DFS PLAYS OF THE DAY
Here are some of the best plays of the day if you're looking to set your daily lineup, or if you're playing the daily game. Be sure to look out for the DFS MLB Playbook for some other daily plays (see link above).
C: Buster Posey hit .314 last year versus righties, and though the Giants home park is far from a hitters haven, Posey did sock 11 homers with 48 RBIs in 274 at-bats there last season. He faces Christian Bergman, he of the career 5.82 ERA and 1.53 WHIP over 11 outings.
1B: Carlos Santana hit .271 last season with a .395 OBP and .864 OPS against left-handed pitching. and in 533 career at-bats against lefties he has hit .281 with 20 homers and 86 RBIs. He faces Jose Quintana who he has only four hits against in 18 at-bats.
2B: Howie Kendrick likes to see Hisashi Iwakuma on the bump. He's hit .375 against him with nine hits in 24 at-bats.
3B: Chase Headley has hit 20 homers with 73 RBIs over his last 464 at-bats against righties. He faces moderately successful righty Miguel Gonzalez Tuesday in Baltimore.
SS: Mike Aviles has hit .421 against Jose Quintana over 19 at-bats. Over his last 450 at-bats against lefties he's also hit 10 homers and stolen 14 bases.
OF: Adam Jones has hit .304 with three homers and 12 RBIs in his career against CC Sabathia (56 at-bats). Jones crushed lefties last season batting .344 and his total of 11 walks in just 154 at-bats was more than the eight times he walked against righties... in 490 at-bats.
OF: Steve Pearce also faces Sabathia, and he hit .327 with a .405 OBP and .704 SLG against lefties last season. That's impressive. For what it's worth, Sabathia also has a 4.90 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP over his last 41 starts.
OF: Desmond Jennings hit a passable .265 against lefties last year but he also had five homers in 117 at-bats, a 500 at-bat pace that would equate to 21 homers. He also posted as solid .346 OBP and .487 SLG against portsiders. Desmond faces lefty rookie Daniel Norris in Toronto.
SP: Matt Harvey, Mets
Dominated for six innings in his first start, though he was pulled after 91 pitches. Word is the Mets will let him go 100 pitches in this start if he deserves that many tosses. He faces the Phillies, and current Phils have hit .132 against Harvey over 32 at-bats as they have struck out 16 times. The Phillies have been one of the first worst offenses in baseball through the first week plus of the season as well.
SP: Shane Greene, Tigers
My boy - see his Player Profile - dominated in his first outing allowing one run over eight innings (the run was unearned and he walked just one and struck out five). He takes his game on the road to Pittsburgh where Andrew McCutchen is batting .208, Josh Harrison .217, Neil Walker .250, Gregory Polanco .259 and Starling Marte is down at .115. Yikes.
SP: Justin Masterson, Nationals
Jayson Werth just returned to action, but the club is still without Denard Span and Anthony Rendon. Plus, Michael Taylor, Bryce Harper, Ryan Zimmerman and Ian Desmond are all hitting under .230 on the young season. Masterson held the Phillies to just three hits and two walks over six innings in his Red Sox debut, and he also struck out nine while generating nine grounders out of 23 batters faced as he looked like the pitcher we remembered, and not the guy we saw most of last season.
LINKS YOU HAVE TO BOOKMARKED
PRETTY LADIES BEING FUNNY
INJURIES
Henderson Alvarez is DL bound with right shoulder inflammation. We aren't sure how much time he will miss, but it sounds like it could be longer than two weeks - potentially up to four weeks - but that the team doesn't think it's a serious issue at least. David Phelps, who was just placed on the paternity list, is likely to make the start Saturday versus the Mets. Phelps is a 28 year old righty with passable stuff. He walks too many batters though, 3.6 per nine innings, and his 4.32 ERA and 1.36 WHIP scream NL-only option at best. At best.
Just when Billy Hamilton is on fire he heads to the bench. He didn't start Monday because of a sore index finger that he jammed last week. He shouldn't miss much time and might even be back out there Tuesday.
Is Mark Melancon the next closer to lose his job? MM allowed three runs to the Tigers Monday though the club still escaped with the 5-4 victory. Melancon's velocity is about 89-90 right now a year after his average heater was clocked at 93 mph, but there is no indication that he is about to lose his job. Tony Watson is the name to add if you're speculating and he is up to five strikeouts and no walks in five innings this season. Don't overlook the fact that his ERA (1.63) and WHIP (1.02) were impressive last season over 77.1 innings.
Ryan Rua was a potentially strong add late in drafts as a sneaky starting option in the the outfield for the Rangers. Not so much anymore. Rua will be in a walking boot for three weeks due to an ankle sprain an a broken bone in his heel. He could be out well over a month leaving Jake Smolinski and Carlos Peguero a shot at playing time. Neither is a mixed league option.
WHAT IS GOING ON?
Nori Aoki is a limited player but he's white-hot right now. Aoki is batting .412 with a .474 OBP in the early going. He might lose playing time when Hunter 
Pence returns in a couple of weeks but he's rolling right now with a hit in every game he's played.
Jedd Gyorko didn't start Monday for the Padres. He hasn't started the last two games and he's sat in favor of Yangervis Solarte three times in the Padres last six games. Solarte is hitting and Gyorko isn't, and in this results driven business it's easy to understand why Gyorko ain't in the lineup consistently right now.
Aaron Harang allowed one run over six innings Monday. That's a 0.73 ERA through two starts. Last season he had a 2.97 ERA at the end of April. By the time the season was over the mark was 3.57. Harang can get guys out, but moderate strikeouts, an elevated WHIP, and frequent blow ups are part of the package with Harang, hot start an all.
Starling Marte is off to a brutal start this season. Brutal. Marte struck out twice Monday and that pushed his strikeout total to a WHOPPING 14 in 26 at-bats. That's just obnoxious. You can't perform worse than that. You really can't. Still, it's a perfect time to buy low on Marte. Uber-talented, and you can be sure that a furious couple of weeks is coming at some point.
Kendrys Morales had two hits and two RBIs Monday. He's now batting .414 with two homers and five RBIs in seven games. He's produced at least two hits in 4-straight games. Consider my unexcited. In eight years he's had two seasons with 20 homers and 80 RBIs and he's a career .272 hitter. He's just a guy at first base. Can add him while he's hot, but don't expect greatness. Just ain't happening.
ROCKIES BULLPEN
LaTroy Hawkins has been demoted from the 9th inning.
We thought they would turn to Adam Ottavino. Well...
Rafael Betancourt got the save Monday and Thomas Harding of MLB.com also sent me this on Twitter. "When John Axford returns I expect him to get some chances."
Yikes.
Betancourt is all the way back from Tommy John surgery that cost him the 2014 season. He has a career ERA of 3.17, a WHIP of 1.09, a K/9 of 9.54 an a K/BB ratio of 4.53 over 650.1 innings. Do you know how many other pitchers in the history of baseball can match all those numbers? The answer is none.
Ottavino has to be the slight favorite right now, but there is no clarity whatsoever, especially after reading this quote from the Denver Post. " It wouldn't be surprising to see Betancourt get another chance to close, but after the game, Weiss said he was still not ready "declare a closer."