Daily Fantasy Baseball Analysis May 30: Bombs Away; It's Hittin' Season

May 30, 2013

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Well, okay then. That was a fun day of baseball. It seems some days that gravity is just a little weaker for some guys, or maybe the ball looks like a beach ball out of the pitchers’ hand. Then, there's the days where both occur at the same time, creating an alternate universe where baseballs land in the outfield bleachers at an alarming rate.

In yesterday’s Roundup I highlighted the major-league leader in home runs Chris “The Camden Crusher” Davis. On any other night, Davis’s two-homer night would once again land him the spotlight on the Roundup. However, on this day in baseball there were two standout stars that surpassed even Chris Davis’s 18th and 19th homers of the year. OK, actually…WOW!!! Chris Davis is supercalifragilisticexpialidocious-ly on fire right now, and since I already have a paragraph going, I might as well touch on it here:  Davis hit two homers in a game where there were eight total; four from each team, five different hitters. A 2-for-4 night actually managed to raise his gaudy stat line to .359/.447/.766 with 19 HR and 50 RBI. Davis now has 10 home runs since May 9th, and 20 RBI in that span. Miguel who? Fine, Miggy did homer Wednesday for his lone hit.

By the numbers, compare the Camden Crusher to Miguel Cabrera.  Simply amazing:

• Chris Davis:  .359 AVG, 19 HR, 50 RBI, .447 OBP and .766 SLG
• Miguel Cabrera:  .368 AVG, 15 HR, 59 RBI, .444 OBP and .656 SLG

Now, I'm throwing a hump-day change up today, folks. Welcome to the Long-Ball Run Down. It's only fitting that Hot Shots be replaced by this on this day, since the ball was jumping off bats and landing in laps on Wednesday night. Take a deep breath... read, set, go! 

Going Once:  Single-homer Gamers (buncha' underachievers)

Miguel Cabrera (15), Mark Reynolds (13),  Carlos Beltran (12), Mark Trumbo (12), Joey Votto (10), Hunter Pence (9), Matt Holliday (8), Adrian Gonzalez (7), Ryan Howard (7), Daniel Nava (7), Erik Kratz (6), Nick Markakis (6), Aaron Hicks (6), Chase Headley (5),  Marlon Byrd (5), Scott Van Slyke (4), Neil Walker (4), Carlos Pena (4)

Going Twice: Double Dippers (That's all you've got?)

Chris Davis (18, 19), Domonic Brown (12, 13), Troy Tulowitzki (11, 12)

The Third Time's the Charm: (I’ll have another, and another)

Nationals 3B Ryan Zimmerman and Cubs Catcher Dioner Navarro both went deep not once, not twice, but thrice on the evening.  Both batters’ long-ball displays gave them numbers 4, 5 then 6 on the season.

Gems of the Night:

• Tyler Chatwood struck out 10 over six frames allowing 4 hits and walking one, but was stuck with a no-decision as he left in a 2-2 tie; the Astros would put up 4 ER on the Rockies' bullpen.
• Justin Masterson was good again as he held one of the hottest teams in May to only a single ER over 6 innings while striking out 7. He allowed 4 hits and walked four in the win.
• Jered Weaver returned from the DL with a solid six-inning performance striking out seven and allowing a single earned run on 5 hits with no walks. His first start back from a broken elbow was very encouraging and it looks like you can confidently trust him again.
• Scott Feldman was dynamic once again as he defeated the White Sox with 6 innings, 7 K, 2 ER, 6 H & 0 BB.
• Eric Stults struck out 12 over 8 innings with 3 hits and no walks but was handed a no-decision; the Friars would eventually win the game in the tenth with a walk-off win with a bases-loaded single by Will Venable.

Not-so-sparkling:

• Jordan Zimmermann imploded for 7 ER over 6 innings allowing 10 hits in a loss to Chris Davis and the O’s. I don’t think many pitchers would have excelled tonight against the O’s offense. Zimmermann will look to bounce back against the Mets next week.
• Tim Lincecum failed to make it through the fifth inning as he would only record 13 outs while allowing 5 ER and 7 hits to the Athletics in a loss.

Injury Notes:

• Alex Cobb will be scratched from his Thursday start with a fingernail issue. My dark-horse from yesterday's roundup Alex Colome was called up to join the bullpen today; however with Cobb's manicure mishap, he will slide right into the rotation for a start on Thursday. The 24-year-old Colome held a 9.96 K/9 rate in Triple-A over 10 starts and a solid ERA and WHIP. On that note, I’m calling off work tomorrow with keyboard elbow and mouse-click syndrome. 
• Matt Kemp was removed from Wednesday’s game with a mild hamstring strain. Kemp is considered day-to-day but with recent struggles Dodgers may use this opportunity to get the speedy Joc Pederson his first taste of the big leagues and rest Kemp on the DL. Yasiel Puig isn't a center fielder so he likely wont be called upon. The less interesting, but likely move would be Tony Gwynn from Triple-A. Kemp has fallen on hard times of late and injuries seem to be piling up for the Dodgers slugger. Rihanna ruined him.
• Josh Reddick is set to return on Friday from a wrist issue that has had him sidelined for a few weeks. Reddick enters an A’s lineup which has won 6 straight games to tighten up the AL West.
• Ian Kennedy has been cleared to start on Saturday after a cut on his finger derailed his last scheduled start. I have washed dishes by hand since I was about ten and never once have I cut myself on a knife, dude... hire a maid, or me.
• Kris Medlen was removed from Wednesday’s game after taking a liner off the back of the leg. The Braves are calling it a left upper calf contusion, he is expected to be fine for his next start. With Brandon Beachy on a rehab assignment and Julio Teheran having put together a string of good starts Medlen is beginning to look like the odd man out and may be headed for a long relief role before long.
• Clay Buchholz was scratched Monday against the Phillies and experienced lingering soreness in his right AC joint after playing catch on Wednesday afternoon. The Red Sox have already decided to start Franklin Morales on Thursday and push Jon Lester to Friday, so Buchholz can be skipped again without much tinkering.  (Source: Scott Lauber on Twitter)

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Follow Shawn Caswell on Twitter: @CasKnowsRoto