| |
|
| Wednesday, April 26, 2023 |
| Happy Wednesday, everyone! After an incredibly rocky debut with the Blue Jays in 2022, most Fantasy Baseball managers were low on SP Jose Berrios to begin with, and the early results backed that up. Berrios struggled to start the 2023 season, but he delivered another gem on Tuesday and he's now beginning to stack strong starts. In his third in a row, Berrios threw seven shutout innings on Tuesday to shut down the White Sox. He allowed just four hits, one walk and he struck out nine with 16 induced swinging strikes. His reliance on the changeup is working, and he's allowed just three runs in his last 19 innings to bring his overall ERA down to 4.71. |
| Check to make sure Berrios wasn't cut recently in your leagues. And if you were lucky enough to scoop him with foresight, now is not exactly a good time to move him. Prior to 2022, Berrios had a strong track record as an innings eater and he should have run support all season in Toronto. Berrios is currently 81% rostered with two starts coming next week -- Boston and Pittsburgh. |
| Let's dive into some more of Tuesday's action. |
| |
| Why option Bradley down now? |
| The most disappointing news on Tuesday came from down in Tampa where the Rays decided to option SP Taj Bradley back down to the minors. Bradley has looked more than capable and not the least bit overwhelmed at the MLB level thus far, but that didn't register apparently. The explanation we were given was that Bradley needed to get on a five-day schedule. He'd been pitching on a six-day schedule. Also, Yonny Chirinos and Josh Fleming could take on more work. Wait, what? Make that make any sense if you can make any sense of it. I'm struggling to find the logic. We discussed Bradley on the Fantasy Baseball Today podcast here. |
| What do we do with Bradley now? That depends on the size of your league and more importantly the size of your benches. Bradley still represents one of the highest-upside bench stashes you can have right now and what do we always say? Fill your benches with upside plays. For now, Bradley remains on the one bench I had him on. |
| |
| Miller's second start |
| I'm very excited to track the progress of Athletics SP Mason Miller for the obvious reason -- very few human beings can throw a strike with the kind of velocity Miller can. His Tuesday start was certainly an interesting one, and it came with some good and bad. The good -- Miller threw 12 fastballs that eclipsed 100 mph and drew nine swinging strikes with six strikeouts through four innings. The bad -- Miller allowed five hits, one walk and four earned runs. |
| It's how Miller did it that was weird. He allowed 11 hard-hit balls in the game, but he finished this outing with three consecutive shutout innings where he allowed one hit, no walks and struck out four. If we lean on those three innings, we can hone in on the upside here. And there's a lot to be had with Miller. |
| Bullpen updates |
| Scott White broke down the most actionable bullpen situations in Fantasy Baseball right now in his Bullpen Report. These bullpen situations require the. most attention: |
| Phillies: "It sure seems like the Phillies have settled on Jose Alvarado as their closer, giving him three consecutive save chances over a four-day span last week. And his performance so far certainly justifies it -- he's averaging nearly two strikeouts per inning. But on the day following that four-day span (Saturday), Craig Kimbrel got a save. No big deal, right? Alvarado obviously needed a day off. But then why did the Phillies turn to him in the eighth inning of a lopsided victory just one day later (Sunday)? Couldn't he have used another day off? That appearance leaves some reason to wonder if it's still more of a committee situation, but regardless, Alvarado is the reliever to have here." |
| Astros: "The Astros' last two save opportunities, which came Saturday and Sunday, both went to Bryan Abreu , who's been nothing short of a bullpen ace since the start of the second half last year. So does that mean he's overtaking Ryan Pressly as the Astros closer? I would be surprised. Certainly, Pressly needed a day off Saturday after working three of the previous four days. As for Sunday, the game was tied entering the ninth, so it may simply be that Abreu was the one warming up when the Astros rallied for three runs. Pressly has seemed a little off so far, so it's possible something is going on health-wise. But provided that's not the case, I suspect manager Dustin Baker turns back to him for the next save chance. " |
| |
| News & notes |
| Yordan Alvarez's neck injury was "about the same as Monday". Apparently, an IL stint hasn't been ruled out.Jordan Walker has now sat out two in a row and three of the past four games for the Cardinals.Carlos Rodon plans to throw off the mound Friday. He'll need several bullpens without issue before heading out on a rehab assignment. Jake McCarthy was optioned to Triple-A.Tim Anderson will likely need 10-15 at-bats during his minor-league rehab stint before he can return. Dodgers catcher Will Smith is slated to take live batting practice Wednesday. He's been on the concussion IL over the past week. MJ Melendez has missed two straight due to back tightness.Logan Gilbert had his start pushed back to Wednesday because he felt muscle spasms in his scapula.Tony Gonsolin is confirmed to make his first start of the season Wednesday at the Pirates.Raisel Iglesias will throw either live batting practice or in a minor-league rehab appearance Thursday. He's missed the start of the season with a shoulder injury. Austin Hays was removed with a right hand contusion. Preliminary x-rays came back negative for any fractures.Lance McCullers threw 20-30 pitches from the front of the bullpen mound Tuesday. He's still several weeks away. JD Martinez was out of the lineup Tuesday due to back tightness.Garrett Mitchell will have surgery on his left shoulder after receiving a second opinion. If everything works out, he could be back towards the end of the season. He can be dropped. More bad news for the Brewers as Sal Frelick is having surgery to repair a torn UCL in his thumb. Ranger Suarez will begin a rehab assignment at Double-A Thursday. Angels manager Phil Nevin said Jose Suarez will stay in the team's rotation on a start-by-start basis. Chase Silseth was pitching well in the minors but left his start Tuesday with a blister.Red Sox prospect Enmanuel Valdez was recalled from Triple-A. Bryan Reynolds finally reached an agreement with the Pirates, signing an eight-year, $106.75 million extension. |
| |
| | | | | Attacking Third | | The First Cut | A soccer podcast from CBS Sports covering the NWSL, US Women's National Team and more. Attacking Third will bring you insider analysis, commentary, preview & recaps while tackling the biggest news stories from the sport you love.
Listen Now
| | The First Cut takes you inside the ropes of the golf world, on the PGA Tour and beyond. Tournament previews and picks, deep dives into the players and storylines that matter in the sport of golf.
Listen Now
|
|
| |
| |
