The Good, The Bad & The Ugly Fantasy Baseball Updates – Opening Day:
Don Baylor/Vlad Guerrero – This isn’t much to the Fantasy Baseball World, but happened in a West Coast Game that many may not have seen. Don Baylor who is the 64-Year Old Hitting Coach for the Angels caught the ceremonial Opening Day First Pitch from Vlad Guerrero. Guerrero was signed on a 1-Day Contract by the Angels in order to retire in style. Check out the video below for an unfortunate and ugly injury that Baylor inflicted on the ceremonial pitch … Yuck! These are never easy to see.
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Billy Hamilton – Buzz around the MLB already has Fantasy Owners talking that Hamilton can’t hit Major League pitching as he notched an 0-4 performance, crowning himself with the “Golden Sombrero” a.k.a. 4 Strikeouts! In Hamilton’s defense he squared off against one of the MLB’s best pitchers – Adam Wainwright. Hamilton should be considered lucky that he was left on deck with Rosenthal on the mound – as he probably would have seen a fifth strikeout.
Salvador Perez – Starts off the 2014 Season with a bang, going 4 for 4. Perez singled and doubled twice in the ball game. Look for a breakout season from the Catcher that will add nearly a .300 AVG on the season. In other words, Perez is one of the happiest guys in the world right now – all baseball players will agree … going 4 for 4 in an opening game is nothing short of baseball heaven.
Mike Trout – 1 Game in the books and 1 HR later – Fantasy Baseball Owners “Love Mike Trout”. #MCM – Does Man-Crush Monday exist in the social media world?!?
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Felix Hernandez – King Felix tossed 6 IP and added 11 Ks, only allowing 1 BB. It was relieving to see actual run support coming from the Seattle lineup when Hernandez took the mound, but hey … apparently $200 Million will do that.
Trevor Rosenthal – If Carlos Martinez wasn’t nasty enough, Rosenthal cemented the STL back-end with a dominant performance – pumping upper 90’s fastballs, then dropping filty changeups to retire the Cincinnati batters in order. Good luck if you think you’re going to score runs against STL – their bullpen is raw dog nasty.
Tommy Hunter – The Baltimore Closer held the fort down and secured a save by protecting a one-run lead against Boston. Hunter started off his inning by plunking Will Middlebrooks, who homered twice off him during the spring. #OpeningDayBalls … The only other thing topping the HBP would have been a Middlebrooks stare down after the final out and a Pedro Cerrano “Big Balls Dance” while trotting off the field.
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Jose Reyes – Reyes was placed on the 15-Day DL with left hamstring tightness. Reyes has had trouble with his hamstrings throughout his career. Fantasy owners should be on high alert. We would recommend grabbing a similar player like Alexi Ramirez while you can. At 30 years old, it’s very worrisome that Reyes is already at odds with a nagging injury on Day 1.
Bobby Parnell – Parnell topped out at 93 MPH one time today. He was sitting around 89 – 91 MPH with his Fastball. Not attractive for your Closer who also added a blown save to the stat-sheet for the day. Be proactive and add Valverde.
Francisco Rodriguez/Jim Henderson – Francisco Rodriguez to close for the Brewers “for now” until Henderson gets his stuff back. Continue to monitor this situation closely.
Matt Lindstrom – Many expected Nate Jones to be the 9th Inning guy after the trading of Addison Reed, however White Sox Manager – Robin Ventura went with the vet. Lindstrom tossed a scoreless 9th inning Monday to notch a save vs. the Twins. Jones should emerge before long, however Lindstrom is the guy to grab off the wire.
Sonny Gray – Looked good on Opening Night, going 6 Innings of shut-out ball and adding 7 Ks. Unfortunately for Gray, Masterson put up an equally strong performance with more run support. Expect solid things all year from this guy and hopefully you were a manager who bought into the hype.