Marlins outfielder Bryan De La Cruz was in full control Friday night collecting four hits against the Angels, including a two run tank in the seventh, that looked just like this. Wait, that was it! We like to say that ball was Bryan De La Crrrrushed! The dong gave the Fish a comfy three run lead but he was not done yet. The 26 year old added his third single of the night in the ninth to finish off a four hit game, his second four hit game in five days! De La Cruz’n indeed! He’s now slashing .305/.351/.466 and batting .415 in the past week with 13 runs scored, four homers, 10 RBI and two steals. Four bombs in the past week!? Uhh, spit-take, did I type that correctly? Grey told you to BUY B-DLC while he’s a hot little potato right now. Patata caliente en Miami. Perhaps he should offer his services to the Miami Heat for game 6? He’s got to be better than Kyle Lowry. If his123 wRC+ this year doesn’t convince you how valuable he’s been how about his .411 OBP in the month of May, including getting on base in 21 of his last 22 games. Did I mention he just ended a 12 game hitting streak last Sunday, and rebounded with a four hit game the next night? The De La Cruz missile is on pace for a 20 homer season and I could see him batting around .275 or higher! Pro tip, that can help your fantasy team! I’ve been trying to make Marlins outfielders happen for a while now, (F in chat to Jesus Sanchez), and it just wasn’t happening but BDLC is giving me hope. Loyal readers (hi mom!) know I love me some Marlins baseball (Go Fish, Get Hooked!), and the only one hotter than Bryan right now might be Jorge Soler. The Fish have a mostly team friendly home stand coming up in the next few weeks including six games with the A’s and Royals where Bryan can feast on their terrible pitching. I’d add Bryan of the Cross wherever I needed outfield help, he looks like he’s in full De La Cruz control right now so best to just take our hands off the wheel and get out of the way.
Here’s what else I saw in Friday night in fantasy baseball.
Gio Urshela – 3-for-4, SB (3). The Sea Witch Urshela used his ocean magic to steal Rendon’s spot in the line up along with his beautiful singing voice and in exchange Urshela agreed to give Rendon real human legs with working hamstrings. You don’t have to be a little mermaid to know you don’t make deals with Sea Witches. That Poor Unfortunate Soul, Rendon. Meanwhile, Urshela the Sea Witch is batting .438 with two steals in the past week an he was a BUY. Don’t let him Flounder on waivers too long, he could be Part of Your Fantasy World.
Jorge Soler – 1-for-5, HR (16). Another BUY. Soler power always heats up when the weather gets hot! It’s all that Vitamin D. The D stands for dinger! And the UV stands for Under Valued, because he’s a 40 homer hitter who’s somehow still available in 50% of ESPN leagues.
Hunter Greene – 6.0 IP, 0 hits, 0 ER, 2 BB, 11 K, 1st win. Just in case you were asking yourself what Hunter needed to do for a win, no it doesn’t involve his lucky hunter green drawers or ritual sacrifice to the fantasy baseball overlords. Six no-hit innings and 11 strikeouts should do it. What do you mean that’s unreasonable to expect from a guy with a 4.18 ERA, 1.38 WHIP? Pfft! Not going to lie my butt cheeks were full on clenched when he came out for the sixth inning at 98 pitches. This was it for me, I said to myself, as I finalized the details of my last will and testament. Then he went all Hunter Greene on us and struck out the side in the sixth. That’s when I turned off my car and got out of my garage. Oh yeah, I don’t know what I was worried about, that’s why I drafted him everywhere, folks!
Matt McLain – 3-for-5, run. Spencer Steer, Tyler Stephenson and Stuart Fairchild all had three hits a piece as the Reds scored nine with 19 hits! With good strong American names like that (we got a Spencer and a Stuart!) you can bet at least two of these guys were a BUY. McLain is 7 for his last 21 with two bombs in that stretch. The three hits was a career high, he’s hit safely in eight of his 10 starts. Yipeee-ki-yay, what more do you need to Die Hard with McLain, Hans Gruber?
Justin Steele – 3.2 IP, 10 hits, 5 ER, 4 K. Justin’s been a steal so far but Grey told you to SELL cause his peripherals are all wack! D’oh! I wish he’d told me sooner!
Taijuan Walker – 6.2 IP, 10 hits, 3 ER, BB, K, ERA at 5.57 ERA. Pick him up if you hate yourself.
Jared Shuster – 5.2 IP, 3 hits, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 K. Speaking of hating myself, I speak of it a lot actually, Mr. Manager must be kicking himself for pulling Shuster in the sixth for Joe Jiminez who immediately entered to blow the game.
Bryson Stott – 2-for-3, 2 runs, 3 SB (8) slashing.294/.333/.412. Handling all the speed on the team for him and Trea Turner, apparently. Here’s a thought for the guy who’s excelled in the middle half of the line up–put him back there. Let my Trea lead off it looks like thing are starting to bubble a bit? *glances at Turner’s last seven games* Right!? Well, the answer here is more at bats. It’s got to be!
Marcell Ozuna – 3-for-4, HR (11). OZUNA hasn’t done this all caps thing in a while. OZUNA must be hungry. OZUNA do this three games in a row, batting close to .500 in past week. OZUNA make sure you don’t forget about him. OZUNA never want to go hungry again.
Michael Harris II – 2-for-3, HR (2), 2 RBI. Money Mike with the Oppo-field-do shot-o! Let’s take a good look at this one, it could be the last one we see for a while, cause the way he’s been hitting I thought he’d bat himself out of the line up pretty soon.
Craig Kimbrel – 1.0 IP, K, SV (6). His 400th career save against the team who gave him his start. Full circle moment how sweet! Kenley Jansen did this a few weeks ago, also against the Braves. He proceeded to blow his next two saves after that. I’m not trying to jinx him, but yeah, I probably definitely 100% just jinxed him. My bad, CK!
Matthew Liberatore – 5.0 IP, 5 hits, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 K. Libby was cruisin’ through the first four and ran into trouble in the fifth, giving up four hits and hitting a batter. To his credit he did get out of the inning after surrendering four. He had a 11.0 K/9 (ELEVEN) in the minors and that has yet to translate but he’s at least looking like he should get stick in the rotation, despite what Marmol decides to do with him.
Shane Bieber – 6.2 IP, 5 hits, 2 ER, 4 BB, 2 K, 4th win. The 2 Ks is a little discouraging from a guy many drafted as an Ace, but the 4th win is Peaches. I need you to Stay, I need you to Stay, relevant, Biebs.
Emmanuel Clase -1.0 IP, 2 hits, ER, 2 K, SV (17). He’s been a little shaky, but I will take those league leading 17 saves along with his league leading 5 blown saves and let Manny know he can be as shaky as he wants as long as he keeps them saves coming.
Grayson Rodriguez – 3.1 IP, 6 hits, 8 ER, 3 BB, 6 K. Why do I do it to myself? Oh right, that. Seriously, I knew it was gonna be bad but I did it anyway. Textbook masochist. Guilty as charged. I guess I don’t think I’m deserving of success. Gray-Rod certainly doesn’t. His second 8 ER start in the past two weeks, and if you think that 7.35 ERA is bad I don’t want to tell you his WHIP. I won’t. I refuse. Am I starting him next week at home versus Cleveland? You know it! It’s a pride thing at this point, I will continue to start him until the O’s send him down. Help me end this Baltimore GM. Do the right thing. Pray for me. This could get ugly. (Editor’s Note: O’s GM chose to save Mr. Pants and sent Failson packing to AAA.)
Jon Gray – 7.0 IP, 4 hits, ER, BB, 8 K. The Rangers took one look the the O’s best record in baseball and scoffed all over their new CityConnect jerseys. And how about those unis, wow! They sure are, umm, black? Yup that’s it!
Corey Seager – 1-for-4, Grand Slam HR (4) slashing .343/.417/.614. The Rangers were good but getting Seager back makes them scary good. If they can just get deGrom to the postseason…Robbie Grossman and Leonys Taveras (.310/.375/.434) also homered Friday as the Rangers put up a 12 spot on the Orioles. Tejas is starting to look like the Rays to the tune that all their bats should be owned when they’re hot. Taveras is hitting over .400 in the past week and putting together quite a May, he could be worth an add for their set in Detroit!
Adley Rutschman – 3-for-3, HR (8). Well, at least one Oriole showed up to defend the best record in the league. Maybe if you called less strikes for Grayson, the other team wouldn’t be able to hit him like that?
Joe Musgrove – 6.1 IP, 6 hits, 1 ER, 6 K, 2nd win. Here’s another guy with an ERA over five that I have a little more faith in. The six strikeouts were a season high and he gets the Marlins next week. All reasons for optimism! Everything’s coming up Milhouse!
Fernando Tatis Jr. – 1-for-5, HR (8). He’s not hitting all the baseballs in the world like I was hoping he would, but when he does hit them, he hits them very hard and he hits them very far. I also dig him really embracing his heel turn. Hate hate hate hate. It only fuels him to be stronger. Especially when you can follow it up with on of these. FTJ is the villain baseball needs and I am here for it!
Juan Soto – 2-for-5, 2 runs, HR (10), 2 RBI. Yes, I want a soda, Juan. Whatever soda you’re drinking, budday. Hitting .421 with three bombs and two steals in the past week. Almost forgot you’re like the best player in fantasy baseball. It’s all coming back to me now!
Lance Lynn – 6.0 IP, 3 hits, ER, 5 BB, 5 K, 4th win. May has been very kind to the L-Y-double. He’s got four wins in five starts despite a 4.40 ERA and 19 runs allowed. He’s also faced a who’s who of baseballs worst and wackest including two starts versus Kansas City, one in Cincinnati and a start in Detroit. This luck may not last with June approaching but three quality starts in a row and a 72/24 K/BB is enough for me to roll in dice in a scary match up with the Angels next week.
Tim Anderson – 4-for-5, 3 runs. The White Sox scored 12 runs with 17 hits. The hits and runs are great. Don’t get me wrong. I am happy your team is doing that again. Wonderful! But the players used to steal bases. What happened to all the steals, Timmay? LouRob? Did someone tell you not to run anymore? You can trust me. I won’t tell anyone. Is someone hurting you?
Andrew Vaughn – 2-for-5, HR (6), 3 RBI slashing .237/.317/.412. I can’t get over how much I wanted to draft this guy last year and ultimately how boring he ended up being. It’s like finally getting a date with the hottest girl at school and she’s totally boring and all she wants to talk about is her Instagram. At least, I assume it might be like that, I never actually got a date with the hottest girl at school, but if you’re somehow reading this Lisa P., I’m still available and I love your Instagram.
Noah Syndergaard – 6.0 IP, 8 hits, 6 ER, BB, 3 K. If the Dodgers can’t revive your career there’s only one place left to go–no, not back to the Mets! To St. Louis! Perhaps the rejuvenating power of the Archs can fix your 6.27 ERA. Perhaps, not.
Yandy Diaz – 3-for-4, 2 runs, HR (12), 2 RBI. Wander had two hits and his 18th steal and he’s all well and good, sure, but what-a year for Yandy Diaz owners, oh, and him too obviously–but I can’t imagine he was drafted in too many leagues. Add of the year!? I don’t know!
Jose Siri – 2-for-4, HR (9), 2 RBI. BUY. How are all the Rays not owned at this point. Just own all the Rays. It can’t hurt. Just ask your phone.
J.D. Davis – 3-for-6, 3 runs, HR (9), 3 RBI. JD is that guy I want a reason to drop but keeps hitting. Lamonte Wade Jr. and Blake Sabol, the Giants one and two hitters combined for nine strikeouts and zero hits, but the rest of the team scored 15 runs with 19 hits! In other words, this could have been an even bigger game for Davis if the two guys in front of him didn’t suck so bad.
Patrick Bailey – 4-for-5, 3 RBI. Hitting .364 in the past week! What’s your catcher doing? Maybe poke him to see if he’s still alive?
Mitch Haniger – 3-for-5, HR (3), 4 RBI. He’s batting .215 but still a better offseason signing than Carlos Correa would have been.
Brett Wisely – 2-for-5, HR (2), 3 RBI. Four game hitting streak! But I’d Wisely leave him on waivers.
Alex Wood – 5.2 IP, 3 hits, ER, 5 BB, 5 K. Slowly raising that pitch count, at this rate he could be at six innings by August! His 3.51 ERA looks good and his start versus Pittsburgh next week looks even better!
Freddy Peralta – 2.1 IP, 8 hits, 5 ER, BB, 4 K. Willy Adames got beamed with a foul ball in the dugout in a scary situation in Milwaukee. I won’t link the video here because I’m not completely tasteless but let’s chalk Freddy’s poor start up to everyone being shook up hoping Willy is all right.
Kevin Gausman – 5.1 IP, 4 hits, ER, 5 BB, 8 K, 3rd win. The hot Gaus, man, is that Kevin has been every bit the Ace you drafted him to be. 3.03 ERA and 1.13 WHIP with a 89/16 K/BB. No wonder people can’t stop talking about him.
Louie Varland – 6.0 IP, 7 hits, 3 ER, 3 K. Louie Louie has been skating along fairly nicely and despite some tough starts he hasn’t killed you. Still, I’d advise caution starting him next week at Houston as I think he’s numbers are about to catch up to him.
Bo Bichette – 2-for-4, HR (10), 2 RBI. Boba Chette hit this ball into space! Get it! Cause Star Wars!
Kevin Kiermaier – 2-for-3, HR (4). Hitting .292 with a homer and a steal in the past week! KK, I’ll take it! He’s hit safely in 15 of his 19 games this month and he’s slashing .319/.366/.511. Deeper leaguers take note, but need to see more pop before he’s an add everywhere, KK!
Bobby Witt Jr. – 4-for-5, 3 runs, 2 HR, 5 RBI, SB (15). Two homers, to Witt! We’d certainly like to see more games like this against a team that’s not the Nats but Bobby played the hero on Friday providing almost all the offense for the Royals and carrying his team within one run in the seventh. He also had a double and a steal. The kid does it all! He’s gonna be a star! Ha-cha-cha!
Luis Garcia – 6-for-6, 3 runs, 2 RBI. Nats scored 12 runs on 15 hits including three hits and 3 RBI from Joey Meneses. This game was 2-1 when the sixth inning started and things escalated quickly from there, which says a lot about Washington and KC’s bullpen’s I guess. Luis Garcia, no not that Luis Garcia, the other one, upped his average over 20 points with the big game! Also, what was it about Friday night and bad teams hitting every baseball they could. The Giants had 19 hits, the Nats I mentioned had 15, the Royals had 13, the Reds had 19, the Pirates had 15 the White Sox had 17…Sweet sassy molassy! The hits keep coming! If you are a fan of base hits the shift bans have you living your best life right now. Thank you, Theo!
Max Scherzer – 7.0 IP, 6 hits, ER, 8 K, 4th win. Don’t look now but the Mets have won seven of their last 10. I said don’t look!
Francisco Lindor – 2-for-4, HR (8). Lindo’s in the midst of a career low .304 OBP, so hopefully this is the start of better things to come. If this is Lindor in an off year, 8 homers, 36 RBIs, can you imagine what he’d look like in this line up when he’s on?
Nolan Jones – 0-for-3, 2 Ks. NoJo was called up Friday and his bat is just that–No Joke. Was slashing an insane .356/.481/.711 with 12 bombs and five steals in AAA, but why play hot shot prospects that get your fans excited when you can continue playing Charlie Blackmon until his knees buckle beneath him?
Hunter Brown – 7.0 IP, 4 hits, 2 ER, BB, 10 K, 5th win. Bravo to you Hunter for doing exactly what one is supposed to do versus Oakland aka the prey. He’s looking like the ROY candidate we all drafted–wait, you did draft him, right!? The start was likely a career best and he looks like he’s getting better and better with a 27/2 K/BB in his past three starts. That’s what Brown can do for you!
Jose Altuve – 2-for-5, run. He’s 5-for-17 since returning from the IL, but the Astros are 6-1 since his return. You could say it’s the Astros just hitting their stride but I think Altuve is the beating heart of this team. Someone’s gotta make them feel good about being such cheaters!
Esteury Ruiz – 1-for-4, SB (27). Ruiz is one of those players that could get me such a large leads in steals I could trade him in late July and coast off my 30 steal lead.
Chris Sale – 5.0 IP, 4 hits, ER, BB, 3 K, 5th win. Apparently he was battling an illness over the week so he was pulled after 73 pitches. Could it have been that sick slider he was referring? Sale has now won four of his last five decisions, with one 8.0 inning, 9 K start in between and has looked as good as we could have hoped for. He seems like a guy with that cache name value that could fetch a good return in a trade so I’d sell if I could!
Brandon Pfaadt – 3.2 IP, 8 hits, 5 ER, 4 K. Maybe we should have saw this coming when we couldn’t pronounce his name with raspeberry-ing our lips together.
Triston Casas – 3-for-5, 2 runs, RBI. Triston Homes is where the heart is and no surprise he feels right at home in the desert, seeing as he absorbs all his energy from the sun.
Alex Verdugo – 3-for-5, run, RBI. Dugie had gone 0-for-12 in his past three games so this was big slump buster for him. I get a real kick out of the fact that 99 has taken over the leadership role in the club house but when you’re hype you’re hype and Alex is one of baseball’s best hype men.
Jake McCarthy – 0-for-2, SB (3). He was a BUY! And look at all that value he’s providing already!
Lourdes Gurriel, Jr. – 1-for-4, RBI. Lourdes have mercy! Gurriel extended his 17 game hitting streak but that’s all the DBags could muster off Sale Friday night. But hey, you got that going for you!
Enrique Hernandez – 1-for-3, HR (4), 2 RBI. He actually homered! I have proof! It’s hard to believe he’s got four of these on the year but there you have it! Just don’t ask me for proof of the other three.
Reid Detmers – 5.0 IP, 10 hits, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 4.93 ERA. See my blurb about Grayson Rodriguez and take it down about a dozen notches. Detmers looks like a five inning pitcher right now. Anything else is an over-ask. The things I do for strikeouts. SMH.
Jesus Luzardo – 5.0 IP, 7 hits, ER, BB, 7 K, 4th win. Jesus brought his best stuff to this one with 18 whiffs in the contest. I want so bad for him to be the Ace I know he can be. Maybe if I believe harder. Believe harder everyone!
Dylan Floro – 1.0 IP, 2 K. BUY. He was a buy and he’s the closer despite a hiccup earlier this week. This works for me cause owning AJ Puk was making me sick to my stomach.
George Kirby – 4.2 IP, 9 hits 7 ER, BB, 4 K. Not exactly Dreamland for Kirby in this one as his streak of eight quality starts ends. Well, that sucks, and not in the good Kirby way!
Julio Rodriguez – 2-for-4, HR (8), 3 RBI. JP Crawford also hit his third homer. If I had to hear one more Juul-Rod owner complain about owning Juul-Rod I was just about to take a vape rip so large the aftermath would cloud the room so much it would hopefully cloud your judgement enough to trade him to me. It was around this time last year when Julio really took off and he’s batting .370 with a homer and a steal in the past week. Juul’s hitting real smooth now!
Mitch Keller – 6.0 IP, 7 hits, 6 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, 6th win. You know you’re having a special season when you can give up six runs and nine base runners and still grab the dub. He’s take his sparkling 1.02 WHIP to San Francisco next week. San Francisco here I come!
Jack Suwinski – 3-for-5, 2 HR (9), 3 RBI. Suwinski got the pirates all Jacked up Friday night! No, not because of Taylor’s Eras Tour at Heinz–that’s next week. Cause Jack is Back! Not only did he go deep twice in this one, including this 450-foot jack, Jack! Pre-game, I heard Suwinski gave his team the motivational speech to end all motivational speechs, “Hey, remember what we did in April, you guys? Can we like, do that again, or something?” Clearly, Jack hit a nerve, something clicked and the team responded. Andrew McCutchen went 2-for-5, with his eighth bomb, Bryan Reynolds took a break from his second home remodel to go 3-for-4, with his seventh home run, four RBI and his seventh steal and Tucupita Marcano added his own slam & legs. That’s makes seven home runs for the Bucs Friday night. That’s right, they Jack’d off! Of course ,this team has it in them! Maybe don’t go back to being bad this time and give those Pittsburgh yinzers something to cheer for, at least until TaySway gets there next weekend. If you didn’t know Suwinski had this in him, sadly, I hate to say it to ya, but you didn’t know Jack.
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!
