Toronto Blue Jays right-hander Max Scherzer (thumb) received a cortisone shot in his right thumb to reduce swelling and pain and is now day-to-day, with his next steps to be determined on how he feels in the coming days. Scherzer, who has dealt with injuries the last few seasons, is on the 15-day injured list to begin the 2025 season and has no timeline for a return at this time. In a best-case scenario, the 40-year-old veteran will begin to feel better and be cleared to resume throwing, but even then, there's a good chance he'll be forced to miss the first month of the season as he ramps his arm back up. While Scherzer was initially looking like a value pick for the back end of fantasy rotations going into his first season with the Blue Jays, we've gotten to the point where we're now wondering how much he'll even be able to pitch in 2025. For now, keep him stashed in an IL spot until we know more.

Los Angeles Dodgers first baseman Freddie Freeman (ankle) is out of the starting lineup again on Tuesday against the visiting Atlanta Braves at Dodger Stadium and likely won't play again until Friday, at the earliest, according to 570 LA Sports' David Vassegh. Freeman slipped and fell on his right ankle in the shower on Sunday morning, but thankfully X-rays showed that he didn't damage his surgically-repaired right ankle. Enrique Hernandez will get another start at first base on Tuesday and will hit sixth against Braves left-hander Chris Sale, who won the National League Cy Young award last season. Fantasy managers will be without the 35-year-old Freeman for another few days, but he should be back in L.A.'s lineup at some point this weekend for a showdown in Philadelphia against the Phillies. Through three games played, Freeman has gone 3-for-12 with two homers, a double and four RBI for the Blue.

St. Louis Cardinals catcher/first baseman Willson Contreras is out of the lineup on Tuesday for the first time this year against the visiting Los Angeles Angels at Busch Stadium. Catcher Ivan Herrera will also start on the bench, with Pedro Pages doing the catching for left-hander Matthew Liberatore and batting seventh against Angels right-hander Kyle Hendricks. It's a good time for Contreras to get off his feet for the first time this year, as the 32-year-old Venezuelan backstop is hitless with eight strikeouts in 19 plate appearances over his first four games in 2024. Alec Burleson is starting at first for the Cards and is batting second on Tuesday. Burleson will be the more popular DFS play for this matchup against the soft-tossing Hendricks, as Burleson has hit .429 with a 1.071 OPS in a small sample size of seven career at-bats against Hendricks.

Boston Red Sox right-hander Kutter Crawford (knee), who is recovering from right patellar tendinopathy, is significantly behind Brayan Bello (shoulder) and Lucas Giolito (hamstring) in his recovery. Crawford is working out in Florida but hasn't faced hitters yet and could be in line for a lengthy absence to begin the season. The 29-year-old also dealt with knee issues in 2024 and could be feeling the effects of career-high workload last year in which he threw 183 2/3 innings over 33 starts in his fourth year in the big leagues. Because he's without a timetable to return and hasn't even started throwing to hitters, it's safe to assume we won't see Crawford back in Boston's starting rotation until at least sometime in May. With Crawford, Bello and Giolito on the IL to begin the year, Richard Fitts and Sean Newcomb started the year in the back end of the rotation in Beantown.

Boston Red Sox right-hander Lucas Giolito (hamstring) is scheduled to make a minor-league rehab start on Wednesday for the Triple-A Worcester WooSox, according to MassLive's Christopher Smith. In what will be his first rehab start since suffering a hamstring strain in spring training, Giolito is expected to throw three innings. The 30-year-old veteran will need at least two more rehab starts before that before the Red Sox consider activating him from the 15-day injured list, so in a best-case scenario, Giolito might be looking at making his debut with Boston at the end of April. When both Giolito and Brayan Bello (shoulder) are able to return to the starting rotation, Richard Fitts and Sean Newcomb will likely be bumped to the minors or the bullpen. Giolito had two straight down seasons in 2022 and 2023 before having elbow surgery last year and missing all of the 2024 campaign.