DFS PLAYBOOK PRO – An exciting new offering from the Alarm is here! It’s the DFS Playbook Pro. I will be doing a daily breakdown of the hitters –Hitting Coach – while Howard Bender looks into the Pitchers (Pitching Coach).
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HITTERS
Rusney Castillo (shoulder) is back on the field for Triple-A Pawtucket (he went 0-for-4 in his first game back last night). By the time that he’s good to go the club will likely have Shane Victorino (hamstring) back in the house meaning we still might be in a holding pattern with Castillo.
Alex Guerrero is the best player ever. Of all-time. Clearly the greatest fantasy weapon ever to be picked up off the waiver-wire. Oh wait, he wasn’t in the starting lineup last night you say? He only pinch hit? I keep saying it – no one is listening – but Guerrero isn’t playing daily, even with the injuries the Dodgers are dealing with. Alex has all of 28 plate appearances for the Dodgers over 21 games.
Desmond Jennings (knee) doesn’t appear likely to hit the DL if you believe word out of Tampa. Unfortunately he’s also likely to miss the rest of this week’s games for the Rays.
Joc Pederson was finally moved into the leadoff spot for the Dodgers. In his first at-bat in the spot he went deep. Boom. Pederson is batting .298 but it’s the .461 OBP that pops off the page. Hard to dispute that he isn’t a better option at the top of the Dodgers lineup than Jimmy Rollins who has never really been an ideal fit for the leadoff spot despite spending the majority of his career in the spot (1,402 of his career 2,111 games). Speaking of Rollins, don’t give up on the old fella. He’s still attempted five thefts (three successful) in 21 games, will be playing daily, and despite being 36 years old did hit 17 homers while stealing 28 bases last season.
Albert Pujols hopes to avoid the DL after coming down with hamstring tightness last night. Pujols has been off to a rocky start batting .208 with a .291 OBP and .364 SLG. He’s an “old” 35 years of age. The Angels travel to San Francisco to take on the Giants, so with no DH available Pujols may or may not be playing this weekend.
Marcus Semien is batting .298 with three homers, three steals, 12 RBIs and 11 runs scored through 22 games with the A’s. He’s been great. Would like to see the walk rate increase (5.6 percent), and I’m not certain he can maintain that .344 BABIP, but he’s been as good as advertised in the early going.
Yasmany Tomas had three RBIs Wednesday night to push his batting average to .333 over his first 24 at-bats. But here’s a question for you – where does he play when Jake Lamb returns? If he keeps hitting you would have to think they would find a spot for him, but I just don’t see a role in the daily lineup unless something changes when the lineup is whole.
Chase Utley is on pace for 15 homers, 81 RBIs and seven steals a year after he hit 11 homers with 78 RBIs and 10 thefts. His owners would take that level of production. However, a pace for 29 runs scored while batting an embarrassing .114? What is that mess? Utley can’t be this bad. Have some patience if you can. Pretty sure a guy who has a .302 career BABIP, with marks of .295 and .305 the past two seasons, isn’t going to finish 2015 at .102.
PITCHERS
Josh Collmenter is better than you think. That’s what I wrote in his 2015 Player Profile. He held the Rockies to one unearned run last night over eight innings 
extending a three game run in which he’s allowed a total of four runs (three earned). Through five starts he has a 2.76 ERA and 1.13 WHIP. Boom goes that dynamite.
Aaron Harang allowed five runs over six innings to the Cardinals. Shocker. He still has a dominating 2.51 ERA and 0.96 WHIP through five starts. That sound you hear is the fuse on the bomb running down… sell while you can.
Carlos Martinez allowed two runs to the Phillies Wednesday to improve his season long numbers to 1.73 ERA and 1.04 WHIP over 26 innings. The 3.46 BB/9 rate is too high, but who doesn’t like the 8.31 K/9 and 52 percent ground ball rate? In roto leagues you can just roll with the guy, but note that if you’re in a head to head setup that there might be trouble on the horizon. By “trouble” I mean an early season shut down. Don’t forget that there aren’t a lot of miles on this arm. In 2012 Martinez threw 104.1 innings, in 2013 he tossed 108 innings and last year he recorded enough outs to make it threw 99.2 innings. I would be hoping that he makes it to 150-innings.
Danny Salazar is finally pitching like the star he can be. Through three starts he’s averaging an immense 13.26 strikeouts per nine while walking a mere 2.37 per nine leading to an outstanding 5.60 K/BB ratio. There’s no objective reason out there that makes me think he couldn’t throw 180-innings this season while matching his current ratios (3.32 ERA, 1.21 WHIP).
Matt Shoemaker gave up three runs over 5.2 innings Wednesday. Through four starts he’s sporting a 6.00 ERA, 1.43 WHIP and just a 7.29 K/9 mark. Warned you that he wasn’t as good as he appeared to be last year.
Ryan Vogelsong is a dumpster fire. Boy do the Giants need Matt Cain and/or Jake Peavy back soon.
C.J. Wilson had his elbow drained of fluid after his last start. He says he feels way better than he did prior to that and he still anticipates starting against the Giants Friday. Consider me, one of the guys biggest backers, skeptical of the short-term outlook for the lefty.
Ray Flowers can be heard Monday through Friday at 7 PM EDT on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 7 PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).