Wednesday Lineup Card: Riding Out the Season in a Pinto

This article is part of our The Lineup Card series.

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Projected Starters - A look at Wednesday's matchups (all times Eastern)
Twins (Scott Diamond – L) at White Sox (John Danks – L), 2:10
Angels (Jason Vargas – L) at Athletics (A.J. Griffin – R), 3:35
Braves (Alex Wood – L) at Nationals (Ross Ohlendorf – R), 7:05
Marlins (Nathan Eovaldi – R) at Phillies (Zach Miner – R), 7:05
Padres (Tyson Ross – R) at Pirates (Charlie Morton – R), 7:05
Yankees (Phil Hughes – R) at Blue Jays (J.A. Happ – L), 7:07
Mariners (Hisashi Iwakuma – R) at Tigers (Justin Verlander – R), 7:08
Orioles (Wei-Yin Chen – L) at Red Sox (Jake Peavy – R), 7:10
Giants (Matt Cain – R) at Mets (Aaron Harang – R), 7:10
Rangers (Derek Holland – L) at Rays (Chris Archer – R), 7:10
Cubs (Chris Rusin – L) at Brewers (Tyler Thornburg – R), 8:10
Reds (Greg Reynolds – R) at Astros (Brad Peacock – R), 8:10
Indians (Danny Salazar – R) at Royals (Bruce Chen – L), 8:10
Cardinals (Adam Wainwright – R) at Rockies (Tyler Chatwood – R), 8:40
Dodgers (Stephen Fife – R) at Diamondbacks (Brandon McCarthy – R), 10:10

Day Game After Night Game: MIN/CHW, LAA/OAK

Injuries

Day-To-Day
Nolan Arenado, 3B, COL (thumb) – Not in the lineup Tuesday against the Cardinals.
Yoenis Cespedes, OF, OAK (shoulder) – Will be monitored day-to-day with his right shoulder soreness.
Allen Craig, 1B, STL (foot) – Hopes to have protective boot removed soon.
Carl Crawford, OF, LAD (back) – Held out of Tuesday's lineup.
Travis d'Arnaud, C, NYM (shoulder) – Left Tuesday's game with a sore right shoulder.
Jacoby Ellsbury, OF, BOS (foot) – Has yet to increase baseball activities but still expected back before the end of the regular season.
Andre Ethier, OF, LAD (ankle) – Held out of Tuesday's lineup.
Dexter Fowler, OF, COL (knee) – Still held out of the lineup Tuesday against the Cardinals.
Avisail Garcia, OF, CHW (personal) – Remains out of the lineup Tuesday against the Twins but expected to rejoin the team Wednesday.
Carlos Gonzalez, OF, COL (finger) – Will have finger examined by a doctor in Cleveland on Thursday.
Miguel Gonzalez, SP, BAL (groin) – Scratched from Friday's scheduled start.
Luis Jimenez, 3B, LAA (thumbs) – Will likely miss the remainder of the season.
Matt Kemp, OF, LAD (hamstring) – Received clearance to return to the lineup Tuesday to make first start since July 21.
Kyle Kendrick, SP, PHI (shoulder) – Will not make scheduled start Wednesday.
Jed Lowrie, SS, OAK (hamstring) – Out of the lineup Tuesday.
Starling Marte, OF, PIT (hand) – Back in the lineup Tuesday against the Padres.
Nate McLouth, OF, BAL (knee) – Back in the lineup Tuesday against the Red Sox after leaving Sunday's game.
Will Middlebrooks, 3B, BOS (illness) – Said that he expects to return to the lineup Wednesday.
Brad Miller, SS, SEA (hamstring) – Remains out of the lineup Tuesday against the Tigers.
Hanley Ramirez, SS, LAD (back) – Returned to the lineup Tuesday.
Colby Rasmus, OF, TOR (general soreness) – Back in the lineup Tuesday against the Yankees.
Alex Rodriguez, 3B, NYY (calf) – Back in the lineup Tuesday against the Blue Jays.
Wilin Rosario, C, COL (calf) – Returned to lineup Tuesday against the Cardinals but exited with a recurrence of the calf injury.
Marco Scutaro, 2B, SF (back/finger) – Giants are considering shutting him down for the rest of the season.
Stephen Strasburg, SP, WAS (forearm) – Threw a successful bullpen session Monday and received clearance to start Thursday against the Marlins.
Scott Van Slyke, OF, LAD (ribs) – Returned to the lineup Tuesday against the Diamondbacks.

Disabled List
Jesse Crain, RP, TB (shoulder) – Experienced slight soreness Tuesday but manager Joe Maddon believes he has a 50/50 chance of being activated Wednesday.
Matt Harvey, SP, NYM (elbow) – Will try to rehab and begin a throwing program in one to two months instead of immediately undergoing Tommy John surgery.
John Jaso, C, OAK (concussion) – Took batting practice on the field Tuesday and did not experience any concussion symptoms for the first time.
Matt Reynolds, RP, ARI (elbow) – Will require Tommy John surgery.
David Wright, 3B, NYM (hamstring) – Not expected to return during series this week with the Giants.

Transactions

Called Up
Brock Holt, 3B, BOS
Yordano Ventura, RP, KC
Brayan Villarreal, RP, BOS
Steven Wright, RP, BOS

Activated from the Disabled List
Chris Nelson, 3B, LAA
Steve Pearce, OF, BAL

Placed on the Disabled List (15-day DL unless otherwise noted)
Jason Castro, C, HOU
Brett Cecil, RP, TOR
Danny Duffy, SP, KC
Edwin Encarnacion, 1B, TOR
Carlos Pena, 1B, KC (60-day DL)

Closer Watch

Braves: Sometimes even the great ones can suffer bad days, which was exactly what happened to Kimbrel in the first game of Tuesday's doubleheader with the Nationals. The closer recorded only one out in Game 1 on his way to giving up three runs (two earned) on one hit and two walks, picking up his fourth blown save of the season. Kimbrel was snake-bitten by some lackadaisical defense behind him, along with some rare struggles with command that allowed the Nationals to score the comeback win. There's no need to read much into this; it was just the perfect storm of bad elements against a scorching hot team that led to a loss for the star closer.

Josmil Pinto, C, MIN – Although he entered the season as a lightly-regarded prospect that was largely overshadowed in one of the best farm systems in the game, Pinto made a name for himself with strong numbers in the minors this season, batting .309 with 15 homers and 74 RBI while splitting time between Double-A and Triple-A. While the performance earned him a September call-up to the majors, at 24 years old, Pinto was somewhat of an older prospect and not one who projected to have much success at the big leagues. However, a lingering concussion to Joe Mauer and the team's desire to limit Ryan Doumit's responsibilities behind the plate would open the door for Pinto to gather a few starts, and he hasn't stopped hitting since. Through 12 starts, Pinto is batting .366 with five doubles, two homers and seven RBI, while also showing a discerning eye at the plate (7:4 K/BB rate). With the Twins far removed from playoff contention and in the early stages of deciding their roster for next year, Pinto figures to receive further at-bats as the team looks to evaluate whether he can be a viable backup to Mauer heading into the 2014 campaign. While the batting average is almost certain to fall (Pinto currently sports a .424 BABIP), the ability to hit for extra bases looks to be a real skill, given what we've seen from him during his minor league career and through his small exposure to big league pitching. He's worth a look in AL-only formats where there might be far less attractive alternatives at the catcher spot at this time of the season.

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