Matt Harvey was better last night. Better than Stephen Strasburg. In a battle of two of the NL’s most exciting young pitchers, Matt Harvey dominated again, pitching 7.0 innings, giving up just 4 hits, 1 ER and striking out seven. Harvey currently leads fantasy leagues in “Players You Wish You Drafted.” Stephen Strasburg countered pitching 6.0 innings, 2 ER (4 R) and struck out six. St. Rasburg battled chants from the NY crowd “Har-vey’s better! Har-vey’s better!” Ouch. How could they turn on you so quickly, Stephen? And for a younger, sexier fantasy ace. Well, if there was ever a time to sell off your Matt Harveys for gold and fame, now is good. Harvey was filthy again, touching 99 mph several times last night, he was throwing some serious cheese (his fastball has averaged 96.1 mph this season) and the mighty Nationals couldn’t touch him. The guy’s got gas. Flatulence jokes aside, Harvey moves to 4-0 (the first Met to win his first four starts of the season since David Cone) with a 0.93 ERA and has given up just 10 hits all season. Harvey’s K-upside makes me love him more than I care to share in print, but if I can get a top 20 player for him I’m making a deal. Curt Schilling said if he’s starting a franchise, he’s going with Harvey over Strasburg. Well, that’s just your opinion, man. We know what happened to 38 studios so maybe Big Schill isn’t the guy to ask if you’re trying to run a successful business. Strasburg, who has a 3 losses despite a 2.96 ERA, was upset about the crowds chant, responding with his own chant, “Must pitch better. Better than Matt Harvey. I will be better, faster, stronger than Matt Harvey.” Chill Stras, obsessmuch? Matt Harvey did get the better of the Nats last night but either way going forward, clearly, these two will be among fantasy’s best.
Here’s what else happened last night in fantasy baseball:
Brett Anderson – 1.0 IP, 4 hits, 4 ER left the game with a sprained right ankle. If Anderson is set to miss any time, and let’s face it he probably is, Dan Straily should be the first to be called up and he’s worth a speculative add. He’s available in over 90% of Razzball Commenter Leagues and he fared decently in seven starts last year. He also struck out 11 Astros on April 5th this year in a spot start and that kind of K-upside makes me want to rush to ebay and order my alternate home Straily jersey. Unfortunately, I’m still paying off my Trevor Bauer jersey. Stupid can’t miss prospects missing.
Peter Bourjos – 3-for-4, 3 RBI. PeteBo is leading off for Los Angels de Los Angeles and is owned in just 12.5% of RCLs. Unfortunately, Bourjos has yet to steal any bases, and to justify his spot in that line up and more importantly on your fantasy team we have the need to see some speed. The .298 OBP is also a bit concerning, but the three hits last night was a start.
Didi Gregorious – 2-for-3. The D-Backs prize in the Trevor Bauer trade (anyone want to buy a jersey?) has looked GreGLORIOUS in his first two games in the majors. Despite nursing a sore elbow, the Gregorious D.I.D.I. could be a “Juicy” pick up, especially given what’s out there at shortstop. Don’t let the first two games “Hypnotize” you though, Grego is heralded mostly for his defense. Boring.
Travis Hafner – 2-for-5, 2 RBI and his 5th HR. Pronk has been a spark for this new old Yankees’ line up. Just don’t tell him it’s not 2006. He’s 67% owned in RCLs and has 3 homers in his past six games with an insane .767 slugging percentage. Just pick him up and don’t question what is happening.
Vernon Wells – 2-for-5 with his 4th HR. Vernon is actually the one who keeps reminding Hafner what year it is. Wells has been stuck in 2007 since, err, 2007! Pick him up if you need an outfielder and you hate yourself.
Brandon Morrow – 5.1 IP, 9 hits, 5 ER, 4 Ks, 2 HR and now 0-2. Oh well. Don’t worry, there’s always 2 morrow, right? And come on, it was the Yankees. Right? I’m sorry. I tried.
Andy Pettitte – 7.1 IP, 6 hits, 3 ER, 5 Ks, 3-0. How does he seem to get better with age? He’s like a fine wine, or like one of those 7-11 hot dogs that’s been on the roller grill all day. Mmmm, crispy gelatinous grease… It probably won’t kill you and is usually good for a win.
Ike Davis – 2-for-4, 2 HR, 3 RBI. We finally see something we like from Ike. It’s been a long time coming and he was probably on your bench, but you’ll take it. #progress
Lucas Duda – 2-for-3 with 2 HR. The Dud-a bides! Shomer shabbos!
Kevin Slowey – 6.0 IP, 4 hits, 1 ER, 4 Ks. I thought about picking up the Miami hurler, but then I thought maybe I should come down from my acid-trip before finishing this post. That’s the closest thing I’ll get to a 4/20 reference today, so sorry kids, you can put that in your glass water bong and rip that shizz.
Steve Cishek – 1.0 IP, 1 hit, 1 K and his first save. Cishek happened!
Aroldis Chapman – 1.0 IP, BS. Gave up the go-ahead home run to Justin Ruggiano. Really, Roldy? The Marlins? Say it ain’t so! Must be the Cuban links.
Mat Latos – 7.0 IP, 6 hits, 1 ER, 10 K. I’m sorry I was not a believer. His wife is just too hot and I am a spiteful, jealous person.
Jose Bautista – 1-for-3 with a 2-run HR in his first game back. Not sure who needed this homer more, Jose Bautista owners or Jays fans.
J.P. Arencibia – 2-for-4 with his 6th HR. Who needs Joey Bats-a when you have-a J.P.A. Arencibia batting clean up-a. Mamma mia! He hit one spicy-a meatball-a out of the park-a! Gone! Arrivederci! Fuggeddaboutit.
Wandy Rodriguez – 7.0 IP, 1 hit, 0 ER, 5 K. Way-Rod is owned in just over half of RCLs. Way rad, right? He totally chopped the Braves last night. The bad news Braves fans is that the Pirates combined to hold the Braves to just two hits, the good news is at least one of the hits was Jason Heyward‘s.
Pedro Alvarez – 1-for-4 with a 2-R HR. That’s home runs in back to back days. He’s probably got 3 or 4 more in him before he goes 0-for-16 with 9 Ks next week.
Jaime Garcia – 3.0 IP, 9 hits, 8 R, 4 ER. Got jaimmered, leaving the game after throwing 72 pitches in just 3 innings.
Roy Halladay – 7.0 IP, 2 hits, 2 ER, 2 BB,6 K. Doc was what was up on Friday and owners will take any shred of hope at this point, but that’s now two solid starts in a row. The only hits he surrendered were homers to Carlos Beltran and Matt Holliday, and he retired eight in a row at one point. You had to think a guy as good as Roy would adjust at some point before completely falling off, but I was as worried as anyone Halladay was on his way out. Glad I worried wrong.
Ben Revere – 2-for-3 with 2 runs. Batted 7th, which isn’t quite as appealing as the lead off spot, especially considering his 5 steals. Since it’s his SB potential that’s revered, let’s hope he hits his way back to the top.
Evan Longoria – 1-for-4 with a HR. How odd? As soon as Longoria starts heating up and hitting dingers the entire Rays offense starts actually getting going. Its almost as if their entire offense is reliant on him to succeed. They need you, Longo. We need you.
Jed Lowrie – 4-for-4, 1 RBI. Let me tell you a story ’bout a man named Jed. He’s the number one shortstop in fantasy baseball right now and has nine hits and five RBIs in the past five games. What is your shortstop doing? I’m looking at you Jose Reyes. I love Lowrie, but he’s a ticking time bomb injury-wise, if you can sell this hot start high I would. But don’t sell yourself short, the A’s have the best record in the bigs and Lowrie is a big part of that success. Another reason? How about they’re undefeated on the road and call pitcher-friendly O. Co. home? Want more? Check out Grey’s BUYs this week for five more reasons!
Ben Zobrist – 2-for-3, 2-R. He’s just happy to see Evan’s healthy and hitting. We all are, BenZo. We all are.
Coco Crisp – 2-for-4 with his 5th HR. He avoided the DL despite a groin injury last week and he continues to mash, picking up right where he left off. Coco hit just 11 homers in 120 games last year and his .759 slugging percentage is way crazy yo, but hey, enjoy it while it lasts. Coco is super crispy right now!
Alex Cobb – 7.1 IP, 10 hits, 3 ER, 3 K. Not the most encouraging start but he managed his second win. I think Cobb gets better as the season goes on, these are the ways of the Rays.
Jason Kipnis – 2-for-4 and hist 1st SB. Kipnis has reported feeling elbow pain in both elbows. Both elbows. How does one even suffer an injury to both? Too many double flying elbow drops off the top turnbuckle? Regardless, if you’re a Kipnis-owner that’s double-elbow pain that has got to make your head explode. But piece that head of yours back together, friend, Kips stole a base last night. That’s gotta put you at ease a little bit.
J.D. Martinez – Hit his first homer of the year before leaving the game with a knee sprain. Such is the Astros way. So it goes.
Justin Maxwell – 0-for-3, 2 SB. Oh, hello there. You keep stealing bases and I’ll keep thinking about considering the possibility of maybe looking at the prospect of picking you up.
Jose Veras – 1.0 IP, 1 hit, 1st save. Cherish it!
Jhoulys Chacin – 6.1 IP, 3 hits, 0 ER, 5 K. Left game with oblique stiffness. Too bad, just when I was starting to buy-in on crowning Jules a legit fantasy starter. He’s got a 1.46 ERA and 0.89 WHIP so far this year. Sweet sassy molassy is right! The precious Jhoulys is looking mighty valuable right now. Let’s hope he left simply due to fatigue and nothing more serious as Chacin is available in about 30% of RCLs. He gets a tough assignment with the Braves coming to Coors next week, but as good as he’s looked, I’m not sure you can bench this guy right now.
Rafael Betancourt grabbed his 6th save. That’s probably five more than your head-to-head team got this week, right?
Alfonso Soriano – 3-for-4. Oh, Alfonso. I love this guy like a grandfather. Maybe because he might actually be my grandfather according to Dancestry.com. Or perhaps it’s the fact that I had his rookie cards pinned to my bike spokes in grammar school. So basically the point I’m trying to make is he is old.
Luis Jiminez – 2-for-3, 3 runs. Alberto Callaspo heads to the DL just to make your third base situation even more laughable. Jiminez is batting .464 with six runs since being called up and looks to see plenty of ABs with Callaspo sidelined. Grey told you to BUY him. Do you need more convincing? What if I told you he may be a flat-billed pitchypus?
Tommy Hanson – 6.0 IP, 6 hits, 0 ER, 4 BB, 2 K. If you had the tiger stones to start him versus Detroit, good show, old boy! But don’t push your luck, I’d be extra cautious with Tommy in 12-team leagues.
Chris Denorfia – 2-for-4, 1 run as he leads off. Grey told you to BUY him and he’s leading off for the Padres while Cameron Maybin is on the DL . Until yesterday, I thought he was the guy from Law and Order: Criminal Intent. In fact, Chris is available in about 80% of leagues, and The Denorfster has put together a nice four-game hit streak with a homer and a steal in that span.
Chase Headley – 1-for-3 with a HR and 2 RBI. Chase goes deep in his second game back from the DL. I don’t own him anywhere but if you do, you’ve got to be feeling good about yourself. You did it, man! You did it. Pat yourself on the back. Now rub your head-ley. Now do both at the same time. You are a fantasy star.
Marco Estrada – 6.0 IP, 7 hits, 3 ER, 4 K. He managed to get the win but gave up 7 hits, struck out just 4, and gave up homers to Luis Valbuena and David DeJesus. There is a lot I don’t like about that last sentence.
Jim Henderson – 1.0 IP, 1 hit, 1 K and his 3rd save. John Axford pitched the 7th again and gave up a hit and struck out a pair. Jimbo looks to be the closer for the foreseeable future, but I wouldn’t be surprised to see Axford back in there after a few more innings like this under his belt.
Ryan Braun – 1-for-3 and his fourth HR. Just continue to doubt him. It only makes him stronger. That and PEDs for elevated testosterone.
Carlos Gomez – 1-for-3 and his second HR. CarGome’s batting .611 over the past 5 games with 2 HRs. A lot of people are down on him and I’ve seen him dropped all over, but I still think he has a chance to be a poor man’s Carlos Gonzalez. How poor of a man? Eh, fairly poor. He’s going to have his stretches where he’s awful and I’d definitely like to see him steal some bases before I’m all in, but I am interested.
Yu Darvish – 7.0 IP, 3 hits, 10 K. It was the Mariners, what did Yu expect? Did yu expect me NOT to use the criminally overused “yu” joke? Well yu were wrong.
Questions? Problems? Complaints to management? Advice, small gifts or large bribes? Please leave it in the comments below, or you can get at me on twitter @dandemanco. Join us next Saturday for another Friday recap as fantasy baseball continues next week, all week long!
