Taking a look around the league, here’s a recap of last night’s action and suggestions for your fantasy baseball team.
Clutch Performers – It was a day of pitching domination, and no one was better than young Chris Archer. He had struggled a bit when he was first called up, but he has been dialed in his last five starts. He has only allowed three earned runs in his past 37 innings pitched, which is pretty damn good for any pitcher. The only knock on Chris Archer is the teams he has faced in those starts: at New York, at Toronto, Houston twice and Minnesota. He does have tons of talent and upside, but it could be a good time to sell high on this young pitcher. Let’s see who else rocked it out yesterday.
- Chris Archer — 9 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 6 K, W
- Madison Bumgarner — 8 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 7 K, ND
- Julio Teheran — 7 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, BB, 6 K, ND
- Troy Tulowitzki — 3-for-4, HR, 2 R, 2 RBI
- Max Scherzer — 6 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 7 K, W
- Miguel Cabrera — 2-for-3, HR, 2 R, 3 RBI
Surprise, surprise! – Who came out of the cracks to deliver yesterday? Check these impressive stat lines out:
- Stephen Drew — 3-for-4, 2 HR, 5 RBI, 3 R
- Chris Rusin — 7 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 3 K, ND
- Samuel Deduno — 7 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, W
Left out in the breeze – Who got rocked? Who failed to deliver? Check them out:
- Mark Trumbo — 0-for-4, 3 K
- Nick Swisher — 0-for-3, 3 K
- Anthony Rizzo — 0-for-4, 3 K
- Tyler Skaggs — 3.2 IP, 3 H, 7 ER, 5 BB, 5 K, L
Trending developments – Since the Brewers traded Francisco Rodriguez to the Orioles last Tuesday, Jim Henderson has stepped back into the closer’s role and has been dominate. He has been one of the most added players this week, but is still out there in 25 percent of leagues or so. He should be a must add in every league. Go get him if he is available.
- Brett Lawrie is batting .222/.293/.444 since returning from the DL
- Ben Revere has a 10-game hitting streak in which has batted .422/.422/.511
- Martin Prado is batting .341 with 10 extra-base hits in the month of July
- Samuel Deduno now has seven quality starts in his last 10 outings.
Prospect Watch – Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez, the Cuban pitcher that everyone has been trying to sign, is heading to the Phillies. They viewed him as a top-of-the-rotation pitcher. It will be very interesting to see if he makes his big-league debut this season since the Phillies are going nowhere and are probably itching to take this pitcher out for a cruise. Here’s Gonzalez in action.
Head-2-Head– Gerrit Cole going against Miami seems like a lock, and he should be picked up if you need to stream someone to seal your victory for the week. If Cole is already off the board, Rick Porcello has a nice matchup against the Phillies. He has had three straight quality starts and is widely available.
Links of the day – It’s time to do the link thing …
- Need pitching help next week? Check out this forecaster.
- Athletic prospects in review. Check it out.
- More news about Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez here.
- As always, ESPN’s daily notes are worth checking out everyday.