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) – Adam Wainwright took care of business last night against the Mets becoming the first pitcher to get to 10-wins on the season. Wainwright went 7.0 scoreless innings allowing four hits, two walks while striking out six. Adam Wainwright has been a top-five fantasy pitcher all season and should continue to be so.
Mr. Clutch (hitter) – Robinson Cano has not been very Robinson Cano-like this season, but last night was a step in the right direction. Against the Athletics, Cano was 3-for-6 with a home run, a run scored, two RBIs and two walks. According to ESPN’s player rater, he is fourth among second basemen behind Dustin Pedroia, Brandon Phillips and Howard Kendrick. I expect that to change very soon. The opportunity to buy low on Cano is going to close fast.
Surprise, surprise! – Starlin Castro nearly doubled his stolen base output on the season last night, going 3-for-7 with two runs scored and two stolen bases. He has been very quiet in terms of home runs and stolen bases and has really taken a step back in terms of overall production this season. If someone still believes in Castro in your league, I would look to sell.
Here comes the heat – After getting blown out in St Louis at the beginning of the month, Matt Cain has now put up back-to-back solid outings. Last night he went 6.2 scoreless innings, allowing two hits, two walks while striking out three. His overall numbers have been way down this season, but I still believe in Cain and think he is a great buy-low candidate.
Left out in the breeze – Jeff Samardzija had a rough outing against the Reds going 6.0 innings allowing 10 hits, five earned runs and four walks while striking out six. Even though you will take the strikeouts, he may have just murdered your WHIP and ERA this week. Samardzija has been better than expected this season, a couple back-to-back bad outings is no reason to be alarmed.
Who’s trending? – Ervin Santana has been one of the bigger pickups for fantasy owners in the past week and he did not disappoint last night. Big Erv went 7.2 scoreless innings, allowing five hits while striking out three. The big difference for Big Erv is the BB/9, which at 1.27, he well below his career 2.80 BB/9. His advanced numbers do point to a regression, so this might be the opportune time to sell.
Bench me, please? – Torii Hunter has been quite awful in the month of June. His .237/.275/.289 slash line is just awful along with just one RBI and three runs scored. He is still 100 percent owned in leagues, and I think it is time for Hunter to ride the pine or possibly be cut. Outfield has been too deep this season to settle for those mediocre numbers.
The Streamer – With the Cubs being in the bottom third of the majors in batting average and runs scored, Shaun Marcum becomes a viable streamer candidate. Look for Marcum to pick up his first win of the season tonight. Deploy with confidence!