Fantasy Baseball June 8 Round Up: Marcus Semien Has Historic Day
The fantasy baseball world holds its collective breath after a number of major stars left Tuesday’s games with injuries. Marcus Semien also continues to save himself from becoming waiver-wire fodder with an historic day in a double-header. But the biggest news from MLB on Tuesday was the sudden firing of Angels’ manager Joe Madden after their ongoing epic collapse. We also have some important updates on the latest MLB injury report to discuss before you set those fantasy baseball lineups for Wednesday’s games. Be sure to check out the updated fantasy baseball rankings for June before setting your lineups. Don't forget to find the best fantasy baseball waiver wire targets and two-start pitchers for your rosters as well. Before we start another night of MLB fantasy baseball, let’s take a look at some of the top performances and injury news from a massive 16-game slate on Monday in the latest MLB daily round up!
Fantasy Baseball News
Angels Fire Joe Madden, Losing Streak Reaches Unlucky 13
The Los Angeles Angels brass had seen enough after a 12-game losing streak and some questionable lineup decisions from Joe Madden, so he was fired on Tuesday. Interim manager Phil Nevin took over and promptly led the Angels to another heart-breaking loss, losing 6-5 to the Red Sox in 10 innings.
From a fantasy perspective, this move hopefully signals a change in philosophy for the Angels and their young stud prospects. Nevin should give Jo Adell, Brandon Marsh, and Jared Walsh all the playing time they can handle now, especially since they have fallen to 9.5 games out of the division lead. Injuries are starting to take a toll on the Angels, which we will see below, but this represents a moment to grab Adell or Marsh in your league before someone else can snag them.
Marcus Semien Making Up for Lost Time
As recently as May 25th, Marcus Semien had a .465 OPS and was the worst full-time player in major league baseball. He had a handful of steals, no home runs, and simply could not get on base. Flash forward two weeks, and Semien has completely turned his season upside down. On Tuesday, he had one of the best days of any player in major league history.
Semien is now the most valuable player in rotisserie formats over the last two weeks, putting up a .339 average with six home runs, seven steals, and 17 runs. We knew it was only a matter of time before the $175-million man broke out of his slump, and he is busting out in a big way.
Josh Hader Finally Allows a Run
All those who had Alec Bohm and Matt Vierling as the first two players to take Josh Hader deep this year, please proceed to the betting window to collect your winnings. In a shocking turn of events, Josh Hader allowed his first two runs of the season on Tuesday to these two in the bottom of the Philadelphia Phillies batting order.
This is, of course, just one of those Hey-It’s-Baseball bumps in the road for Hader who should continue to be the most elite closer in the game moving forward. But we learned on Tuesday that Hader is not, in fact, superhuman and will give up the occasional run.
New Yankees Keep Mashing Behind Judge, Rizzo
The Yankees became the first major league team to reach 40 wins on Tuesday as they pummeled the Minnesota Twins 10-4 on the road. Both Aaron Judge and Anthony Rizzo continued their power surge, delivering moon shots that put this game out of reach.
As a team, the Yankees are now first in on-base percentage and first in slugging percentage this season. Their 83 home runs are 10 more than the next closest team and 19 teams strike out more than they do this year. With all the preseason talk about how dominant the Los Angeles Dodgers lineup would be, it’s been the Yankees and their surprisingly good health that has lapped the field on offense.
The Tarik Skubal Shuffle
In a frustrating turn of events for fantasy managers and DFS players, Tarik Skubal was originally scratched from his start due to bad weather in Pittsburgh but then ended up pitching anyway.
You don’t have to scroll too far through Twitter to see the frustration from fantasy managers who took him out of their lineups, especially after he twirled a gem against the Pirates. Skubal delivered seven innings, allowing three runs with nine strikeouts, and earned the win on Tuesday. After all that confusion, it ended up being the latest in a strong stretch of starts for Skubal. He is 4-0 with a 1.60 ERA with 50 strikeouts in his last seven games.
Ronald Acuña Jr. Puts the Oakland A’s on Ice
Ronald Acuña Jr. did his best Trae Young impression with two massive bombs on Tuesday night against the Oakland Athletics.
After missing several weeks at the start of the season due to ongoing injury recovery, Acuna is now crushing the ball again with five home runs, 10 steals, and a .320/.411/.534 slash line through 27 games. In the past two weeks, Acuna is a top-15 fantasy hitter with a .368 average, three homers and two steals.
MLB Injury Report
Pete Alonso and Starling Marte Both Leave Mets’ Game Early
Within the first couple innings of the Mets’ game against the Padres on Tuesday, both Starling Marte and Pete Alonso left the game with injuries. Fortunately, it doesn’t appear (at least as of early Wednesday) that either will be too serious.
Alonso was hit on the right hand by a Yu Darvish pitch but underwent x-rays, which were negative for a fracture. Marte left with a quadriceps injury, but it was later described by the team as just tightness. Marte avoiding a quad tear or strain is a major win as we head into Wednesday’s games.
Mike Trout Injures Left Groin
Perhaps the most serious injury news came from the Angels, who lost Mike Trout after he limped around the bases running out a double. It was eventually diagnosed as a left groin injury which will undergo further testing on Wednesday. If Trout is lost to injury for a period of time, things could go from awful to apocalyptic in Los Angeles. Trout has dealt with a series of lower-body injuries the last few years, so we can just hope that this isn’t the latest one to ruin a strong start for the former MVP.
Lance Lynn to Make One More Rehab Start
Lance Lynn will make one more rehab start in the minors this week, with the goal to go at least five innings with no issues. If all goes well for the 35-year-old workhorse, he could be back in the White Sox rotation next week after missing the first two months with a knee injury.
Alex Cobb Placed on IL
Alex Cobb had not pitched since May 29th with some neck discomfort, and the San Francisco Giants decided it was worthy of an IL stint, officially placing him on that list Tuesday. Cobb has had an extremely up and down start to the season, culminating in a 5.73 ERA but also 11.23 K/9 and just 0.72 HR/9. Hopefully, this time to rest and heal will fix the location issues, but we also should expect some better luck when he returns. Through two months of the season, Cobb had an unusually high .402 BABIP.
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