Taking a look around the league, here’s a recap of last night’s action and suggestions for your fantasy baseball team.
Mr. Clutch (pitcher) – Felix Hernandez was brilliant last night, tossing 7.0 scoreless innings against the Athletics, allowing five hits and a walk while striking out eight. King Felix is having a career year statistically. His 2.32 ERA, 9.46 K/9, 1.72 BB/9 and 1.03 WHIP are all career highs. He is putting up Cy Young–like numbers and should be one of the top pitchers going forward. So much for the shoulder issues that crept up in the news at the beginning of the season.
Mr. Clutch (hitter) – B.J. Upton went nuts last night against the Giants, going 2-for-4 with two home runs, three runs scored, three RBIs and a stolen base. Upton is a very frustrating player to own because he can do absolutely nothing for the first couple of months then go on a tear and end up with 20+ home runs and 20+ steals. If he is getting hot and is available, now is as good of time as any to pick him up.
Surprise, surprise! – Trevor Plouffe came back from the DL with a vengeance last night against the Tigers, going 3-for-3 with two runs, a home run and three RBIs. Third base has been very rough this season, and if you are needing help, Plouffe maybe your answer. This guy can hit home runs in bunches and, if healthy, could be a top-10 third basemen.
Here comes the heat – The young upstart, Anthony Rendon continued his nine-game hitting streak last night going 3-for-5 with a home run, two runs and an RBI. During the course of the nine games, Rendon has a .429/.474/.657 slash line to go along with a home run, six runs and six RBIs. Not only has he been a top third basemen in the past week, he has eight games in at second base. By next week, he should have eligibility in most leagues to play that position. He could be worth a pickup since he is owned in less than 15 percent of leagues.
Left out in the breeze – Unless you play in deep enough leagues where Jonathan Pettibone or Tom Koehler come into play, Sergio Romo had probably the worst performance of the night. Romo blew the save and took the loss, allowing two hit, an earned run and two walks while striking out one.
Who’s trending? – Kyle Blanks continued to be relevant last night, going 2-for-4 with a home run, two runs scored and a RBI. Blanks started the season off very slow and was sent to the minors. But after Yonder Alonso broke his hand, Blanks was called back up and has been red hot ever since then. Pick him up and ride the streak, but just know that playing time and health are going to be some concerns down the road for Blanks.
Bench me, please? – I believe the newness of Marcell Ozuna has finally worn off. Ozuna went 0-for-5 with two strikeouts last night and is 8-for-41 with three runs scored, an RBI, 11 strikeouts and zero walks. It is safe to say that he is now droppable in mixed league formats and is in serious trouble of being sent back down to the minors.
The Streamer – An injury to Jake Peavy forced the White Sox to bring Hector Santiago back into the rotation and all he did was respond with a four-hit, one-eared-run game against the Athletics. Now he gets Houston, which has a terrible offense. Though guys like Matt Garza, Ian Kennedy and Ricky Nolasco seem tempting, I am taking the long reliever to go out and dominate the Astros. Deploy with confidence!
