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| Wednesday, May 25, 2022 |
| Happy Wednesday, everyone! Tuesday's action brought some major pitcher regression from some of the early breakout pitchers from the late rounds of your drafts, but it also further solidified a true breakout season for one of Frank Stampfl's favorite breakout picks -- more on that below. It was a run-heavy Tuesday with the Red Sox (16), Giants (13), Mets (12) and Cubs (11) all reaching double-digit run counts. |
| That Mets-Giants game was absolutely crazy. The Mets trailed 8-2 before tracking on nine unanswered runs in the 7th and 8th innings to take a three-run lead before the Giants threw three more runs on the board to tie the game heading into the top of the ninth. The Mets would go on to then score another run but the Giants packed on two in the bottom of the ninth. This was the game of the night and it included some of the best hitting performances of the slate including a three-homer, 8 RBI onslaught from Joc Pederson and homers from Tommy La Stella and Francisco Lindor. |
| We'll dive into more of the action from Tuesday, including standout pitching and hitting performances, why Frank Schwindel has caught our attention again and more, but first, make sure you're all caught up with everything going on from the Fantasy Baseball Today team over at CBSSports.com/Fantasy/Baseball . Scott White took a stab at redrafting the first two rounds of your Fantasy Baseball drafts if they were being held today knowing what we know now. This exercise is a forward-looking one and stats are not applied retroactively -- it's essentially the 24 players Scott thinks will be the best moving forward. I had a lot of fun going through the names one by one and thinking about who I took instead of them in that exact draft slot. You can find that here. |
| And of course, as always, you can follow to make sure you get the latest episodes of Fantasy Baseball Today right when they drop on Apple and Spotify. |
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| Frank smashes another pair |
| It's that time of the year (this time it's coming a lot earlier than it did in 2021) where Frank Schwindel proves to once again be a Fantasy asset that is not only underappreciated but not rostered in enough leagues. The Cubs' first baseman had a big Tuesday night delivering two homers while collecting three hits. Schwindel got off to a slow start in 2022 after his scorching end to last season, but he's found his stride again in May. He's batting .294 with four home runs in his last 13 games and is still rostered in just 48% of leagues. If you need corner infield help, we can't think of anyone we'd rather scoop up the waiver wire now. |
| Pitcher regression |
| It has been an electric start to the season for so many mid to late-round pitcher picks from your Fantasy drafts -- and even some pitchers not drafted but added via waivers -- with hitting down across the board in April. Batters have slowly but surely come back to life a bit in May and that means several of those potential breakout starting pitchers are no longer trending in that direction. Tuesday was a rough night for a few of these pitchers and now might be an excellent time to look to sell them while their price remains high (always point to the overall stats in trade discussions as your starting point). |
| Dylan Cease was downright demolished by the Red Sox offense. He lasted just three innings and allowed eight hits, four walks and seven earned runs. Cease was lit up for nine hard-hit balls and two homers. Just like that his ERA jumps to 4.24 on the season.Chris Bassit and his honeymoon with the National League batters might be over. He got rocked by the Giants on Tuesday to the tune of eight hits, three walks and eight runs allowed in just 4 1/3 innings. The long ball was not his friend as he allowed three of them. His ERA takes a big jump to 3.91. Zac Gallen had been downright unhittable until Tuesday when he allowed seven of them to go along with two walks (the walk rate had been way down this season) and six earned runs. He lasted just 5 1/3 innings on this one and struck out four batters. To be fair two of the runs Gallen allowed were credited to him but allowed by a reliever. His ERA climbs to 2.22.Pablo Lopez finally got hit a bit, but he wasn't as exposed. Lopez, who had been dominant this season prior to Tuesday night, allowed four runs and nine hits through seven innings. It was a mixed bag though, so hard to exactly call this regression as Lopez racked up eight strikeouts and 21 induced swinging strikes while not walking a single batter. After this game, Lopez watched his ERA move to 2.04 on the season. |
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| Pitchers still getting it done |
| Shane McClanahan continues to look poised to make the jump into SP1 range after delivering another Ace performance on Tuesday. McClanahan struck out nine batters in six innings and didn't allow a single run. He allowed just four hits on the night and they were all singles. McClanahan has now allowed one total run over his last three outings and his ERA drops all the way to 2.06. |
| Noah Syndergaard may not be racking up strikeouts, but he's racking up outs and that was the case once again on Tuesday. It was his best start of the season because he went eight innings deep and also because he allowed just four hits and one run. This outing drops his ERA to 3.08 and his WHIP to 1.08. |
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| News and lineup notes |
| Every night the Fantasy Baseball Today team dives into all of the happenings around the MLB from top performers to injuries, trades and more. The podcast is a must listen for any diehard, if I do say so myself. Tune in to the podcast to hear the FBT crew expand on the news and notes below. |
| Jacob deGrom could begin mound work this weekend and a late June return is possible. I'm optimistic but it just all seems so sudden. Fernando Tatis Jr. has yet to be cleared to swing a bat. He underwent another bone scan Monday on his left wrist and it didn't show the level of healing that the Padres were hoping to see. Luis Robert was placed on the COVID IL Tuesday and will likely miss the rest of this week with mild symptoms. Aroldis Chapman was officially placed on the IL with left Achilles tendinitis. Clay Holmes is 74% rostered and could be out there in shallower leagues.Giancarlo Stanton left Tuesday's game with right calf tightness.Eloy Jimenez could begin a rehab assignment within the next week. He's been on the IL for the past month with a torn right hamstring. Lance Lynn threw live batting practice Tuesday. He's eligible to return on June 6 but his return will likely come later in the month. Kris Bryant has now missed two straight with that back injury and the expectation is that he will land on the IL once again. Salvador Perez did some cage work on Tuesday and is trending in the right direction. He's on the IL with a left thumb sprain. Josh Donaldson is still battling flu-like symptoms but he's tested negative for COVID.Michael Kopech won't start this week as the White Sox look to give him some extra rest.Taylor Ward has missed three straight with that shoulder injury he suffered after crashing into the outfield wall Friday. His MRI came back clean though he hasn't been cleared to throw and cannot yet play the field. Hunter Renfroe was placed on the IL with a strained right hamstring. Jesus Luzardo has yet to start a throwing program. He's on the IL with a strained left forearm. Eddie Rosario , who underwent eye surgery in April, has yet to regain complete sight in his right eye, which has prevented him from taking part in baseball activities. Daniel Vogelbach was placed on the IL with a strained left hamstring. DJ LeMahieu was scratched Tuesday due to left wrist discomfort. Jonathan India is approximately 10-14 days away from heading out on a minor-league rehab assignment. He's on the IL with a right hamstring injury. Pirates outfielder prospect Cal Mitchell was promoted Tuesday. He was batting .306 with five homers and six bags in 34 Triple-A games and he's a former second-round pick. |
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