Frankie Montas takes home the top spot for yesterday with his masterful performance against the Rays. He tossed eight innings of one-run ball, but was unfortunately stuck with a no-decision after Treinen blew the save in the ninth. Montas gave up just four hits while striking out nine. He only needed 93 pitches to get through the eight frames and, in hindsight; the A’s probably regret taking him out of the game. Despite not getting a win, he still led all pitchers in scoring on both DraftKings (31.6 points) and FanDuel (52.0 points). Montas is now 9-2 with a 2.70 ERA and he has struck out 97 across 90.0 innings of work. He has been incredibly consistently too, giving up more than three earned runs just once this season (a whopping four runs on May 28) through 15 starts. The best part about it for fantasy owners is that nothing in his profile points to him not being for real; he’s just good.

Strong Outings

  • Mike Minor delivered another great outing for Texas, firing eight innings of one-run ball in a win over the Indians. He gave up just three hits while striking out four. The veteran lefty is now 7-4 with a 2.52 ERA through 16 starts. He has gone at least five innings and given up three or fewer runs in 11 straight starts.
  • Shane Bieber hurled six innings of two-run ball in a loss against the Rangers. Unfortunately for Bieber and his fantasy owners, he was on the other end of Minor’s gem and received no help from his offense. He gave up five hits while striking out eight. He has at least six strikeouts in 10 of his last 11 starts and now has 116 punch-outs across 91.0 innings this year. He will carry a 6-3 record and 3.86 ERA into his next outing.
  • Wade LeBlanc turned in a strong outing against the Orioles, tossing 6.1 innings of shutout baseball in a win. He technically didn’t start, but he did enter in the first inning and ended up being the second highest DFS scoring pitcher of the day. He gave up just four hits while striking out nine. Despite this strong showing, he will carry an ugly 5.44 ERA into his next outing.
  • Robbie Ray had the low end of the quality start spectrum, giving up three runs across six innings of work, but he did strikeout nine. His nine strikeouts tied with Montas for the most by any pitcher yesterday. He has at least five strikeouts in 11 straight starts and now has 115 punch-outs across 88.1 innings this year. He will carry a 5-4 record and 3.87 ERA into his next start.
  • Tanner Roark fired 6.1 innings of one-run ball in the Reds 7-1 win over the Brewers. He gave up just three hits while striking out seven. The lone run came on a Yelich home run. Roark hasn’t given up more than four runs in any of his 15 starts this season and he will carry a rock solid 3.47 ERA into his next outing.
  • Zac Gallen made his MLB debut yesterday and he gave the Marlins a very solid outing, tossing five innings of one-run ball in a no-decision against the Cardinals. He gave up five hits while striking out six. The 23-year old had a 1.77 ERA across 91.1 innings at AAA prior to this outing and is worth an add in fantasy if he’s still available.  

Hitter Highlights

Pete Alonso finished 2-3 with a walk and a two-run dinger. The home run was his 25th of the year and he is hitting .275 with 59 RBI.  His 25 home runs are currently fourth on the all-time home runs by a rookie before the all-star break list and he is the first rookie to hit 25 home runs in his team’s first 75 games in National League history.

Danny Santana had a bash-and-dash game in the Rangers 4-2 win over the Indians. He finished 2-4 with a home run, a double, one RBI, two runs scored, and a stolen base. The home was his seventh and the steal was his ninth to go along with his .312 batting average. He’s played very well for Texas this year in what has turned into a breakout campaign for the 28-year old.

Elvis Andrus also had a good day at the dish for the Rangers, going 2-4 with a home run, a triple, two RBI, and two runs scored. He is having a very strong year, hitting .303 with seven home runs, 14 steals, 43 RBI, and 41 runs scored, making him one of the better values from drafts this year in fantasy.

Yordan Alvarez launched another home run and also doubled in the Astros 10-6 loss to the Yankees. That’s five home runs in his first nine games to begin his career. Needless to say, it’s been a pretty darn good start for the rookie slugger. How this guy wasn’t a higher ranked prospect is beyond me.

Jake Marisnick had an even bigger game for Houston, going 3-4 with a pair of solo home runs. He really needed a game like this too, considering he was hitting .133 (6-45) with zero home runs and two RBI in his 15 games prior to this one. His playing time should take a drastic hit upon Springer’s return.

Lourdes Gurriel Jr. went 3-5 with a solo home run, a double, and an additional run scored. Since being recalled from AAA on May 24, he is hitting .326 (30-92) with nine home runs, 18 RBI, and 20 runs scored across 25 games. Many predicted a breakout for him prior to the year starting and it appears he is ready to make good on that after a very slow start to the season that resulted in him being sent down.

Matt Chapman delivered a walk-off three-run home run in the A’s 5-4 win over the Rays. He also walked and singled to push his average for the year up to .264 to go along with his 17 home runs and 41 RBI. The young third baseman should have no problem setting new career highs in both home runs and RBI once again after doing so last season with 24 and 68, respectively.

What to Watch for Today

Chris Sale will take on the Blue Jays in Boston. He will enter today’s start with a lousy 3-7 and sub-par (for him) 3.49 ERA, but don’t let that distract you from the fact that over his last 11 starts he has a 2.24 ERA and an absolutely ridiculous 116 strikeouts across 72.1 innings of work.

Trevor Bauer (5-6, 3.41 ERA) vs. Matt Boyd (5-5, 3.35 ERA) is our top pitcher’s duel today, at least on paper. Bauer is coming off the first complete game shutout of his career, while Boyd will look to bounce back from arguably his worst start of the year.

Will today be the start that gets Aaron Nola back on track? After finishing third in the NL Cy Young voting last season, Nola has been far from able to replicate that success this year as he has pitched to a 4.89 ERA through 15 starts. Among qualified pitchers, Nola’s 1.51 WHIP is the fifth worst.