While Oakland Athletics right-hander Mike Fiers garners most of the baseball headlines for throwing his second career no-hitter -- and credit is indeed due -- the fact is he entered play with a 6.81 ERA this season and with his name nowhere to be found among Tristan H. Cockcroft's top-125 starting pitchers in the latest ESPN standard-game rankings. I doubt his name suddenly appears there, in any relevant spot, anytime soon. Fantasy managers should be more interested in what Los Angeles Dodgers third baseman Justin Turner and lefty Hyun-Jin Ryu achieved on Tuesday.
Turner managed one home run through 34 games, a center field blast on April 30 against now-demoted San Francisco Giants lefty Ty Blach, and that was it! Turner is hardly the only powerless veteran these days, as we worry about Cincinnati Reds first baseman Joey Votto, Cleveland Indians infielder Jose Ramirez, Detroit Tigers outfielder Nicholas Castellanos, among others, as well, but still, we worry. Incidentally, Votto had a home run stolen by Athletics center field magician Ramon Laureano on Tuesday, preserving Fiers' historic day. Still, the fact that Turner homered three times on Tuesday, even as two of them came off Atlanta Braves relief pitchers who could very easily be in the minors or unemployed, is significant.
I studied Turner recently and was surprised to see he really wasn't off to a slow start, even though his BABIP was elevated. Turner is hitting baseballs hard, in the air rather than on the ground, and plate discipline is not a problem. It seemed a matter of time before some baseballs cleared fences. Remember, Turner had his wrist busted by a pitch early last season and missed considerable time, but he returned and clubbed nine home runs -- and hit .356 -- in his 55 games after the All-Star break. Plus, Turner has oddly hit only three of his 97 career home runs in April. He remains a top-100 overall player for Cockcroft and me in roto leagues, and can clearly hit for average and modest pop. We roster him for these reasons, even if we expect fewer than 20 home runs and 140 games. And frankly, we still do.
As for Ryu, still available in 10 percent of ESPN standard leagues, he went the distance in shutting out the Braves on four hits with nary a walk. Would you believe Ryu leads all pitchers since the start of the 2018 season with a 1.99 ERA, just a shade better than New York Mets right-hander Jacob deGrom? It is true. Ryu, 32, could be the pitching version of Turner, in a way. The last time Ryu reached 130 innings in a season was 2014, but when he pitches, he sure pitches well. There is a value in that for the Dodgers and fantasy managers. I cannot tell you Ryu, especially knowing the organization he pitches for, tops 130 innings in 2019, but I do think his numbers will be good. Perhaps more people will notice after Tuesday.
Then there is Fiers, hurler of the 300th no-hitter in history. He confounded the Reds into much soft contact, his defense certainly aided him and he threw a million (or so) pitches. Doesn't matter. Nothing changes here, as Fiers lowered his unsightly ERA to a still-unsightly 5.48, and his FIP (4.97) and xFIP (5.22) tell a tale of a pitcher who has not been unlucky. Fiers is not missing nearly as many bats as in the past. He has always been fly-ball oriented and the 64 home runs divided evenly from 2017-18 weren't a fluke, either. He boasts a career ERA of 4.11. Fiers aided fantasy managers in deeper formats last season, but didn't have to be rostered, either. He is available in more than 90 percent of current leagues, and while he is an attractive addition for his next scheduled outings, versus the terrible Indians offense and the sputtering Tigers in their place, history tells us pitchers of his ilk rarely keep the statistical momentum going. Roster him over Homer Bailey, another historical oddity for tossing multiple no-hitters, but don't get too excited, either.
Tuesday recap
Box scores
Highlights
Justin Turner, 3B, Los Angeles Dodgers: 4-for-5, 3 HR, 6 RBI
Whit Merrifield, 2B/OF, Kansas City Royals: 4-for-5, HR, 5 RBI, SB
Hunter Pence, OF, Texas Rangers: 3-for-3, HR, 4 RBI
Mike Fiers, SP, Oakland Athletics: 9 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 6 K
Hyun-Jin Ryu, SP, Los Angeles Dodgers: 9 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 6 K
Lowlights
Matt Chapman, 3B, Oakland Athletics: 0-for-4, 4 K
Christian Walker, 1B, Arizona Diamondbacks: 0-for-4, 3 K
Collin McHugh, SP/RP, Houston Astros: 3 IP, 7 H, 8 ER, 3 BB, 3 K
Antonio Senzatella, SP/RP, Colorado Rockies: 4 2/3 IP, 8 H, 7 ER, 1 BB, 3 K
Max Fried, SP, Atlanta Braves: 1 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 K
Tuesday takeaways
We missed you, Shohei. pic.twitter.com/DCrT9DWNWE
- MLB Stats (@MLBStats) May 7, 2019
• Los Angeles Angels designated hitter/starting pitcher Shohei Ohtani made his season debut hitting in the No. 3 lineup spot, even against a left-handed pitcher. Ohtani knocked in a run with a groundout and walked among five plate appearances. Albert Pujols handled first base, and we shall see if Justin Bour platoons with him against right-handed pitching. I doubt it. Still, the fact that Ohtani was out there against Detroit Tigers lefty Daniel Norris is a positive sign. Fantasy managers should not want this, as I believe the drop in batting average outweighs the nominal counting stats. Ohtani has a .216 batting average and .641 OPS over 114 PA against lefties. Whatever. He is back and the Angels face more right-handed pitching next week>
• Washington Nationals third baseman Anthony Rendon returned from an annoying injured list stint that could have been made official a week prior to when it was. He did little in his first game back except for warranting a late-inning ejection for arguing a strikeout he didn't warrant. At least he cared. The Nationals continue to struggle offensively, but so would your team with half its regulars out. Trea Turner, the first-round fantasy pick who fractured an index finger on a bunt attempt, could actually return this month. Outfielder Juan Soto could return this Saturday. In other words, things will improve. They did not for rookie shortstop Carter Kieboom, who was sent back to Triple-A Tuesday, but do not change your long-term outlook for him just because he didn't hit for two weeks.
• Things are going poorly for Houston Astros right-hander Collin McHugh, a popular preseason sleeper after dominating in the bullpen a season ago. McHugh looked great after four starts, posting a 1.96 ERA and one home run allowed. He has allowed eight home runs in four starts since and his ERA has climbed to 6.37 after the Royals clubbed him around Tuesday. I hate saying to move on from a pitcher I recommended so quickly, but something is wrong. Bench him, at the least. The Astros can be patient, but can you?
• San Francisco Giants left fielders remain the worst in baseball, hitting a collective .172 with a .492 OPS and two home runs, but one of them came Tuesday thanks to Mac Williamson, who is getting another chance to prove himself. The Giants won the game at Coors Field and scored 14 times. Williamson, 28, has proven himself an excellent Triple-A hitter, and got off to a great start for last season's Giants after an offseason reworking his swing, but then he disappointed again. His big league batting average is .226. Give him a look in NL-only formats, but not a real long one.
Health report
• Braves lefty Max Fried struggled in the first inning against the Dodgers and then took an Alex Verdugo line drive off his valuable left hand in the second inning, precipitating an early departure and concern about his next outing. The hand is bruised. Fried's ERA is bruised as well. It was 1.38 entering his April 26 outing and now it is 2.97. That is still good, and he beat the Padres last week, but read the trends. Fried struggles with control issues and while his role might appear set, the Braves have many starting pitcher options but a weak bullpen. I'd be selling here.
• Good news from Padres land, as rookie shortstop Fernando Tatis might come off the injured list and play Friday. Tatis hurt his hamstring and scared men everywhere with a painful-looking split on a play at second base on April 28. We were concerned his hamstring was no longer attached to his body. Activate him right away in daily formats and those in weekly ones will be sad to know the Padres play in Denver this weekend.
Closing time
• Few expected Cody Allen, just activated from the injured list, to get a save chance Tuesday, but we continue to be surprised that Hansel Robles gets the ninth inning over Ty Buttrey. One could argue that Buttrey faced tougher hitters and that was the reason for his summons, but still, unless Allen regains the role soon, rostering Robles over Buttrey seems the short-term move.
• Perhaps Boston Red Sox manager Alex Cora won't add clarity to his closer situation anytime soon, but Ryan Brasier started the eighth inning with a three-run lead at Baltimore and 13 pitches later the score was 6-5. Matt Barnes escaped the eighth inning and held on for his third save. I invested in Barnes back in March. Cora has mainly gone with him to set up Brasier. The numbers tell us Barnes is superior, with 27 strikeouts over 14 1/3 innings and a 1.88 ERA. I'll stick with him as most likely to get 20 Red Sox saves.
W2W4
• Houston Astros right-hander Brad Peacock has a wonderful opportunity to remain in the team's rotation and earn many a victory behind an awesome offense, but as with McHugh, I can't imagine he can struggle for long and keep the role. Peacock permitted seven runs at Minnesota last week. He faces the Royals Wednesday, but hey, they pounded McHugh. Why do we care about Peacock? He was 10-2 with a 3.22 ERA and monster K rate as a starter in 2017 and we think he can duplicate the success in 2019. Current Royals are hitting .227 against him.
• ESPN features Seattle Mariners lefty Yusei Kikuchi at Yankee Stadium. Early impressions on the Japanese All-Star have been positive. The only concern has been the organization's threats -- perhaps that is an unfair word, but to us, it matters -- to keep Kikuchi to one-inning starts roughly once a month. That will not happen Wednesday, unless there is an injury or the Yankees score many runs. Kikuchi fanned 10 Indians in his most recent outing, but that seems aberrant since he hasn't topped five whiffs in any other start. This is a nice story, as are the Mariners, but fantasy managers should know better. Kikuchi has more name value than actual fantasy value this season.
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