MLB Morning Mashup: May 1

Top News

The Rangers’ website reported Thursday that the team will wait through the weekend before deciding whether or not to place OF Josh Hamilton (ribs) on the disabled list. Rangers manager Ron Washington told The Dallas Morning News that he hopes Hamilton will be able to return to the lineup this weekend.

Hamilton has been out of the starting lineup for the last five games. 

AL Mashup

Look for Eric Chavez to land on the DL once again. Chavez is suffering from right arm and elbow problems...John Buck is mashing right now for the Royals. Thursday, Buck (who is hitting .300 with three homers and 15 RBI) had two triples, a double, and drove in five runs...Matt Garza struck out 10 batters en route to a victory over the Boston Red Sox...Juan Cruz closed out the game for the Royals and collected his first save of the season Thursday as Joakim Soria recovers from his injury...Michael Wuertz got the save opportunity for the A’s on Thursday, as Brad Ziegler was unavailable...Andruw Jones is 11-for-32 with three homers, five doubles, and 11 walks this season...The Josh Beckett fire alarm is going off. After getting thumped by the Rays Thursday night, he is now 2-2 with a 7.22 ERA and a 1.81 WHIP...Jim Thome will return to the lineup for the White Sox on Friday...Alex Rodriguez went 1-for-6 with a home run and two walks in an extended spring training intrasquad game in Tampa on Thursday..."Melky Cabrera, you've just been reinserted into the Yankees starting center field job, what are you going to do next?" He is now hitting .327 with four homers and nine RBI...Joe Mauer, who is “fully recovered” from his early-season back problems, will be in the Twins lineup Friday night...Great news for Angel fans and Ervin Santana and John Lackey fantasy owners: It looks like both will be back and ready to pitch in the next two weeks.

NL Mashup

Chris Carpenter is not feeling any pain in his torn left oblique, which is good news for his fantasy owners. According to Rotoworld.com, you can count on him coming back in mid-May...Tommy Hanson struck out nine over six shutout innings Thursday. Hanson has a 1.69 ERA and a 38:9 K-to-BB ratio in 26.2 innings pitched...Russell Martin went hitless in a third straight game on Thursday, dropping his average to .205; it's been a tough year for the top catchers in both leagues...Sean Marshall allowed six hits over seven innings and gave up one run against the Marlins Thursday night...Jeff Suppan allowed one run over 6.1 innings against the Diamondbacks, but did not factor in the decision... Max Scherzer struck out seven Brewers over six scoreless innings but also did not factor in the decision...MLB.com reported that Jose Valverde, the Astros closer, could miss up to three more weeks after having excess fluid removed from his calf Thursday... According to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Braves P Kenshin Kawakami’s next start has been pushed back to Tuesday because he is experiencing shoulder fatigue. Kawakami is 1-3 with a 7.06 ERA in his first season in the major leagues... According to the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette, Pirates OF Nate McLouth (oblique) should return to the starting lineup Friday. But Pirates manager John Russell said that in order to do so, McLouth, who hasn’t played in a game since April 22, will have to have a pain-free batting practice session before the game.

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