Oakland Athletics outfielders JJ Bleday and Seth Smith will retreat to the bench on Thursday against the Tampa Bay Rays at Oakland Coliseum with a left-hander starting. Daz Cameron gets the nod in center field and will hit fifth for Oakland, with Tyler Nevin starting at first base and batting seventh against Rays left-hander Jeffrey Springs. Cameron and Nevin have a combined five career at-bats against Springs. Bleday has bounced back in his second year with the A's in 2023 to the tune of a .243/.326/.449 slash line with a career-best .775 OPS, but it hasn't moved the needle all that much in mixed fantasy leagues. He has added 17 home runs, 48 RBI and 59 runs scored in 125 games played. He hasn't been that good against southpaws, though, hitting .238 (19-for-80) with six of his 17 home runs against them. Bleday has looked good in August with four homers, three doubles, 11 RBI and a steal in 17 games.

Tampa Bay Rays outfielders Jose Siri and Jonny DeLuca are out of the starting lineup on Thursday against the Oakland Athletics at Oakland Coliseum. Rookie Kameron Misner will play center field and hit eighth, while Dylan Carlson will draw into the lineup in left field and bat third against A's right-hander Osvaldo Bido. Siri will get a day of rest after going deep in each of his last two games. The 29-year-old Dominican is up to 16 home runs in his second full season in Tampa but is batting a dreadful .199/.270/.386 with a .656 OPS, 41 RBI, 12 stolen bases and 136 strikeouts in 106 games played. Carlson was struggling with injuries with the Cardinals before being acquired by Tampa at the trade deadline. The 25-year-old switch-hitter has only three home runs and 20 RBI on the year in 166 at-bats. Misner is still searching for his first big-league hit after fanning eight times in his first 11 trips to the plate.

The Baltimore Orioles optioned left-hander Trevor Rogers to Triple-A Norfolk and recalled left-hander Nick Vespi and activated infielder Emmanuel Rivera in corresponding moves. The O's also optioned Colin Selby and Livan Soto and recalled Matt Bowman in a series of moves on Thursday. Since Rogers joined Baltimore's starting rotation in a questionable trade that sent infield prospect Connor Norby to the Miami Marlins, the 26-year-old left-hander has posted a 7.11 ERA while allowing 16 runs (15 earned) on 25 hits (two homers), walking 10 and striking out 12 in 19 innings pitched. Rogers hasn't gone beyond five innings of work since June 21 and will now head to the minors to work on some things before rejoining the O's when rosters expand in September. Rogers has gone 2-11 overall in 2024 with a 4.92 ERA, a 1.58 WHIP, a career-worst 13.3% strikeout rate and a career-high 11.1% walk rate.

Detroit Tigers outfielders Riley Greene and Parker Meadows and rookie shortstop Trey Sweeney are all out of the starting lineup on Thursday at Wrigley Field against the Chicago Cubs with a left-hander on the mound. Andy Ibanez is starting in left field and batting second, Matt Vierling is in center field and hitting leadoff, and Javier Baez is starting at shortstop and batting in the nine-hole against Cubs left-hander Justin Steele. Greene snapped out of little slump since returning from the injured list by going deep and driving in three runs on Wednesday night. The 23-year-old was a first-time All-Star in 2024 but has hit only .208 (20-for-96) with four of his 18 home runs on the year against southpaws. Vierling is hitting .265 (26-for-98) against lefties this year with two of his 14 homers, while Ibanez has hit .351 (33-for-94) with all four of his homers against lefties.

Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Ryan Burr will serve as the team's opener on Thursday against the Los Angeles Angels at Rogers Center, according to the team. Left-hander Ryan Yarbrough will likely be used in the bulk-relief role. This will be Burr's first "start" of the year. It's a great matchup against the light-hitting Halos, but Burr isn't going to go deep enough in this game to make him a realistic streaming candidate in fantasy. In 19 relief outings in 2024, he's posted a 5.40 ERA and 1.25 WHIP with 23 strikeouts and eight walks in 18 1/3 innings in his first year in Toronto. Yarbrough, who came over in the trade that sent outfielder Kevin Kiermaier to the Los Angeles Dodgers, has allowed four earned runs on four hits (one homer) while walking three and striking out three in his four relief appearances for the Jays. Stay away from both Burr and Yarbrough on Thursday.