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) – Jordan Zimmerman shut down the Colorado Rockies and ruined Roy Oswalt‘s season debut by tossing eight innings of six-hit ball. He gave up only one unearned run and one walk while striking out nine batters. Jordan Zimmerman lowered his ERA to 2.26 on the year.
Mr. Clutch (hitter) – Hard to give this to one player after the Seattle Mariners and Los Angeles Angels yesterday. The award goes to the Angels. They cranked out 17 hits in a game where Felix Hernandez was pitching against them. Mike Trout was 4-for-4. Albert Pujols was 2-for-4, Peter Bourjos was 3-for-4 and Mark Trumbo hit a decisive three-run jack against King Felix (not King James) that all but ended the night for Felix.
Surprise, surprise! – Since returning from a hamstring injury, Bourjos is 10-for-25 with three stolen bases. Last night, he connected on his third home run of the season and is batting .345 overall.
Here comes the heat – Madison Bumgarner is back on track, delivering his third straight win and second quality start in a row. He shut out the Braves with 10 strikeouts and followed that with seven innings of three-hit ball against the Padres.
Left out in the breeze – So, last night’s game with the Mariners and Angels was a sluggfest and someone took the loss. Well, that guy is Carter Capps. He gave up three hits and two earned runs, and was tagged with a loss and blown save. Guess how many outs he registered? None.
Who’s trending? – Joaquin Benoit looks to be in line to be the next closer for Detroit. He’s had a great year so far and is a good buy low fantasy player. Benoit is 1-0 with 35 strikeouts and a 1.80 ERA.
Bench me, please? – For those who have leagues where batters lose points on every strikeout, Mark Reynolds is usually available. Why you ask? Simple. Because of stretches like he’s in now. He’s 4-for-22 with 12 strikeouts in his last seven games. Ouch.
The Streamer – I picked up Sam Deduno in my league this morning, and he opposes Scott Kazmir and the Indians tonight. Deduno is 3-1 on the season for the Twins and has a 3.26 season ERA through five games. His last start was steller, picking up the win over seven innings against the hot-hitting Tigers. He’s only owned in 1.8 percent of leagues, so take my advice and run with him.