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KPRC 2 Houston’s Ari Alexander reports the Astros are recalling top prospect Joey Loperfido for Friday’s series opener against the Orioles.

Advice: No surprise here as the injury-depleted Astros find themselves desperate for some extra offensive firepower. The 25-year-old slugging prospect boasts big-time over-the-fence pop, but still has some strikeout issues to address. There might be a clearer path to regular at-bats at first base moving forward with veteran José Abreu no longer in the picture, but he doesn’t have a ton of experience at the cold corner. There’s some mixed-league fantasy potential here if he becomes a mainstay in Houston’s offensive nucleus, but that probably won’t happen overnight. Rotoworld 34 minutes ago

Fairbanks (2-3) earned the win Thursday, allowing one run on two hits over two innings against the Twins. He struck out one.

Advice: Fairbanks was not needed to start the ninth due to the Rays holding a four-run lead, but a leadoff homer followed by the next two runners reaching base necessitated the call to Fairbanks. After inducing a couple of quick outs, Jose Miranda tagged him for a two-out game-tying homer that sent the game to extras. Once the Rays regained the lead in the 10th, Fairbanks stayed on to close out his own victory. The blown save was the second of the season for Fairbanks, who ran the gamut during the series with the Twins, suffering the loss on Tuesday followed by the blown save and subsequent win on Thursday. Rotowire.com 42 minutes ago

Ryan Helsley fired a scoreless ninth inning on Thursday against the Giants to record his major leaugue-leading 25th save of the season.

Advice: Helsley was summoned to protect a narrow one-run lead at historic Rickwood Field in Birmingham, Alabama and made things intersting by issuing a leadoff walk to Trenton Brooks and surrendering a two-out single to Patrick Bailey, which put the potential tying run in scoring position. He managed to wriggle out of the jam by striking out Matt Chapman to extinguish the threat. The hard-throwing 29-year-old righty has converted 25 of 26 save chances this season to go along with a sparkling 2.45 ERA, 1.18 WHIP and 38/13 K/BB ratio across 33 innings (33 appearances). Simply put, he’s been one of the best closers in baseball this year. Rotoworld 48 minutes ago

Woods Richardson did not factor into the decision Thursday, allowing two runs on four hits and two walks in six innings against the Rays. He struck out six.

Advice: Woods Richardson allowed single runs in the second and third, keeping the Rays at bay as he completed six innings for his fourth quality start of the season. It was also the ninth time in 12 starts that Woods Richardson left with a no-decision. It was the third time in four outings that Woods Richardson struck out six batters, including a couple of big strikeouts to end the fourth and fifth innings, each coming with runners in scoring position to keep the game tied. Woods Richardson has been solid throughout his first full season in the majors, tallying a 3.26 ERA and 1.14 WHIP through 12 starts with 52 strikeouts over 60.2 innings. His next start is scheduled to take place next week when the Twins travel to Arizona to take on the Diamondbacks. Rotowire.com 54 minutes ago

Jordan Walker went 3-for-4 with a two-run homer on Thursday for Triple-A Memphis.

Advice: The encouraging development here for fantasy managers is that Walker is finally starting to hit for some over-the-fence pop. The 22-year-old former top prospect has gone deep three times since June 1. Rotoworld 56 minutes ago