May the Fourth be with you! Sorry, grew up a Star Wars fan, so today’s a fun one. Friday may be a rough one for the Indians and Blue Jays who combined for 41 runs and 56 hits in 20 innings of baseball during a double header on Thursday. During the games, Yangervis Solarte fell one hit short of tying a major league record but did finish the two games with eight hits in 10 at-bats. Within his eight hits, Solarte hit two doubles, two home runs, including a grand slam, scored four runs, walked and drove in seven.
Toronto also welcomed back Josh Donaldson to the lineup. He racked up four hits on Thursday, all of them for extra-bases. Donaldson doubled twice and hit two home run in the double header finishing with four RBI. For Cleveland, Francisco Lindor hit two home runs in Game 1 pushing his season total to seven with four RBI. He also recorded two hits in Game 2 to finish the day with six RBI and his average at a respectable .278 as his positive regression continues. Same goes for José Ramírez who launched a grand slam in Game 2 raising his average to .277 and his on-base plus slugging percentage over nine hundred.
Last but not least, with the Indians rotation needing some depth, Adam Plutko filled in admirably in the second game working 7.1 innings giving up six hits, three earned runs, all on solo home runs, while striking out six.
That Just Happened
Boston’s Mookie Betts reclaimed the major league lead in home runs launching his 12th in Texas off of Mike Minor last night. It’s also his 69th home run from the lead-off spot to tie the team record set by Dom Dimaggio. After 27 games, Betts has scored 33 runs with 25 RBI and carries a .370/.449/.850 slash line.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, Brian Dozier ’s in the midst of a prolonged slump. He’s only registered three hits over his last 42 at-bats (.071) since his single off of Masahiro Tanaka on April 23rd. Teammate Logan Morrison started the season slowly but seems to be awakening. He finished 3-for-4 with a double and a home run but still carries an average below the Mendoza line.
Keep the champagne on ice for Albert Pujols during his chase of reaching 3,000 hits. He did double in four at-bats (also being hit by a pitch) with two RBI on Thursday but remains one hit shy of the milestone. Odds are he will reach the mark this weekend in Seattle, but home fans voiced their displeasure to the Orioles when Pujols was plunked in the fourth inning.
Speaking of the Orioles, outside of Manny Machado , and sometimes Trey Mancini , the lineup is terrible. Machado accounted for all three runs on Thursday scoring one and driving in two with two hits. No other player in the lineup carries an average over three hundred, in fact, only Mancini’s hitting over .270. The rest featured an average below .250 with three hitters under .200 of the nine. Woof. Baltimore was outscored 25 - 12 versus the Angels and head to Oakland.
Nomar Mazara homered for the third straight contest and finished with five RBI against the Red Sox. He’s 11 for his last 35 (.314) during his last eight games and nine of his last 17 hits have been for extra bases (five home runs, four doubles).
Overlooked Jorge Soler , especially if looking at ownership numbers, extended his hit streak to nine and on-base streak to 18 on Thursday. During the last 18 games, Soler’s slashing .359/.481/.672 with 12 extra-base hits and nine RBI. Kansas City’s not good, Soler could be.
Tigers catcher James McCann started the year hitting .147, but he’s 18 for his last 55 with a .327/.350/.545 line pushing his average to a respectable .258 after Thursday.
Kenley Jansen turned in a clean, three out ninth inning for his fifth save. He only needed eight pitches to do so and while he did not strikeout anyone in his appearance, it’s still a positive one. Not saying he’s back, but it’s a start.
Watching how Ken Giles reacted to his blown save disturbed me. Being a perfectionist, it’s tough to fail in the spotlight. Houston did not give him a chance to bounceback on Thursday. They deployed Chris Devenski in the eighth inning and he responded by striking out the side. In spite of being rested, the Astros turned to Will Harris instead of leaving Devinski in or using Giles. Harris did not record an out giving up two hits and a walk, all resulting in an earned run and the eventual loss. This bullpen is a mess right now. Perhaps a dark horse like Collin McHugh could get a save chance? Since transitioning to relief, McHugh owns an 18:2 K:BB rate over 45 total batters faced with a 54.2 ground ball percentage to go with his tidy 0.75 ERA and 0.67 WHIP. If not, look for Devenski to get the next chance if it’s not Giles.
Night Moves
Los Angeles announced Walker Buehler will start on Friday and remain in the rotation going forward with Hyun-Jin Ryu landing on the disabled list.
Jacob deGrom could make his next start. This situation continues to baffle fantasy owners and will need to be treated with caution. Trusting the Mets training staff comes with warning signs from past practice.
Toronto optioned Danny Barnes , placed Steve Pearce on the disabled list with an oblique injury, activated Josh Donaldson and Joe Biagini along with designating for assignment Gift Ngoepe .
Burning Questions
Which at-bat will Albert Pujols reach his 3,000th hit? Two young guns will match-up in Mexico, who wins, Buehler or Lucchesi? Who gets the next save for the Angels or Astros?
All of this and more will be covered in tonight’s Closing Bell and Saturday’s Round Up on Fantasy Alarm so be sure to check back to stay ahead of your competition.
Statistical Credits:
MLB.com
Fangraphs.com
STATS LLC