| |
|
| Thursday, June 24, 2021 |
| The Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde of starting pitchers kept at it on Wednesday with a stellar performance against the Seattle Mariners. That's right, German Marquez fooled us again. He finished with eight innings of one-run ball with seven strikeouts. The problem with Marquez is he's allowed eight earned runs in two different starts this season. Here's how it works: Marquez puts together a few quality starts, you trust him enough to get him in your lineups, and then he blows up. He's on pace for two starts next week with both coming at home. The next twist is that Marquez has actually been solid in Coors Field this season with a 3.56 ERA in 10 home starts. Basically, this was a long, confusing way of saying I will have him in my lineups next week but it scares me to death. |
| A hitter I think you should monitor in deeper category leagues is Daz Cameron, son of former major leaguer Mike Cameron. Daz added his third home run and third steal on Wednesday (in just nine games played). Fun fact: both Daz and his father now have stolen bases against Yadier Molina in their respective careers. Anyway, Daz offers a power-speed combination, albeit with a lot of strikeouts. He's only 3% rostered, but I would throw him on your scout team. |
| 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. |
| |
| Cease is the latest to see his spin rate dip |
| |
| White Sox SP Dylan Cease joined the growing list of pitchers who have watched their spin rate plummet following the MLB's crackdown on the usage of foreign substances. And just like the majority of starters before him, the bottom line stats didn't see any real dip. Cease went five and two thirds and allowed just one earned run. He did give up seven hits and a walk, but he still struck out seven with 16 swinging strikes on 99 pitches. |
| His fastball spin rate dipped 287 rpm. That's one of the biggest dips in spin rate we've seen since the reports surfaced and the league started looking into this. |
| |
| The Soto power outage continues |
| Nationals OF Juan Soto is one of the best young players in baseball, but he hasn't looked like it so far in 2021. It has been an incredibly weird season for Soto in the power department. The Nationals won 13-12. It was a game where there were 25 runs scored and 27 hits in total. Soto scored one run, but he did not have a hit (he went 0-for-4 with a walk). He now only has eight home runs in 61 games played and none his past 13 games. He only has one extra base hit in his last 13 games. |
| On the flip side, Soto's advanced stats are still strong. The under the hood numbers suggest he should bounce back soon. That makes Soto a solid bet to bounce back. Chris doesn't see any reason to think Soto won't be one of the five best players in Fantasy moving forward. That's high praise. Chris thinks you should try to get Soto right now even if you have to pay full price. Why? If you trade for Soto now you're missing out on the entire power lull, and when he returns to form you get to reap the benefits. |
| More news and notes |
| Cleveland SP Aaron Civale was diagnosed with a sprained right middle finger. He'll be shut down from throwing for 1-2 weeks and is expected to require 4--5 weeks to complete his rehab program. Mets SP Marcus Stroman's MRI on his hip came back clean. He's avoided the IL to this point. Astros 3B Alex Bregman, on the IL with a quad injury, is still 2-3 weeks away from returning. Braves OF Ronald Acuna was scratched Wednesday with back soreness. Dodgers OF Mookie Betts was out due to an illness. Diamondbacks 2B Ketel Marte missed Wednesday's game with that left hamstring injury. He's day-to-day. Cody Bellinger, Kyle Tucker and Michael Conforto were all activated. Conforto went 2-4 with two runs scored. Royals SP Danny Duffy was activated and started against the Yankees. He pitched two shutout innings with three walks, four strikeouts and finished with 42 pitches. Jackson Kowar was optioned back to the minors. Dodgers SP Tony Gonsolin will make his next start Friday. He dealt with shoulder soreness last weekend but won't miss a turn in the rotation. Brewers 2B Daniel Vogelback suffered a significant hamstring injury so Keston Hiura was recalled. Hiura was batting .375 with two homers in June in the minors, but that came with a 36% K rate. He's 31% rostered. Yankees 3B Gio Urshela was out of the lineup with a shin injury. X-rays came back negative. He's day-to-day. Royals C Salvador Perez was removed Wednesday after getting hit in the mask with a pitch. Giants 1B Brandon Belt left with a leg injury. The Diamondbacks designated RP Stefan Crichton for assignment. |
| |
| Buy low or no thanks, bro |
| It's a new name for the same game you know and love -- buy low or sell high. Here's a few names we'll play the game with: |
| White Sox SS Tim Anderson went 2 for 5 on Wednesday and is batting .297 but with a .758 OPS. Why? Has a career-high 60% GB rate, last year it was 55%, back in 2019 it was at 49%. As a result, his average launch angle is a career-low 2.2 degrees. Chris loves that they're letting him run a lot more this year. He has 18 stolen base attempts in 60 games. The OPS becomes a bonus when he's running like that. The verdict: BUY LOW! White Sox 1B Jose Abreu went 0 for 4 with a walk and three strikeouts. He's now batting .242 with a .756 OPS. He has a career-high 25% strikeout rate plus a career-high 50% groundball rate (those were 22% and 44% last season). He also has a .286 BABIP vs. .326 for his career. The hard hit rate is still there and under the hood he still looks like the guy we saw in 2019. The verdict: BUY LOW! Pirates 3B Ke'Bryan Hayes went 2 for 4 with 2 RBI and his first steal of the season. In 17 games since returning from the IL he is batting: .277 with two homers, an 11% BB rate and a 16% strikeout rate. He's hitting the ball very hard but his 48% GB rate is a bit high. The verdict: BUY LOW! Mariners OF Mitch Haniger went 0 for 4 and is batting .208 with a .549 OPS in June. He has a 53% GB rate with a 19% IFFB rate this month. Chris is willing to bet that as long he is healthy he's going to bounce back to the player he was to start the season. The verdict: BUY LOW! Rangers 1B Nate Lowe went 2 for 4 with his 14th HR. He is batting .236 with five homers this month but has a .359 OPS vs. LHP. Chris views him as a limited player. The verdict: NO THANKS, BRO Cardinals OF Dylan Carlson since the start of May: Batting .256 with three homers, a .699 OPS with a .098 ISO (SLG-BA). The league average is .161. He's 87% rostered. Chris has him now in the droppable range. The verdict: NO THANKS, BRO |
| |
| | | | | 24/7 Sports News | | WNBA on CBS Sports Network | ✔Scores & Highlights
✔Fantasy and Betting Advice
✔Interviews with Top Athletes
CBS Sports HQ has you covered. Stream anywhere, anytime, on any device.
Watch Now
| | Arike Ogunbowale and the Dallas Wings travel to Indiana to take on Kelsey Mitchell and the Fever tonight at 7 PM ET. Catch all of the action on CBS Sports Network and the CBS Sports App!
Watch Live
|
|
| |
| |
