if he can avoid setbacks.

Ronny Cedeno (illness) went 1-for-3 with a strikeout in his return to action Friday.
Advice: Cedeno missed time earlier this week with a sinus infection, but it's no longer an issue. He'll return to a part-time role at shortstop with Marwin Gonzalez.

Josh Fields (forearm) could be activated from the disabled list in 7-10 days.
Advice: Fields suffered a right forearm strain in the first week of the season and has appeared in four games at Double-A Corpus Christi during his rehab assignment. The Astros want to see Fields work consecutive games without any setbacks before he's activated from the DL.
More: Astros.mlb.com

Lance Lynn pitched six scoreless innings, striking out nine, in the Cardinals' 7-0 shutout of the Dodgers on Friday.
Advice: Lynn allowed two of the three hits surrendered by Cardinals pitching in the gem. He was removed after just 77 pitches, though there was no indication there was anything physically wrong with him. The Cardinals probably just wanted to give him a break with the game seemingly in hand.

The Red Sox are expected to call up Jackie Bradley "in the coming days."
Advice: With Shane Victorino sidelined, Bradley is a strong candidate to be called up to the majors. The Red Sox are currently using Mike Carp in left field, and have just three active outfielders. Bradley is batting .375 (6-for-16) in his first four games with Triple-A Pawtucket since coming off the DL.
More: WEEI.com

Brandon McCarthy limited the Padres to one run in seven innings Friday to win his second straight start.
Advice: McCarthy has allowed just the one run over 24 innings in his last three starts, lowering his ERA from 6.75 to 4.36. His schedule will start getting more difficult again next week, with the Rangers and Cardinals next in line for him.

Chris Capuano gave up six runs -- five earned -- in five innings Friday in a loss to the Cardinals.
Advice: Capuano turned in back-to-back strong outings before tonight's stinker against a fine St. Louis offense, so we'll let him off the hook. It wouldn't have mattered much if he had allowed only one or two runs anyway; the Dodger offense wasn't getting anything done in the shutout tonight.

Justin Grimm won after allowing three runs and 10 hits in 6 1/3 innings versus the Mariners on Friday.
Advice: With some help from Jeff Nelson. Grimm intercepted an attempted 3-6-3 double-play relay in the second inning tonight while first baseman Mitch Moreland was still reaching for the ball. Nelson never realized that the pitcher, not the first baseman, caught the ball and gave the Rangers the out. It proved to be an especially big play when Brendan Ryan followed with a rare double. Were the call gotten right, it doesn't seem nearly so likely that Grimm would have pitched into the seventh inning tonight.

Tim Lincecum surrendered four runs in seven innings Friday in a loss to the Rockies.
Advice: It was all Michael Cuddyer's fault; he doubled in the first two runs and homered for the fourth. He even scored the third after reaching base on a strikeout/wild pitch in the fourth. Lincecum did a bang-up job against everyone else, finishing with eight strikeouts and two walks.

Jason Kipnis is not in the Indians' lineup Saturday.
Advice: The Indians' are resting both Kipnis and Michael Bourn. Kipnis went 0-2 with two walks in Friday's loss to the Red Sox.
More: Cleveland Indians on Twitter

Tyler Chatwood blanked the Giants for six innings Friday to win his third straight start.
Advice: Josh Outman, Matt Belisle and Wilton Lopez finished the five-hit shutout in a 5-0. Chatwood is sporting a nifty 1.90 ERA in four starts since joining the rotation, so it looks like he'll last for a while. We still don't trust him, not with his subpar command and poor changeup.

Jeff Keppinger delivered a walk-off RBI single in a 4-3 win over the Marlins in 11 innings on Friday.
Advice: Keppinger sneaked it through the left side of the infield with the bases loaded to win it. The veteran infielder went 2-for-5 with two RBI on the night and is hitting .343 (11-for-32) over his last nine games. The recent hot streak has only pulled his batting average up to .210 for the year, but we expect it to continue to rise in the days ahead.

Tom Koehler yielded three runs in six innings Friday in a no-decision against the Marlins.
Advice: Koehler scattered six hits while striking out three and walking one. The 26-year-old right-hander has allowed three runs or fewer in all three of his starts since joining the rotation earlier this month. He isn't going to get many wins with this lineup, but give him a try in NL-only formats.