I gotta say, I know it won’t happen further down the line but I love me a Friday that has baseball throughout the entire day. Out here on the west coast, I get to ease into everything with a few morning games, catch a matinee after the Fantasy Alarm show on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio and then settle into my evening with the late games. Really…what could be better?

If you didn’t get a chance to hear today’s show, I can be the corporate shill and let you know you can hear it in its entirety using the SiriusXM app and On Demand feature, but I think I can sum up some of what went down while also sharing some thoughts on the daytime action as they are completely intertwined. As of this moment, three games are in the books, the Dodgers are leading the Rockies in the eighth inning and the Giants and Padres are already knotted at one in the first. Your main/late-slate DFS lineups should be locked right about now, so let’s dive into some stuff you seasonal players need to know.

Let’s start with the question that was on everyone’s mind this morning and that is, “How will Max Scherzer fare after dealing with the finger issue and having his first start of the season pushed back to Friday?” Well, we can go the obvious route here and start with the final pitching line of 6.2 innings with two runs allowed on four hits and two walks with seven strikeouts. He threw 98 pitches (62 strikes), but in all honesty, he seemed a little hesitant to just pound the strike zone early as only 12 of his 25 first-pitches came in for strikes. I don’t think it’s anything to read into and I feel like he’ll be throwing like a bona fide ace again in no time. Not like you can complain about the pitching line anyway. You got your win, the quality start and some decent strikeouts.

Vince Velasquez, on the other hand, certainly could use a little help in the command department. He nailed down 10 strikeouts in just four innings, but he threw nine of 20 first-pitch strikes and a more-disciplined team isn’t going to fish the way the Nationals did today. Maybe we can chalk it up to some nerves, but his command has always been a little meh overall. Watch his next outing closely and see if he was just too amped up for his first start.

The flu is obviously running rampant through the Red Sox clubhouse as they faced Rookie of the Year Michael Fulmer without the services of both Mookie Betts and Hanley Ramirez today. Consider both day-to-day and look out for late scratches over the weekend, as the Sox could see a few more sick, lame and weary opt for a day off. As for Fulmer, it was a rock-solid outing with six scoreless frames and four strikeouts. We’re still not talking ace material, but the kid certainly looks like last year is something he’s looking to build off of. Poor guy didn’t get the win though as Francisco Rodriguez blew the save for him after serving up a late-game home run to Pablo Sandoval, but he did back-door into the win when Robby Scott coughed up the lead in the bottom half of the inning. No need to run out and handcuff Bruce Rondon to K-Rod just yet as the leash is pretty long for the veteran closer.

There were a couple of things to like about the Pirates win today, at least from a fantasy perspective:

  1. Ivan Nova tossed six innings with one unearned run and four strikeouts. He looked solid, though keep in mind, this was still the Braves.
  2. Andrew McCutchen got off the schnide with three hits, a walk and one RBI.
  3. Francisco Cervelli just filled his quota for home runs on the season so hopefully you had him active.

As for the Braves, Mike Foltynewicz may have a great fastball, but his command is still garbage. He threw 91 pitches (56 strikes) and still couldn’t get out of the fourth inning. I’m definitely willing to give him another chance before I drop him from my roster, but outings like this are simply a waste for fantasy purposes.

Matt Kemp, by the way, left the game with hamstring tightness. The Braves are saying his removal was just precautionary, so there’s hope, but don’t be surprised to see him get the day off Saturday and possibly even Sunday.

How about that start from Colorado lefty Kyle Freeland? Kid looked real sharp on the hill after allowing just one run on four hits and two walks over six innings to stifle a Dodgers lineup that was without Corey Seager and Adrian Gonzalez (day of rest against a southpaw), but he managed to post six strikeouts. Between him and Antonio Senzatela yesterday, there looks to be a little promise brewing for the Rockies staff. I don’t consider either anything more than streaming options at this point and I will likely keep them out of the active lineup during home starts, but it’s still a nice sign that the team is really working well with their young arms.

The Dodgers had Hyun-Jin Ryu cruising for a little bit but after 77 pitches in just 4.2 innings, they wanted to give him a break. They’re going to need to keep him fresh as….brace yourself…Rich Hill landed on the disabled list with yet another blister issue. During the show today, my co-host Dave Lochran set the over/under for how many starts Hill will make this year at 10.5. I took the over but only because I think he’ll max out at 12.

Off the Cuff

Just a couple of things we discussed on the show in which you might be interested:

Dave loves…I mean LOVES…Carlos Santana this year and I can’t say I disagree with what he said. With no Rajai Davis hitting atop the order against lefties, Santana will likely remain there all season long against both handed pitchers. That’s going to dramatically increase the number of at-bats he’ll see and Dave’s bold prediction was 40 home runs and 100 RBI. That’s bold, all right. And as I say…so bold you wanna baste ribs in it!

I’m all in on Yasiel Puig this year. The guy has started off like a house of fire and I did some investigating to see if there was anything different he was doing. Apparently, Puig spent the offseason tweaking his swing mechanics and stance and now points his back a little more to the pitcher to help his timing and generate a little more power. The tweak, though, is actually not new. He used this stance when he first joined MLB but started to settle back a little more and didn’t rotate his hips as much. While I’m not ready to say 35-40 home runs are coming, I did go out on a limb and declared a 30-100 season for him. Of course, if he goes back to being a mental case, I take it all back!

Neither of us believe Travis Shaw is anything more than what you saw last year. Chalk it up to a hot start, ride the wave until the end of April when it breaks and look to replace him then. If you can sell-high, DO IT!

We’re both digging on Reds lefty Brandon Finnegan and if you go back and listen to the show, Dave had a solid breakdown of the youngster. You can also check out what I had to say in Saturday’s New York Post. If you don’t hear the show and choose not to find tomorrow’s Post, just know that we like him, we like his strikeout potential, and neither of us think his start against the Phillies was a fluke.

That’s going to do it for today’s Daily Bender, but look for more in tomorrow morning’s Morning Buzz and a late Saturday edition of this column again!

Good luck and I’ll see you all in the money this year!