DFS DIAMONDS

*The follow list of players are guys that Ray recommends as daily plays. He will try to avoid the obvious, so you will rarely see the Mike Trout’s and David Price’s of the world listed.

CATCHER: Wilson Ramos has four hits in his two outings this year. Perhaps LASIK surgery helped? Over the course of his career he’s been much better against lefties with a .287/.333/.418 slash line that includes 59 RBI in 380 at-bats. He faces Adam Conley.

FIRST BASE: Albert Pujols has three home runs in 23 at-bats against Derek Holland that has led to a 1.270 OPS over 25 plate appearances. In 155 at-bats last season against lefties Pujols only hit .219 but he did blast 11 homers.

SECOND BASE: Rougned Odor has scored a run in all three games this season. He posted a .781 OPS last season against lefties with a .771 OPS in night games last season. Also success he’s had against Hector Santiago with a .529/.600/.882 line over 20 plate appearances.

THIRD BASE: Jed Lowrie has five RBI this season, including one in each game. He faces Mat Latos who looked horrible this spring. He’s also, in limited work, had success against Latos going 5-for-8 with two homers and five RBI.

SHORTSTOP: Jean Segura has a .421 average against John Lackey in 19 at-bats. He also was one of the 10 best hitters in baseball in Spring Training and he’s kept that run going with two hits in each of his three games this season.

OUTFIELD: Jay Bruce owns a .498 SLG at home in his career. That mark is .485 in day games. The mark is slightly lower versus righties at .480. He faces righty Charlie Morton, at home, and in a day game.

OUTFIELD: Josh Reddick faces Mat Latos who you read about above. Reddick hit really well last season against rigthties with a strong .289/.347/.478 slash line.

OUTFIELD: Colby Rasmus hit 18 homers last season in 313 at-bats against righties. He takes his hacks at a cold Yankee Stadium in terms of the weather, but Rasmus gets to take his hacks in the ballpark that was the most advantageous to left-handed home run hitters in 2015. He is opposed by Nathan Eovaldi.

CANO UPDATE

Robinson Cano is the first player in Mariners history to hit a homer in each of the first three games of the season (he and Bobby Doerr in 1941 are the only second sackers to accomplish a homer in 3-straight to open the year). He’s hit four big flies total. Like I’ve been saying since, well forever, Cano is still a star. Period. Cano started terribly slowly last year with four home runs through his first 74 games. That’s four homers in 284 plate appearances. This season he has four homers in 14 plate appearances. Since July 5th last season, a span of 81 games (or half a season), Cano has hit .322 with 20 homers, 59 RBI, 53 runs scored and a .929 OPS. Read that line again. He’s still elite folks. Just the truth.

JOSE FERNANDEZ IS A BOSS, SORT OF

Jose Fernandez was dominating the Tigers Wednesday, that is until the 6th inning. Fernandez struck out 13 batters on 106 pitches, just off his 114 career high, but the outing didn’t end well at all as he ended up allowing five earned runs over 5.2 innings. Just like Justin Verlander a day before him, Fernandez ran out of gas in the end and turned a remarkable looking effort into just blah. Fernandez had been 17-0 at home in his career, never losing a start until this effort. Fernandez is now 17-1 at home and that was his first loss in 27 starts in Florida (1.61 ERA, 205 strikeouts in 173.1 innings). Still, great to see him blister the Tigers to the tune of 13 punchouts and only a single walk. This just in, that kid is good.

ERASMO RAMIREZ, A CLOSING OPTION?

Erasmo Ramirez worked the 8th inning Wednesday. The Rays then left him in to work the 9th inning as well. Is it possible he could work the 9th inning? "He pitches well in any situation," Rays manager Kevin Cash said. "He doesn't seem to let the inning, the score or anything affect him. He just goes out there and attacks hitters." Is Erasmo the front runner for the 9th inning job in Tampa? No. But think of it. He’s a starter in the bullpen. How many times will he be turned to in the 8th inning and then be allowed to pitch the 9th because there is no concern with him throwing multiple innings? Or is this just the pattern the Rays are going to be using? After all, Alex Colome was allowed to throw two innings in his first outing this season as well. This is a developing situation we will have to follow.

MCHUGH ROCKED

Collin McHugh entered his start Wednesday with a 5.91 career ERA in the first inning. Not one to disappoint, Collin allowed six runs in the first inning against the Yankees… while recording just one out. He should be fine when all is said and done, don’t panic, but wow was this outing a killer to his owners.

INJURY UPDATES

Josh Donaldson injured his calf and was pulled from the Blue Jays game Wednesday. He says it’s no big deal, he blamed the hard fake grass in Tampa for it. We shall see how much time the MVP will miss but we just heard that a certain speedy outfielder was fine, only to see him placed on the DL quickly thereafter (keep reading).

Andrew Heaney has been placed on the 15-day DL with left forearm tightness. You hear “forearm tightness” and your mind immediately heads to Tommy John surgery. The good news is that it appears his UCL is fine and there is no need to worry about surgery. Heaney will rest for two weeks and then the Angels will reassess where they are at and set up a plan to follow. Bottom line is that he’s not going to throw another pitch that counts in April.

Ben Revere has been placed on the DL with an oblique issue (Matt den Dekker has been recalled to take his roster spot). Luckily it’s not his legs that are hurt, and it’s not like he’s driving the ball deep when healthy, but oblique injuries can linger and potentially cost a player a month or more. Until he returns to action, and make no mistake he should return as a starter when healthy, the Nationals will turn to Michael Taylor. Pay attention to what I just wrote. If Jayson Werth, Bryce Harper and Ben Revere are healthy I still think that Taylor gets pushed into a reserve role. What does Taylor have to offer? You know I have you covered with a Player Profile.