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| Thursday, May 13, 2021 |
| It's a great time to be a Mariners fan as Jarred Kelenic will have company when he makes his debut on Thursday in the form of starting pitcher Logan Gilbert! Hopefully this is a sign of things to come across baseball as we await the likes of Wander Franco, Alek Manoah and Heliot Ramos to get their chance. You can read more about Gilbert below but basically, go add him! |
| We finally had a (mostly) rough day for starting pitchers as Blake Snell continued to struggle and we received some bad news on Zac Gallen and Mike Soroka. A few of the bright spots came from the New York teams as Gerrit Cole solidified himself as the SP1 in Fantasy and Taijuan Walker continued his strong start to the season. Let's stick with Walker. The ERA is down to 2.20 with a 3.94 xFIP and a 3.93 xERA. As great as he's been, he's only allowed one home run to this point. That's not going to remain as the weather heats up across baseball. Walker is one of those obvious sell-high candidates where he's statistically likely to regress. If you can turn him into a buy-low hitter with a proven track record, make it happen! |
| 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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| Go add Gilbert now if you haven't already |
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| Mariners SP Logan Gilbert will be promoted on Thursday. In case you missed our emergency podcast, let's take another look at the top pitching prospect for Seattle who will be coming up on the same day as Jarred Kelenic. We all agree he's a must-add player and a priority pickup in FAAB leagues. Chris has moved him into his top 60 SPs already and sees him as someone who can move up the rankings very, very quickly. |
| And while he may not have top-end ace stuff, he's 6-foot-6 with really good command of all four pitches. Chris mentioned that this profile reminds him a bit of Aaron Nola when he came up. The suggestion is to go as high as 20% of your budget in a 12-team league and 25% of your budget in a 15-team league. |
| Panic time on Snell? |
| You never want to judge a pitcher too hard for not having his best stuff at Coors Field, but when it happened to Padres SP Blake Snell on Wednesday, after an OK at best start to his season, it might be time to hit that panic button. Scott broke down Snell's outlook in his struggling pitchers column, and using the stoplight analogy he determined his concern level to be red. On Wednesday, Snell lasted just four innings and allowed two earned runs while walking three batters. |
| Command continues to be a major issue for Snell, who threw one wild pitch and at one point walked the pitcher while needing 84 pitches to get through four. On the bright side, he racked up seven strikeouts in just four innings. |
| Snell has struggled all season, and he's not showing signs of improvement. Chris hasn't moved him down his rankings, but the inefficiency in his game is glaring. He has at least two walks in every start he's made this season and 12 walks over his last three starts. |
| It has now been 28 straight starts since Snell has failed to eclipse six innings pitched. It feels like he's riding that one Cy Young season and we keep drafting him in the middle rounds because of it. I've made the decision to move him down my rankings. We know that when he's on, he's on (see: the postseason), but right now he's nowhere close to being on. |
| More news and notes |
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The Diamondbacks placed SP Zac Gallen on the IL with a minor sprain of his UCL in his right elbow. Manager Torey Lovullo said they will reassess in a few weeks. Apparently, they're optimistic surgery won't be needed but it doesn't get much scarier than this and we've heard optimistic managerspeak go to the wayside way too many times to take this one with more than a grain of salt. Royals SS Adalberto Mondesi will begin a rehab assignment with Double-A Northwest Arkansas on Thursday. Braves SP Mike Soroka is scheduled to undergo an exploratory procedure on his inflamed right Achilles next week after he experienced renewed discomfort during his recent workouts. If you remember, he tore his Achilles last August. Astros SP Jose Urquidy left Wednesday's start with shoulder discomfort. Hope he's alright, but maybe this helps Luis Garcia remain in the rotation. Phillies SS Didi Gregorius left his game due to right elbow stiffness. Padres OF Wil Myers was moved to the COVID IL after testing positive. 1B Eric Hosmer was also placed on the IL as a close contact. White Sox SP Carlos Rodon was pushed back from starting Thursday to Saturday due to back and hamstring tightness.
The Yankees played Wednesday despite having seven staff members test positive for COVID. SS Gleyber Torres was out of the lineup as a precaution. Twins OF Byron Buxton has been cleared to throw and is expected to begin hitting Thursday or Friday Twins 1B/OF Alex Kirilloff has been cleared for the weight room and is expected to test his swing this weekend. Dodgers 1B/OF Cody Bellinger has made "very encouraging" progress, but the Dodgers still don't know when he'll be able to play. Rays RP Diego Castillo threw a successful bullpen and is on track to be activated this weekend. Cubs 2B Nico Hoerner and SP Jake Arrieta are both expected to return on Friday. Diamondbacks 1B Christian Walker was placed back on the IL with right oblique soreness. Brewers OF Avisail Garcia started in right field Wednesday despite not feeling 100 percent with a minor back issue. Red Sox SP Nick Pivetta was placed on the COVID IL as he's feeling effects of the vaccine. Dodgers pitching prospect Josiah Gray was shut down due to a shoulder impingement. |
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| Players showing signs of life |
| You might want to try and swing a trade for these players soon as they are starting to heat up after disappointing managers until recently: |
| Mets 1B/OF Dominic Smith collected three hits including a double with two RBI on Wednesday. He is now batting .364 over his last seven games. Reds 2B/3B Mike Moustakas heard us yesterday on the show! On Wednesday, he had two hits, including his fourth home run, and added two walks. Reds 3B/SS Eugenio Suarez now has five hits including a homer and four RBI over his last three games. His strikeout rate is down to a much more manageable 27% in May. Astros OF Kyle Tucker has racked up six hits with three home runs over his last four games. |
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| Rankings risers and fallers |
| Reds SP Sonny Gray: RISER Brewers SP Freddy Peralta: RISER Mariners OF Mitch Haniger: RISER Phillies SP Zach Eflin: RISER A's SP Sean Manaea: RISER Rays OF Austin Meadows: FALLER Yankees SS Gleyber Torres: FALLER |
Streaming options
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| Thursday |
| Royals SP Daniel Lynch at DET Tigers SP Spencer Turnbull vs. KC Diamondbacks SP Merrill Kelly vs. MIA Red Sox SP Garrett Richards vs. OAK Reds SP Wade Miley at COL Rangers SP Mike Foltynewicz at HOU |
| Friday |
| Pirates SP Tyler Anderson vs. SF Angels SP Griffin Canning at BOS Cubs SP Jake Arrieta at DET Mets SP David Peterson at TB Braves SP Drew Smyly at MIL Brewers SP Adrian Houser vs. ATL |
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