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.

St. Louis Cardinals left-hander Steven Matz (back) is likely to have at least one more minor-league rehab start before the team reinstates him from the 60-day injured list. Matz allowed four earned runs on nine hits while walking one and striking out three in five innings (85 pitches) in his third rehab start for Triple-A Memphis on Wednesday night, and the Cardinals would like to see a little bit more from the 33-year-old southpaw before bringing him back to the majors. When Matz does return, it's possible that the Red Birds use a six-man starting rotation to close out the year to accommodate Matz. However, there's also the possibility that Matz is used in long relief. Either way, fantasy managers in mixed leagues can probably ignore him the rest of the way. Before his back injury, Matz had a 6.18 ERA, 1.73 WHIP and career-worst 13.4% strikeout rate in six starts.

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.

St. Louis Cardinals outfielder Michael Siani (oblique) took full batting practice in the cages on Thursday for the first time since going on the 10-day injured list earlier this month due to a strained right oblique, according to manager Oliver Marmol. The skipper said a minor-league rehab assignment is near, and the team is still deciding when and where his rehab stint will be. Oblique injuries can be tricky to come back from, so it remains to be seen how many rehab games the 25-year-old will require before rejoining the major-league roster. When the Cardinals give him the green light to return, Siani, who hits from the left side, will return to a platoon role in center field in St. Louis. Speed is his biggest asset for fantasy managers in NL-only and deep-mixed formats. Siani has only two homers in 2024 to go along with 18 RBI and 14 steals in 234 at-bats.

The Los Angeles Dodgers activated infielder/outfielder Chris Taylor (groin) from the 10-day injured list on Thursday and designated outfielder Jason Heyward for assignment in a corresponding move. Taylor will return to the Dodgers after landing on the shelf in late July with a strained left groin. Both Taylor and Heyward have been pretty dreadful offensively in 2024, but the 33-year-old Taylor at least offers versatility at other positions on the infield. Taylor will return to a .167/.277/.265 slash line with an abysmal .542 OPS, three homers, 15 RBI and three steals. Continue to ignore him in mixed fantasy leagues. Heyward, meanwhile, loses his 40-man roster spot after already seeing his playing time dwindle in right field after Mookie Betts returned from a fractured hand. The 35-year-old has hit .208 (36-for-173) for the Blue this year with six homers, 28 RBI and four steals.