It’s easy to overlook veterans with little upside in preseason drafts, everyone’s guilty of it. However, paying full price for Chris Archer in 2019 could come at a discount given his inability to add a third pitch along with his early season struggles. With many chasing the 2015 version of Archer, he’s yet to record a season ERA below four since. After being handed a three-run lead before taking the mound on Saturday, Archer could not keep the lead or defeat a pitcher just promoted from Triple-A in Baltimore. He also allowed three home runs contributing to six earned runs in seven innings raising his ERA to 5.64 and WHIP to 1.40 after nine starts. A change of scenery may be necessary for Archer.
Going over 60 picks later in NFBC average draft position, Jon Lester turned in his 33rd start since 2016 of at least five innings while giving up one run or fewer. Lester limited the White Sox to four hits, one earned run and three walks with five strikeouts en route to his third win of the season. For a frame of reference, no pitcher has more such outings over the last three seasons. Max Scherzer ranks second with 30, Justin Verlander third with 29 and Chris Sale fourth with 28. That’s pretty good company. As for Lester, he lowered his ERA to 2.66 with a 1.32 WHIP on the season.
That Just Happened
Adding to Archer’s tough day highlighted above, Jonathon Schoop and Manny Machado went back-to-back for home runs in the third inning turning the tide in the game. Schoop also homered in the second inning for the seventh multi-home run game of his career. Machado has hit a dinger in three straight games resulting in four home runs. Rookie catcher Chance Sisco also hit a double and stole home as part of a double steal with Jace Peterson .
Gary Sánchez launched his 10th home run as part of a 2-for-4 game in a Yankees comeback win. This marks the first time in Yankees history three teammates have reached 10 home runs in their first 40 games with Sanchez joining Aaron Judge (11) and Didi Gregorius (10) in the double digit dinger club.
Speaking of Aaron Judge , he extended his personal RBI streak to six straight contests totaling 13 RBI within it. He’s also 10-for-30 in the team’s current eight game homestand with six runs, two doubles, four home runs and 15 RBI. Gleyber Torres went hitless to snap his modest nine-game hit streak.
Khris Davis homered for the second straight day and has driven in a run in seven of his last eight games with four home runs in the streak. His home run on Saturday raised his season total to 11 while driving in three runs.
Cleveland’s Francisco Lindor entered game play on a 12-game hitting streak. He also has two doubles and two home runs (11,12) with four runs scored and two RBI to raise his average to .311 at the end of the seventh inning. He’s currently 27 for his last 59 (.458) with 18 runs, seven doubles, eight home runs and 14 RBI in the streak. Mercy.
Another hot hand resides in Wrigley. Willson Contreras racked up three more hits on Saturday including his fourth home run and three RBI. He’s totaled 26 total bases over the last three games and his 10 RBI the last two games makes him the first Cub since Aramis Ramirez in 2010 to do so.
Javy Baez hit leadoff on Saturday with two hits in five at-bats. He tripled and stole his fourth base of the year. Over his last 21 games Baez has hit .330 with seven doubles, two triples, six home runs and 20 RBI.
Searching for some good news for the White Sox, Eloy Jimenez owns a 15-game hitting streak in Double-A with a .394 average in his last 66 at-bats, nine doubles, five home runs and 19 RBI. Help should be on the way sometime in June or July.
Night Moves
Pittsburgh’s rotation could see some turnover soon. Nick Kingham ’s slated to return next Saturday unless he’s needed to fill-in for Jameson Taillon . Joe Musgrove will make a rehab start at Triple-A, weather permitting, and one more start prior to returning to the Pirates. Stash him now if he’s on the wire and you’re looking for pitching.
Milwaukee moved Wade Miley to the 60-day disabled list meaning his oblique strain will not be healed anytime soon.
The Padres designated Chase Headley for assignment meaning they will eat his $13 million dollar salary. They promoted Cory Spangenberg which could translate to him and Christian Villanueva splitting time at third along with Spangenberg pushing Carlos Asuaje for time at second base. Both Spangenberg and Travis Jankowski make for intriguing adds on the waiver wire for teams searching for stolen bases.
Ryan Zimmerman heads to the disabled list with the Nationals summoning Mark Reynolds to the major league roster. It’s been a tough start for Zimmerman and if Reynolds plays well, who knows how the team will handle the lineup upon Zimmerman’s return.
Burning Questions
Will weather wreak havoc upon the evening slate of games with thunderstorms lurking in at least three ballparks? Can Odubel Herrera extend his 40-game on-base streak? Do the Dodgers put a halt to the Reds winning streak?
All of this and much more will be covered in Sunday’s Round Up available to the Fantasy Alarm family to keep you ahead of the competition.
Statistical Credits:
MLB.com
Fangraphs.com
BaseballSavant.com