The St. Louis Cardinals and Pittsburgh Pirates remain idle while the rest of the league plays on. The highlight of the evening is rookie phenom Nate Pearson starting the second game played in Sahlen Field, the Toronto Blue Jays' home away from home. The dimensions of the venue for Triple-A Buffalo are hitter-friendly, though a lake breeze often mitigates the effect.
Wednesday marks the return of some day baseball, as the Detroit Tigers entertain the Chicago White Sox, the Colorado Rockies host the Arizona Diamondbacks and the Oakland Athletics visit the Los Angeles Angels in a trio of midweek matinees.
Pitching
Griffin Canning (R), rostered in 22% of ESPN leagues, Los Angeles Angels vs. Oakland Athletics: Canning is coming off an uncharacteristically wild start, as he walked six Texas Rangers in just 3⅔ innings, giving up four runs, albeit just one earned. Admittedly, the Athletics aren't ideal fodder for a rebound as they are one of the more patient teams, but they fan at an above-average clip and rank mid-pack in overall offense. Playing in pitcher-friendly Angel Stadium is also in Canning's favor.
Dylan Cease (R), 15%, Chicago White Sox at Detroit Tigers: The knee-jerk reaction is to recommend a promising pitcher against a weak offense, but the Tigers aren't as tame as expected, averaging the third-most runs in the league. That said, if you take any 15-game slice of a typical season, there will be anomalies. Cease is coming off an unusual outing, holding the Indians scoreless over five frames despite walking five. The 24-year-old righty is a work in progress. He features a 96-98 mph fastball and a slider. This season, he appears to be throwing fewer curves and more changeups. If he can fine-tune his control, Cease has the stuff to be a dominant starter. Helping Cease's cause is the fact that C.J. Cron is on the IL with knee soreness.
Brad Keller (R), 5%, Kansas City Royals at Cincinnati Reds: In a normal season, the following note on Keller would be filed away, not apropos until it proves actionable. However, the abbreviated season doesn't favor patience, leading to taking more chances. It was only one game, but Keller's slider exhibited more spin than last season, leading to an eye-popping 36.4% swinging strike rate. It's a risk, but if Keller indeed possesses an improved slider, the rest of his repertoire plays better and there should be an uptick in strikeouts.
Jordan Lyles (R), 2%, Texas Rangers vs. Seattle Mariners: This pick comes with some homework. Check to see if the roof will be open at Globe Life Field. On Monday night, the club's Twitter feed announced it would be open for just the second time this season, despite the thermometer reading 95 degrees at game time. The result was a three-homer night from the usually tepid Seattle Mariners. One game doesn't prove anything, but from a scientific point of view, the heat should aid hitters, much like it did at the old Globe Life Park. If it's closed, Lyles is a streaming option, as the new venue has played big under those conditions.
Bullpen: Staying with the Rangers, health is a concern, but Rafael Montero appears to be the favorite for saves with Jose LeClerc out for an extended period. Montero is rostered in only 16% of ESPN leagues.
For the latest team-by-team closer situations, please consult our Closer Chart.
Hitting
Catcher -- James McCann (R), 10%, Chicago White Sox at Detroit Tigers (LHP Matthew Boyd): McCann is demonstrating last season's breakout wasn't a complete fluke, as he's off to a .345/.378/.655 start, with most of the damage coming against southpaw pitching. Look for McCann to continue the trend facing his former battery mate.
First Base -- Ryan McBroom (R), under 1%, Kansas City Royals at Cincinnati Reds (LHP Wade Miley): Miley is making just his second start of the season, having spent an IL stint recovering from a groin injury. The veteran lefty was shellacked in his opener, which is discouraging considering he struggled last September. The Red have Tyler Mahle waiting in the wings but opted to give Miley another crack in the rotation. McBroom is on the short side of a platoon but has taken advantage of his opportunities, smacking four of his eight hits for extra bases.
Second Base -- Cesar Hernandez (S), 49%, Cleveland Indians vs. Chicago Cubs (RHP Kyle Hendricks): Hernandez has been shut out thus far in the home run and stolen base departments, but he's getting on base at a 41% clip and scoring some runs. The homers and steals will come.
Third Base -- Austin Riley (R), 22%, Atlanta Braves at New York Yankees (RHP Masahiro Tanaka): Tanaka has yet to allow a long ball this year, albeit in a scant 7⅔ innings. For his career, Tanaka has been homer-prone, proving equally generous to both sides of the plate. All three of Riley's home runs this season and 14 of his 21 career shots have come with a right-hander on the hill.
Shortstop -- Nick Ahmed (R), 6%, Arizona Diamondbacks at Colorado Rockies (RHP Antonio Senzatela): The requisite Diamondbacks spot in a Coors Field affair typically goes to Kole Calhoun or Davis Peralta. Both are very much in play, but it's time to share the spotlight with Ahmed. The slick-fielding shortstop didn't go deep in Monday's series opener, but he enjoyed a 3-for-4 evening, scoring three time, knocking in one while also swiping a pair of bags.
Corner Infield -- Ji-Man Choi (S), 5%, Tampa Bay Rays at Boston Red Sox (RHP Zack Godley): Lost in the craziness that is the 2020 season is the oddity of Choi becoming a switch-hitter. This is especially pertinent as the Rays love to play the Strat-O-Matic game with their platoons. Choi thus won't be lifted for left-handed relievers.
Middle Infield -- Ryan McMahon (L), 56%, Colorado Rockies vs. Arizona Diamondbacks (RHP Luke Weaver): You caught me, McMahon's rostership exceeds the normal 50% cutoff for inclusion. However, the Rockies went through a long stretch of facing southpaw starters, relegating McMahon to the bench -- and the waiver wire. The level is close enough to warrant a heads-up that McMahon could be available in some shallow leagues.
Outfield -- Anthony Santander (S), 46%, Baltimore Orioles at Philadelphia Phillies (RHP Zach Eflin): Eflin was solid against the Yankees in his first start, but he surrendered 28 homers in 163⅓ innings last season. Santander carried a modest four-game hitting streak into Tuesday's action, including a home run last Saturday.
Outfield -- Randal Grichuk (R), 32%, Toronto Blue Jays vs. Miami Marlins (RHP Jordan Yamamoto): After serving up 11 homers in just 78⅔ innings last season, Yamamoto authored a pair in four frames in his 2020 debut. As discussed in the introduction, it's unclear how Sahlen Field will play, though Grichuk has the pop to hit it out anywhere, with 40 of his past 56 homers coming against right-handed pitching.
Outfield -- Phil Gosselin (R), 4%, Philadelphia Phillies vs. Baltimore Orioles (LHP Wade LeBlanc): The Phillies are riding the hot hand with Gosselin, as he's been getting more than platoon at-bats lately. That said, with a lefty toeing the rubber, Gosselin will definitely get the nod over Jay Bruce at designated hitter. LeBlanc is coming off a tough go against the Marlins in which he yielded six earned runs on seven hits in just 3⅓ innings.
Hitter ratings account for the opposing starting pitcher's history (three years' worth as well as past 21 days) as well as ballpark factors. "LH" and "RH" ratings account only for left- and right-handed batters, respectively. Weighted on-base average (wOBA) is the primary statistic used in the calculation. Ratings range from 1-10, with 10 representing the best possible matchup, statistically speaking, and 1 representing the worst. So, for example, a 10 is a must-start rating, while a 1 should be avoided (if possible); a 1-2 is poor, 3-4 is fair, 5-6 is average, 7-8 is very good and 9-10 is excellent. A "*" means that the pitcher lacks requisite career major league data to produce an accurate hitter rating; these are the author's ratings.