Milwaukee Brewers rookie outfielder Jackson Chourio (rest) is out of the starting lineup ahead of Thursday's game against the St. Louis Cardinals. This appears to be a routine rest day for the rookie outfielder. Chourio has looked better lately, going 6-for-19 over the last week. In his absence, Christian Yelich, Sal Frelick, and Jake Bauers will cover the outfield during Thursday's game against Cardinals right-hander Sonny Gray.

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Minnesota Twins starting pitcher Pablo Lopez looked sharp on the mound during Thursday's game against the Seattle Mariners. The right-hander went 6 1/3 innings, allowing four hits, and striking out 10 batters in the win. Lopez didn't walk anyone and threw over 60 of his pitches for strikes in this game. He'll take his 3.89 ERA into his next start against the New York Yankees. Despite a tough matchup, Lopez remains a must-start in fantasy formats.

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Colorado Rockies starting pitcher Cal Quantrill put together a fairly strong outing during Thursday's game against the San Francisco Giants. The right-hander allowed only one run over six innings of work during Thursday's victory. Quantrill also gave up five hits and walked three batters, but he was able to work around the traffic. This is now back-to-back quality outings for Quantrill as he lowers his ERA to 3.94 on the year. We'll see if he can keep the good times rolling against the San Diego Padres during his next start.

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Seattle Mariners starting pitcher Logan Gilbert came into Thursday's game with a stellar 1.69 ERA over 48 innings of work. That was quickly raised as the Minnesota Twins jumped on Gilbert for five runs in the first frame. It was an awful outing for Gilbert as nothing seemed to go his way. He finished his day after four innings, allowing eight runs on nine hits in the loss. This was a bad day for Gilbert, but he should bounce back against the Kansas City Royals in his next start.

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Colorado Rockies left-hander Kyle Freeland (elbow) felt good after playing catch on Thursday, according to manager Bud Black, and he will continue to build up his left arm with a throwing program. Freeland went on the 15-day injured list on April 19 (retroactive to April 16) for a left-elbow strain and is trying to work his way back to Colorado's starting rotation. There's no current timetable for the 30-year-old southpaw's return to the big leagues, but he's not going to be rushed and is going to have to pitch better to be considered by fantasy managers in most leagues. Before going on the shelf with his left-elbow injury, Freeland was not good at all, going 0-3 with a 13.21 ERA and 2.55 WHIP with eight walks and nine strikeouts in 15 2/3 innings over his four starts. With a career 4.53 ERA and 6.7 K/9, there's almost zero upside with Freeland.

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New York Yankees manager Aaron Boone said relief pitcher Nick Burdi (hip) is expected to come off the injured list and rejoin the bullpen on Friday for the start of a series in Tampa against the Rays. Burdi was put on the injured list on April 19 with right-hip inflammation but is now ready to return to the Bronx. The 31-year-old struck out all three batters he faced in his only inning of work with Triple-A Scranton/Wilkes-Barre in his line minor-league rehab outing. Burdi isn't really on the fantasy radar in a middle-relief role for the Yankees, but he's been lights-out so far, tossing 6 1/3 shutout innings with a win, five walks and eight strikeouts in seven appearances out of the bullpen.

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St. Louis Cardinals catcher Willson Contreras (forearm) underwent successful surgery on Wednesday on his fractured left forearm and he's hoping to return by the All-Star break. Manager Oliver Marmol said that Contreras will likely be out for 10 weeks. The 31-year-old All-Star backstop was hit by a swing from New York Mets designated hitter J.D. Martinez this week and will now likely miss the rest of the first half of the season. Because of the lack of depth at the catching position in fantasy, Contreras needs to be stashed for now in all formats. In his absence, Ivan Herrera will be St. Louis' primary catcher, with prospect Pedro Pages backing him up. Herrera currently is hitting .232/.276/.377 with three home runs, 11 RBI and seven runs scored in his first 69 at-bats in 2024.

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Seattle Mariners right-hander Bryan Woo (elbow) will come off the injured list to make his 2024 debut on Friday against the Oakland Athletics at home. While the A's offense has certainly heated up recently, it's still a plus matchup for Woo's first big-league start of the year. The 24-year-old has been on the injured list since the beginning of the year due to right-elbow inflammation. In his three minor-league rehab starts with Triple-A Tacoma, Woo threw 11 1/3 shutout innings with no walks and 17 strikeouts, so he appears to be in great form and will be in play as a deep-league streaming option right away in his first start back. With Woo returning to Seattle's rotation, Emerson Hancock is expected to head back to the minors.

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Milwaukee Brewers pitching prospect Robert Gasser is expected to be called up from Triple-A Nashville in order to make his first major-league start on Friday against the visiting St. Louis Cardinals in his MLB debut. The club's No. 5 prospect, per MLB Pipeline, will be available for the spot start with right-hander Freddy Peralta serving a five-game suspension. The 24-year-old Gasser had the start of his 2024 season delayed in the minors with a bone spur in his elbow, but he's healthy now and ready for his big-league debut. The former second-round lefty had a 5.25 ERA and 1.50 WHIP with six walks and 17 strikeouts in 12 innings over three starts for Nashville, so despite the strong matchup on Friday against St. Louis, the rookie will still be a pretty risky streaming option with a low ceiling. It's likely that he'll head back to Nashville after Friday's start, too, so fantasy managers won't want to spend a bunch of money to acquire him off the waiver wire.

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St. Louis Cardinals first baseman Paul Goldschmidt remains out of the starting lineup on Thursday against the Milwaukee Brewers. Goldschmidt was scheduled to sit out Wednesday's series finale against the New York Mets on Wednesday before the game was rained out, so the Cardinals have just elected to give the struggling Goldy another day off. Alec Burleson will once again start at first base and hit cleanup against Brewers right-hander Tobias Myers. The 36-year-old right-handed slugger hasn't recorded a hit in his last six games to drop his season slash line to .195/.287/.263 with only two home runs and 11 RBI in 133 at-bats. Burleson has never faced Myers in his career but will be a tempting DFS play out of the cleanup spot as the Cardinals look to get their offense going. Goldy should be back in action on Friday in Milwaukee as he looks to break out of his season-long slump.

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The Cleveland Guardians transferred right-hander Gavin Williams (elbow) to the 60-day injured list on Thursday to make room on the 40-man roster for right-hander Darren McCaughan, who was acquired in a trade. Williams resumed throwing a week ago while recovering from a right-elbow injury, but he still has a ways to go before he's an option to rejoin the team's major-league starting rotation. When the 24-year-old is healthy, though, he should have a rotation spot waiting for him in Cleveland after he went 3-5 with a 3.29 ERA (4.05 FIP) and 1.26 WHIP while walking 37 and striking out 81 in 82 innings over his first 16 major-league starts in 2023. If Williams can reduce his number of walks when he returns, he could be a major contributor in all fantasy leagues.

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The Cleveland Guardians acquired right-hander Darren McCaughan from the Miami Marlins on Thursday in exchange for cash considerations. The move comes after the Marlins designated McCaughan for assignment after he allowed eight earned runs on nine hits (three home runs) while walking three and striking out only two in 4 2/3 innings against the Oakland Athletics in his lone appearance on Saturday. The 28-year-old will now give the Guardians both starting and relieving depth in the minors after they sent him to Triple-A Columbus. McCaughan has a 9.16 career ERA (8.65 FIP) and 1.82 WHIP with 10 walks and 14 strikeouts in 18 2/3 innings over six appearances (one start) in his three years in the big leagues. He remains far off the fantasy radar.

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Houston Astros right-hander Jose Urquidy (forearm) is scheduled to make his first minor-league rehab start for Triple-A Sugar Land on Sunday. Manager Joe Espada said the plan is for Urquidy to go around four innings or 60 to 65 pitches. Urquidy is finally ready to start pitching in games again after being out since the middle of March in spring training with a right-forearm strain. Given how long the 29-year-old has been out, we should expect him to make multiple rehab outings in the minors before the Astros even consider activating him from the injured list. Urquidy, who missed a large chunk of last season as well due to injury, won't even be guaranteed a starting rotation spot when he's cleared to rejoin the big-league club.

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Updating a previous report, San Francisco Giants outfielder Jung Hoo Lee (foot) was absent from the team's starting lineup on Thursday against the Colorado Rockies in the series finale after fouling a ball off his foot in the win on Wednesday night. Manager Bob Melvin said Lee is getting treatment and the team will see how he feels on Friday before the start of the series opener versus the visiting Cincinnati Reds. Fantasy managers need to consider the 25-year-old as day-to-day for now and check back to see if he's active on Friday. Austin Slater got the nod in center field for the Gigantes on Thursday and was hitting sixth in the order. Lee is currently in the midst of a modest six-game hitting streak in May, going 9-for-29 (.310) in the span with a double and an RBI. He's provided a decent batting average and on-base percentage so far in his first year in the big leagues but with little power (two homers).

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With right-hander Cristian Javier (neck) returning from the injured list to start on Saturday against the Detroit Tigers, Houston Astros manager Joe Espada said it's undecided how the starting rotation will adjust. A six-man rotation is still a possibility. Right-hander Hunter Brown, who was on turn to go this Saturday, could be available out of the bullpen this weekend. The 25-year-old last pitched on Sunday but is the logical candidate to lose out with Javier returning, as he's so far posted an ugly 8.89 ERA and 2.19 WHIP with 18 walks and 29 strikeouts in 27 1/3 innings over his first seven starts of the year to go along with an 0-4 record. If Brown doesn't pitch out of the bullpen this weekend, he could get the start against the Oakland Athletics on Monday. Either way, Brown's fantasy value, which was already on life support, is taking another hit with the return of Javier.

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Houston Astros right-hander Cristian Javier (neck) will start on Saturday against the Detroit Tigers in the Motor City, with lefty Framber Valdez starting the series opener on Friday and right-hander Justin Verlander going on Sunday. While it's a solid matchup for Javier, fantasy baseball managers need to remember that Javier has been out almost a month with a neck injury. In his lone minor-league rehab start with Double-A Corpus Christi, Javier gave up three runs in just 3 1/3 innings (68 pitches), so he's also probably not going to go very deep in his first start back in Detroit on Saturday. Even though he might be a shaky starting option this weekend, Javier deserves to be rostered in all fantasy formats after starting the year 2-0 with a 1.54 ERA and 1.11 WHIP with 18 strikeouts in 23 1/3 innings over his first four starts.

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New York Yankees catcher Jose Trevino will take a seat in favor of Austin Wells for the second straight day on Thursday against the visiting Houston Astros. Wells is catching right-hander Marcus Stroman and will hit eighth in the batting order against Astros right-hander Ronel Blanco. Wells will be making his 21st start of the season, while Trevino has started 18 games for the Yankees, so it's basically been a pretty even timeshare behind the dish in the Bronx for the two. The 31-year-old Trevino has been better offensively, hitting .281 (18-for-64) with two homers and 11 RBI, while Wells enters Thursday's game slashing just .200/.333/.317 with a homer and three RBI in 60 at-bats. Those setting DFS lineups on Thursday should look elsewhere at the catching position than Wells.

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The Atlanta Braves acquired infielder Zack Short from the Boston Red Sox on Thursday in exchange for cash considerations. The move comes after the Braves shipped veteran infielder Luis Guillorme to the Los Angeles Angels for cash considerations on the same day. The 28-year-old Short will be on his third MLB team of the year after starting the season with the New York Mets. In 12 games with the Mets and Red Sox this year, he's gone 1-for-16 with two walks and eight strikeouts. Short will operate in a utility bench role in Atlanta and may not stick around for long there, either. The former 17th-round pick by the Chicago Cubs in 2016 out of Sacred Heart has hit just .169/.262/.299 with 13 home runs, 55 RBI and eight stolen bases in 189 career games played in the majors since debuting in 2021.

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Pittsburgh Pirates right-hander Johan Oviedo (elbow) is coming close to the six-month mark in his rehab from Tommy John surgery, which is when he might get final clearance to resume throwing. The clearance could come next week and would be another step toward getting Oviedo ready to pitch next season. The 26-year-old underwent Tommy John surgery in early December of last year and will not be available to pitch for the Pirates at all in 2024. The Cuban right-hander made a career-high 32 starts for the Bucs in 2023 and went 9-14 with a 4.31 ERA (4.49 FIP) and 1.37 WHIP with 83 walks and 158 strikeouts in 177 2/3 innings pitched. Unsurprisingly, consistency was an issue for Oviedo in his first full season as a starter in the big leagues, and he's going to need to show better command when he returns in 2025 to have any shot at fantasy relevance in single-season leagues.

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Cincinnati Reds relief pitcher Ian Gibaut (arm) had anterior interosseous nerve-release surgery on his right arm on Thursday, but manager David Bell said the hope is that he's still able to return this season. Gibaut had been dealing with right-arm issues since late February and will now be out even longer. The 30-year-old is currently on the 60-day injured list and won't be able to rejoin Cincinnati's bullpen until some point in the second half of the season. The former 11th-round pick by the Tampa Bay Rays in 2015 out of Tulane was a key part of the Reds' bullpen last year, going 8-4 with a 3.33 ERA (4.07 FIP) and 1.28 WHIP with a career-high three saves, 28 walks and a career-high 69 strikeouts in 75 2/3 innings over 74 relief appearances.

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