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| Friday, May 28, 2021 |
| Move over Ser Gregor Clegane, there's a new Mountain on the scene and his name is Alek Manoah. The Blue Jays pitching prospect dominated in his debut, which included making one of the game's premiere sluggers in Aaron Judge look like this. You can read more about his first outing in-depth below. |
| The other pitching performance that caught everybody's attention on Thursday was Dylan Cease, who finished with 10 strikeouts against the Orioles while allowing just one earned run over six innings. Even more impressive was that he did it with a whopping 29 swinging strikes, which is something we only ever see from the likes of Jacob deGrom. We don't use the term buy-high often in Fantasy, but now is the time to acquire Cease as he has two tasty matchups next week. |
| Of course, you can subscribe to make sure you get the latest episodes of Fantasy Baseball Today right when they drop on Apple and Spotify. |
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| Manoah delivers a dominant debut |
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| Blue Jays SP Alex Manoah is one of the most hyped prospect call-ups we've had this season, and unlike other top call-ups so far, he did not disappoint in his debut. Manoah went six scoreless and allowed just two hits and two walks in a 2-0 win over the Yankees. He struck out seven batters and generated 13 swinging strikes on just 88 pitches. He only allowed two hard-hit balls the entire start against the Yankees. It was also the first time since 1995 a pitcher debuted on the road against the Yankees and went at least six innings without allowing a run. |
| Manoah's 6-foot-6 height gives him an advantage on his four-seam fastball. While it averaged 94.9 mph, it plays up and looks much faster attacking batters due to the extension he can get. I am dubbing him "The Mountain" (hopefully you've seen Game of Thrones). Manoah has four different pitches (the sinker, slider and changeup in addition to the four-seamer). He used his slider 30% of the time and his changeup 15% of the time, and that pitch actually generated three of the swinging strikes. He had so much movement on all of his pitches, and that has been a steady drumbeat for Manoah. He looked great in the spring and in Triple-A. |
| Manoah is a definite hold for us in keeper and Dynasty leagues. His rostered rate needs to be at 100%, so make sure he's not on any waiver wire. Clear out the FAB budget if he's still available and drop 35% of your budget, though Scott has a little strategy to go 37.5% of his budget to mix it up. Either way, you should be willing to bid a major portion of your budget on Manoah. |
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| Baez with the most creative, wacky play of the year |
| Scott considers it the worst defensive play he's ever seen. And honestly, his rant about the play on the podcast is better than words could ever do. Having said that, this was one of the most exciting and weird plays of the year, so of course we're going to dive into it! |
| Cubs SS Javier Baez was involved in a baserunning play that was arguably the most creative and cant-miss play of the entire season. If you love baseball, you'll love this play. You can find the highlight video here . Baez grounded out to third and the throw came in short, so the Pirates first baseman had to come off the bag. In real time, Baez stopped and froze on the basepaths which confused and froze the defender. Then Baez backtracked, the defender followed and ultimately the runner from third made it home before the throw. From there on, Baez took first base and then second base on an overthrow. |
| It was a truly wacky play. While some have blamed the defense, and we get it, there's something about what Baez created in the moment that played a role in throwing off the defense. It was wild to watch play out. And if you want to take all of the fun out of it: yes, there were two outs on the play, but not a single Pirate seemed to know it! |
| More news and notes |
| Angels SP/DH Shohei Ohtani was scratched from his pitching start Thursday because he was delayed getting to the stadium. He remained in the lineup as the DH and will be the starting pitcher Friday. Rockies SS Trevor Story left Thursday with arm tightness. He's considered day-to-day. Orioles OF Trey Mancini was diagnosed with a bruised elbow after a HBP. Mets SP Noah Syndergaard has been shut down due to right elbow inflammation. Padres C Austin Nola is going on the IL due to a knee sprain. Marlins SS Miguel Rojas was placed on the IL with a dislocated finger. White Sox SP Michael Kopech was placed on the bereavement list. Marlins OF Starling Marte could be activated for the Marlins' weekend series. Yankees OF Aaron Hicks is expected to miss the remainder of the season. Estevan Florial was promoted. He went 1 for 3 with a double in Game 2 of the doubleheader. Yesterday we said Yankees SP Corey Kluber would be out at least one month, but it turns out that's at least two months. Dodgers SP/RP Tony Gonsolin likely needs two more rehab starts at Triple-A. He fired three shutout innings in his first start. Mets SP Taijuan Walker will return Friday and start against the Braves. Cardinals OF Tyler O'Neill was activated for the Cardinals. Reds SP Wade Miley will return Sunday and start against the Cubs. Royals SP Danny Duffy remains in shutdown mode after being diagnosed with left flexor strain a few weeks ago. Indians SP Triston McKenzie was sent down to the minors after Wednesday night's start. If you were wondering just how much injuries are up this season, I saw a great tweet from Derek Rhoads -- he pointed out via a line graph that IL placements are up 30% compared to this point of the season back in 2019. That does not include the COVID IL. |
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| Two-start pitchers for next week |
| Rays SP Rich Hill at NYY, at TEX Astros SP/RP Luis Garcia vs. BOS, at TOR A's SP/RP James Kaprielian at SEA, at COL Royals SP Mike Minor vs. PIT, vs. MIN Diamondbacks SP Merrill Kelly vs. NYM, at MIL Red Sox SP Garrett Richards at HOU, at NYY Cardinals SP John Gant vs. LAD, vs. CIN |
| Sleeper hitters for next week |
| Rockies 1B C.J. Cron: TEX3, OAK3 Twins 1B Miguel Sano: @BAL3, @KC4 Padres OF Tommy Pham: @CHC3, NYM4 Cubs OF Joc Pederson: SD3, @SF4 Brewers OF Avisail Garcia: DET2, ARI4 Giants 3B Evan Longoria: LAA2, CHC4 White Sox 2B Nick Madrigal: @CLE4, DET4 White Sox 1B/OF Andrew Vaughn: @CLE4, DET4 Phillies 1B/2B/3B/OF Brad Miller: @CIN3, WAS3 Twins 1B/OF Rob Refsnyder: @BAL3, @KC4 |
| Best hitter matchups next week |
| White Sox @CLE4, DET4 Twins @BAL3, @KC4 Rockies TEX3, OAK3 Athletics @SEA3, @COL3 Astros BOS4, @TOR3 |
| Worst hitter matchups next week |
Tigers @MIL2, @CHW4 Blue Jays MIA2, HOU3 Mets @ARI3, @SD4 Diamondbacks NYM3, @MIL4 Braves WAS4, LAD3
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| Five Fantasy facts |
| A's SP Chris Bassitt has now gone 7-plus innings in four of his last five starts. Blue Jays SS Bo Bichette now has a 150-game pace of 33 HR, 21 SB, 93 RBI and 123 runs. Cubs 3B Kris Bryant now has first base eligibility on CBS. Tyler Glasnow was the MLB innings leader entering Thursday. Nationals SP Stephen Strasburg averaged just 91.8 mph on the fastball (93.9 mph back in 2019) in his last start. |
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| | | | | UEFA Champions League Final | | Charles Schwab Challenge | Saturday's huge, highly anticipated all-English UEFA Champions League final between Manchester City and Chelsea from Porto will begin at 3 PM ET on Paramount+.
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| | The first post-PGA Championship event is set up to be a great one in Fort Worth this weekend! Watch Saturday at 5:30 PM ET and Sunday at 2 PM ET on CBS Sports.
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