Leading Off

John Lackey returned to the mound and fared alright considering where he’s been the last couple years. Lackey struck out eight and walked only one in 4.1 innings of work. His lone mistake was a HR to red hot Blue Jays Catcher J.P. Arencibia – when he hung a slider in the middle of the plate. Lackey did leave the game however in the 5^th inning with an injury. He has since been diagnosed with a right bicep strain.

In other news, Colby Rasmus hit this 3-run HR that is still traveling. Rasmus is still an AL-Only league option at this point, but he’s now proven himself to have legit power as a “bad pitch” hitter, as evidenced by his .167/.250/.556 slash line thus far this season. Rasmus is owned in far too many leagues, as evidenced by his 81.3% ownership in ESPN leagues. He’s probably a good sell-high candidate in standard 12-team mixers.

J.A. Happ was also dominant for the Blue Jays as he went 5.1 innings, giving up 1 hit, walking three, and striking out six. Happ is less intriguing in the American League than his former league as a member of the Houston Astros and Philadelphia Phillies, but the improvements he has made in the past couple years to his arsenal are legitimate. He is a good spot starter in 12-team mixed leagues and could be a good 5^th starter in AL-Only. Happ is available in 98.6% of ESPN leagues.

Blue Jays defeat the Red Sox 5-0

There were two very interesting takeaways from the Seattle @ Chicago White Sox game. Seattle outfielder Michael Saunders went opposite field on Chicago lefty Matt Thornton, showing that his power outbreak last season was indeed real. In addition to the power that Saunders supplies, he has also stolen a handful of bases so far this season. He continues to look like a good bet to repeat his season from last year. His upside on the batting average is probably only .260 at best however, relegating him to being a solid outfield choice in AL-Only and Deep mixed-leagues. Saunders is available in 94.8% of ESPN leagues.

The other takeaway was the game that White Sox 3B Conor Gillaspie had. Gillaspie went 2-3 with a triple and 2 runs scored. The triple came of Felix Hernandez. Baseball Prospectus’s PECOTA projection system tabs Gillaspie for 221 plate appearances, a .253 average, 5 HR, 24 R, 23 RBI and 2 steals. I’d say he’s a worthwhile add in AL-Only, and is widely available in every single league.

White Sox defeat the Mariners 4-3

Wilson Ramos stole the show in Cincinnati as his two home-runs, one off Mike Leake and the other off right handed relief pitcher J.J. Hoover in extra-innings, helped power the Nationals to a 7-5 victory over the Reds. Ramos is semi-blocked by the unspectacular Kurt Suzuki, but he should garner enough at-bats to be fantasy relevant. Ramos has 20 HR pop in his bat should he receive 90% of the at-bats at catcher. However, that likely won’t happen. He’s owned in only 0.7% of leagues, but probably owned in a majority of NL-Only leagues. If you’re in an NL-Only and he’s available though, snap him up.

In related news, Todd Frazier refuses to be extinguished, and now sports a .500/.500/.1000 triple slash on the young season. He is a sell high candidate at this point, but his overall stock has legitimately risen since the start of the season. If you’re being offered David Wright or some other asinine offer, you MUST take it.

Colin Cowgill did it again for the Mets as he hit another HR, good for his second of the season. Granted, it was against Chad Qualls, so it must be taken with a grain of salt. Nonetheless, he seems to be on track to fulfill his prospect hype. He should be a readily available commodity on your leagues waiver wire.

Mets defeat the Marlins 7-3

Torii Hunter still thinks BABIP is stupid, as he refuses to fall back down to earth. He is hitting .391 on the young season after a 3/5 performance Friday. Vernon Wells hit a HR off Max Scherzer with impressive bat speed. He’s almost certainly on every AL-Only roster, but if he isn’t, he’s a necessary add for any team, given the number of at-bats he is likely to receive. Overall, Wells is available in 90% of leagues.

Tigers defeat the Yankees 8-4

Albert Pujols is pretty good. But you already knew that, so his two home-runs aren’t nearly as surprising as this mammoth tater by Mitch Moreland of Texas. Along the same lines, but going back to what we already know, Tommy Hanson is quite bad, although admittedly his zero walks was nice to see. But back to Moreland, he is owned in only 3.1% of ESPN leagues and is a legitimate platoon option at first base for Texas. He has legitimate 20-23 HR power over a full 600 AB, but he won’t reach that.

Angels defeat the Rangers 8-4

Spring Training superstar Aaron Hicks of the Minnesota Twins continues to struggle after an 0-5 performance with 2 strikeouts Friday against Baltimore. He was also caught stealing, and his slash line is now an absurd .045/.125/.045 in a very small sample. The small sample tells us nothing in the overall grand scheme of his entire season, but it maybe grants credence to the idea that Hicks is not quite ready and that his spring training performance was a mirage.

Twins defeat the Orioles 6-5

Other Notes:

• Cardinals rookie Shelby Miller worked 5.1 innings in his Major League Debut, and while he held the Giants to only 2 runs and 4 hits, his 4 walks and 4 strikeouts concerns me. Owners should hold off on streaming Miller for now.
• Royals closer Greg Holland blew his first save of the season against the Phillies in a 4-3 loss. While Holland’s leash is longer than I might be suggesting with my next comment, I believe Kelvin Herrera should be owned in, wait for it, EVERY SINGLE LEAGUE. Call me crazy, but Herrera is an absolutely excellent LIMA reliever, and he will really help your ratios, while adding some strikeouts. Herrera will save the most games for the Royals in 2013, you can book it. Word on the streets though is that Kelvin Herrera has requested a restraining order on me.
• Heath Bell pitched a full inning without giving up a HR. And while that sarcastically, isn’t note-worthy, it is note-worthy that the most effective pitcher in reaching 4-ball counts – Carlos Marmol – blew another save Friday against the Braves, as he gave up a HR to BJ Upton and then Justin Upton on two fastballs right down broadway.

DraftKings.com Team of the Day:

Today we’ll be playing the MLB Daily Dollar Game ! : Here is my team

Pitchers: Brett Anderson | $8,200 : Anderson is facing Houston. Enough said

Chris Sale | $11,200 : There are a lot of excellent pitcher choices tomorrow, given the plethora of aces that toe the rubber, but Sale’s value is one of the best there is. In standard long-season Rotisserie leagues, I stay away from Sale like the plague due to injury concerns, but when he’s healthy he’s dynamite good. Add in the lefty heavy line-up of Seattle, and this matchup has all the makings of juicy production.

Catcher: John Buck | $3,000: Buck is hot right now, and given the high priced pitchers I was forced to go with, I needed a cheap catcher. Buck supplies that. Jose Fernandez could be a tricky matchup though

First Base: Chris Davis | $4,000: The Twins have Pedro Hernandez (LHP) going tomorrow for his first ever start. I’m pretty sure he throws a fastball, therefore Chris Davis is in my starting lineup.

Second Base: Howie Kendrick | $3,600: Based on the salary cap constraints, I needed to go with a middle-tier second baseman. Kendrick faces a tough challenge in Yu Darvish, but given it’s @ Texas, he has a decent chance to get a couple hits.

Third Base: David Wright | $4,500 : Not sure why Wright is so reasonably priced, but he’s been on absolute fire, and not to mention, has been stealing bases! Wright seemed like the wright choice even against talented rookie RHP Jose Fernandez of the Marlins.

Shortstop: Alexei Ramirez | $3,300: There is really zero sense in Alexei’s price-tag right now. It’s absurdly low, and playing at home is always a great advantage. Besides, Jesus Montero throws like Juan Pierre, so Ramirez should record a SB.

Outfield: Josh Willingham | $4,500: Willingham has always been a masher, and is even more excellent on the road. He gets to face Jason Hammel in Camden Yards. Willingham is 5-12 with a double and a homer against Hammel in his career.

Ben Revere | $3,100: Once again, another player who’s price tag makes zero sense. Revere is $900 cheaper than Jackie Bradley. Make sense of that for me please. Revere is an obvious choice until his price tag becomes more inflated.

Shin-Soo Choo | $4,600: Until Choo shows me he doesn’t LOVE hitting in the Great American Ball Park, I’m going to keep rolling him out there, Strasburg or not. If it comes back to bite me, at least I can have confidence in the fact that I started a hot player, which is really the biggest keys in these things.

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