New day, new insider. Fantasy Baseball Insiders’ sixth game of the season was the season opener at Comerica Park on Friday featuring the Tigers and the visiting Indians.
Previous Fantasy Baseball Insiders Tonight updates:
- 4/8: Blue Jays’ Vernon Wells Hits Fourth Homer In Three Games
- 4/7: Rays' Evan Longoria Goes Deep Again
- 4/6: Orioles’ Adam Jones, Matt Wieters Homer in Season Debut
- 4/5: Braves’ Jason Heyward Homers in MLB Debut
- 4/4: Curtis Granderson Hits HR in Yankees Debut
Game No. 6 – Cleveland Indians at Detroit Tigers
Friday’s game featured few hits, few strikeouts, and one enormous error by third baseman Jhonny Peralta .
Grady Sizemore finished with two hits and a stolen base. One of the hits was a rope off the wall for a triple. Grady is now batting .316 on the season and just may be on his way back to prominence.
Travis Hafner led off the top of the second with a HR to right-center, the first of the Indians season, and finished 1-for-4.
Magglio Ordonez finished with a pair of hits and his ground ball to third base ended up being the play of the game as Peralta’s error led to all three of Detroit’s base runners scoring.
21-year-old Rick Porcello used 88 pitches to pitch five-plus innings, good enough for the win. Porcello finished with three strikeouts while walking two batters.
Porcello’s counterpart, second-year Indian David Huff , pitched a great game but ran into a little bad luck. He finished the day allowing one earned run and gave up six hits (five singles, two of which never left the infield) in six innings.
The player of the game was former Yankees prospect Austin Jackson . The rookie finished with two runs, one RBI, one steal, and batted 1-for-3.
Jose Valverde pitched the ninth and came away with a rather easy save, his first of the season.
Other news from around the league:
HITTERS
Hitter of the day: Rick Ankiel (4-for-4, R, HR, 3 RBI, SB)
The former Cardinal is just two years removed from a 25-HR campaign. Given an entire season in the Royals’ lineup, 20-plus homers is within reach.
After a paltry 1-for-12 start to the season, Miguel Tejada gave the hometown crowd something to cheer for with a two-run single in the first.
The O’s clean-up hitter plated Nick Markakis on a fifth-inning shot to left field. The shortstop-qualifying third baseman may become a pleasant surprise this season.
Alex ‘Fish’ Gonzalez finished 1-for-5 and blasted a solo shot in the third for Toronto, his second of the season.
Also from the Baltimore game, Brian Roberts stole a base in the first inning but left with an abdominal strain and may be headed to the DL. Julio Lugo finished the game at second base and appears poised to fill in for Roberts.
Both Brad Hawpe and Troy Tulowitzki had two hits and two runs scored on Friday.
Clint Barmes continued his feast/famine ways as his one hit in four tries was a three-run bomb to left.
Yesterday’s FBI feature star , Edgar Renteria , forced extra innings as he hit a two-run homer off Braves closer Billy Wagner in the ninth. Edgar finished 3-for-5 and is now batting 11-for-16 this season.
Jason Heyward finished 0-for-5 and lowered his average to a mere .176.
Martin Prado went 3-for-4 with two runs and two walks in a 13-inning game on Friday against the Giants. The 26-year-old is batting .625 (10-for-16) through four games. Given his first-, second-, and third-base eligibility, Prado is a valuable fantasy commodity.
Derrek Lee went 3-for-4 with two runs, a HR and two RBI against the Braves Friday night. With his three-hit night, the Cubs’ first baseman raised his batting average nearly 200 points.
Drew Stubbs went 2-for-4 leading off on Friday night with two runs and grand slam. Expect big things from the former first-round pick this season.
Mark Teixeira and Alex Rodriguez combined to go 1-for-8 against the Rays Friday night. The Yankees’ corner infielders are now 3-for-43 through five games.
Every starter recorded a hit for the Rays Friday night at home against the Yankees, and every batter except Evan Longoria scored a run.
Carlos Pena hit his first HR of the season, a two-run bomb off Javier Vazquez in the fourth. Jason Bartlett, Carl Crawford, and B.J. Upton each stole a base.
Rafael Furcal went 3-for-4 with a run and a steal against the Marlins Friday night. The Dodgers’ shortstop is batting .375 (6-for-16) with three steals through four games.
Jeff Francoeur and Rod Barajas each went 2-for-4 with two HRs Friday at home against the Nationals. Maybe Citi Field isn’t such a bad place to hit after all…
Casey Kotchman went 1-for-3 with a walk, a HR, and two RBI Friday night against the Rangers. The 27-year-old former first-round pick is finally getting a chance to play every day and is batting third for Seattle against right-handers. Perhaps 2010 is the year he finally lives up to his potential.
Speaking of former Quadruple-A’s, Nelson Cruz hit his third HR in four games Friday night, going 3-for-4 while also scoring twice and driving in two.
The Phillies had 16 hits against the Astros Friday night, four of them coming off the bat of Placido Polanco , who also scored twice and knocked in two runs.
The second base-eligible third baseman is now batting .579 (11-for-19) with seven runs, a HR, and eight RBI in his first four games with the Phillies.
Jeff Keppinger went 3-for-4 Friday night, raising his average to .545 (6-for-11) through four games. Keppinger can certainly hit, given his career .281 batting average.
The 30-year-old second baseman, however, has little pop in his bat and plays for one of the worst offenses in the National League. Because of this, his fantasy value is limited.
Delmon Young went 1-for-5 against the Red Sox Friday night. The 2003 No. 1 overall pick now has a hit in four of the Twins’ five games this season.
Matt Holliday continues to rake in a Cardinals uniform, going 3-for-4 Friday night with two runs, a HR, and two RBI. The 30-year-old is batting .471 (8-for-17) through four games this season.
After starting the season 0-for-12, Adam LaRoche delivered three hits against his brother’s Pirates. Adam also walked, scored twice and knocked in three.
Diamondbacks’ center fielder Chris Young went 3-for-4 with a HR and five RBI Friday night. Despite a rare power/speed combo, the 26-year-old is a career .237 hitter. Don’t take the bait just yet.
Batting one-two in the Athletics’ lineup Friday night, Rajai Davis and Daric Barton each had three hits, two runs, and two RBI.
Juan Rivera went 3-for-4 with a solo blast for the Angels.
PITCHERS
Pitcher of the Day: Jorge De La Rosa (7 IP, W, H, 0 ER, BB, 9 Ks)
As the Rockies opened up Coors for 2010, Jorge continued his good pitching at home. De La Rosa finished with a 10-6 mark last year at home and was completely filthy there on Friday.
Improving on the 9.55 K/9 he posted at home last year, Colorado’s lefty completely baffled the Padres lineup en route to a stellar game.
Former Mariners closer/starter Brandon Morrow had a rough outing in Baltimore on Friday, finishing with five runs, five strikeouts, and five walks in five innings.
Tim Hudson pitched great in San Francisco, as he took a shutout into the seventh. Hudson ended up getting a no-decision as he finished with two strikeouts, two earned runs and only three hits allowed over seven ground ball-filled innings.
Carlos Silva surprised many as he limited the Reds to one run over six innings. Silva only allowed three hits, walked none, and struck out three. The soon-to-be 31-year-old didn’t figure into the decision.
David Price pitched an impressive game given his opponent Friday night. The 2007 No. 1 overall pick held the Yankees to three runs on seven hits and three walks in 7 2/3 innings. He also struck out seven.
Javier Vazquez wasn’t nearly as effective, yielding eight runs on eight hits and three walks in 5 2/3 innings.
Anyone expecting a repeat sub-3.00 ERA season from Vazquez is in for a rude awakening. The 33-year-old is almost certain to punch out 200 batters again in 2010, but a 4.00 ERA is likely to follow.
Hiroki Kuroda dominated the Marlins Friday night, allowing just one unearned run on five hits and one walk in eight innings while striking out seven. With a career WHIP of 1.19, the 35-year-old qualifies as being “sneaky good.” He should be owned in almost all leagues.
Colby Lewis allowed just one run on five hits and four walks in seven innings Friday night against the Rangers to record the win. First C.J. Wilson , now this guy? Who knew Texas starters could be so effective?
J.A. Happ ’s string of luck continued Friday night as he shut out Houston while allowing six hits and two walks in five innings.
The difference between Happ’s ERA and FIP last season was 1.40, the highest mark in baseball, and 27 points higher than number two on the list.
Basically, Happ’s 2009 was aided by a great deal of luck. Don’t let five innings against Houston fool you; he’s not this good.
Tim Wakefield pitched seven strong against Kansas City Friday night, allowing two runs on six hits and a walk, though he didn’t factor into the decision.
Francisco Liriano dominated opposing hitters during winter ball and spring training, but he struggled with his command Friday night against the White Sox. The 26-year-old southpaw allowed three runs on four hits while walking five in six innings of work.
John Danks allowed two runs (one earned) on eight hits and one walk in six innings against the Twins Friday night.
Rodrigo Lopez pitched six strong for Arizona Friday night, allowing just one run on six hits and a walk while punching out five. Don’t expect many more outings like this from the 34-year-old.
Oakland’s Gio Gonzalez turned in a respectable outing Friday night against Anaheim, allowing just two runs on six hits and one walk in six innings. The 24-year-old also stuck out six.
RELIEVERS
After blowing a save on Tuesday and loading the bases before ending the game on Thursday, Orioles’ closer Mike Gonzalez got himself into trouble again on Friday.
With a one-run lead in the ninth, Gonzalez walked Edwin Encarnacion to lead off the inning. Encarnacion then advanced to second base on a wild pitch. Travis Snider delivered a game-tying RBI double, and eventually advanced to third on John McDonald’s sacrifice bunt.
Jose Bautista then chased Gonzalez with a sac fly, forcing Cla Meredith from the bullpen to record the final out of the inning.
Gonzalez has allowed four runs on five hits and four walks in just two innings this season.
More importantly, the 31-year-old has blown two of his three save opportunities. Jim Johnson is the favorite to close games in Baltimore if Gonzalez continues to struggle.
After blowing his first save opportunity of the season on Wednesday, Joakim Soria recorded three outs in the ninth inning against Boston Friday night to record the save.
Jon Rauch converted his third save in as many chances Friday night against the White Sox.
After converting his first two save opportunities of the season, all-time saves leader Trevor Hoffman blew the save Friday night against the Cardinals. The 42-year-old allowed a two-out, two-run HR off the bat of pinch-hitter Nick Stavinoha.
After recording his first save since July 2008 on Wednesday, Billy Wagner served up a two-run bomb to hot-hitting Edgar Renteria in the ninth, blowing the save and spoiling Tim Hudson ’s 2010 debut.
Danny Priest contributed to this article.
Check back Saturday night (and all season long) for more Fantasy Baseball Insiders Tonight updates!
Follow Fantasy Baseball Insiders on Facebook
2010 Fantasy Baseball Insiders player projections:
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com
- Login to post comments