Zach Eflin tossed a complete game shutout over the Royals in the Phillies 7-0 victory. He allowed just four hits and zero walks while striking out seven and throwing 110 pitches. Of his seven strikeouts, six were looking (the below video will show he got a little help from the umpire on a few of them). Eflin was the second highest scoring player on both FanDuel and DraftKings (Cole first on both). It was Eflin’s second complete game in his last three starts and he has allowed just two earned runs over his last 25.0 innings pitched in that time frame. He isn’t striking out hitters at a high rate with only 38 punch outs through 51.0 innings pitched this season, but fantasy owners can’t complain about his five wins, 2.47 ERA, and 1.02 WHIP. He will have a tougher test in his next outing when he takes on the Brewers.

Strong Outings

  • Gerrit Cole fired six innings of one-run ball in the Astros win over the Rangers. He allowed four hits while striking out a league-high 12 batters. It was a nice bounce back outing for Cole, who gave up four runs in his previous start. He has been fantastic in the strikeout department this season with 86 K's through 55.2 innings of work.  
  • Trevor Bauer was stuck with a tough luck no-decision in the Indians 3-2 loss to the Athletics. He fired seven innings of two-run (zero earned) baseball and allowed just two hits while striking out 10. It was the bounce back outing we all expected from Bauer.
  • Jacob deGrom dominated the Marlins over seven innings. He allowed just five hits and one run while striking out eight in the win. deGrom has returned to Cy Young form, allowing a total of three runs over his last three starts (21.0 innings). He will carry a 3.26 ERA into his next outing with 64 strikeouts across 47.0 innings.
  • Walker Buehler was lights-out in a no-decision against the Nationals; he fired seven shutout innings allowed just four hits while striking out seven. Unfortunately for Buehler (and the Dodgers), the bullpen promptly blew the 2-0 lead that he left the game with.
  • Jordan Lyles continues to be the ace of the Pirates staff that we all expected him to be (kidding of course). He pitched six innings of one-hit, one-run baseball while striking out six. His record improved to 3-1 with the win and he lowered his ERA to 2.09. He has given up two or fewer runs in six out of seven starts this year.
  • Max Scherzer hurled seven innings of two-run ball to pickup his second win of the year. He surrendered five hits while striking out seven. Mad Max had pitched six or more innings and allowed three or fewer runs while striking out at least seven in all four of his last four starts.
  • Kevin Gausman tossed six innings and gave up one run in a win over the Diamondbacks. He allowed just five hits while striking out six. Gausman had been in a rough patch recently (struggling in his past four starts), but this was a nice outing for the righty.

2,500th Strikeout for King Felix

Félix Hernández has been a shell of his former self for a while now, but he did pick up career strikeout number 2,500 in a crushing defeat against the Red Sox. From 2008-2015, Felix was consistently among the best pitchers in baseball, but it’s been all downhill for him since then; nonetheless, 2,500 career strikeouts is a big accomplishment and he became just the 36th pitcher in the history of baseball to reach the mark. His current resume still has the looks of a future Hall of Famer, but it’s remarkable that he put together that resume nearly entirely before the age of 30. The last couple of seasons have put a blemish on his career though, as he has posted an under .500 record while pitching to the tune of an over 5.00 ERA.  Some other career accomplishments for the King include a Cy Young, two ERA titles, and six all-star appearances.

Hitter Highlights

Ronny Rodríguez had a double-dong, finishing 2-3 with two solo home runs and a walk. It was his first career multi-homer game and he now has five home runs, 14 RBI, and a .323 average through 17 games played. He is tied for the Tigers team lead in RBI, despite half the at bats of co-leader Cabrera.

Albert Pujols led all hitters in scoring yesterday, finishing 3-5 with two home runs, three RBI, and three runs scored. In his first game since hitting the 2,000 career RBI mark, Pujols put on a show. It was his first multi-homer game of 2019 and he now has eight home runs and 21 RBI on the season.

Yandy Díaz also had a double-dong day, finishing 2-5 with the two home runs and four RBI. Diaz had been in a bit of a drought, with his last home run coming on April 27, but he broke out of it in a big way yesterday. The home runs were his eighth and ninth of the season.

Yasiel Puig had a bash-and-dash, finishing 2-4 with a home run, a steal, and two RBI. Puig has mostly been a disappointment thus far this season, but it was second straight multi-hit game and his third straight game with a steal. He now has six home runs and seven steals, which would be great if he could improve on his .214 batting average a bit.

Avisaíl García had a bash-and-dash game of his own, going 2-4 with a home run, a steal, and two runs scored. He now has six home runs and three steals to go along with a .283 batting average. His 14 RBI leave a lot to be desired, but he isn’t a bad own in deep leagues.

Wil Myers didn’t want to be left out, providing us with a rare three different player bash-and-dash day. Myers also finished 2-4 with a home run, a steal, and two runs scored. His .240 average and 15 RBI aren’t really doing fantasy owners any favors, but his seven home runs and four steals are rock solid contributions.

C.J. Cron went 4-5 with a home run, a double, and three RBI in the second game of their double-header after swatting a home run in the first game. It was his second four-hit game in his last three games and he is now hitting .261 with nine home runs.

Michael Conforto played well again yesterday, finishing 2-3 with a home run, a walk, and two RBI. Over the past two games, Conforto has compiled five hits in six at bats, swatted two home runs, and drove in three runs. For the season, Conforto is hitting .274 with eight long balls, three steals, 18 RBI, and 24 runs scored.

News and Notes

Madison Bumgarner submitted his eight-team no-trade list, it includes: Braves, Red Sox, Astros, Cubs, Yankees, Phillies, Brewers and Cardinals.

Edwin Jackson was acquired by the Blue Jays and he will set a MLB record when he pitches for them as it will be the fourteenth different team that he has played for.

Tyler Glasnow and Mike Zunino are expected to miss 4-6 weeks and 4-5 weeks, respectively. A tough blow for the Rays, as Glasnow was pitching like a Cy Young contender and Zunino is their starting catcher.

What to Watch for Today

Stephen Strasburg vs. Hyun-Jin Ryu . This is the top pitching duel of the day and should be a low scoring affair. Ryu enters today’s action with the fifth best ERA in baseball amongst qualified pitchers with his 2.03 mark. His 0.81 WHIP is second only to Paddack.

Caleb Smith vs. Noah Syndergaard . Not quite the pitching matchup on paper that Stras and Ryu are, but this one should be very good as well. Smith enters today’s action with the seventh best ERA in baseball at 2.11 and the fourth best WHIP at 0.89.

Martín Pérez will attempt to improve to 6-0 on the season when he takes on the Tigers. He comes into today’s start with a 2.83 ERA and has struck out 39 across 41.1 innings. This is a good matchup (on paper) for Perez to continue his strong run.