Williams, Gavin It All He’s Got

There’s nothing better to kick off a hype mem-day weekend than a scoreless baseball game through eight innings. The Guardians and Phillies found themselves in the pitchers’ duel of the year Friday night, with both starters slash heartthrobs grinding out eight scoreless innings, but only one would come through with the victory. Gavin Williams allowed just four hits, walked no one through eight innings, and struck out 11 Phillies en route to his seventh win of the season. I said a few weeks ago this looks like a charmed season for Gav, and I won’t be surprised if he’s in awards talks come September. With a 3.25 ERA, 1.11 WHIP, and 84/22 K/BB the stats are pretty but the walks have always been his biggest knock and he’s got that down to 3.8% through his past eight starts.  The 2.89 BB/9 is the lowest of his career, and pair that with a 30.3 K%, oooh boy, sweet sassy molassy! It’s giving Ace, it’s giving Cy Young, it’s Gavin, top line starter. The stuff is filthy too, don’t get me wrong, his third start this year with 10 strikeouts, he’s making batters look foolish. And look at him dot this sweeper. What are you supposed to do with that even. On the other side, Cristopher Sanchez allowed four hits and two walks and struck out six, and extended his streak of scoreless innings to 37.2, a franchise record! Coming off a complete game 13 strikeout shutout last week in Pittsburgh, Cris’ sinker is basically unhittable and Sanchez has yet to allow a run in May with a 0.69 WHIP and a 36/6 K/BB. Wow! I think I sweet sassy molassy’d prematurely because that may be more deserving. Cristopher is on a Cy Young march of his own but couldn’t get his fourth straight win Friday night. That brings me back to Gavin and his charmed season. Better lucky than good! In this case, better lucky and good. Whoever you own or root for, both of these Aces are pitching at the top of their game and as long as they can stay healthy are primed for accolades in September, and hopefully postseason glory. I’m Gavin them control of their destiny.

Cade Smith – 1.0 IP, K, SV (17). Facing the Trea, Kyle Schwarber and Bryce Harper in the ninth inning is supposed to be harder than this. Where’s the suspense? Not tonight I guess. Cade notched his 17th save with np nbd ease, and he did it with just eight pitches.

Jhoan Duran 1.0 IP, 2 hits, ER, K. To be fair, this wasn’t a save situation. And real deal closers absolutely [expletive deleted] themselves when asked to do anything that isn’t protecting the lead. It’s like getting called on in class when you’re not paying attention. Is there a single good closer in the league that isn’t Aroldis Chapman?

Kyle Manzardo – 1-for-1, HR (5). The pinch hit 9th inning go-ahead home run! At the Bank too! Like whiz on steak. Dude’s got water ice in his veins. The Manzardolorian was a BUY and is now batting .375 with 3 homers in the past week, but this one meant the most to Grogu cause it had the force with it.

Spencer Arrighetti – 5.0 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, 4 BB, 5 K, 6th win. Sp. Arrighetti monster somehow keeps getting away with it, Mr. White! I covered him last week and lowered his ERA to 1.32, continuing to dodge the devil. He remains the luckiest guy since Benny Blanco with a 4.90 xERA, 35 GB%, and 14.3 BB%. He’s only allowed one home run all year, and continues to escape Mandolorian style jams, 87.7 LOB%. This run could end poorly, but probably not next week versus the Rangers. Keep riding the saucy Arrighetti while he’s al dente!

Bryan King – 1.1 IP, SV (5). Bryan Abreu was the BUY, but Bryan King got the save on Friday. Best to just own all the Bryans and save yourself the confusion.

Pete Crow-Armstrong – 1-for-2, HR (6), 2 RBI. What happened to the Cubbies? Is it me, or does my wagon continue to jinx teams (sorry Angels)? Or maybe stop leading Ian Happ off? PCA murdered this beisbol and I don’t understand the hate for my boy. Is it just the general douche-baggery? I feel like baseball needs that now more than ever. Douchebags? No! Personalities!

Christian Vazquez – 2-for-4, HR (4), 2 RBI. Rostering catchers is rough out there right now. We lost 2 or 3 good ones this week. Christian isn’t exactly a good one but he is playing and not batting under .200, which checks a lot of boxes for me when I’m looking for a catcher.

Esteury Ruiz – 2-for-3, 2 runs, SB (8). Basically a cheat code for steals if/when he gets runway to play, which doesn’t seem to be enough to roster him in most leagues.

Juan Soto – 2-for-3, HR (10). Spicy Dr. Pepper likes his soda dirty! His fourth homer in four days, and it looked like this. FOUR HUNDO FITTY! WOW! ABSOLUTE SHOT! SOLO SHOT! FIRST! GREEDO! They should call him Juan Solo, not because I’m required to mention Star Wars three times in this post (hi Disney! you can send the check now) but because he only hits solo home runs now I guess. He’s hitting .423 in the past week with the four homers, 8 runs, 7 RBI scored and 4 steals. He’s got seven homers in May alone. Imagine he didn’t miss two weeks? Where would the Mets be right now? We can blame a lot of people for the Mets disaster starts, don’t even get me started, Han Soto is not one of them.

A.J. Ewing – 1-for-3, CS (3). BUY. He’s now 4-15 with two caught stealing since I blew half my FAAB on him. Two of those singles came in ultimate garbo time situation. I’m not really mad at the kid for not being the next greatest showman in Queens, I’m sure he’ll be fine. I’m more mad at myself for being dumb enough to believe in a Mets prospect.  Meanwhile, Morabito has yet to get a hit. We’ll always have that one magic week in May Mets fans.

Jonah Tong – 3.0 IP, BB, 2 K. Speaking of Mets prospects, Tong’s usage was shrouded in mystery up until yesterday and he debuted after the starter after the opener. He looked pretty nasty for the most part, 98.5 mph heater, two strikeouts. Tonga trucked a few of these sadder Miami batters. He’s struggled in the minors but gotta try something I guess? The expectation is he’ll pitch versus the Reds next week, unclear if he’ll start or what, but with that control, methinks not.

Eury Perez – 6.1 IP, 2 hits, ER, 5 K, 3rd win. I mean, this is obviously the upside for Perez that we’ve been waiting for but the Mets on a bad night could make Chris Paddack look like Chris Sale. Do it again and I’m buying, otherwise, now could be your best chance to sell Eury.

Gerrit Cole – 6.0 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, 3 BB, 2 K. Gerrit looked like the Old King Cole we remember from last October. After a shaky start, he managed to pick off (great camera work, Spielberg!) Chandler Simpson and he more or less cruised through this one, including a four pitcher fourth inning. He threw just 70 pitches but it was easily enough to get him through six. He’s very much back. Never been so back. Just promise us you won’t cover first.

Tim Hill – 0.0 IP, 3 hits, 3 ER, BB. Who can the Yankees trade for to fix their bullpen woes? Wrong answers only! Jordan Romano is a free agent.

David Bednar – 1.0 IP, 1 hit, 3 K. Of course, Doval and Bednar are absolute nails perfect in this one when it’s someone else blowing the save first. No pressure, babe! That’s how we like it.

Aaron Judge – 0-for-4, BB, K. The quicker they all rise, the harder they fall. A-Aron is marred in one of the worst stretches of his career right now, going 4-35 over his past 40 plate appearances, with a .348 OPS in that stretch. Ew. He’s gone 11 games without a home run or an RBI and he’s struck out 14 times in that stretch. He’s now tied in batting average with Jazz Chisholm, Jr. (2-for-4, RBI)  who was batting .180 this time one month ago. They’re both at .245, at don’t know if this says more Judge’s slump or Jazz’s surge.

Nick Martinez – 6.0 IP, 9 hits, ER, BB, K. So not the best fantasy start, but if you’re starting him at Yankee stadium you got to be please you escaped with this result, no? N-Mart lowers his ERA in 1.51 on the year and has yet to allow more than two runs in a start. He’s not going to get you 10 Ks ever, but he could get you a sneaky 16-17 wins! The Rays have the second best team ERA in the American League with 3.54, second only to the Yankees.

Kevin Gausman – 6.2 IP, 6 hits, ER, BB, 8 K, 4th win. The hot Gaus is that Kevin is back to form, back to back quality starts after a six run disaster versus Tampa. The other hot goss is that if the Knicks don’t make it to the finals, Timmi and Kylie are through. That’s just what I heard!

Louis Varland – 2.0 IP, 3 K, SV (7). Love me a multi-inning closer. Wish there were more of them. King Louis more than saves games, he kind of saved the Jays floundering bullpen in April. He’s got ratios 0.65 ERA, 1.08 WHIP that would make Marie Antoinette lose her head. Now if we can just get Vladdy to come around.

Bubba Chandler – 5.0 IP, 2 hits, ER, 3 BB, 11 K, 6th L. Probably the best start we’ve seen from Bubba, but I feel like I’ve said that before. The 11 strikeouts (ELEVEN) was a career high, he also had 22 whiffs, and 22.2 CSW%, velo at 101. The control still not totally there but doesn’t matter when he’s throwing filthy like this. He struck out the side in the first, and the Jays offense is mid but they don’t really strikeout. The walks are still scary, he’s inefficient, throws way too many pitches and when he misses he misses bad so no one’s chasing.  The upside is obviously there and when it clicks its gonna click like a Livvy and Paul Skenes’ first eye contact on the quad, but he gets the Cubs next week and you don’t want no part of that Dewey.

Payton Tolle – 6.0 IP, 4 hits, 3 ER, 2 BB, 9 K, ERA at 2.45. Holy Tolle! The legend a Payton grows by the day and he might be the Sawx best player right now. He had a tough second inning and settled in nicely, including K’ing the side in the fourth, and retiring 14 of his last 15 batters Few lefties have as intimidating a presence on the mound as the Tolle bear. It’s the stache! He probably could have come back out for the 7th inning, but Justin Slaten (0.2 IP, 4 hits, 4 ER, 2 HR) decided to ruin his day and his win, so he leaves with the quality start. The kid is clearly a beast, now if the Red Sox would stop blowing his wins we might have something here.

Connor Prielipp – 4.0 IP, 7 hits, 5 ER, 3 BB, K. I’d been a Prielipp believer to date, but he did not have it Friday night. The rookie entered with a 2.88 ERA but Fenway can be a different animal and Prielipp struggled to keep runners off base all game. He’s got a stacked arsenal so I still like him, but this definitely puts a dent in my love and my confidence in starting him at the White Sox next week.

Byron Buxton – 2-for-5, HR (16), 3 RBI. Austin Martin also homered (2). Lord Byron with the Friday night monster homer over-the-monster home run. That never gets old. His 8th homer in May, tying his April total. That’s a 50 home pace, math wiz! Bux’s name has been floated around as a potential trade target for many teams, including Boston. And I know what you’re thinking and I’m thinking the same thing: Dodgers!

Willson Contreras – 1-for-4, run RBI. The 1000th career hit for Willson is an RBI triple. Let’s watch it for warm fuzzies! Aww! It was just the 13th triple of his career, that’s 1.3% of his hits, math wiz! I definetely didn’t use AI for that, but I did use a calculator, which is like early AI but with Tetris and 80085. Fun fact, Adrian Gonzalez also hit a triple at Fenway  for his 1000th hit. Remember him. I do. That’s my eidetic memory, at work, over-the-internet friends a stalkers. It’s my gift and my curse.

Kevin McGonigle – 1-for-4, HR (3), slashing .285/.393/.419. If only Detroit had any kind of offense, this kid would look like a superstar! Look at him smack this one! And before we flame the 313 for those empty stands this was the very first pitch of the game.

Pete Alonso – 1-for-4, HR (10), 4 RBI. Albombso! He seems to be coming on with a .348 average and two homers in the past week. If we could just get the rest of the O’s on the same page.

Jackson Holliday – 2-for-3, HR (1), 2 RBI. Welcome back, friend, with the oppo-fieldo shoto! 337 yeesh! Woof. How does that even count!? Would like something a bit more authoritative before we declare him fully back but will take it as the first.

Logan Henderson – 5.0 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, 3 BB, 7 K, 2nd win. Thankfully, Robbie Ray and Shota did their part to murder my ratios on Monday I said “F it” and started Logan versus the boys in blue and he looks dominant. Five scoreless, five baserunners, didn’t allow a hit until the fourth inning. Yes please. Shall I call you Logan, Weapon X? No!? Wolverine! Just wait until you see his berserker attack with the adamantine claws. He gets the Cards next week and should be owned everywhere at this point.

William Contreras – 3-for-4, 2 runs, HR (4), 3 RBI. He can’t even let his brother have one night.

Logan Gilbert – 5.2 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K. Speaking of Logans, I still have trouble looking at you after what you did to me last week versus San Diego but a few more starts like this and I’ll get there.

Noah Cameron – 6.0 IP, 4 hits, 0 ER, 2 BB 8 K. It’s been a rough go for Cameron this season but he’s now got back to back quality starts and this was his best start of the season so far. That’s the Noah’s arc I’m looking for.

Manny Machado – 1-for-4, HR (8). Ramon Laureano solo homered (6). I want to tell you he’s a buy low but he’s still batting .179. Still two homers in three days., How low are we buying here, I might be interested. I am quite desperate!

Nick Castellanos – 1-for-3, HR (4), slashing .198/.226/.366. Everyone can take a break and call their love ones to make sure they’re okay. I will wait here no biggie.

Henry Bolte – 2-for-3, RBI, slashing .310/.382/.345. Of this most recent crop of rookie call ups, Waldschmidt has probably looked the best but Bolte has also struck me. He’s got a better average than Ewing along with more steals, better park, better line up. Ewing has the homer and the hype. If Insane Bolte played in NYC City he’d be bigger than Jalen Brunson.

Grayson Rodriguez – 5.2 IP, 7 hits, 4 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 1st win and outdueled Jacob deGrom (3.0 IP, 6 hits, 6 ER, 3 BB, 3 K), wait what? Spit take? deGrom had a rough start including lead off home run to Neto and a two run third and the Rangers decided to pull him for Mr. Manager reasons I suppose? No indication he was hurt, velocity seemed fine. Just a bad day for the Angels haters, I guess. Maybe he wanted to let Gray-rod shine, who unfortunately didn’t look particularly impressive but did K the side in the second and wasn’t a complete disaster. It was his first win in almost two years. Would you prefer Taylor Ward and his two home runs at this point? I am as intrigued by Gray-Rod as I have always been but would like to see him do it against a non-anemic offense like the Rangers. He gets Detroit next week and they are slightly better and I could see considering the prospect of maybe thinking about mulling over the possibility of contemplating whether or not I should review the option of potentially picking him up. I still don’t know for sure, though!

Zack Neto – 2-for-4, 2 HR (10). Golly gee willikers!  Jeepers! Neato! That sure is swell!

Wade Meckler – 2-for-3, HR (1). The 26 year old former Giant homers in his first at bat as an Anaheim Angel. It was the first career home run for the Los Angeles of Anaheim native and how can you not be romantic about baseball Brad Pitt? He also made this sick grab bro. Wade was tearing up the minors slashing .312/.444/.477 with four homers and six steals but the EV numbers aren’t great so not sure I’d get too excited about the power potential here. Still, he’s already done more than Josh Lowe so ride with it!

Brandon Nimmo – 2-for-5, HR (6), 2 RBI. He’s literally the only guy in their offense who can do anything outside of Coors.

Tomoyuki Sugano – 6.2 IP, 6 hits, 2 ER, BB, 3 K, ERA at 3.86. Tomo arrigato, Mr. Sugano. He gets the Dodgers next week. Pick him up if you hate yourself.

Davis Martin – 5.2 IP, 6 hits, 4 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, 7th win. The most runs he’s surrendered in a start all year and still got the win. The estranged love child of Sammy Davis and Dean Martin! Don’t ask how it happened, it was a crazy time, y’all! The Sox have now won nine of Martin’s 10 starts. Everyone wants him to be the Ace, just be the Ace Davis! You’re an Ace if you believe you’re an Ace.

Munetaka Murakami – 1-for-3, 2 runs, 3 RBI. Grey’s SELL coming for your favorite player like an atomic gut punch. Love seeing Mune push for the gap and go opposite field here though. He’s not just a power bat folks, he’s got a personality and feeling and situational hitting skills. The fact that he can maintain the .941 OPS despite his crazy whiff rate makes me a believer. The average isn’t even that bad, trust I own Tyler Soderstrom. True I’m not sure Mune Maker’s value will ever be higher but I think he can maintain the hype, especially if the White Sox keep surrounding him with good hitters. Montgomery and Teel anyone? And for back to back weeks the White Sox could maybe possible just might be a wagon, y’all!

Mauricio Dubon – 3-for-5, RBI. I’m playing him in H2H this week in case you’re wondering why he’s batting over .400.

Curtis Mead – 2-for-5, HR (5). What is it with the Nats 3-hole hitter. Do we have to insist on putting a black hole here, can’t we bat Abrams or Wood third?

Dylan Crews – 1-for-5, SB (1). What happened to this guy? Don’t be surprised if Crews is batting third Friday night.

Bryce Elder – 6.0 IP, 5 hits, ER, BB 4 K, ERA at 1.97. The Touki juice is still going strong and wouldn’t it be fun it Elder and Arrighetti started the All Star game and both get absolutely demolished? Bryce the Elder’s 64/22 K/BB seems a bit more legit than Spencer’s as is his sub-1 WHIP and 3.01 xERA, but also NL. If I had to take one to keep it up ROS I’d want B-Ryce but mostly because the Braves are just better. That 82.5 LOB% is still crazy. Better lucky than good! He gets the Red Sox next week and they literally can’t hit anything.

Chadwick Tromp – 2-for-3, run, RBI. Tromp had a fantastic night at the plate. Just Beautiful. One of the best nights. No one has ever had a better night. It was huge.

CJ Abrams – 2-for-5, HR (11), 3 RBI. Corange Juice Abrams is in his power hitting era. Oh, you drafted him for speed? Not from concentrate, folks! He hit the game tying homer in the 8th, then a 2-run triple in the 10th! He does it all! He leads the league in RBI with 45 and that .947 OPS is extra juicy, no pulp, Corange Juice! I am lucky enough to own zero shares of CJ who I have been biased against after he burned me being DFA’s in September for gambling or partying or something. But dude is clearly a star, he’s hitting .345 in the past week with 2 homers and 9 RBI. He can party all he wants and if he’s on you’re team you’re probably partying with him!

Thanks for reading! Questions? Problems? Complaints to management? Advice, small gifts or large bribes? Please leave it in the comments below. Join us next Saturday for another Friday recap as fantasy baseball continues next week, all week long!