There were 9 games slated to be played this Thursday in April as the majority of Major League Baseball wraps up their opening series before heading into the first full weekend of the season. The two ball clubs to make it out of the American League Central last season (The Detroit Tigers and Kansas City Royals) are off to a strong start, both sweeping their first three-game-series of the year. The AL Central is arguably one of the toughest divisions in baseball with the much improved Cleveland Indians and Chicago White Sox, so jumping out ahead in the standings bodes well for the defending American League Champion Royals and the Tigers, who have finished first in the AL Central Division the last four straight years.

IF YOU ONLY READ ONE THING…

Former Diamondbacks prospect Trevor Bauer showed his true potential by striking out 11 Houston Astros in today’s outing. Though Bauer was dominant in his 6 hitless innings, he walked 5 batters en route to 111 pitches, and had to be relieved by left hander Kyle Crockett. Crockett, Scott Atchinson, and Nick Kagadone kept no-hitter intact for the next 2 ⅓ innings until Jed Lowrie broke it up with a solo homer in the bottom half of the ninth. The Tribe improves to 2-1 on the young season, trying to keep pace with the Royals and Tigers who both jumped out to a 3-0 start.

JUST AS WE EXPECTED…

Matt Harvey made his triumphant return for the New York Mets as he towed the mound against Nationals’ ace Stephen Strausburg. Harvey’s last major league start was back in August of 2013 against the Detroit Tigers before going under the knife for Tommy John Surgery. The 26 year old was adamant about trying to return for the end of the 2014 season, but the organization refused. Harvey has had over a year to rehab his repaired elbow (longer than the average rehab period) and came out throwing smoke today, hitting 97 mph on the gun consistently. He bested Strausberg, tossing 6 scoreless innings while striking out 9 batters, including Bryce Harper 3 times. Although Strausburg gave up 3 earned runs in 5 ⅓ innings of work, fantasy owners should have no reason to worry. Strasburg’s velocity and stuff were there, but he was burned by another crucial error by shortstop Ian Desmond that should have been a double play to kill the Mets’ offensive momentum. The Mets grinded out their at-bats today, and to give a team like that extra outs is always dangerous.

WHAT WE DIDN’T EXPECT…

The four game set between the Texas Rangers and the Oakland Athletics continued to be the most peculiar series of the opening week. Oakland took game one by shutting out the Rangers 8-0, then lost in a 3-1 squeaker the following night. Rather than evening out in game three, the A’s pushed across 10 runs to shut out the Rangers once again, without the benefit of a long ball and on the back of a gem from starter Scott Kazmir. Kazmir threw 7 innings, striking out 10 along the way, and only walking two. Tonight, the Rangers returned the favor by blowing Oakland out 10-1 behind home runs by Mitch Moreland, Shin-Soo Choo, Adrian Beltre, and Rougned Odor. Going forward, the A’s will need to rely on their pitching, and the Rangers their offense if either team is going to compete with the defending AL West Champion Angels, or the Seattle Mariners, who most notably added Nelson Cruz this off-season.

SAVE CHANCES

–Greg Holland (2)
-Santiago Casilla (3)
–Miguel Castro (1)

LINEUP MOVES

None.

INJURIES

Ian Kennedy left the Padres game Thursday after just 33-pitches with a left hamstring strain. Kennedy, who is generally a durable right handed arm, pitched over 200 innings for San Diego last year with a with 13 wins and an ERA of 3.63.

RUMORS & TRANSACTIONS

The Orioles dealt reliever Ryan Webb to the Dodgers Thursday in return for 2 prospects. The big righty will help a Dodgers bullpen that is missing closer Kenley Jansen who is on the disabled list recovering from foot surgery. The Orioles receive catcher Chris O’Brien and pitcher Ben Rowen. Orioles executive VP Dan Duquette likes both prospects, and believes they will help the major league team faster than the Competitive Balance draft pick they lost in the deal would.

Written exclusively for TheFantasyFix.com by Mick Grilli.