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Fantasy Baseball Thoughts: Week 4

By Matt Schindler

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Anthony Gruppuso-USA TODAY Sports

This week will bring May, the second month of the season. But before we move on to May, let’s look at some fantasy baseball thoughts from the last full week of April, Week 4 of the fantasy baseball season.

Batters

  • Jose Abreu’s game is translating just well.  If you targeted him after guys like Paul Goldschmidt, Chris Davis, Prince Fielder, etc…guess what, you won.
  • Speaking of Crush…ruh roh, oblique injuries can take awhile to heal.
  • After hyping Devin Mesoraco as a reason not to reach for catchers, he hits the DL, luckily Josmil Pinto has my back and thus I still stand by that theory.
  • Bryce Harper has hit the DL as well, and continues to frustrate his owners that still believe he could do what Mike Trout has been doing.
  • Ryan Braun is hurt too, this time it’s not his thumb, but his ribs. His injury is likely to hold him back 3-5 games this week, but should not require a DL Stint. Regardless, Braun should be on your bench in weekly leagues.
  • If you hated Braun because of his PED scandal…and you own Jean Segura…you may want to visit a neurologist to make sure nothing in your brain exploded. Segura like Braun, is expected to avoid the DL and is a questionable play in weekly leagues.
  • Ben Revere is healthy and is running faster than Paul Revere’s horse…that blows.  Speaking of high horses, don’t show that clip to Gerrit Cole or Brian McCann or they might start complaining that The Kid showed up that pitcher.
  • Brett Lawrie had himself a week, but he is still batting .179 on the year, and he is likely still a tool.
  • Josh Donaldson, yeah, he is for real.
  • Kyle Seager decided to join the Mariners this week.
  • Andrew McCutchen did the same for the Bucs.
  • For those of you thinking Chris Carter would have a break out year this season, he gave you a glimmer of hope this past week.
  • Nelson Cruz and Johnny Peralta are playing like they are, in a way, still feeling the effects of the Biogenesis scandal.

Pitchers

  • Masahiro Tanaka and Garrett Richards had a nice show down last night. Tanaka’s command was a little off and he still struck out 11. Richards, only struck out 7, but was impressive and is legit, he makes for a solid add in any format.
  • The best two-start pitcher this week was Collin McHugh…McHugh. After today’s start McHugh has a K/9 of 11.15 and a BB/9 of 1.76.  He cannot keep up that pace but in AL-Only leagues he deserves and a claim, otherwise he is a streamer in standard leagues.
  • Tanner Roark will remain in the Washington rotation when Doug Fister comes back as he has completely out pitched Taylor Jordan. Roark, like McHugh will not be able to keep his current pace, but has value as a streamer or in NL-Only formats.
  • Those of you that landed Johnny Cueto late in your draft, congratulations. Cueto is a stud when healthy, but he has only reached 200 IP once in his career, selling high might not be a bad move.
  • James Shields is quietly off to great start, but is still the 3rd best pitcher in Missouri behind Adam Wainwright and Michael Wacha.
  • Speaking of pitchers in Missouri, Shelby Miller, I was wrong, my bad.  If I call you the fifth best pitcher in Missouri, will you forgive me?  I’ll move you up to 4th above Yordano Ventura after the break, promise.
  • Andrew Cashner is getting a lot of hype in the classy city of San Diego, and rightfully so, but do not sleep on Ian Kennedy.  At one point Kennedy was a 20 game winner, and he is pitching a lot better than he did in 2013. He won’t win 20 games with the Padres, but he could be useful in some formats, give him a sniff, he probably smells better than the whale’s vagina that San Diego was named after, sorry.
  • You cannot spell Michael Pineda without pine…, man I wish his middle name was Tar.
  • Kyle Gibson, hi I’m earth, have we met? Yes, yes we did, on Tuesday.
  • Jason Hammel…still not buying it.
  • Ernesto Frieri is out as closer and Joe Smith is in, if you are desperate for saves, add.
  • For injury related reasons, Jason Grilli is out as the Pirates closer and Mark Melancon is in.
  • Speaking of closers, you may want to keep an eye on Daisuke Matsuzaka.
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