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) – It has definitely been a rough year for Jeremy Hellickson, but he was superb last night against the Blue Jays. Hellickson went 7.0 innings, allowing just one hit while striking out four. This was Hellickson’s second quality start in a row and his third in his last four outings. Owned in just 40 percent of leagues, he is still just a streaming option in mixed leagues. His next outing, at home against Detroit, you are definitely sitting him.
Mr. Clutch (hitter) – The future Hall of Famer, Yasiel Puig, continued mashing the ball last night going 3-for-4 with a home run. In 82 plate appearances, Puig is has a .442/.476/.753 slash line with seven home runs and two stolen bases. The big knock right now is his walk rate, but it’s kind of hard to take walks when you are mashing it over the fence every time. Are we getting another Mike Trout rookie season from Yasiel Puig? He is an obvious sell-high candidate, but the guy just keeps mashing. Having him on your team, for me, makes for an enjoyable fantasy season.
Surprise, surprise! – Kyle Blanks continued to make the case to stay in the lineup last night with a walk-off single in the 10th inning. He also had a two-run single and scored the tying run on a passed ball. After cooling down a bit, Blanks had a very impressive game last night. Continue to ride the streak of this hot player.
Here comes the heat – Wil Myers has been all that and a bag of chips since coming up to the majors. Last night, he powered the Rays to a victory, smashing a home run in his first home game of the season, extending his hit streak to seven games. Still a small sample size, he is batting .294 with two home runs in 34 plate appearances. Myers is the real deal and is what the Rays desperately needed. Like Puig, I am sure there will be a regression and a “rookie wall” coming, but enjoy the ride for now.
Left out in the breeze – With only eight games played, this is a tough spot to fill, but in 5.1 innings Ubaldo Jimenez gave up eight hits and two earned runs to the Orioles. None of which came from fantasy darlings Chris Davis, J.J. Hardy and Manny Machado. They combined to go 1-for-13 with four strikeouts between them. Definitely an off night from these three sluggers. No worries, keep trotting them out.
Who’s trending? – Even a blind squirrel will find a nut every now and then, and that just what happened to my streamer pick last night. Eric Stults continued to perform at a high level, going 7.0 innings, allowing only two earned runs. This is now six quality starts in a row for Stults, and his next matchup, against Miami, could be number seven. He seems to be playing with house money at this point. If you own him, enjoy the hot streak.
Bench me, please? – Are we ready to cut the cord on Domonic Brown? He has not homered in a couple weeks now and is batting close to .200 in that span. If you owned him, I hope you sold high, because its now time to throw him on the bench and hope he turns it around.
The Streamer – With so many quality-streaming options out today I am going to give my top three:
- Trevor Cahill at Washington Nationals
- Kyle Lohse vs Chicago Cubs
- Jake Westbrook at Houston Astros