Hey All,
We are officially 1 full week into the MLB season and wow has opening week been exciting. We saw everything from a season opening 1st pitch home run to the Asian Babe Ruth almost throwing a perfect game to postponements due to snow. With that, I thought it would be best to recap on some headlines that have so far developed in this early season. In no particular order, below you can find a short list of some way to early trends I've noticed that may be noteworthy as the season progresses. Please share and comment and let me know if you noticed anything interesting during opening week! I've also added a bit of a fantasy and DFS twist.
Look, I know, we are only a few days into the season and what we see today almost certainly will not be what we see come September. But, that doesn't mean we can't get excited about some of the early season trends. Enjoy!
The truth is, the Angels have been wasting away some valuable (in every sense of the word) time with Mike Trout. He is one of the, if not the, best player in the majors. A 5-tool do it all player that already has 2 league MVPs under his belt and 6 all star appearances, Trout is just a machine. Oh, and he is just 26 years old. Just insane. The Angels, however, have made the playoffs just once with Trout and struggled to barely break .500 in other years. Well things seem to be changing finally. Sitting at 8-3, LAA had a bunch of major offseason moves that seem to be paying off. For one, they have shown so far they can be an offensive juggernaut. As of this writing they currently have scored the most runs in all of baseball (68) and are simply ripping apart opposing pitchers. According to FanGraphs, the Angels are a top 3 team in every major stat including wRC+, wOBA, and ISO and those numbers even get better when they matchup with right handers. Will these numbers regress, absolutely, but regardless, these numbers show the Angels have improved offensively. Acquisitions of Justin Upton and Shohei Ohtani have proven to fit perfectly in a lineup with the likes of Trout and Pujols. Underrated additions of Cozart and Ian Kinsler (when he returns, just watch) have also made a massive difference. Defensively the Angels remain solid as Trout outfield presence is just as dangerous as his offense and the always steady Andrelton Simmons anchors an infield. The only question mark that remains is their starting rotation which is lead by Garrett Richards and JC Ramirez. Talented but unflattering. Ohtani nearly threw a perfect game last week so if thats any indication of normality, their rotation should be just fine.
I've been stacking up the Angels for the better part of the last week for DFS and its been working wonderfully. They are hitting everyone and are affordable. Just play Trout and Upton and mix in Cozart, Calhoun, Pujols, Ohtani as needed and watch them put up crooked numbers. Ride em while they are hot!
Watch out for the Angels this year. We talked about their offseason moves in a previous article and so far, the moves they made are paying dividends.
Speaking of Shohei Ohtani, if you didn't notice what he did in his first week of major league baseball, you need to go back rewatch some games and check the stats. I thought people were crazy calling him the Asian Babe Ruth but maybe I'm crazy for not considering it. Like for real? A starting pitcher and DH, no chance. But Ohtani has so far proven his worth. He has a .389 average with 3 home runs and 7 RBIs while also toeing the rubber with a 2-0 record, 2.08 ERA, and 18 strikeouts. Just ridiculous so far. We talked about how amazing trout is as a 5-tool player and then we are presented with this 2-tool(?) Babe Ruth pitcher/DH. Can he keep it up? Who knows but its been exciting watching him so far. Oh, and one of his home runs was against the 2x Cy Young winter Corey Kluber. Come on.
In terms of fantasy baseball, Ohtani's price is rising fast and deservedly so. So far, he seems to bat DH only against right handers. Additionally, the Angels are keeping to his previous regime of pitching 1x a week (not once every 5 days like normal starters) and also giving him an off day the day before and after his starts. This impacts his availability, so note that. Otherwise, he has been tearing the cover off the ball and pitching gems.
As I write up this article Pittsburgh is closing out the first game of a series against the Cubs 8-5 which does help the second part of the headline. The Pirates are currently 8-2 and sit atop the NL Central, which to some, including myself a Pirate fan, is surprising. Now I know its only 10 games and we are in the first weeks of April but Pittsburgh has actually shown some signs that they are for real. Most notably is the improved offense, so far. I mentioned the Angels lead the majors in runs scored. Guess who's second? The Pittsburgh freaking Pirates and if you count the 8 runs they just scored, I'm sure they are likely going to be leading the majors close of today. This offseason they traded away a longtime face of the franchise in Andrew McCutchen who also was a major piece of their offense. Not surprisingly, most expected the Pirates offense to take a step back. Well, so far they haven't. In fact they have improved. Just like the Angels, Pittsburgh leads the majors in several offensive categories. In reality, they just continue to produce runs and keep in mind they are doing so in not so great of hitting weather (snow, rain, cold). The young lineup that is centered around Marte, Polanco, and Bell has proven to be really impressive. More interesting, the random late offseason addition of left handed Dickerson has also been a great move. Unlike previous years the Pirates have a number of left handed hitters that can hurt you. More so, for how great McCutchen was offensively, he was notorious for slow starts to the season. Without him in the lineup, the Pirates are currently a run producing machine. We also saw Marte miss most of last season, so having him start the season fresh and with something to prove has certainly helped.
In terms of pitching, the same preseason assumptions existed as the offense. Pirates traded away ace pitcher Gerrit Cole (who is tearing it up in Houston) thus leaving the rotation with almost nothing worth writing home about. Thus far the Pirates rotation has been anything but special. Jameson Taillon tossed a 1-hit shutout the other day on his way to be named NL Player of the week. Outside of him, Ivan Nova has been ehhh as well as the other random rotational starters. Additionally the bullpen has loosed weak.
The Pirates records and offensive output so far has looked great and exceeded exceptions. A win today vs. the Cubs helped support their fast start but outside of a 1-1 split with the Twins the Pirates have wins against the Tigers and Reds, whom both are not very good nor expected to be good this year. Couple this with an average at best rotation and weak bullpen, as soon as the offense goes, we could see the Pirates start to slide. However, who knows, if they can turn out a decent rotation and continue rolling with one of the best offensives they have had in years, they could keep the train rolling. Only time will tell.
For fantasy, feel free to capitalize on the Pirates offense. Typically low-owned in DFS games, the Pirates have shown good output from the likes of Marte, Polanco, Bell, and Dickerson. Feel free to employ Taillon in good matchups especially at home as he has proven to be reliable.
If you have been watching the Dodgers at all, you probably have noticed they are struggling offensively. Even against mediocre and bad opposing starters, the Dodgers just can't muster up a good offensive effort and produce runs. Last year you could safely employ a Dodgers lineup against almost any opposing right handed starter since they Dodgers are loaded with great left handers. This year hasn't been the case. In general, the Dodgers offense ranks as a bottom 3 team in almost every advanced statistic and that includes games against mediocre right handed starters. More so, they are just awful vs. opposing left handers ranking dead last in almost every stat. Thats just not good. Yes, I know it is early but the Dodgers were an early favorite for not only their division but the NL and so far, they look far from it.
All that being said, to me this just only goes to prove how valuable Justin Turner is to the Dodgers offense. He has been on the DL to start this season and isn't expected back until the middle of May. A very underrated player in book, Turner anchored the 3 hole for most of last season and helped power the Dodgers offense night in and night out. He batted .322 last season with 21 home runs and 77 RBIs but more so, helped balance the Dodgers left handed heavily lineup out as a right hander. At just 3-6 and losing games with very little offense compared to last year, the Dodgers desperately need Turner back in the lineup.
Not Bellinger, not Seager, not even Kershaw, the real MVP of the Dodgers is Justin Turner. Once he returns in May expect the Dodgers offense to pick up.
For fantasy purposes, I'm staying away from the Dodgers as of now, especially against left handed pitchers. Keep an eye out for Turners return to the lineup and try to capitalize because I'm fully confident he will restore order to this once offensive juggernaut.
