Fantasy Baseball May 23 Round Up: Will Freddy Peralta Be Replaced by Aaron Ashby in the Milwaukee Brewers Rotation?
And just like that, another fantasy baseball scoring period is in the books. Happy Monday to you all. No rest for the weary as it is time to make those fantasy baseball Week 7 decisions. By now you’ve sifted through the Week 7 fantasy baseball pickups and seen who you’ve won and lost through the fantasy baseball waiver wire system. Now you have to see who you should start in fantasy baseball, who this week’s fantasy baseball two start pitchers might be and get organized before you start climbing those standings. In order to make the proper moves, let’s check in with the important action from Sunday, monitor those MLB injuries and see what is in store for us this week.
MLB Injuries to Watch
Will Freddy Peralta Be Replaced in Brewers Rotation by Aaron Ashby?
When Peralta was removed from Sunday’s game after allowing five earned runs over just three innings, you knew something was wrong. You weren’t happy about the performance, but most of all, you sensed something was wrong. Now we’re being told that Peralta is suffering from right shoulder rightness and he is headed to the 15-day IL. We aren’t exactly sure how long of a stint this will be, but we should receive some clarity today following his MRI. Not good, but at least you had some semblance of a heads-up upon his removal and, hopefully, you were wise enough to add Aaron Ashby. We haven’t been given full confirmation from manager Craig Counsell, but Ashby has been stretched out over the first two months of the season and should be the next in line. He’s hit a few bumps in the road here and there, but with a little consistency, he should be able to level off over the course of a few starts. He is still honing his command on his secondary offerings, but we like the 34 strikeouts over just 28.1 innings and the upcoming schedule isn’t all that daunting with two series coming against the Padres, one against the Cardinals and one against the Cubs. If you can add Ashby, we recommend.
Los Angeles Angels Send Taylor Ward for Precautionary MRI
The “precautionary” label takes some of the sting off of the injury reporting, but Ward has now been scratched over the last two games and is experiencing weakness in his right shoulder after colliding with the wall. We usually reserve these moments for Byron Buxton, but given the level at which Ward has been playing this season, he’d be a tough loss for fantasy baseball lineups. Stay tuned for updates here, but apparently Ward himself is optimistic that he will be in the lineup Tuesday.
Brandon Belt Lands Back on the IL with a Knee Injury
This will be the Giants first baseman’s second trip to the IL already and this is just not a good look for fantasy owners. He went eight games, producing mediocre stats and was then scratched all weekend long, only to find that he’s headed back to the injured list. Whether it’s just a 10-day visit or not, Belt is becoming a real liability with his unreliability. The team is also saying outfielder Austin Slater is day-to-day with a wrist issue, so it looks like Darin Ruf and Wilmer Flores will likely split the work at first base and DH. If Ruf is needed in the outfield, perhaps Thairo Estrada sees a bump in at-bats.
Aroldis Chapman Being Treated for Achilles Injury
It’s been a rough road for the New York Yankees closer as manager Aaron Boone announced after the first game of Sunday’s doubleheader that Chapman was being treated for an Achilles injury. He labored through his one-third of an inning in that first game and took the loss after allowing two runs on two hits (including a leadoff home run to AJ Pollock), a walk and a wild pitch. We’ll see how he responds to treatment and if there are any other test results we may be waiting on, but for now, you should have already added Clay Holmes who seems like the obvious choice for saves in the absence of Chapman.
Padres Return MacKenzie Gore & Nick Martinez to Rotation After Mike Clevinger Lands on IL Again
Bad news for those who roster Clevinger, but great news for those who stuck with Gore even upon his “demotion” to the bullpen.” They’re calling it a triceps injury for Clevinger and threw him onto the 15-day IL, so you should see a few more starts from Gore in the near future. He looked great, limiting the Giants to one run on three hits and two walks with six punch-outs over six innings and should be the fifth man now. With Nick Martinez getting the nod tonight, it sounds like the Padres will move back to a six-man rotation. We’ll see what we hear after Clevinger gets the results from his MRI later on Monday and see how long this might last.
No Updates on Austin Meadows
Fantasy owners were hoping to see if Austin Meadows would be activated this week, but it looks like we’re going to have to wait a little longer. Manager A.J. Hinch said there are no additional updates on Meadows’ condition and they are starting to get worried with what is going on. Meadows is dealing with vertigo right now and the dizziness, light-headedness and nausea aren’t going away. The assumption is they will run additional tests and start looking into potential issues with his inner-ear. Infections can be a root cause of vertigo as can hearing-loss disorders like tinnitus. Hopefully we get some clarity on this in the coming days.
Fantasy Baseball News
Cole Irvin Returns to A’s Rotation with Quality Start
While no one is falling all over themselves to grab Irvin, you should definitely keep your eyes on him as a decent middle-of-the-roation fantasy asset. In his first outing since spending the past few weeks on the IL with a shoulder issue, Irvin was solid in his return against a very tough Angels lineup. He allowed three runs (twi earned) on eight hits and two walks with four strikeouts over six innings and that gives him three quality starts over his last five outings and he’s allowed two or fewer earned runs in each of his last four. Stability is what you want in the middle of your rotation and that’s what you’ll get here.
Johnny Cueto Continues to Produce for White Sox
It’s so tough to put your trust into a 36-year-old who seemed to struggle towards the end of his time with the Giants in 2021, but so far, so good for Cueto who has now tossed 12 scoreless innings, allowing eight hits and four walks with 12 strikeouts over two starts for the South Siders this season. The first outing against the Royals was no big deal, but to see him blank the hot-hitting Yankees on Sunday, should pique your interest. No, we’re not looking at some Fountain of Youth resurgence, but he does take on the Cubs next and that’s another positive match-up in his favor.
Albert Pujols Inches Closer to 700 with Two-Homer Day
You’re not using Albert Pujols, Jose to his close friends, for fantasy purposes right now, but it’s at least a nice story to follow if you’re just a baseball fan. The St. Louis Cardinals blew out the Pittsburgh Pirates 18-4 and Pujols went yard twice, his first long ball since April 17. He doesn’t see consistent playing time and is only batting .231 with four homers on the year, but he’s now 17 away from 700 home runs and will be a fun story to follow to see how close he gets this season.
Other Fantasy Baseball Top Performers Include:
Mike Trout, OF LAA – Three hits, including a double, a home run and two RBI give him 11 hits in his last eight games.
Manny Machado, 3B SD – He had four hits – three doubles and a triple – which produced three runs and two RBI and extended his hitting streak to six games.
Sandy Alcantara, SP MIA – How about a complete-game shutout with seven strikeouts against the Braves? He’s now allowed just two earned runs over his final three starts (24 innings) with two wins and 18 strikeouts to lower his ERA to 2.11 on the season.
Zach Eflin, SP PHI – While he settled for the no-decision, Eflin fanned 12 Dodgers over seven inningsand has now tossed three quality starts in his last four outings.
MLB Fantasy Baseball Rookies
Pittsburgh Pirates to Call Up Roansy Contreras on Monday
More shiny, new toys for fantasy owners as word out of the Steel City is that Contreras will be recalled Monday. We saw a report Sunday saying the same, but no official move has been made. Given the struggles of the back end of the Pirates rotation, it does seem like a good time to give the kid another shot in the majors. He was pitching out of the bullpen in April and posted a 3.52 ERA with 10 strikeouts over 7.2 innings (three appearances) and has a 2.66 ERA with 24 strikeouts over 20.1 innings at Triple-A this season. The Pirates host the Rockies early this week and then head out to San Diego for a three-game set over the weekend. Either opponent should suffice for fantasy purposes.
When Will Grayson Rodriguez Be Called Up to Baltimore?
The closer we get to the super-two free agency deadline, the closer we get to Rodriguez. The new CBA is supposed to help limit the service time issues for many teams, but when you’re rebuilding like the Baltimore Orioles are, there really isn’t too much of a rush. The brought up Adley Rutschman over the weekend and it shouldn’t be too much longer before Rodriguez gets the call, but there is nothing imminent. Yes, he’s the next big name to put on your list, though, so stash him if you can. You’re looking at big strikeout numbers, as evidenced by his 64:14 K:BB over 43.1 innings at Triple-A.
Monday’s MLB Best Bets for Today
Friday’s Best Bets: 2-0 (had one game postponed)
MLB Season Best Bets: 38-23-1
The Phillies broke a three-game losing streak with a win over the Dodgers on Sunday and after facing some touch pitching in that series and the one prior against the Padres, they get a hold of Tucker Davidson tonight in Atlanta. They may whiff just over 25-percent of the time against lefties, but they also have a .335 wOBA against them, fourth-best in the majors. They’ll be hitting behind Zack Wheeler who has been dominant over his last four starts, allowing just three runs over 26 innings (four starts) with 30 strikeouts. The Braves, meanwhile, are striking out 25.3-percent against righties and have just a .300 wOBA against them on the season.
Pick: Philadelphia Phillies Money Line (-135 on Caesars’ Sportsbook)
Miles Mikolas hasn’t allowed more than two runs in any appearance this season and has four quality starts in his last five outings. He’ll test that streak against a Blue Jays team that hasn’t scored more than three runs in eight of its last 10 games and has averaged just over two runs per game over their last five. On the other side, a resurgent José Berríos is hoping to build off of his last start in which he held the Mariners scoreless over seven innings. The Cardinals had an onslaught of runs yesterday against the Pirates, but this is a much tougher match-up.
Pick: Cardinals/Blue Jays Total Runs UNDER 7.5 (-115 on BetMGM)
The Yankees may have dropped both games of Sunday’s doubleheader, but hosting Jordan Lyles and the Baltimore Orioles should be the cure for what ails them. The Orioles have won three of their last four, but they’ve allowed almost six runs per game in that span and will be forced to deal with Gerrit Cole on the mound. There’s no value on the money line in this game, but seeing as how our friends at BetMGM have the run line set at 2.5, we’ll go with the other books and take that shorter run line. The odds aren’t as tasty, but we’re just looking to keep building that bankroll.
Pick: New York Yankees -1.5 Run Line (-145 on Caesars’ Sportsbook)
Related Articles & MLB Tools:
- Fantasy Baseball Injury Report: May 23
- Fantasy Baseball Player Spotlight: Gary Sánchez
- MLB Lineups
- MLB Weather Center
- Fantasy Baseball Closer Grid