The Weekend Round Up — May 21st
Daily Recap of MLB News, Fantasy News, and Gambling Picks.
Max Scherzer For MVP?
Max Scherzer has won 2 Cy-Young awards in a row. That’s two years of being the best pitcher the NL has to offer for back-to-back years. Now, as a encore to that achievement, he is even better. Max Scherzer became the fastest to reach 100 K’s in a season for starting pitchers. That isn’t in the last 20 years, that’s since stats started being recorded. The man is a strikeout machine. He paces around the mound and stares down batters striking fear that only a pitcher like max could. However, there is a large portion of the MLB fan base that believes that a pitcher shouldn’t win the most valuable player. The last person to do it was Justin Verlander in 2011 when he had a phenomenal year. The only problem is that at this point in the season, Max Scherzer has more innings pitched, strikeouts, a better ERA, and a better record then Verlander had in 2011. Not only that, but Scherzer is getting it done at the plate. He is batting .308 and has 4 RBI’s, far surpassing any benchmark for pitchers (#BanTheDH). At this rate, the baseball writers will have no choice but to give Max the honor.
Rays Start The Bullpen
The Tampa bay Rays decided to experiment with the bullpen on Sunday. They started Sergio Romo and threw the rest of their bullpen before they put in their starting pitcher for the game. The idea was to get all the right handed hitters out the first couple times and then bring in a lefty later in the game. The rays ended up losing 5–2, but the idea may not be dead just yet. They have expressed interest in trying this again multiple times if they don’t have faith in some of their starters. Although weird, who knows? Maybe the Rays are just playing baseball in 2050 right now. Let us know how they’re using the shift!
Another Met Down, Lagares Out For The Year
In what was the best weekend for the Mets in the month of May, they suffered a big blow before it started, as they learned that gold Glover Juan Lagares would miss the rest of the season. Lagares tore a ligament in his toe and will have surgery this week. Lagares was hitting over .350 to start the season and playing virtually every day with injuries to Conforto and Cespedes already, and is obviously one of the better defensive center fielders the league has to offer. Brandon nimmo is expected to get a much bigger role going forward, but until he’s able to consistently play like a major leaguer, Lagares’ absence will be felt.
Can The Dodgers Right The Ship?
The Los Angeles Dodgers, reigning NL Champs, look very vulnerable, but there is hope. The team was reeling, getting swept by the lowly Reds, then losing a series to the Miami Marlins. It was not a good look for the runners up from last year, but they have responded well, sweeping the Nationals this weekend in convincing fashion. The good news keeps rolling as Clayton Kershaw threw a 30 pitch bullpen, where it is projected for him to return to the big leagues within the next few weeks. Winners of four straight the Dodgers sit just 5 games back of the injury riddled Diamondbacks. Only time will tell whether or not this juggernaut can get back on track.
#HaderForCyYoung
Josh Hader has become an anomaly, never before has a reliever come in to be this dominant with the type of strikeout numbers he is piling up. He has now racked up six saves, six holds, and 2 wins without suffering a loss. The 24 year old lefty’s ERA is 1.32 and his WHIP is 0.51, he has been nearly untouchable this year. He also leads the Brewers with 56 Ks in a measly 27.1 innings. Looking back, Eric Gagne was the last reliever to win the Cy Young, his year was also utterly dominant, with 55 saves in as many tries, a sparkling 1.20 ERA, and 134 Ks in 82.1 innings. Hader has a long way to go, but if he can keep this pace that he is on, it will be hard to ignore his case as the next reliever to win the Cy Young.
Braves Comeback Makes It Real
The best team in the National League struck again Sunday afternoon, as the Braves stunned the Marlins with an incredible 6 run 9th inning. It’s ended the way everyone would think, as the inning began with Ozzie Albies RBI’s (ROY?) and Freddie Freeman clutch singles, and ended with Nick Markakis (MVP?) and Dansby Swanson driving in 2 run singles. To say Nick Markakis is an MVP candidate 2 months ago may have gotten you locked in the loony bin, but then again saying the Braves would contend wasn’t too far off that either. As we come closer to June, the Braves don’t look like they are going anywhere, and the NL East is the most cluttered division in baseball. The Mets, Phillies, Braves, and Nationals are all at least 3 games above .500. Leading the pack however, is the Cinderella Braves. Chop on!
Fantasy News
Juan Soto Gets The Call
The Nationals have called up their top available prospect and a top 10 OF prospect, Juan Soto. Soto is the youngest player in the MLB, and the first player to play an MLB game that was born after the Arizona Diamondbacks & Tampa Bay Rays played their first game. He was called up after Howie Kendrick tore his Achilles in Saturday’s game against the Dodgers. Soto started the year at single A, got promoted twice to AAA, and now a third promotion to the big leagues. The promotions aren’t without merit, because he has been demolishing pitching at every level. If you’re looking for a young bat to potentially have a breakout few weeks, consider Juan Soto.
Jack Flaherty
We wrote about Jack Flaherty before when he first got called up earlier in the year, but now it looks like he is hear to stay. Wainwright has found himself on the DL again because he hurt his throwing elbow (again). Flaherty has had four starts so far in the big leagues, but this weekends start was by far his best. He went up against another great right hander in Aaron Nola and didn’t blink. He struck out 13 batters while only giving up 1 earned run. The best part about it, he is only owned in 25% of fantasy leagues. So 3/4 of the people reading this, go get Jack Flaherty. He is a dominant young arm and will not disappoint.
Gambling Picks
Scaf’s Picks
We had a great week last week, taking home a ton of money. It’s time to double down this week. Today’s picks:
- Atlanta Braves (+110)
- New York Mets (-120)
- St. Louis Cardinals (-210)
Balzy’s Beat The Streak Pick
We got our streak started a little early this week. We’re looking to keep it going. Today’s picks are Michael Conforto & JustinTurner. #RoadTo56
Streak Counter — 2
Bonus
OBJ Can Rake
Odell Beckham Jr. is known for making spectacular catches on the gridiron, but now he’s hitting batting practice homeruns too. OBJ visited LA Angels stadium rocking a retro Devil Rays jersey and took some BP after the team finished. In classic OBJ style, he launched a few homers. Maybe the Marlins could use him in left?
Update On The Rich Hill Fiasco
Let’s paint a picture. 4 years ago, 34 year old fading Rich Hill finds his career fading before his very eyes into the twilight. His ball touches 88 MPH at best, he can’t strike out your grandmother, and he’s rotting in the Atlantic League. Then, a certain deal with the devil was made, as Hill started throwing low 90s with some wicked breaking stuff. He had once again found success in the pros. But, there’s always a catch when you make a deal with the devil, and that explains the famous blister from hell. After throwing 2 pitches in his last start, Hill was removed and put on the DL for the 5th time in the last 3 years because of a blister. Before you cry wuss, take a look at this thing.
Yikes. That’s absolutely disgusting. Godspeed Rich Hill, Godspeed indeed.
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