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| Wednesday, May 4, 2022 |
| Happy Wednesday, everyone! We're back and we're talking baseball -- what could be better. And yes, I will credit the New York Yankees again -- no matter where you stand on the Evil Empire (not so evil these days, right?) -- it's easy to admit what they're doing right now is impressive. On Tuesday, they won again -- their 11th straight. I got this game wrong -- it was Alek Manoah day, I thought. Though ultimately the Jays bullpen let him down. Jameson Taillon continued his quietly impressive start to the season with 6 innings of one-run ball to lower his ERA to 2.84. |
| The Minnesota Twins are building themselves a little bit of momentum as well -- winners of their fourth straight on Tuesday. Byron Buxton is back and contributing in what seems like every game and Tuesday marked the debut of uber-talented 3B prospect Jose Miranda. He went 1 for 5 with an RBI double -- not bad. We've been calling his name out for a while now -- hope you stashed him. It may not be too late now depending on your league (go-ahead -- new tab to check but just make sure you come back). |
| We're going to dive into all of Tuesday's action but also a few standout items like Seiya Suzuki's extended slump, Alec Bohm's extended heater and some bounce-back pitching outings. We'll also toss around a few more names to consider on waivers. But first, make sure you're caught up with everything going on over at CBSSports.com/Fantasy/Baseball. On Tuesday, Scott White took a deep dive into power outages around the MLB and why it's soon coming to an end. I think this could present a nice buy low opportunity for hitters known for pop who are currently low in the power department. He also dropped a new bullpen report profiling several save situations. |
| And of course, as always, you can follow to make sure you get the latest episodes of Fantasy Baseball Today right when they drop on Apple and Spotify. |
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| Suzuki's slump surges on |
| Just a few weeks into April, I was smiling ear to ear everyday when I checked Seiya Suzuki's box score after three weeks prior picking him as NL Rookie of the Year. It looked like a lock for a little while, but then came the past 15 games. Over that stretch, Suzuki is batting just .204 and on Tuesday he went 0 for 4 with another two strikeouts. The slump is correlated with a major rise in his strikeout rate, which is now up to 28% (with a 55% fly ball rate). Is it possible he's selling out too much? Pitchers have adjusted? I'm not ready to call Suzuki a name-brand player you should look to sell at brand value just yet, because he already proved to be a league-winner when he's right, but this is something to now monitor. |
| Buy the Bohm |
| For the first week of the season it looked like Alec Bohm might not even be rosterable in Fantasy as he racked up error after error. But one thing that never left him was his bat. And the Phillies have since committed to him as their everyday third basemen with the fallback that he can still DH when needed. Bohm was one of the most popular breakout candidates in drafts last year before disappointing in 2021. Oh how fast we tend to move on from these post-hype sleepers. |
| Bohm is batting .322 after collecting two more hits on Tuesday, and perhaps the biggest reason to be excited about trading for him now or holding Bohm if he's already on your roster is that he has been moved up to No. 2 in the Phillies lineup. This lineup hasn't peaked or come anywhere close to what it's capable of -- and if it does -- the No. 2 hole will be an incredible source of runs to add to Bohm's counting stats. The biggest changes in his profile are a 30% line drive rate and a 93.7MPH average exit velocity. His .367 xBA is now second-best among all qualified hitters. Bohm is 75% rostered, but that number should be closer to 100. |
| Another bat stays hot |
| Sheldon Neuse was a recent feature on Scott's waiver wire and the Athletics 2B has been one of the hottest hitters in baseball as of late. He went 3 for 5 with an RBI double on Tuesday and is now batting .329 with a .392 on base percentage. He also has collected 23 combined runs and RBI and two homers. This is his fourth three-hit game in just 22 games this year. Neuse is 50% rostered, and although that number has gone up slightly, he's worth grabbing now before it's too late. He also has 3B eligibility if you need that position. |
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| Notable pitching performances |
| Carlos Carrasco bounced back in a big way from his seven-earned shellacking in his last outing by delivering eight shutout innings and allowing just six hits. He did it while generating 17 swinging strikes in the Mets win over the Braves.Alek Manoah went six innings and allowed just one run, three hits and one walk with seven strikeouts. It was his fifth quality start out of five outings. He now has a 1.45 ERA on the season. Brandon Woodruff hasn't been himself yet this season, but looked more like it on Tuesday when he racked up 12 strikeouts on 5 2/3 innings. He's still not at his best.Carlos Rodon continues to look like a NL Cy Young dark horse -- he allowed just two earned runs on Tuesday -- and he hasn't allowed more than that in a single start this season.Julio Urias has now allowed one earned run or fewer in four straight stats -- this is the pitcher you drafted to break into that SP1 tier. |
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| News and lineup notes |
| Every night the Fantasy Baseball Today team dives into all of the happenings around the MLB from top performers to injuries, trades and more. The podcast is a must listen for any diehard, if I do say so myself. Tune in to the podcast to hear the FBT crew expand on the news and notes below. |
| Jo Adell has been demoted to Triple-A while Jose Rojas was recalled.The Reds activated catcher Tyler Stephenson and then placed Joey Votto on the COVID IL. It's unclear how much time Votto might miss.Lou Trivino was reinstated from the COVID IL. Shohei Ohtani was back in the lineup as the DH on Tuesday.Tigers pitching prospect Alex Faedo will make his debut Wednesday, starting one of the doubleheader games against the Pirates. He's a former first-round pick in 2017, missed all of last season due to Tommy John surgery.Luke Voit began a rehab assignment at Triple-A on Tuesday. He's on the IL with a biceps injury.Kyle Lewis will begin his rehab assignment at Triple-A as well on Tuesday. He's 46% rostered.MJ Melendez made his debut as the DH while batting seventh in the lineup Tuesday, going 1 for 3 with a walk. Edmundo Sosa was placed on the COVID IL by the Cardinals and, as a result, prospect Juan Yepez was recalled.Miguel Sano will undergo surgery later this week to repair a torn meniscus in his left knee.Wade Miley is set to begin a minor league rehab assignment on Thursday.Carlos Santana was scratched Tuesday due to right ankle soreness. This is especially of interest because Royals first base prospect Nick Pratto has been coming around recently in the minors.Josh Winder (wine-der) is expected to make another start this Friday in Oakland. He was great in his first start. Willson Contreras was not in the lineup Tuesday with an undisclosed injury. He's day-to-day.Sonny Gray will make a second rehab start at Triple-A later this week. He's on the IL with a hamstring injury.Nelson Cruz exited Tuesday's game with back stiffness. |
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