DFS PLAYBOOK PRO – An exciting new offering from the Alarm is here! It’s the DFS Playbook Pro. I will be doing a daily breakdown of the hitters –Hitting Coach – while Howard Bender looks into the Pitchers (Pitching Coach). You can find the link to the Hitting and Pitching articles under the DFS Playbook pro tab at the top right of the screen.
OTHER LINKS TO BOOKMARK
AN INNINGS CAP FOR RODON?
As I wrote yesterday, Carlos Rodon has been given a spot in the White Sox starting rotation. I mentioned 160-innings as the most I would expect from Rodon given that he’s never thrown 135 in a season before, but it sounds like that may or may not be accurate. Here are the words of Sox GM Rick Hahn. "This is a process we have been through before. We had Chris Sale go from 70-some-odd innings in the bullpen one year to over 190 the next year. But a 120-inning jump is not what is going to work for every guy. Each guy is an individual, and we are going to monitor Carlos' stuff and health and effectiveness and what Carlos is reporting as we go through this process.” Of course Hahn, in his best politician speak, then went on to say the following. "At the end of the season, he may well be at 150. He could be lower than that depending on how he feels…”
In the end, we still have no idea, and I’m still sticking to the 160 innings pitched limit.
I’M NOT SURPRISED – WHY ARE YOU?
As I wrote back on April 24th, and I’m quoting myself now “I’m not saying you can’t add Alex Guerrero. Injuries happen. Players force their way into the lineup. Things change. But note that the Dodgers have three valid options at third base right now, have one of the best prospects in baseball waiting in the wings (Corey Seager)…” Now here are the words of manager Don Mattingly from yesterday when he was asked if there was a committee at third base. “I don’t like saying that… But, yeah, third base this year has been a little bit like the outfield last year, trying to figure out that spot.” Guerrero has been tremendous with six homers and 16 RBIs in just 51 at-bats, but it’s not like Justin Turner has been terrible, in fact, he too has been excellent (.309/.777/.655). What this means it that Guerrero will not be playing daily at third base (don’t forget that Juan Uribe is around too). In the outfield we’ve got Joc Pederson, the early Rookie of the Year Favorite, Scott Van Slyke with a 1.022 OPS and Andre Ethier with a 1.020 OPS. That group of outfielders doesn’t include the injured Carl Crawford and Yasiel Puig.
Summing up. (1) Guerrero has been great. (2) The Dodgers have four other batters with an OPS of 1.000 right now (Adrian Gonzalez is the last one at 1.152). (3) Guerrero has no official spot in the daily lineup. (4) When Crawford and Puig are healthy playing time could be even harder to come by.
Speaking of Puig… what a waste. He had a setback with his hamstring and he’s been shut down. It's likely 
that he won’t return to the Dodgers until June. “It wasn’t necessarily good news, but I don’t feel we’re starting all the way over,” Mattingly said Tuesday. “The MRI shows a strain.”
I’m just gonna say it. Puig is a mess. The guy has oodles of talent, cannot dispute that point, but the rest of him – not so much. He’s arrogant, flippant and precocious (no I’m not describing myself). Mattingly even said, basically, that it was likely that Puig told the medical staff he was OK to play when he really wasn’t because he wanted to play so badly. Admirable, but at the same time stupid. “That’s where he just has to talk,” Mattingly said. “Guys get caught in timetables sometimes, I think.” Expect Puig to return at some point in June.
MONTH OF MAY
Shin-Soo Choo is back? Maybe? Hopefully? In May Choo is batting .333 with a .375 OBP and .667 SLG. He’s also produced a hit in 12-straight games and that includes three homers and nine RBIs. OK, too soon to say “he’s back” but I’m highly intrigued and fully recommend buying.
Torii Hunter has hit .400 in May. He’s, in 11 games, driven in 13 runners while scoring 12 times. He’s been stupendous. Try to convince someone that he’s “back” and look to move Hunter. If you can’t he’s not the worst OF5 in the world, but at nearly 40 he’s unlikely to have a significant fantasy season.
Jason Kipnis is destroying everything in the month batting .488 with two homers, seven RBIs, 11 runs scored and three steals in 10 games. As I’ve been saying, he’s still an elite option at second base even though many chose not to believe that for some reason.
Marcus Semien has hit .347 with three homers, three steals and nine runs scored in May. He qualified at second and third base coming into the season and he’s appeared in 35 games at shortstop this season. Hell of an infield option right now.
Andrelton Simmons is batting .341 the last 11 games while scoring 15 runs. Now that he’s hitting second consistently, he’s likely to continue to be a big run scoring option for the Braves.
INJURIES
Rusney Castillo apparently injured his hamstring in a Triple-A game Wednesday while stealing second base. He was able to walk off the field, but there’s no word yet on if he will be DL bound yet again after missing time with a shoulder issue earlier this year.
Patrick Corbin has a return date of June 4th to reutrn to the bump for the D’backs. Many things to say here. (1) I recommend everyone reads my article on Tommy John surgery. (2) Corbin didn’t throw a pitch last year. (3) Corbin wasn’t great before the injury. Good sure, but a 20-16 record, 7.53 K/9, 3.80 ERA… all solid but not elite. (4) He didn’t throw a pitch last year. Just emphasizing that fact. (5) Guys frequently struggle when they return from the injury, hiccups are to be expected, and you know the D’backs are going to be very careful with his pitch count and workload. You can add in mixed leagues if you have a DL spot, but adding him to take up a roster spot… I’m just not a fan of that.
Justin Masterson has hit the DL with “arm fatigue.” What the hell does that mean? It means that the Sox have no idea what is going on with Masterson, other than they realize he stinks (6.37 ERA, 1.67 WHIP). It’s pretty scary to think that PITCHf/x data shows the following mph marks for his fastball: 93.1 mph (2013), 90.3 mph (2014) and 87.6 mph (2015). Clearly there is a problem. Masterson can be dropped in all mixed leagues. AL-only --- depends on your staff but starting him immediately upon his return from the DL would be foolish.
Ray Flowers can be heard Monday through Friday at 7 PM EDT on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 7 PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).