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 went eight innings, allowed two hits and zero earned runs, while striking out eight. This was all against one of the best teams in baseball, the Atlanta Braves. I like Zimmerman, bit if you nitpick his advanced stats a bit, you might come away a little worried. 83.3 LOB%, .188 BABIP, .292 FIP and .353 xFIP compared to his 1.64 ERA is a bit worrisome. I also do not like his 4.75 K/9, which is a career low. Zimmerman seems like a top 30 pitcher who is pitching like a top 20 pitcher. Seems like a good sell-high opportunity to me.
Mr. Clutch (hitter) – Mike Napoli led the route against the Blue Jays Wednesday night going 2-for-3, with two home runs, four RBIs, two runs and one walk. Though his advanced numbers compared to last season look worse, he has had an MVP like month for the Red Sox. The 27 RBIs in April is just flat out insane. I feel like he should regress a bit, but I think he will still be the number-two catcher behind Buster Posey for the remainder of the season.
Surprise, surprise! – Sorry to disappoint, but Ryan Raburn will not be making his third straight appearance in this section. However, Scott Feldman came out of nowhere pick up a decisive, complete-game victory over the Padres. In nine innings, he allowed two runs and one walk, while striking out 12. He is not a guy you want to be picking up anytime soon. The 17.2% HR/FB rate is just too high for him to keep producing like he did on Wednesday.
Here comes the heat – Manny Machado has been flat out raking as of late. Last night Manny Machado was 2-for-4, with one home run, one RBI and two runs scored. This extended his hitting streak to 10 games, which is tied with Asdrubal Cabrera and Dexter Fowler for the current longest active hit streak in the MLB. So far, Manny Machado has been one of the best third basemen in fantasy this year, only really trailing Miguel Cabrera. I’m slotting him now as the fifth best third basemen behind Cabrera, David Wright, Adrian Beltre and Evan Longoria.
Left out in the breeze – Shin-Soo Choo had an abysmal day going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts. Don’t be worried; Choo is having a solid Choo-like season. This is exactly what the Reds wanted when they traded for him. Continue to keep him in your lineup.
Who’s trending? – Clay Buchholz continues to plug along while defying all sabermetric odds. His Wednesday matchup against the Blue Jays was no different. Buchholz went seven innings, allowing two hits and zero earned runs, while striking out eight. Pete Dymeck had a nice article breaking down Buchholz, and I tend to agree with him. I also have noticed his 2.28 FIP and 3.00 xFIP are higher than his 1.01 ERA. Everyone is saying to sell this guy high … and I tend to agree only if the price is right.
Bench me, please? – Can we please stop owning Dan Uggla? He’s still like 90 percent owned and is just awful. After going 0-for-3 with two strikeouts Wednesday, Uggla’s slash line dipped down to .163/.287/.314 and his K/9 is over 35 percent. I’ve never been a Dan Uggla fan and its high time you quit being one, too.
The Streamer – Justin Grimm has been one of the better rookie pitchers this season, compiling a 2-0 record in three starts with a 1.59 ERA and 1.18 WHIP. His LOB% of 86.0 is a bit high, but I think he gets it done Thursday night against the White Sox.