Things That Make You Go “Hmmmm…”

On Saturday, we saw the world’s worst ejection:

 

Then on Sunday, we saw the possibly the best ejection:

 

Brad Peacock got the save on Sunday for the Astros. Usual closer Ken Giles was unavailable after pitching the previous two days and struggling this season so far. Giles struggled during the postseason to the point where manager AJ Hinch couldn’t trust him in the World Series. Peacock may have the inside track to replacing him and has been fantastic this year. Grab him if he is floating around in your leagues.

Franklin Barreto was recalled by the Oakland Athletics. He will replace Chad Pinder who was placed on the 10-Day DL. Barreto is arguably the A’s top prospect for fantasy, but struggled in his cup of coffee last year with the big league club. He has nothing left to prove in AAA after going .290/.339/.456 with 15 home runs and 15 stolen bases in 111 games last season. His ability to play different defensive positions should get him enough at bats to be interesting in 15-team mixed leagues.

Dansby Swanson hit his first home run of the season versus the Rockies on Sunday. He is currently hitting .382/.400/.618. He is getting a ton of hype after disappointing on last year on similar hype. He is running with an inflated BABIP of .444 and an 11% HR/FB rate, while the rest of his underlying numbers are in line with hat he did last season. This is the perfect time to sell high on the former top prospect.

According to manager Scott Servais, Nelson Cruz and Mike Zunino are both expected back this week for the Mariners. This is good news for fantasy owners who are anxiously awaiting their returns, but in weekly leagues, it can be a dicey proposition to throw them back into your lineups considering that they may not be back until the weekend series at the earliest.

Shohei Ohtani threw seven inning and struck out 12 A’s while only allowing one hit and one walk. He was absolutely filthy and was everything people dreamed about when we found out that he was coming from Japan. This won’t happen every time as struggles will happen as he adjusts to MLB hitting and life, but this is a view into what the future may hold for the 23-year-old phenom.

Eugenio Suárez will be placed on the 10-day DL with a thumb fracture. There is no current timetable for his return. It appears that Alex Blandino will be the replacement in the meantime as he was pulled from his AAA game after the injury and top prospect Nick Senzel has mostly been playing second base. That could change if this is a longer injury for Suarez as the date of clubs gaining an extra year of service time is April 14th and we could see senzel up after that. Senzel is worth a stash in most format just on the upside.

What We’ll Be Watching Today

– Can Jakob Junis repeat his first awesome when he blanked the Tigers? He gets a Cruz-less Mariners squad, so it may be possible.

– Will Scott Schebler be back in the lineup? He hasn’t played since April 1st and one has to wonder if the Reds will DL him retroactively to open the roster spot.

– How many innings can Garrett Richards go? He lead the league in spin rate and the stuff is nasty, but will the Angels let him loose considering the health concerns and lack of innings last year.

– Can Syndergaard be a stud? In his first start he gave up two home runs. In his second he only went four innings. Wll the third time be the charm?

– Can Dylan Bundy continue to be a stud? He is finally living up to the prospect pedigree, but is still getting hit around by lefties. Can he put it all together?

– When will struggling star José Ramírez turn it around? He has a -1 wRC+. He is being pitched differently and is obviously pressing. I have faith he will figure it out.

– Baseball. Lots of baseball.