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Fantasy Baseball Final: April 15, 2015

Welcome to the TheFantasyFix.com’s nightly fantasy baseball recap, where you’ll find updates on bullpen usage, lineup construction, injuries, and transactions. No matter the format, we have everything you need to know to help you win your league.

We had a number of day games today, including the Washington Nationals 10-5 victory against the Boston Red Sox at Fenway Park. Ian Desmond finally got on the board with his first home run of the season off Sox starter Wade Miley. Gio Gonzalez got the win, giving up five runs (four earned) in six innings.

We found out earlier in the day that Justin Verlander ended his simulated game early due to fatigue. He isn’t calling it a setback, stating that he felt no pain or discomfort and that “he fatigued a litter bit quicker than he would have liked.” Its uncertain when Verlander will make his 2015 season debut, but he still has a few more steps he needs to take before he gets there.

IF YOU ONLY READ ONE THING…

The Baltimore Orioles won their home series against the New York Yankees Wednesday night, coming back from an early 3-1 deficit to eventually win the game 7-5. Yankees’ starter Nathan Eovaldi was solid, striking out nine over five innings, giving up two runs and walking three. However, the Orioles bats came alive in the sixth inning, scoring four runs (three off reliever David Carpenter). Orioles’ first baseman Chris Davis was dropped to fifth in the lineup, though it seemed to wake up his bat as he went 2-5 including a two-run double in the sixth. Orioles’ starter Bud Norris struck out seven in five innings, giving up three runs, including a long solo home run off the bat of Alex Rodriguez. Manny Machado and Jonathan Schoop both went deep in the game as well, with Zach Britton picking up his third save of the season after a clean ninth.

JUST AS WE EXPECTED…

After taking the loss in Texas last night, the Los Angeles Angels offense came alive in their 10-2 win over the Rangers. Outfielder Mike Trout led the way for the Halos, collecting three hits with a stolen base, two runs scored and a run batted in. Southpaw Hector Santiago picked up his first win of the season in the winning effort, pitching seven strong innings of one run ball, giving up four hits and striking out five. Anthony Ranaudo, acquired by the Rangers in a trade with the Boston Red Sox in the offseason, lasted only 1.2 innings thanks to a six run second inning by the Angels. There were five Angels with multi hit games, including Albert Pujols and Matt Joyce, and they hope they can continue the hot hitting when they start their next series in Houston on Friday.

Trevor Bauer impressed again in his second start of the year, striking out eight over six innings of two run ball. The former top prospect did walk four batters in the start, bringing his season total to nine walks in just 12 innings. The lack of command shouldn’t be too surprising given the fact that he averaged 4.5 BB/9 over his minor league career, but all the free passes are destined to catch up to him at some point. There is no doubting Bauer’s ability, as he’s struck out 19 batters over 12 seasons, but he did need 103 pitches to get through six innings, throwing just 66 of those pitches for strikes. He next start will be on the road against the Chicago White Sox.

BUT WE DIDN’T SEE THIS COMING…

The Toronto Blue Jays and Tampa Bay Rays combined for 19 runs Wednesday in Toronto, combining for 24 hits total with five home runs. Jose Bautista opened up the scoring in the first inning with a two run home run off of Rays’ starter Erasmo Ramirez, who gave up nine runs (seven earned) in 3.1 innings of work. What’s somewhat surprising, however, is that despite the high scoring, slugger Edwin Encarnacion took the collar going 0-5 to bring his season average down to .194. Jays’ rookies Dalton Pompey and Devon Travis both went deep in the game as well, giving Mark Buerhle plenty of run support to pick up his second win of the year. For the Rays, rookie Steven Souza hit his second home run in as many days, though this one didn’t go as far as his 463 foot bomb from last night.

One night after Shane Greene’s outstanding performance against the Pittsburgh Pirates, Detroit Tigers starter Alfredo Simon threw eight shutout innings, giving up just two hits and striking out two. Rajai Davis provided the lone run in the game behind his sixth inning solo home run off of Pirates’ starter Francisco Liriano. Besides giving up the solo shot, Liriano was otherwise dominant, striking out seven over six innings of work. For Simon, he earned his second win of the year in his first season since being shipped to Detroit from the Cincinnati Reds. Closer Joakim Soria took home his fourth save of the season, pitching a clean ninth inning with one strikeout. For now, it looks like the Tigers may have finally found the closer they’ve been looking for.

THE REST OF THE DETAILS

SAVE CHANCES

Cody Allen, CLE (converted 2-2)

Joakim Soria (converted 4-4)

Zach Britton (converted 3-3)

Glen Perkins (converted 1-1)

Trevor Rosenthal (converted 3-3)

Craig Kimbrel (converted 3-3)

LINEUP MOVES

Ben Zobrist (heel) held out of the lineup.

Yasiel Puig (hamstring) was out for the second night in a row.

INJURIES

Justin Verlander ended simulated game early due to fatigue.

David Wright was officially placed on the 15-day DL today (mild strain of the right hamstring)

RUMORS & TRANSACTIONS

The Arizona Diamondbacks announced that they promoted OF/3B Yasmany Tomas from Triple-A, while optioning pitcher A.J. Schugel. Tomas, who signed a six year, $68.5 million dollar contract with the D-Backs in the offseason, was optioned to Triple-A prior to the start of the season after struggling, particularly defensively, throughout spring training. The timing seems a little odd considering he was just optioned ten days ago and struggled to find his groove at the plate thus far, going just 4 for 21 (.190) to start the season in Triple-A. Tomas played in right field primarily, so the experiment with him at third base might be a thing of the past. It’s being reported that he’s going to be used as a bench bat, so he’s probably not going to offer a whole lot of fantasy value right away.

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