RADIO
MLB Roundup & Fantasy Analysis from April 10th's Action
I may not own him in any leagues, I may not be a Marlins supporter, I probably shouldn’t root for him when he’s pitching against the Phillies (honestly, I still might) but today is the day; today is Jose Fernandez day! Hooray! The Marlins ace is about to bless us with utter baseball nastiness yet again, as the Fish are set to take on the aged Phillies in Philly today.
Get your popcorn ready. There could be a lot of K’s for Fernandez tonight.
AL Notes
Michael Pineda was fantastic as he allowed just one run on a Daniel Nava homer. Pineda struck out seven over six innings while allowing just 4 hits and 2 walks. He seems to be rounding back into the pre-injured form of himself and is a definite must own. Dean Anna hit his first career Major League homer for the Yankees. David Phelps collected an old-school style save while pitching 2.1 scoreless innings and striking out three. Imagine a world without 1 inning closers. Glorious.
Sam Fuld and Josh Donaldson homered in support of a strong effort by Oakland starter Dan Straily. Straily would earn his first win with 7 solid innings of one-run ball. He struck out 5 and allowed just one run on a first inning homer by Brian Dozier (3). With Jim Johnson ousted we didn’t get a good look at how the back end of the A’s ‘pen will look due to a 5 run lead. Ryan Cook was used in the 8th and LHP Fernando Abad finished the ninth. I am sticking with Cook in the long term but Gregerson and Doolittle could get their share of chances early due to Cook recently coming off the DL.
R.A. Dickey continued his Jekyll and Hyde ways as he was the bad side of the duo on Thursday. Just days after a dominant performance he was woefully bad this go-round. He lasted 7 innings but allowed 6 hits, walked 3 and allowed 5 ER with 2 homers. This is why he will never be owned by myself, I can’t handle the rollercoaster of emotions. Melky Cabrera stayed hot with a 2-for-5 night.
Dallas Keuchel on the other hand was very good. He pitched 7 strong innings, striking out 6 and issuing 2 walks with 5 hits and 1 ER. Jason Castro, Robbie Grossman and Jonathan Villar hit homers for the Stros. Dexter Fowler returned from his stomach illness and was 1-for-5.
Jose Abreu doesn’t just homer, he apparently homers in bunches. Abreu notched his first MLB homer AND his second in the same game while facing the Rockies earlier this week.
Thursday in Chicago while hosting the Indians Abreu yet again tagged two balls which would “get up, stretch, get over the fence” as he “Put it on the booooooard, YES!” twice. Abreu has 4 total homers on the season and is leading the majors with 15 RBI.
NL Notes
Marco Estrada picked up his first win as he outdueled Cliff Lee in Philly. Estrada moves to 1-0 on the season with two quality starts and holds a 2.31 ERA with a 12:5 K:BB over 11.2 IP. Cliff Lee struck out 8 in a losing effort. The Brewers have now swept Boston and Philadelphia respectively due to effective starting pitching and power hitting.
Pedro Alvarez and Travis Snider powered the Pirates to a Gerrit Cole win. Cole struck out 10 over 6 IP allowing 3 ER on 5 hits and 2 BB. Jason Grilli collected his third save. Emilio Bonifacio swiped his 6th and 7th stolen bases.
Ian Desmond had a grand day as he hit a 4 pointer for the Nats. Jayson Werth homered again after hitting a grand slam himself the night before. Stephen Strasburg was just dirty as he K’d 12 over 6.2 IP with 1 ER, only 3 hits and 1 BB allowed. Marcel Ozuna accounted for the only Marlins run with a solo blast, his second on the young season. Marlins starter Tom Koehler was no slouch, he only allowed 2 ER over 6 solid innings striking out 6, while newly called up Arquimedes Caminero gave up the damage.
The Mets overcame a semi-rocky start by Jenrry Mejia to defeat the Braves. Mejia was decent other than when facing Justin Upton, whom he gave up two homers to and his glove which was tossed aside in a fit of frustration. Carlos Torres picked up the W and Papa Grande nailed down a solid save getting two easy outs on infield pop-ups and striking out one.
San Francisco and Arizona outlasted me last night. The game seemed to have a slow pace and I lost interest after Michael Morse hit a ball 435 feet which stayed in the park, nearly knocking down the brick wall in triples alley. The most exciting play of the game what when Buster Posey and Paul Goldschmidt got tangled up at first base after Posey laid down a sweet bunt getting his first bunt-for-a-base-hit as a Major Leaguer. Both players were fine, luckily.
Injury News
Avisail Garcia is done for the season after diving for a ball on Wednesday and tearing his labrum.
Chad Billingsley may be back off of the DL before Clayton Kershaw - he could see some rotation time if Maholm struggles.
Mark Teixeira can't stay healthy, and I would never draft him. If you did…smack yourself.
Miguel Alfredo Gonzalez is throwing from 100 ft. Congratulations Miguel, you still can’t throw strikes.
Gordon Beckham is a walking setback. Drop him and slap yourself for ever drafting him.
Cole Hamels could return April 22. The Phillies could use his services, even though they cant hold a lead with their ridiculously horrid bullpen.
Adrian Beltre will apparently NOT go on the DL anytime soon as his sprain is only grade 1 (as mild as they grade em)
Aroldis Chapman was able to long toss and still has no set timetable for return.
Taijuan Walker (shoulder) was dominant in his rehab start at Double-A Jackson on Wednesday, striking out 10 in five innings and allowing just three hits and one walk on 84 pitches. Grab him if he was dropped.
