The NFL Draft was not the only spectacle taking place in Detroit this weekend, Seth Lugo was putting on his own dazzling performance at Comerica Park pitching seven strong shut out innings allowing just five base runners (three hits) and striking out nine Tigers for his fourth win of the year. And now the Atlanta Falcons have requested to select Lugo with their second round pick. Can they do that? Hopefully they give Kurt Cousins a heads up first! Lugo lowered his ratios to a glistening 1.66 ERA and 1.11 WHIP with the gem. The nine strikeouts were especially nice to see as he’s posted just a 4.1 K/9 so far which is now creeping up a lot closer to his career average 8.8 K/9. It’s the career 2.4 BB/9 that we’re focusing on this year, right? That’s why we drafted him and he has not disappointed in that area with a career low 2.13 BB/9 through five starts. His HR/9 is also a career low, though it’s obviously early, he let up two dingers to the Orioles last week and I mean come on, who hasn’t given up home runs to the Orioles this year? I’m not saying he’s on the verge of a break out, I’m saying you’re getting exactly what you paid (probably not very much) for: reliability. I know he’s boring. I know you’d rather own Yamamoto or Corbin Burnes or Grayson Rodriguez. Heck, most people would rather stash Paul Skenes than add Lugo! Can’t say I blame them (Skenes has 34 Ks in 17 IP)! But boring is predictable and that’s what you want in fantasy baseball. We knew he might struggle last week versus the O’s and he did, and we knew he should take care of Detroit easily and he did. In this word of uncertainly with what’s happening in Gaza or whether or which Taylor Swift song is about which Taylor Swift boyfriend or if how much longer we’ll be able to scroll TikTok endlessly before the government bans it, being able to rely on someone feels nice and safe. Safe and reliable isn’t boring it’s just safe and reliable!
Here’s what else I saw in fantasy baseball Friday night:
Mark Canha – 2-for-4. BUY. Five game hitting streak with two homers in that stretch! So many exciting outfield options on waivers and you want to go with Mark Canha? How Canha blame ya!
Reese Olson – 7.0 IP, 3 hits, ER, 3 BB, 8 K. Outside of a start in Pittsburgh, Reese has been mostly fine. The numbers aren’t popping off the page or anything but the 3.18 ERA is not unsightly either. He gets the Cardinals next week 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!
Maikel Garcia – 2-for-4, 2 RBI. Don’t look now but the dude you dropped after going 0-for-20 has gone 10-for-30 since with three steals and a homer. He’s still leading off too despite the .214 batting average. Manager Matt Quatraro believes in him and you should, too!
Corbin Burnes – 6.0 IP, 3 hits, ER, 3 BB, 6 K. Sometimes a match up seems too good to be true. Still, we’ll take it! Season is a slow Burnes.
Mason Miller – 1.0 IP, 2 K, SV (7). Miller time! Mason has slowly turned into not just the brightest light on the A’s this season but one of the most exciting closers in the game. Do you like cheese? Sweet sassy molassy, that’s some cheddar! This is not the Oakland A’s he’s facing here either, these are some of the brightest young hitters in the game. He hit 102 mph three times Friday night and holds an ERA of 1.46 through 12.1 IP. The 0.06 FIP and the 52.K% also make me very happy. One positive to the A’s moving to Vegas is Miller belongs under the bright lights!
Craig Kimbrel – 0.1 IP, 2 hits, ER, 3 BB, BS (2). As iconic as “The Kimbrel” save is the Kimbrel blown save seems just as iconic and this one had all the makings of a classic. He allowed all five batters he faced to reach base and was honestly lucky to allow only the one run. This could have been uglier for your ratios but the O’s blow the save either way.
Ryan O’Hearn – 2-for-4, RBI. O’Hearn one of those guys that’s going to sit on waivers most of the year until people realize the clean up hitter for the best team in the league is available. The Heston Kjerstad call up muddies things for O’Hearn a bit but he still hit three homers last week.
Shane Langeliers – 1-for-5, HR (6). I waaaant a swiiiiiiiiiiing like Shane Langelieeeeeeeers, like Shane Langelieeeeeeerrssss!
Shohei Ohtani – 1-for-4, HR (7). Max Muncy (5) also homered. So, this wasn’t the hardest hit ball in ever like last time but it was still pretty cool. The Toronto fans booed him on his way out, how did you expect him to react?! It’s what he does! You are just giving him fuel. The last thing Ohtani needs is a chip on his shoulder. He already had one in his elbow.
Will Smith – 4-for-5, HR (2), 3 RBI, batting .376. His second straight four hit game! That’s not nothing, folks! How many other Dodgers have four hit games this year? Just gonna blindly guess Mookie and not google anything, but Smith’s got two! He’s got as many 4-hit games as he does home runs!
Andy Pages – 2-for-4, RBI. BUY. If you don’t want a power hitting outfielder hitting in the most dynamic line up in baseball in the past 10 years I don’t think we’re on the same Pages. Does he not jump of the Pages for you? You can borrow a Pages from the waiver wire and just add him!
Gavin Stone – 7.0 IP, 2 hits, ER, 2 BB, 2 K. Dodgers had a 6-0 lead at the start of the third and that certainly helps the Stone’s stones when you can attack hitters early and often without worrying about the lead. He allowed a home run to Danny Jansen but that was the only damage against him in what was likely his best start of the year. Nice to see BUT he gets the Braves next week and I’d need much bigger stones than Gavin to start him there.
Chris Bassitt – 2.2 IP, 9 hits, 7 ER, 2 BB, 4 K. Couldn’t Dodger this bullet.
Shota Imanaga – 6.1 IP, 5 hits, ER, BB, 7 k, 4th win. He makes me wanna Shota! Throw my hands up and…OK, the rumor is the Sawx outbid the Cubs for Imanaga in the offseason and he chose Chicago for the thickly sliced pizza and neon relish. I’m not sure if that’s true, but regardless Shota had to make sure he put away Boston with ease, and he did. The Red Sox were unable to generate any hard contact off Imanaga and he moves to 4-0 with a 0.98 ERA.
Kutter Crawford – 6.0 IP, 10 hits, 3 ER, 4 K. Kutter had some tough luck Friday night but he also got saved by a great play in the second that could have made this outing a disaster for him. His ERA doubles to a whopping 1.35 after the start but gets a much easier taste of the Giants next week.
Tyler O’Neill – 2-for-4, HR (8). Tyler O’Neill’s bicep bombs certainly hit different. They’re hit much farther for one! Hard to believe my dude has just 9 RBIs on the year! He can’t carry the whole team, even with those biceps!
Pete Crow-Armstrong – 2-for-3, 2 RBI. He was a BUY and Grey gave you his Pete Crow-Armstrong fantasy. He’s now 3-for-7 with a home run and four RBIs in two games and he’s not just a highly pedigree’d prospect he’s the son of two famous actors so act your part and go grab him before he’s gone everywhere. I do love me some Little Big League, but Rookie of the Year is the superior movie. Prove me wrong!
J.D. Martinez – 2-for-4, RBI. J.D. was unable to just dong it in his 2024 debut but he managed two hits but he’s probably sitting on your waiver wire looking all sad and pathetic. Throw him a bone and give him an add?
Willson Contreras – 1-for-3, HR (4). He’s got two homers in the past week and hit safely in nine of his past 10 games! How many more before he’s better than his brother?
Alex Burleson – 1-for-3, HR (1), 3 RBI. We call this the please-don’t-send-me-down home run! Jordan Walker was trying to hit one for weeks.
Kyle Finnegan – 1.0 IP, K, SV (8). One shy of the MLB lead with 8 saves. I always think there’s got to be something to owning closers on bad teams but you don’t want the team to be TOO bad, but just bad enough where they’re always in close games. The Nats are a prime example.
Chris Sale – 7.0 IP, 2 hits, ER, BB, 6 K, 3rd win. Sale Day! He allowed a lead off home run to Steven Kwan (3) but that was the ONLY damage he would allow outside of a weak single. This was prime Chris Sale. It would be easy to say the Braves fleeced the Red Sox and Vaughn Grissom may never play a game and Chris Sale will stay healthy all year and the Braves will win the pennant and all will be redeemed, but I don’t want to jinx anything. Facts are the Glass Man has gone three straight pitching seven innings and things look promising!
Zach Eflin – 6.0 IP, 9 hits, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, ERA at 4.08. If you can’t shut down the White Sox you’re Eflin useless to me.
Eloy Jimenez – 1-for-4, HR (3), 2 RBI. Trying not to jump the gun on Eloy because he might injure himself jumping but he has three homers and a steal in the past week. I’d add him but then he’ll immediately hurt his hamstring.
Elly De La Cruz – 0-for-2, run, 2 SB (17). SEVENTEEN! I spelled it out! EDLC! I abbreviated that one. Even when he goes 0-fer he’s contributing. He’s ranked number 1 at his position right now and I don’t expect that to change any time soon.
Evan Carter – 2-for-3, HR (5). When Carter went before Langford in my draft I was a little surprised but now I realize I bought into the hype machine and Evan Carter literally met Shaq. Wait–or was that Aaron? Rip.
Nathan Eovaldi – 6.0 IP, 3 hits, ER, 5 BB, 8 K. A splash of EVO can real up the flavor of your fantasy team, you say he’s boring but 11 walks (ELEVEN) in two games doesn’t seem very boring to me. Seems very stressful.
Kirby Yates – 1.0 IP, 2 K, SV (4). His first save since last week when he saved three games. Kirby might be my best add of the year so far! My team’s hitting under .200 but I lead the league in saves. That’s something! Take me to Dreamland, Kirby!
Juan Soto – 2-for-4, HR (7). One thing the Juan Soto as a Yankee experiment will do is make everyone see clearly just how terrible that Aaron Judge contract is next year. Oh, you want to resign, Soto? The thing is we sort of locked up a .178 hitter for 360 million over the next decade.
Aaron Judge – 0-for-4, 2 K. 0ld. Washed. All the worst adjectives. Why are you on my team?
Alex Verdugo – 1-for-4, HR (3). One less home run than Aaron Judge, and they basically got Dugie for free. That’s a $360 million discount!
Blake Perkins – 1-for-5, HR (3). Hitting .261 in the past week. He doesn’t really homer or steal, but he does play! Am I selling it?
Brice Turang – 2-for-4, run, SB (13). He’s the number one second baseman in baseball! He’s also got a four game hitting streak with three steals in that stretch. Who’s your second baseman?
Luis Gil – 5.0, 6 hits, 5 ER, 2 BB, 6 K. Again, the walks. Oof. I want to hold onto Gil but I’m not going near that start at Camden next week. That means he’ll probably twirl a gem. You’re welcome.
Joey Ortiz – 2-for-4, HR (1). His first career home run! Have a day kid! But he wasn’t done there, as he hit the walk off single in the 11th. A game to remember for Joey Joe Jo for sure. He’s been more or less awful before this game but maybe this is the start of something?
Emerson Hancock – 6.0 IP, 2 hits, ER, 2 BB, 4 K. What’s in a name? Emerson has one of the best names in baseball and he’s now strung together three straight quality starts after getting blasted by the Brewers back on April 7th. If he can survive the gauntlet that is the Atlanta Braves next week sign me up with the Herbie Hancock on the dotted line and I’ll add you everywhere.
Zac Gallen – 5.0 IP, 3 hits, 3 ER, BB, 3 K, L. Left the game in the sixth with hamstring tightness. Uh-oh, and the hits keep coming for the D-Backs, just not for Corbin Carroll. Remember when I said they were a wagon? Me neither.
Kevin Newman – 1-for-3, HR (2). That’s one more home run than Corbin Carroll if you are playing along at home.
Mitch Haniger – 1-for-4, Grand Slam HR (4). At least when he homers he makes it count with 18 RBI on the season but the 29/8 K/BB is more than concerning. But ignore all that and just watch this grand salami, baby!
Carlos Santana – 2-for-4, HR (2). Smooth Santana! Why play all your young sluggers when you can play this wily old vet?
Bailey Ober – 7.1 IP, 3 hits, 2 ER, 3 BB, 8 K, 2nd win. Ober and Ober again. Bailey had a rough start to the year getting demolished in Kansas City but has been mostly untouchable since then with a 1.48 ERA, 24/6 K/BB with opponents hitting just .136 against him. Yes, please and more. Is he an Ace? Eh, more like, he’s just a Twin. He gets the ShiteSox next week, maybe you can buy him now before everyone realizes he’s breaking out? It’s all Ober!
Luis Campusano – 2-for-4, run. He was a BUY and with the wasteland that is the catcher position sometimes having a guy that won’t hurt you is important. Luis has hit safely in eight of his last nine appearances and he doesn’t really homer or steal but he doesn’t strike out either. How’s that for a glowing review?
Quinn Priester – 6.0 IP, 3 hits, 0 ER, BB, 6 K. Priester got some divine retribution Friday night after getting pummeled for three home runs in his 2024 debut last week. This was a scoreless game through nine innings and the Giants offense doesn’t really scare anyone but give credit where credit is due. Quinn does line up for a juicy start with the Oakland A’ss next week if you’re feeling brave.
Kyle Harrison – 6.0 IP, 5 hits, 0 ER, 7 K. His best start of the year! I knew I drafted him everywhere for a reason! Kyle’s 4.09 is not very nice to look at but the 31/5 K/BB tell a different story. Better days ahead, for the sake of my team and my sanity. Please make it so.
Patrick Bailey – 1-for-4, walk off 3-run HR (3) off David Bednar (0.0 IP, 2 hits 3 ER, BB). The best part about this walk off bomb, more or less the only offense in the entire game was that he did it right in front of Joey Bart. That’s for not being Buster Posey!
Aaron Nola – 8.0 IP, 7 hits, 3 ER, BB, 10 K, 4th win. Nola knows how to party obviously. His first double digit strikeout game since last July! He was cruising through six innings until giving up a 2-run bomb to Graham Pauley, whoever that is! He’s now gone 7+ innings in three straight outings and has posted a tiny 1.29 ERA since getting toughed up by Atlanta in the opener. Nola is clearly psyched about the Pelicans home game tonight!
Joe Musgrove – 3.2 IP, 8 hits, 7 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, 4 home runs allowed. Everything Musgrove. Must go from my fantasy line up.
Brandon Marsh – 3-for-5, HR (6), 3 RBI. Bryce Harper (6) , Kyle Schwarber (4) and JT Realmuto (4) all homered. Oh hey do you like home runs? You might like Philadelphia baseballs. A lot of home runs were hit that night, but no one does it with rizz quite like Marsh. He also made this neat catch! If personality was a category in fantasy, Marsh could be a top 10 player.
Nick Castellanos – 1-for-5, HR (1). Am I the only one who saw this and immediately went to my news site to make sure something terrible hadn’t happened?
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!
