Hey guys, first of all, I would like to send out my deepest sorrow and prayers all of those affected by the bombing at the Boston marathon. It’s a real shame for something like that to happen. But the sports world goes on and can even be an outlet for people. The last week has been filled with teams on fire and those who struggled. Many young guys have stepped up, taking advantage of their opportunities. Let’s get started.
Matt Harvey
Harvey has been unbelievable this season! In his first 3 starts, he has gone 7+ IP without allowing more than 3 hits in any of them. He has decreased in his strikeouts in each game going from 10 K’s to 6 in his most recent however, but he has done a good job getting ground balls. Granted, his starts have come against 3 subpar teams (SD, PHI, and MIN). I’ll be interested to see how he does against the powerhouses of the division, the Braves and Nationals. He is a good young arm though and the Mets certainly need him with Johan Santana being out for the year. Luckily, their offense has gotten off to a decent start as well as John Buck is swinging the lumber with some passion! He has 6 homeruns on the season (Mets catchers last year totaled 5). He won’t continue the pace, but the Mets should ride this duo for as long as they can.
Evan Gattis
This man is a perfect example of a guy taking advantage of an opportunity. The Braves turned to him when Brian McCann was placed on the DL and he has taken off from there. Check out this link of Gattis’ swing: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7ApV_CBuSM. The pitch was low and away and he still managed to pull the ball to left center, one of the deepest parts of the Marlins new park. This may end up being another Wally Pipp situation. For those of you who don’t know, Wally Pipp is famous for losing his job to Lou Gehrig on Gehrig’s way to 2,130 consecutive games played. There have been rumors that McCann may be shopped soon. I don’t think that is necessary as McCann may still have a couple good years left in him. Also, I believe Gattis has the ability to play outfield, but that spot is already taken by the Uptons and Jason Heyward, although I think B.J. is extremely overrated. On a side note to this, Gattis should definitely be picked up in all fantasy leagues as the catcher position is usually one of the thinnest positions.
Atlanta Braves
Obviously the hottest team in baseball, the Braves have established themselves as the early powerhouse of the league at 11-1. Coming off a sweep of their NL East rival, the Nationals, they dispatched star arms like Stephen Strasburg and Gio Gonzalez. Not to mention, Justin Upton has been one of the hottest hitters in the league, leading in homeruns. I moved him down in my ranks as he had an “off” year in his last season in a D’backs uniform, but he has certainly revamped his swing in Atlanta. I am also really liking the Braves’ arms in the bottom of the rotation (Mike Minor and Paul Maholm). Both have had stellar starts to the season; Maholm continuing his dominance from the end of last season when he was traded to the Braves from the Cubs. I predicted this team to capture an NL wildcard spot, but they have proved their capability to possibly win this division.
Cincinnati Reds
This team started the season of red hot, grabbing the number one spot in the power rankings at one point. However, this last week was not kind to the Reds, as they lost the series to the Cardinals and most recently got swept by the Pirates, who have turned their offense around in the last week. They have gotten some good production from their role players like Shin Soo Choo and Todd Frazier, to go along with the versatility of Brandon Phillips. However, their star players, Joey Votto and Jay Bruce, have gotten off to slow starts. Votto just hit his first homerun a couple days ago. One of their biggest problems has been their pitching. The bullpen has not been the greatest as their lightning fast closer Aroldis Chapman hasn’t gotten as many chances as I’m sure he would like. Jonathan Broxton has also been decent, but that’s pretty much it. It also doesn’t help that their ace, Johnny Cueto, was just placed on the DL. It’s still early though. They can definitely turn it around in the shaky NL Central.
Fantasy Moment
Top Adds
Hitters
- Evan Gattis
- John Buck
- Mark Reynolds
- Starling Marte
- Jean Segura
- Vernon Wells
- Brandon Moss
- Gerardo Parra
- Franklin Gutierrez
- Denard Span
Pitchers
- Jim Henderson
- Justin Masterson
- Kelvin Herrera
- Barry Zito
- Jose Fernandez
- Chad Billingsley
- Andy Pettitte
- Shelby Miller
- Ervin Santana
- A.J. Griffin
Top Drops
Hitters
- Cameron Maybin
- Pedro Alvarez
- Jason Kipnis
- Mike Moustakas
- Victor Martinez
- Jesus Montero
- Carlos Gomez
- Dayan Viciedo
- Ike Davis
- Ichiro
Pitchers
- Jarrod Parker
- John Axford
- Brandon McCarthy
- Matt Harrison
- Dan Haren
- Greg Holland
- Ryan Vogelsong
- Roy Halladay
- Edwin Jackson
- Homer Bailey
That’s it guys, hope everyone enjoys all the games coming up this week. If you have any questions for me or topics that you would like me to discuss, comment down below. As usual, you can follow me on Twitter @RobertMoodis. Thanks for reading!
-Robert
The 2-2 Pitch 