We’ve hit the first weekend of the 2022 MLB season and since MLB Opening Day we’ve already had quite a few storylines that we should be watching that will not only have an impact around the league but also in fantasy baseball as well. That said, your fantasy baseball player rankings shouldn’t be changing all that much this early in the season and all those hours spent doing mock drafts and preparing your draft strategy should give you some confidence in the players you drafted early in the season. Let’s take a look at some of the highlights and developing trends from Friday’s slate of games.

Fantasy Baseball Highlights

 

Sean Manaea Tosses a No-Hitter in Padres Debut

 

Ok, so it won’t go down as an official no-hitter because he only tossed seven-innings in his debut but those were seven no-hit innings against the Diamondbacks. He struck out seven and walked just one over those seven no-hit innings. This is now back-to-back games to open the season where the Padres starting pitcher no-hit DBacks before being removed from the game due to pitch count as Yu Darvish went six no-hit innings to open the season. We knew that the Diamondbacks were going to be a very bad team this year but they are looking like the sure-fire team to be streaming pitchers against this season.

Fun Fact: Tim Hill was the reliever to give up the no-hitter in BOTH games…Little bar trivia for everyone moving forward. 

Pitch Limits Becoming the Story

We know the lockout resulted in a shortened spring training for everyone but it is clear that these managers are taking caution with their starting pitchers early on this season and that was again on display Friday with the majority of starting pitchers, regardless of success, finding themselves being removed around the 80-to-85 pitch mark and for some, they were removed even before then. For example, Rays' starter Shane McClanahan was removed after just 4.1 innings while throwing only 68 pitches in which he had allowed just four hits, zero runs, and had seven strikeouts. Max Scherzer was removed after just 80-pitches in his debut for the Mets. Charlie Morton had thrown just 78 pitches before being taken out against the Reds. Logan Webb threw just 85 pitches over six innings before being removed against the Marlins having allowed just one earned run. This is something fantasy managers, especially those playing MLB DFS or looking to bet on some player props need to be aware of.

Houston Astros Hit Five Home Runs Against the Angels

 

Kyle Tucker led the offensive barrage, launching two home runs and driving in four RBI while Jose Altuve, Jeremy Peña, Alex Bregman, and Aledmys Díaz all left the yard. Bregman has now homered in both games to start the season. Though the Astros lineup lost Carlos Correa in the offseason, they are proving to still be a handful for major league pitchers to start the season. 

Robbie Ray Picks Up Where He Left Off

 

The 2021 American League Cy Young Award winner made his Mariners debut on Friday and looked just as good on the mound as he did all of last season, tossing seven innings of one-run baseball while striking out five. He bucked the trend around the league when it came to pitching count as he tossed 96 pitches in his debut. Ray was immaculate last season, posting a 2.84 ERA and a career-best 1.04 WHIP while striking out 248 over 193.1 innings. He walked four in this game and that is something to pay attention to but he finds himself pitching in a much more favorable division this season than what he had to deal with in the American League East last season.

Saturday MLB Betting Advice

Make sure to check out our Underdog Fantasy player prop top plays as well as our PrizePicks MLB player prop top plays and take advantage of the deposit bonus offers we have going on with both partners today. Some featured plays to target today will be centered around Joe Musgrove and his matchup against the Arizona Diamondbacks. We've seen both Yu Darvish and Sean Manaea no-hit the Diamondbacks through the first two games of the day and Joe Musgrove is certainly somebody that will be up for the challenge to keep the trend going this afternoon. The Padres are -160 favorites to win tonight's matchup and Musgrove is -170 to go OVER his strikeout prop this evening. 

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