Nicky

Lopez

Nicky Lopez is at second base to face Guardians righty Tanner Bibee. Cauley went 1-for-3 with a triple and a pair of runs scored in his major-league debut on Monday night in Cleveland. The versatile 23-year-old figures to play regularly against left-handed starters and possesses an interesting mix of fantasy-relevant tools, most notably elite speed on the bases. He’s a name to watch in deeper mixed leagues in case he’s able to carve out a semi-regular role with the Rangers in the coming weeks.

Seager took batting practice on Tuesday but was unable to clear concussion protocols in time for the day game on Wednesday. There remains a strong chance that he will play on Thursday in the first game against the Blue Jays. Ezequiel Duran will start at shortstop on Wednesday with Nicky Lopez at second base.

Seager receives some extra time off after a home-plate collision during Thursday’s game against Kansas City left him with rib and jaw soreness. He had been heating up, hitting safely in four of his last five games with two homers since returning from a back issue that sidelined him for a couple of weeks last month. It’ll be defensive specialist Nicky Lopez drawing another start at shortstop in his absence.

Duran was replaced by Nicky Lopez at shortstop with Justin Foscue taking over at second base after going 0-for-2 at the dish. It doesn’t sound like a serious concern heading into Thursday’s series finale.

Lopez makes sense as a versatile reserve infielder for the Rangers, who are currently without starting shortstop Corey Seager in addition to utility specialist Josh Smith. The 31-year-old defensive wizard got into four games for the Cubs over a one-month span earlier this season. He can be safely ignored for fantasy purposes.

Lopez will presumably stick around with the Cubs as organizational depth after being removed from the club’s active roster last weekend. The 31-year-old defensive wizard makes sense as an emergency stopgap but he doesn’t offer enough offensive impact to be anything close to an everyday option at this stage of his career.

Chicago has decided to jettison Lopez after the defensive specialist appeared in just four games after being called up back on April 24. The 31-year-old is merely emergency organizational depth at this stage of his career. The Cubs are presumably going to role with intriguing prospect Pedro Ramírez in a versatile utility role off the bench.

The 31-year-old infielder will join the Cubs’ active roster after being acquired from the Rockies on Thursday. He’ll primarily serve as a defensive replacement and pinch-runner, the role that Scott Kingery had prior to making a couple of errors during Thursday’s contest and being optioned to Triple-A Iowa. He can be ignored for fantasy purposes.

The 31-year-old infielder had been playing at Triple-A Albuquerque where he was slashing a solid .333/.387/.519 with a homer, eight RBI and a pair of stolen bases in 62 plate appearances. It’s unclear if the Cubs plan to promote him immediately to the big league roster or if he’ll report to Triple-A Iowa.

No real surprises among this batch of cuts for the Rockies. These moves get them down to 36 players remaining in major league camp as we inch closer to Opening Day. Look for them to finalize their roster in the coming days. Fulford hit .213/.267/.324 in 120 plate appearances with the Rockies last year, but slugged .714 in 171 Triple-A plate appearances and figures to be their third catcher this season.