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On Thursday, Ray Flowers left the Daily Trends with what doctors are referring to as a severe finger cramp and is headed for an MRI to ensure that it is just a cramp and not carpal tunnel. Howard Bender, who is 7-for-13 (.538) in pinch-writing appearances on a Friday, will step in as a replacement. Flowers should be considered day-to-day.
Before we get to the usual format, let's just get this out of the way...
WELCOME MR. BRYANT. YOUR TABLE IS RIGHT OVER HERE...
He’s heeeeeeeeeeere! That’s right, folks, with Mike Olt hitting the 15-day DL with a fractured ulna, it’s time for the moment fantasy owners have been dying for – the arrival of Kris Bryant. Despite the knowledge that he would open the season in the minors, Bryant’s ADP skyrocketed towards the last two weeks of spring and is stashed and owned in virtually every fantasy league that includes him in the player pool. We don’t even need to reiterate the numbers here because no one who owns him….NO ONE…is going to leave him on the bench. Big power and big strikeouts, here we come!
DFS PLAYS OF THE DAY
C: Jonathan Lucroy, MIL – The slow start is about to get faster. Lucroy is 3-for-10 over his last three games and is 6-for-15 (.400) with a double, a home run, three RBI and five walks against southpaw Jeff Locke.
1B: Ike Davis, OAK – He’s batting .321 against right-handers this year and is slugging .441 (.794 OPS) against then over the last three seasons. Meanwhile, against the always hittable Jeremy Guthrie, lefty sluggers are slashing .311/.359/.509.
2B: Neil Walker, PIT – Lefties are slugging .437 against Jimmy Nelson for his short career and over the last three seasons, Walker is slashing .271/.347/.473 against righties and .277/.351/.441 at home.
3B: Pablo Sandoval, BOS – Since last I looked, Bryant was not available yet on Fantasy Aces, so this is my alternative. This pick also comes with a caveat as Sandoval sat out Wednesday with a bruised foot, but the injury is not considered serious and he’s now had two days off to rest. He’s batting .458 from the left side of the plate and is facing righty Ubaldo Jimenez, against whom he is 11-for-34 (.324) with two doubles, one triple, two home runs and five RBI for his career.
SS: Everth Cabrera, BAL – How about a cheapie here? Cabrera has hit safely in each of his last three games and is hitting .333 (.368 OBP) as a left-handed hitter this season. Against Red Sox starter Joe Kelly, lefties are sitting on a .267 average with a .348 OBP over the last three seasons.
OF: Justin Upton, SD– Forget about righty on righty here. He’s on a 10-game hitting streak, he’s homered in each of his last two games and he’s 8-for-29 (.276) with two doubles, two home runs and eight RBI against Jason Hammel, against whom righties are hitting .385 against him this year.
OF: Matt Kemp, SD – What? A Padres stack? Sure, if you can afford it. Kemp is 9-for-20 (.450) with two doubles, two triples and four RBI over his last five games, he’s hitting .306 against righties and is 7-for-25 (.280) with two doubles, a home run, three RBI and four walks against Hammel in his career.
OF: Jon Jay, STL – Here’s another cheapie which may allow you some bigger power in other areas. While right-hander Johnny Cueto is looking dominant, Jay always seems to have his number. The lefty is 12-for-27 (.444) with a double, three home runs, seven RBI and just four strikeouts against Cueto and is really looking to kick-start his season.
SP: David Price, DET – I mean, come on. Sure it’s an investment, but Price hasn’t allowed an earned run through 14 1/3 innings this season and the White Sox are batting just .182 (.206 OBP) against southpaws this year and have scored just five runs with just 23 total bases against them.
SP: Sonny Gray, OAK – He made two starts against the Royals last season and posted a 1.93 ERA with a 9: K:BB over 14 innings. Over 57 collective at-bats, the current Royals roster has zero home runs against Gray with just three RBI and 14 strikeouts.
SP: Bartolo Colon, NYM – It’s all about smoke and mirrors. Somehow, Colon has a 2.77 ERA while throwing his fastball 92.6-percent of the time and just simply induces perpetually weak contact. He’s got a 2.45 ERA over his last two starts against the Marlins and the Fish are batting just .223 with a .307 slugging percentage against righties this season.
LINKS YOU HAVE TO BOOKMARK
CLEVELAND ANNOUNCES SALAZAR SATURDAYS
In a call-up that is seemingly less marquee than that of Bryant, the Indians have announced that they will bring up Danny Salazar to pitch Saturday’s game while Carlos Carrasco (head/jaw) has been pushed back to Monday. The 25-year old right-hander struggled a bit last year as he posted a 4.25 ERA over 110 innings, but he also had a 3.52 FIP and a solid 3.43 K:BB ratio. He’s made one start for Triple-A Columbus this season and threw six scoreless innings and allowed just four hits with no walks and seven strikeouts. With three solid pitches and a developing curveball, Salazar could have some of the best stuff on the Indians staff and much to the chagrin of Zach McAllister (or T.J. House depending on how he does Sunday), he could be up to stay.
RECENT TRENDS
Lorenzo Cain’s 3-for-4 performance Thursday now has him on a nine-game hit streak in which he is batting .429 (15-for-35) with six extra-base hits, including two home runs.
Cardinals third baseman Matt Carpenter has four-straight two-hit games and six in his last eight. He’s batting .364 this season with a .432 OBP and five extra-base hits, including one home run.
Carpenter’s teammates Jhonny Peralta and Matt Holliday have also put together a couple of hitting streaks of their own. Peralta has hit safely in all eight games this season and 11 in a row dating back to last year. Holiday has also hit safely in each of his last eight games.
Looking for a cheap DFS play down the road? Keep in mind that Brewers second baseman Scooter Gennett has hit safely in his last 13 games at Busch Stadium. Mark your calendars – he’s back in St. Louis on June 1.
Lucas Duda has five multi-hit performances in his last six games and is batting .462 (12-for-26) with six doubles, one home run and six RBI.
After blanking the Blue Jays for seven innings with an 11:2 K:BB, Chris Archer has now allowed 2 ER or fewer in 14 of his last 15 road starts (14 IP, 3 H 0 ER in two road starts this year).
OK, in truth, Ray has gone into hiding because his Giants, after dropping a 7-6 game to the Diamondbacks on Thursday, have now lost seven games in a row. You would have thought the bleeding would have stopped with Madison Bumgarner but thanks to home runs from Mark Trumbo and Paul Goldschmidt, he came up short. Dating back to last year, MadBum has now coughed up seven home runs in his last six regular-season starts.
INJURIES
Evan Longoria, 3B TB (hip) – While Tampa Bay and Toronto traded hit batsmen, it was Longoria who came up on the short end of the stick as he got plunked in the hip by Marco Estrada and was forced to leave the game. He is considered day-to-day right now but could end up sitting out Friday.
Carlos Gomez, OF MIL (hamstring) – He returned to Milwaukee Thursday to have additional tests run and the results showed “a small defect or tear” in his hamstring. He received a cortisone shot for the inflammation but was immediately put on the 15-day DL. Terrible news for a guy who makes a good part of his living off his legs.
Jose Reyes, SS TOR – The oft-injured shortstop left Thursday’s game after suffering an oblique injury. He has already been ruled out for Friday and Saturday, but the team feels that he may be able to avoid the disabled list. He is being considered day-to-day, but you better get yourself a quality back-up as we all know how oblique injuries can linger and hinder performance.
Other names questionable for Friday’s games include: Brett Gardner, Devin Mesoraco, Joel Peralta and Yasiel Puig. Check those lineups before you try to use them!