Look who’s back, baby! Apologies if my weekend absence from the Daily Bender was off-putting as I’d really like to try to reach out to you on a daily basis. I don’t want to come off as some NBA player skipping games for no good reason. Not that you need an excuse, but I can pull the family emergency card here as the RotobuzzGal took a nasty spill in the kitchen, caught air and landed hard on her RotobuzzAss…and hip. All is well, though, and nothing broken. Just a deep bone bruise to both her hip and her ego. I’ll never say it to her face, but between us, it was like watching a Chevy Chase pratfall and I did my absolute best not to laugh. Definitely not an easy feat.

But enough about the personal life. Let’s get to the business of baseball. Some thoughts on some of the weekend action and this afternoon’s games comin’ at ya!

Let’s start with the biggest of news and something Jon Impemba (again, big thanks for the pinch-hit and a job well-done) touched on when he pinch-hit for me Saturday night --  injuries to Gary Sanchez and Trea Turner rocked the fantasy world this weekend. Don’t worry, I’m not going to be a total dick and tell you, “I told you so,” because injuries happen to everyone and a pulled hamstring or biceps isn’t why these two could prove to be draft busts by season’s end. The reason they could be busts is because of the risk you’ve taken versus where they were drafted.

Neither guy is being labeled a bust just yet as there is a ton of baseball to go, but fantasy owners are screwed right now with their DL stints because the replacement value is just not there on the waiver wire. You drafted Turner in the first round and expect somewhere in the neighborhood of 15 home runs and 60-odd stolen bases. Unless you’re in a 6-team league, ain’t nothin’ available to help make up for that production. Same with Sanchez. He also cost you a high draft pick and you probably factored in 25 home runs at minimum in your team projections. Where’s that coming from at the catcher position. A little town called Nowheresville.

Sure, you have to take some risks when you’re playing in a competitive league, but you also need to learn how to minimize that risk with your early draft picks. Overblown expectations on unproven rookies is not the template you should be following. Again, injuries can happen to anyone, but if these linger for either or both guys here, it’s gonna hurt. Bad.

In other fantasy news…

Great to see Freddie Freeman finally go off and crush a pair of home runs yesterday. There was a fleeting moment of concern for his slow start but then I remembered he had an OPS of 1.263 on the road in the second half of last year and I started to relax. Then he crushed his homers and I realized that I had been mentally pressing him this whole time.

In case I haven’t said it here in the Daily Bender, let me just say that you should not be giving up on Byron Buxton. Yes, the strikeouts are a nightmare, but manager Paul Molitor had no business batting the rookie third to open the season. He should have been in the leadoff spot where he is mandated to see a ton of pitches. Batting him third puts a world of pressure on him and judging by his 26.2 SwStr%, his 45.6 O-Swing% and his feeble contact rates, it appears as if he’s just blindly hacking away up there. The move down in the order should help soon enough and then, maybe, Molitor will be smart and push him back up into the leadoff spot where he belongs.

What a kick to the FAAB groin, Brandon Finnegan’s start was today against the Pirates. He went from super-stud to super-dud thanks to five free passes issued. Command had been a concern of his, but it looked like he was learning as he pounded the strike zone in his first start. Today he couldn’t find it at all, didn’t have any command of his offspeed pitches and was given the hook after loading the bases, walking in a run and failing to get an out in the third inning. His final line was two innings with one earned run on four hits and five walks with four strikeouts. I’m still a fan, but this kinda sucks as I used him for most of my GPP lineups tonight in DFS.

If you missed today’s Fantasy Alarm Show on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio, you missed one hell of a nugget of info from my guest co-host Dave Lochran who pointed out that Pirates backstop Francisco Cervelli is a disaster when it comes to throwing out runners. Couple that with a Tyler Glasnow whose command has been spotty at best and you’ve got a recipe for oodles and oodles of stolen bases. At the time of writing this, the game is in the sixth inning and the Reds have five stolen bases already. Billy Hamilton has two while Jose Peraza, Eugenio Suarez and freakin’ Adam Duvall each have one. Pay attention to when this Pirates battery comes together again.

Michael Pineda continues to be an enigma wrapped up in a quagmire surrounded by a world of question marks. After looking like his good ol’ piñata self in his first outing, the 28-year old righty threw down like a boss today with 7.2 innings of one-run ball with 11 strikeouts. He allowed two hits and walked none with his only mistake being a solo homer allowed to Logan Morrison. We can put these two outings side by side and have little to no answer as to what the heck happened. His next outing comes against the Cardinals and the question is…which Pineda will show up? I really can’t say for certain and that scares the bejeezus out of me.

Hot damn did Chris Sale vs Justin Verlander live up to the hype! Both looked outstanding and what gives me an even better feeling is that Sale has now killed it in his first two starts. Drafting a guy who signs a big contract and changes teams goes against the Colton & the Wolfman SMART system, but his performance thus far should put concerns to rest. That makes two things I can go against Glenn Colton with here as he and I set up a side bet on Pineda’s next start.

“The touch, the feel of cotton. The fabric of my life…” and my fantasy rotation, baby! The 25-year old righty shined bright today with seven scoreless innings and six strikeouts against the Royals. He allowed just two hits and three walks while throwing 16-of-25 first-pitch strikes and inducing eight ground ball outs. But while that was a slice of deliciousness and hopefully a sign of things to come, there was still a fantasy kick to the groin as it was Santiago Casilla who came in for the eighth while Sean Doolittle was summoned to close it down in the ninth. Good ol’ Bob Melvin hates your fantasy team and your FAAB budget…or whatever you have left from picking up Casilla for saves.

Let’s also acknowledge the pitching performances of Matt Moore and James Paxton while we’re at it. Paxton threw seven scoreless with eight strikeouts against the Astros while Moore limited the Diamondbacks to one run (a solo shot by Yasmany Tomas) over eight innings with five strikeouts. Both remain rock-solid options as and SP3/4 in your fantasy rotation.

Time to go pray to the fantasy gods and get this Dodgers/Cubs game going! Really looking forward to seeing if the rain delay has messed with Jon Lester’s game prep and my Dodgers stack of Justin Turner, Franklin Gutierrez and Yasiel Puig pays off. If it does, drinks are on me!!!

Bender out.