Thursday is a short slate, but after the marathon game yesterday between the A’s and White Sox, we all may need a bit of a relaxing day.
On the left? Daniel Mengdenbefore this @Athletics/@whitesox game started.
On the right? Mengdenafter 5 hours & 11+ innings. pic.twitter.com/kirNuT1h8E
— Cut4 (@Cut4) April 19, 2018
Things That Make You Go “Hmmmm…”
On Wednesday, the Atlanta Braves announced they signed free agent Jose Bautista. Crazy enough they intended to play him at third base. The deal is a minor league contract and he will report to extended spring training to work on defense. He could become an MLB regular and an interesting trade chip for the Braves at the trade deadline if he can capture past glory.
Jose Berrios threw seven scoreless innings against the Indians in Puerto Rico, striking out five and allowing no walks and only three hits. Berrios has been fantastic this year outside of one bad start versus Seattle. The big thing is he has only allowed one walk and one home run this season. Berrios is taking the next step towards fantasy ace status.
Ryan Zimmerman became the MLb baseball all time home run leader for players with last names that start with the letter “Z”. Seriously, people supposedly care about that:
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Zimmerman hit his second and third homers of the season and appears to be over the injury issues he has been dealing with since spring training.
Chris Stratton pitched seven strong innings against the Diamondbacks, striking out eight and allowing no walks. Stratton has been very good this season, but this start was a real step forward as he ticked up the strikeouts and didn’t issue any free passes. The combination of his ability to hit the corners and Buster Posey’s fantastic framing gives him a real opportunity to continue doing what he has been doing early in the season.
Kenley Jansen has struggled as the closer this season. His elite cutter has just not been elite this season and he has struggled with allowing walks and home runs. It would not be surprising to see him hit the DL at some point with an underlying injury. Manager Dave Roberts gave Jansen a vote of confidence yesterday, saying that he is a long ways away from pulling him from the role. Smart fantasy owners would invest in Josh Fields if they can afford the stash.
What We’ll Be Watching Today
Who is Luke Weaver? Weaver has been fantastic this year, but some things just don’t add up. His swinging strike rate and O-Swing percentage are down. His hard hit and flyball percentages are up. There seems to be regression coming, but it just hasn’t happened yet.
Will Alex Cobb get destroyed again? Cobb was awful in his first start of the year for the Orioles. He really struggles without the elite changeup which has escaped him since thoracic outlet surgery. I wouldn’t start him, but he may be a target to stack against him in DFS.
Jake Arrieta vs Jameson Taillon. Arrieta’s fastball velocity is down again from last year. It has lost almost thee miles per hour now since 2015. He should benefit from PNC Park, but it is important to watch his stuff. Taillon has been fantastic this year and could be moving into ace status.
What is wrong with Freddie Freeman. He left last night’s game after being hit by a pitch and there was no information on his condition. Will his season be derailed once again.
Baseball. Lots of baseball.
