The first full day of the big league season is behind us. There were surprises at the dish and the plate, odd coaching decisions, and the inevitable injuries. It's all covered in today's Daily Trends article including a focus on the Dodgers and Mets bullpens.
LINKS YOU HAVE TO BOOKMARK
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: Rene Rivera hit .280 last season with six homers in just 100 at-bats against left-handed pitching. Tuesday he faces Orioles' lefty Wei-Yin Chen.
1B: Freddie Freeman has six RBIs and nine hits in 15 at-bats against Mat Latos. That's a .600 batting average folks and it's not like Latos looked sharp all spring or anything.
2B: Aaron Hill better be in the lineup somewhere Tuesday. With all the Giants' injuries on the bump Ryan Vogelsong is set to get the call. All Hill has done is bat .467 with two homers and six RBIs against Vogy (30 at-bats).
3B: Chris Johnson was upset he wasn't in the lineup for Game 1. He might also sit for Game 2 against Mat Latos but that's likely a mistake given that Johnson has a homer and is batting .400 over 20 at-bats against the righty. Another note. Sit Kyle Seager. He's not only had just three hits in 33 at-bats against C.J. Wilson but he's also struck out a whopping 15 times in the matchup.
SS: Starlin Castro has a .333 batting average over 30 at-bats against Lance Lynn. He's also hit .300 against the Cardinals over 81 career games and he's hit .283 in his career at Wrigley.
OF: Gerardo Parra has seven hits in 13 at-bats against Jordan Lyles. With Ryan Braun's injury he's almost certain to play as well and the last three seasons Parra has hit .283 with a .760 OPS against righties.
OF: Carl Crawford is 7-for-13 against Tyson Ross with two steals. Crawford hit .296 against lefties last season and owns a career .305 mark against them.
OF: Justin Upton now has his brother by his side yet again with the Padres. He's got a tough matchup on paper against Zack Greinke, but in 14 at-bats he's gone deep and hit .500 while he's also walked a couple of times leading to a .611 OBP over 18 plate appearances.
SP: Jesse Hahn, Athletics
Sonny Gray nearly tossed a shutout against the Rangers on Opening Day and Hahn looked sharp this spring with a 3.06 ERA over 17.2 innings.
SP: Nate Karns, Rays
The Orioles can mash, no doubt, but Karns had a solid spring with 19 strikeouts in 23.1 innings and he also posted a 1.16 WHIP in the effort. According to Park Factors from Fangraphs Tropicana Field really suppressed offense last season as the 4th best pitchers park in the game. This is a risky call no doubt, but a cheap one in the daily game.
SP: Lance Lynn, Cardinals - POSTONED CAUSE OF WEATHER
The Cubs didn't score against Adam Wainwright on Opening Day and they also had a 35.3 percent K-rate, a horrific number. Lynn is a big time K-arm who has struck out 8.75 batters per nine for his career. His career road ERA is almost a run an a half higher (4.15) but this would still appear to be a matchup he can exploit.
SP: Alex Wood, Braves
The current Marlins roster has hit .261 with a .650 OPS against Wood over 116 plate appearances. Rather amazingly Wood has a 28:1 K/BB ratio against the Marlins in that time with only Christian Yelich coaxing a walk.
INJURIES - METS BULLPEN
Jenrry Mejia had an MRI on his elbow that showed mere inflammation. He was giving a cortisone shot and now we wait after he was placed on the DL. That means the rush to the waiver-wire for Jeurys Familia is in full swing. Some notes on the Mets situation.
(1) We don't know how much time Mejia will miss.
(2) Familia owns a 2.84 ERA in 94 big league outings with a 1.29 WHIP. He generates copious amounts of grounders - 56 percent of batted balls for his career - and he strikes out a good deal as well (8.50 per nine last year). Unfortunately he's also walked 4.44 batters per nine over his 101.1 innings, and there are very few closers that have consistent success with a number that high.
(3) Adam Rubin writes that Jerry Blevins could continue to get looks in the 9th inning. Blevins dominates lefties having held them to a .419 OPS over 117 batters while striking out 40 of therm. Only three others had a better OPS against lefties last season than Blevins. If a team is sending up a couple of lefties in the 9th it's possible Blevins will get the call.
(4) I would still expect Bobby Parnell to lead the Mets in saves this season. Parnell will return from Tommy John surgery by the end of the month, so don't go spending too heavily to add any of the names just discusses.
DODGERS BULLPEN
Kenley Jansen was seen in a walking boot Monday during pre-game introductions causing some concern. Don't worry about it said Dodgers' manager Don Mattingly. "That's part of the process for him," said Mattingly. "They have him in the boot still partially to rest, gradually building up the strength in the foot." The team still expects that Jansen will be back throwing bullets around the first of May. If that is indeed accurate then the hysteria round the Dodgers 9th inning at the moment seems a bit foolish.
(1) The Dodgers have named no one as official the holder of the 9th inning duties.
(2) Chris Hatcher got the save in the Dodgers first game. Here's a direct quote from MLB.com about the situation. "It was a milestone game for Hatcher, who apparently will be the interim closer until Kenley Jansen returns, except Mattingly won't announce it. Hatcher said he was never told ahead of time he would pitch the ninth inning and began warming up with the game tied." So it would seem that Hatcher will get the first shot at the role.
(3) Who is Chris Hatcher? He has 82 big league outings under his belt starting in 2011. He has a solid 8.54 K/9 rate and his 2.58 BB/9 mark ain't bad either. He can allow the long ball at times though his 0.99 HR/9 rate is far from obnoxious as his 10.4 HR/F ratio is just a tad over league average. His GB/FB ratio is 1.29, another slightly better than average mark. Hatcher did save 33 games at Triple-A in 2013 so he does have plenty of 9th inning experience under his belt.
Add Hatcher for sure. Bid aggressively? Nope.