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| Wednesday, June 2, 2021 |
| Forty-seven. There were 47 home runs hit on June 1. To put that in perspective, if MLB averaged 47 home runs for the entire month of June, that would be 1,410 home runs. There were only 936 home runs hit in all of May. Obviously it's not realistic to expect this many home runs every single day this month, but hopefully it's a sign that more offense is on the way for the rest of the season. We can certainly use it. |
| Of those 47 home runs, there were seven double dingers: Salvador Perez, Andrew McCutchen, Kolten Wong, Odubel Herrera, Jonathan Schoop, Tyrone Taylor and Eric Haase. I want to focus on Schoop and Herrera, who are rostered in 20% of CBS leagues or less. Now, they aren't must adds, but if you play in a deeper league or one that uses Roto style lineups (corner infielder, middle infielder, and five outfielders), then you can certainly consider these two. Herrera interests me more as he's led off for the Phillies in three straight and also has some speed. |
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| Garcia continues to deliver |
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| If you remember back to last week, we called Astros SP/RP Luis Garcia a must-roster and Scott went as far as to suggest he was a borderline must-start pitcher. Tuesday's outing only further solidified our confidence in him. On a night in Fantasy where the hitters mashed and pitchers disappointed, Garcia delivers his first seven-inning start against an even better offense than the last one (Dodgers) in the Red Sox. |
| Garcia allowed five hits, one walk and one earned run, inducing 19 swinging strikes on 106 pitchers. He now has an ERA down to 2.72 with a 1.00 WHIP. He's still only 80% rostered, so if he's somehow on your waiver wire rush to scoop him now. |
| It was very impressive to see him shut down one of the best offenses in baseball, and maybe the Astros were on to something keeping him in the rotation over Cristian Javier. And in H2H points leagues, he's RP-eligible just to put the icing on the cake. |
| Vladdy and Acuña get to No. 17 |
| Blue Jays 1B Vlad Guerrero Jr. and Braves OF Ronald Acuña continue to return high-end first-round value for your Fantasy rosters despite the fact that only one of the two was selected on average in the first five picks. Both Guerrero and Acuña hit their 17th home runs on Tuesday. Acuña added two steals for good measure. Vlad didn't swipe any bags, but he made up for it with the bat going 4 for 4 with three RBI. He's now up to 45 RBI and on pace for 48 HR and 127 RBI over 150 games. Hard to make a case for anyone other than these two as the Fantasy MVP through one-third of the season. |
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| More news and notes |
| Padres SS Fernando Tatis left Tuesday's game and is being evaluated for right oblique tightness. The good news is that it's not his shoulder. That's our glass half full outlook. Indians 3B Jose Ramirez left due to dehydration. Nationals SP Stephen Strasburg was struck in the wrist with a comebacker but was averaging 89.9 mph on his fastball before that. He didn't look right. He's now set for an MRI on his trap muscle. It has been a rough year for him. Cardinals SP Jack Flaherty is headed to the IL with an oblique injury he suffered while batting, which is so frustrating because we should already have the universal DH at this point. Manager Mike Shildt said it's going to be a while. Now we lose one of the 15 best starting pitchers in baseball for who knows how long. Marlins SP Sixto Sanchez has been shut down due to shoulder soreness. We're starting to wonder if we're going to see anything from Sanchez in 2021. The biggest issue with Sanchez is you can't stash him on your IL because he is in the minors. Diamondbacks SP Zac Gallen had a successful 30-pitch bullpen session Tuesday, and he's scheduled for another Friday. He's trying to return from the dreaded UCL sprain. Rockies SS Trevor Story received a clean MRI on his elbow. Rejoice! Giants 3B Evan Longoria is day-to-day with a mild intercostal strain. A's OF Ramon Laureano was finally moved to the IL with a straight right hip, retroactive to May 28. Angeles C Max Stassi was reinstated from the IL for those in two-catcher leagues. He's 13% rostered and hit seven homers in 31 games last season. Blue Jays OF George Springer ran the bases and took fly balls as he rehabs his quad. Twins OF Byron Buxton has been sprinting while running the bases recently while rehabbing his hip. Reds 1B Joey Votto started a Triple-A rehab assignment Tuesday. Mariners OF Kyle Lewis was sent to the IL with a meniscus tear. Brewers OF Lorenzo Cain moved to the IL with a right hamstring injury. Royals SS Adalberto Mondesi was out Tuesday after tweaking his hamstring. |
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| Lessons learned through two months |
| I overvalued elite starting pitchers since there's been so much production at the position thus far. Building on lesson No. 1, we had too much faith in the mid-tier hitters. Scott added that more importantly, unlike in past years where you didn't have to worry about finding hitting on the waiver wire, there is now an exhaustible supply of hitters. They're not currently just out there on the wire, and you have to be active about seeking out quality hitters. Sure, Acuña, Tatis, and Jose Ramirez have all shown up, but every other hitter drafted in the first two rounds has been either a disappointment or hurt. Have more of an open mind and be more aggressive on hitters with big upside like Vlad, Shohei Ohtani, Nick Castellanos, Kris Bryant, and J.D. Martinez, who we've seen do it before. This one we should all know by now but seem to sometimes overlook: Don't put as much stock into spring training -- especially for veterans. Martinez had just one homer. Bryant hit .158. We heard that chatter about Kevin Gausman not using his splitter in spring. I faded him because of that. That was not wise! |
| What in the world is going on with Juan? |
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| Nationals OF Juan Soto was expected by some to emerge as the clear-cut best hitter in baseball and give the Ronald Acuñas and Fernando Tatises of the world a run for their money as the best hitter in Fantasy. Instead, he is batting .270 with just four homers and a .782 OPS. He's averaging just 2.7 Fantasy points per game and is the OF35 overall in that scoring format. |
| While the plate discipline is fine (17% BB rate, 13% K rate), Soto has a career-low 15.6% chase rate, and so part of his slump could be predicated on him being too passive at the plate. He also had a 55% groundball rate, a career high for him. Most concerning is Soto's career-low 14.3% home run to fly ball rate (this was up at 36% last year). This hasn't been a part of his profile in the past, but he's struggling against lefties with a .195 average and .703 OPS. |
| Soto dealt with an under-the-radar shoulder injury earlier this season and it might be playing a factor in his struggles. |
| Overall, I think he's going to be just fine and Scott agrees -- he hasn't spent a second worrying about him. If anything, now might be a time to send out feeler offers for Soto. Can you swing an overachieving player on either side to grab Soto? It's possible if you pitch the scenario to a team struggling with injuries and struggling to stay in contention. On the flip side, you should not sell Soto right now in almost any circumstance. |
| Streaming options |
| Wednesday |
| Rays SP/RP Shane McClanahan at NYY Cubs SP Adbert Alzolay vs. SD Mets SP David Peterson at ARI Twins SP Randy Dobnak at BAL Braves SP Drew Smyly vs. WAS Cardinals SP Carlos Martinez at LAD |
| Thursday |
| Astros SP Jake Odorizzi vs. BOS Rockies SP Jon Gray vs. TEX Pirates SP Tyler Anderson vs. MIA Royals SP Kris Bubic vs. MIN Angels SP Griffin Canning vs. SEA Mariners SP Justus Sheffield at LAA |
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