Chris Sale, Chicago White Sox SP
Each and every day, I’ll be combing over box scores and scouring local beat writers’ reports to make sure you have all the information you need in order to make the right decisions for your fantasy baseball lineup. Make sure you check back at this very spot for Hot/Cold Streaks, Injury News, Closer Updates, Daily Stats, and more so that you can stay one step ahead of the rest of your league.
As always, make sure you’re getting your daily fantasy sports fix by playing the FP911Challenge! Don’t know how to play? Don’t worry…Dan Stack’s got you covered with a tutorial and some Week 8 tips.
Looking Back
Before we get to today’s games, let’s take a spin through last night’s box scores to identify the Studs and Duds from Monday, May 28 th.
5 Good Nights
- Chris Sale: 7.1 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 15 K’s, W
- Dexter Fowler: 7-9, 5 R, HR, 3 RBI, 1 steal
- Chase Headley: 4-5, 2 R, 2 HR, 3 RBI
- Ty Wigginton: 3-3, 2 R, HR, 6 RBI
- James McDonald: 8.0 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 5 K’s, W
Honorable Mention: Nelson Cruz, Starlin Castro, Everth Cabrera, Jordan Schafer, Alfonso Soriano, Kelly Johnson, Kendrys Morales, Matt Adams, Jordan Pacheco, Ian Stewart, Mike Napoli, Howard Kendrick, Jose Lopez, Marco Scutaro, Mark Teixeira, Hanley Ramirez, Bryan LaHair, Jason Kipnis, Aramis Ramirez, Mark Trumbo, Rafael Furcal, Matt Harrison, Drew Hutchison, Barry Zito, Shaun Marcum, Lance Lynn, Matt Moore, Felix Doubront, Kevin Millwood, Aaron Harang, Travis Blackley
5 Bad Nights
- Tommy Hanson: 3.1 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 3 BB’s, 6 K’s
- Tommy Hunter: 3.0 IP, 9 H, 5 ER
- Phil Hughes: 5.1 IP, 11 H, 7 ER, 3 K’s
- Coco Crisp: 0-5
- Yonder Alonso: 0-5
Dishonorable Mention: Freddy Galvis, Francisco Cordero, Brett Myers, Luke Gregerson, Jeff Suppan, Doug Fister, Alex White, Travis Wood, Bronson Arroyo, Juan Nicasio, Wandy Rodriguez, Jonathon Niese, Jordan Lyles, Josh Tomlin, Trevor Cahill, Jordan Zimmerman, Randy Wells
Daily Grab Bag
Check back here for daily updates on injuries, closer battles, player news, and anything else that might affect your fantasy baseball team.
- After missing two weeks, Matt Kemp (hamstring) is due to return to the Dodgers’ lineup tonight. Get him back in your lineups too!
- Jered Weaver left the Angels’ game last night with a lower back injury after just 12 pitches. More news to come on this, but Weaver looked to be in a lot of pain so this could require a stint on the disabled list.
- Dustin Pedroia left the Red Sox game with a jammed right thumb and will miss tonight’s game against Detroit, but the early news is that the injury doesn’t appear serious. Take deep breaths, Red Sox fans…
- Ted Lilly was placed on the 15-day DL yesterday with shoulder inflammation yesterday. He is eligible to return June 8th, but it is uncertain right now whether or not he’ll be able to do so.
- The Roy Oswalt Sweepstakes is heating up as there are reports swirling this morning that he’s going to sign somewhere this week. For fantasy purposes, I’d like that somewhere to be in the National League (St. Louis?), but I think he’s worth stashing in deeper leagues nevertheless.
- Michael Morse (lat) will begin a rehab stint at Single-A Potomac tonight, and is targeting “June 8th or sooner” for his return to the Nationals lineup.
- Trout/Harper Watch: With two of baseball’s best prospects being called-up recently, I’m going to dedicate this space to keeping tabs on the youngsters for the near future. Here’s to hoping that you were able to grab one (or both)!
Bryce Harper: Harper went 1-4 with a run yesterday. (.286, 21 R, 4 HR, 11 RBI, 2 Steals on the season).
Mike Trout: Trout went 2-5 with two runs, a home run, and an RBI yesterday (.306, 20 Runs, 5 HR, 13 RBI, 8 Steals on the season).
Looking Ahead
A quick look at some of today’s pitchers to start (3 Up), pitchers to sit (3 Down), pitchers to take a flier on if you need a spot-start (Throwing Darts), and batters with advantageous or disadvantageous matchups (Today’s Swings and Misses).
3 Up
Justin Verlander at Boston Red Sox
Verlander (5-2, 2.15 ERA, 0.81 WHIP, 75 K’s) faces a tough Red Sox lineup today, but he’s fared well against Boston over the past three seasons (1.76 ERA in four starts) and there’s no reason to think about sitting the best pitcher in fantasy baseball today.
Anibal Sanchez vs. Washington Nationals
Sanchez (2.87 ERA, 1.12 WHIP, 62 K’s) has had an excellent year thus far and is showing why wins are an overrated baseball stats with his win-loss record (2-3). He faced this same Nationals team (minus Bryce Harper) just over a month ago and limited them to two earned runs in seven innings.
Jeff Samardzija vs. San Diego Padres
Samardzija (4-3, 3.00 ERA, 1.18 WHIP, 57 K’s) has only allowed five earned runs in 29.2 innings pitched at home this season, and has the added benefit of facing the Majors’ 29th-ranked offense today.
3 Down
Jason Vargas at Texas Rangers
Vargas (5-4, 3.39 ERA, 1.02 WHIP, 48 K’s) has been a popular spot-start this season (and rightfully so), but there’s no reason to play with fire today as he faces the league’s best offense in their launching pad of a home ballpark.
Jake Arrieta at Toronto Blue Jays
Arrieta (2-5, 4.87 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 53 K’s) has come back down to Earth after a strong start and faces a tough Blue Jays lineup today that ranks fifth in the Majors in runs scored.
Philip Humber at Tampa Bay Rays
Try and forget that Humber (1-2, 5.80 ERA, 1.42 WHIP, 42 K’s) threw a perfect game earlier this year. He’s been way too inconsistent for me to trust and the Rays have been surprisingly good offensively without Longoria (12th in the Majors in runs scored).
Throwing Darts
Justin Masterson vs. Kansas City Royals
Masterson (2-3, 4.62 ERA, 1.49 WHIP, 42 K’s) is a man of crazy splits this season (2.40 ERA at home/9.00 ERA on the road and .308 batting average against vs. lefties/.198 vs. righties). Luckily for him and his owners, his start today is at home against a Royals lineup that doesn’t feature a ton of left-handed batters (although Hosmer is a little worrisome).
Ryan Vogelsong vs. Arizona Diamondbacks
Vogelsong (3-2, 2.50 ERA, 1.22 WHIP, 38 K’s) isn’t the type of high-strikeout pitcher I usually target with spot-starts, but he’s yet to allow more than four runs in any of his eight starts this year and has been stellar at home (he’s only allowed four earned runs in 27.1 innings pitched at AT&T Park this season).
Jarrod Parker at Minnesota Twins
Outside of one six-run implosion against San Francisco two weeks ago, Parker (1-2, 3.38 ERA, 1.36 WHIP, 25 K’s) has had an excellent start to his rookie season and should continue to build upon that success as he faces a Twins lineup that has only scored 189 runs this year (23rd in the Majors).
Today’s Swings and Misses
- Ian Kinsler is 10-for-23 (.435) with five extra-base hits in his career against today’s starter, Jason Vargas.
- Alexei Ramirez is 6-for-17 (.353) with two home runs in his career against today’s starter, James Shields.
- Yunel Escobar is 6-for-12 (.500) with one home run in his career against today’s starter, Jake Arrieta.
- Adrian Gonzalez is 1-for-9 (.111) in his career against today’s starter, Justin Verlander.
- Mike Moustakas is 1-for-9 (.111) in his career against today’s starter, Justin Masterson.
- Danny Espinosa is 1-for-13 (.077) in his career against today’s starter, Anibal Sanchez.
Don’t forget to check out the rest of the great content on FantasyPros911.com, starting with some of our most recent updates:
- Chuck Anderson previews today’s starting pitchers in the latest edition of Pitch or Ditch.
- Patrick DiCaprio’s latest edition of his patented Closer Identifier Algorithm is a must-read for those of you chasing saves (who isn’t?!).
- Chuck Anderson takes a look at this week’s player to add and drop in Added and Dropped: Knuckleballers and Old Farts.
- Apparently Chuck Anderson doesn’t sleep, as he also takes a look at the Mets’ first base position in this week’s edition of Position Battles.
- Lenny Melnick take a look at Chris Sale, Kevin Youkilis, and whole lot more on today’s edition of his award-winning podcast.
- It’s only May, but it’s never too early for fantasy football! Take a look at Paul Greco’s pre-season rankings, including Quarterback, Running Back, Wide Receiver, Tight End, and Strength of Schedule.
Latest posts by Nick Raducanu (Posts)
- Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes 5/23 - May 23, 2013
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Don't forget to check out today's Daily Notes at @FP911. If you don't, how are you gonna know who to start/sit tonight? http://t.co/SDpIlSiH
Today's Daily Notes at @FP911 are up w/ yesterday's Studs & Duds, News & Notes, and a look at today's pitchers/hitters: http://t.co/SDpIlSiH
Today's Daily Notes at @FP911 are up w/ yesterday's Studs & Duds, News & Notes, and a look at today's pitchers/hitters: http://t.co/SDpIlSiH
Today's Daily Notes at @FP911 are up w/ yesterday's Studs & Duds, News & Notes, and a look at today's pitchers/hitters: http://t.co/SDpIlSiH