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Mike Napoli (1B/DH, BOS) led the Majors in RBI through April with 29. Apparently he didn't get the memo or possibly neglected to change his calendar yesterday, because he stayed warm and blasted two home runs in the Rogers Centre. The two shots were absolutely demolished at an estimated 472 and 467 feet, respectively. Napoli finished 3-for-4 with a walk and four RBI in the Sox 10-1 victory.
So the big question is" can he keep this up? His current 37-HR, 193-RBI pace is unreasonable. to expect, so is it time to sell high on Napoli? If you only look at 2012’s .227 BA, 24 HR and 56 RBI (and he's more than halfway there already) the answer is a resounding "YES." But if you are into these sort of things, notice that Napoli has recently been one of those “every-other-year” performers: in 2011 he mashed a .319 BA with 30 HR and 75 RBI. The choice is yours. I say sell if you get the right offer.
Nationals Ace (yes I said it) Jordan Zimmermann played the streak-stopper again last night with yet another fantastic and nifty outing. He has now ended two 3-game losing streaks for the Nats. After a one-hit complete game shutout of the Reds on 4/26, Zimmermann came to the Nationals' rescue to end the latest three-game skid, this one to division rival Atlanta. He shut the Braves down for 8 innings, permitting a mere 2 hits and walking no one. In this gem, he had the strikeout working, dialing up 8 punch-outs. For those who haven’t taken notice, Zimmermann (now 5-1, 27K/7BB, 1.64 ERA, 0.75 WHIP) is ranked 3rd in Roto Leagues, behind only Clay Buchholz (6-0, 47K/16BB, 1.01 ERA, 0.96 WHIP) and Yu Darvish (5-1, 58K/13BB, 2.33 ERA, 0.93 WHIP). He also set down the final 17 batters he faced last night.
You aren't going to be buying on Zimm, because no one in his or her right mind would be selling. But hey, stranger things have happened.
NL Hot Shots:
- Bryce Harper left the game early with discomfort in his side after wall-crashing the previous night
- Yuniesky Betancourt went yard again; he now has 7 HR and 22 RBI on the year (still tied with Braun)
- Troy Tulowitzki looked fine with a 2-for-4 performance last night
- Scott Feldman pitched his first CG with a career high 12 K
- Cliff Lee was hammered by the Indians
- Jayson Werth got an X-Ray on his ankle and it was clean; ice and rest should help
- John Axford took the Loss; he isn't going to be closing any time soon if he can’t get a hold
- Lance Lynn is 5-0 after holding the suddenly-cold Reds to 1 run. Edward Mujica got the save (6)
- Jedd Gyorko clubbed his first homer, Chase Headley collected his 3rd
- Adrian Gonzalez cashed in for a bomb and was robbed of another by Rockies CF Dexter “Daddy-Long-Legs” Fowler
- Hunter Pence had himself a game, hitting his 5th HR and swiping his 5th bag
- Ted Lilly should be okay to start Saturday much to the despair of everyone hoping Matt Magill got another shot
- Matt Adams is set to return Tuesday for the Red Birds
AL Hot Shots:
- Coco Crisp is DL bound with a hamstring strain
- R.A. Dickey has only “mild inflammation” and his MRI was clean
- Trevor Bauer managed to beat the sorry excuse for a $170M team Philadelphia Phillies while walking 6, allowing 1 H and 0 ER. Huh? Yeah, it was that bad. He had electric “stuff” but no command.
- Billy Butler collected 3 hits and is now batting .361 (13 for 36) over his last 10
- Robinson Cano homered over the Astros; he now has 8 on the year
- The Harangutan Aaron Harang won his first game as a Mariner
- Kendrys Morales was 3 for 5 with a homer, Michael Saunders was also 3 for 5 with a SB(4 for 4 in SB attempts); Jesus Montero tripled for the first and maybe last time of his career
- Manny Machado hit his 3rd homer and made another dazzling play on defense on an over-the-shoulder grab
- Luke Scott’s second start off the DL was much better as he went 3-for-3 with a homer
- Ben Zobrist homered in a 2-for-5 effort and now has 20 RBI in 27 games. The Zorilla is still a solid fantasy contributor
- David Phelps was good through the lineup only once, then fell apart surrendering 4 runs over 5 2/3 IP
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