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.

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.

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.

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.

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.