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) – Justin Verlander against the Astros is just cruel. He went 7.0 innings allowing two hits and striking out nine. Verlander is the best pitcher in baseball and he did what you expected him to do, which is flat out dominate a bad team. He is the clear frontrunner for the AL CY Young.
Mr. Clutch (hitter) – Freddie Freeman had a big day against the Mets going 3-for-5 with one home run, three RBIs and two runs scored. Freeman has put together a very solid season thus far. The biggest concern bas been the lack of power so far, but that probably has to do more with his recent DL stint than anything. He was a trendy sleeper to take the step up into superstar status and has been solid thus far.
Surprise, surprise! – The entire Marlins team makes this section I believe. They destroyed the Phillies in all aspects of the game Sunday. Kevin Slowey pitched 7.0 innings allowing two hits and striking out seven. Justin Ruggiano went 2-for-3 with two home runs, three RBIs, four runs, a walk and a steal. Adeiny Hechavarria went 2-for-4 with a home run, seven RBIs, one run scored and a walk. Finally, Marcell Ozuna went 4-for-5 with three RBIs, three runs and a walk. Slowey is the one you would want to consider owning in this group, but he is still more of a streamer option at this point.
Here comes the heat – David Ortiz continued his league-leading hit streak (13 games) Sunday going 1-for-3 with a home run, two RBIs, one run and two walks. Big Papi has been on a tear since coming off of the DL. Over the last 13 games, he has put up a .440/.473/.840 slash line hitting four home runs, 17 RBIs, 11 runs, four walks and eight strikeouts. I said it before and I will say it again, I look for Big Papi to have a big season and he has not disappointed.
Left out in the breeze – Bryce Harper got ejected Sunday after staring at the umpire on a called third strike then dropping his bat. Seems very harsh, but those are the breaks of the game. This ejection capped off a very rough week for Bryce Harper who maybe dealing with an injury. He should bounce back this week, and I wouldn’t put too much stock into just one bad week from this young superstar.
Who’s trending? – Nolan Arenado continues to be one of the hottest pickups in fantasy leagues right now, and he did not disappoint Sunday. He went 2-for-5 with one home run, one RBI and one run scored. He is probably at the peak of his trade value for yearly leagues, and I would suggest trading him. If you can get a top-75 player for Arenado, you should not think twice. For keeper leagues, unless you already have two other third basemen, he should be a nice commodity going forward.
Bench me, please? – Someone had to be on the other end of that shredding by the Marlins, and it was none other than Roy Halladay. He went 2.1 innings giving up four hits, nine earned runs and four walks, while striking out four. After the game it came out that his shoulder was bothering him before the matchup, and this could explain just a horrendous start. There is also talk of Halladay going on the DL for a bit. Hopefully, you sold high on this guy last week; if not, I think he is droppable in standard leagues.
The Streamer – Not a lot of good streamer options for today. If for some reason Paul Maholm is available, he is definitely the best option out of the guys who are not 100% owned. But my pick today is going to be Andrew Cashner. He is facing the red-hot Marlins, who put up 14 runs yesterday. I think those runs had more to do with Halladay’s injury than anything. If Cashner’s command is there, he can be lights out. Deploy with confidence.