It was a busy Thursday slate with the last pitch of the Athletics-Angels affair thrown more than 13 hours after the first pitch of the Giants-Mets matinee. The action featured a solid debut from a rookie hurler, a 14-inning marathon in Seattle and, ho hum, another homer from Christian Yelich. Let’s get to the highlights.
Lambert Shines in Debut
Peter Lambert was called up by the Rockies to take the spot of the struggling Kyle Freeland. All he did was stifle the Cubs in Wrigley Field for seven innings, allowing just one run on four hits, fanning nine while walking just one. That said, the 22-year-old righty wasn’t crushing it at Triple-A Albuquerque before his summoning, sporting a 5.07 ERA and 1.31 WHIP, albeit in the hitter-friendly Pacific Coast League. However, he fanned just 51 in 60 1/3 innings, a better indication Lambert could struggle at the MLB level, especially at home.
Astros outlast Mariners in 14
A late Seattle comeback went for naught as Miles Straw tripled then scored on a Yuli Gurriel sacrifice fly, giving Houston an extra innings victory. Straw entered the game as a defensive replacement with the Astros up by a run in the bottom of the ninth. He started the previous five games, highlighted by a three-hit, three steal effort against the Athletics earlier in the week. Speed is Straw’s game. His time with the big club could be limited to when Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa are back, but if you need speed, Straw stirs things up. The other youngster playing with the starting double-play combo out is Jack Mayfield who hit his first homer of his MLB career. Straw is by far the more alluring fantasy entity.
Christian Yelich is good at baseball
The stars carried the Brew Crew with Yelich hitting his 23rd along with swiping his 13th bag, Mike Moustakas clubbing a pair of homers and Lorenzo Cain scoring a pair of runs with a steal. The interesting thing for fantasy purposes is Milwaukee seems set at leaving Josh Hader in the closer role, despite last year’s closer Jeremy Jeffress back and pitching effectively. Obviously, it’s not that Hader can’t get the job done, it’s more that some wondered whether the Brewers would prefer Hader return to the fireman role, pitching multiple innings. It still may transpire, but on Thursday Jeffress started the seventh and got five outs, something Hader did frequently last season.
Beeks remains undefeated
Taking advantage of not needing to work five frames as the follower and not starter, Jalen Beeks improved to 5-0 with 4 1/3 innings of shutout ball in Motown, lowering his ERA to 2.76. Because he doesn’t start, Beeks is often overlooked when searching for streaming options. Like Ryan Yarbrough last season, Beeks is benefiting from the primary pitcher treatment and should be considered when it’s his turn, especially in leagues where starters and relievers have separate designations. In this game, Travis d’Arnaud slugged a pair of homers filling in for Mike Zunino as Zunino took a seat in a day game following a night game.
Kepler with the hat trick
Trevor Bauer’s issue with the long ball continued last night as Max Kepler launched three homers off the Indians righty. Other than Kepler, Bauer was effective, working eight stanzas with seven punch outs. However, Kepler had his number, sending numbers 13, 14 and 15 out of the yard. Jose Berrios, another top hurler dealing with gopheritis, surrendered just one big fly, tossing six frames, allowing just two runs (one earned) to pick up his eighth victory.
Thursday Transactions
Fernando Tatis Jr. was activated from the IL and immediately slotted back at the top of the Padres order. In the corresponding move, Ty France was sent back to Triple-A. Greg Garcia stands to lose the most playing time on the active roster.
Austin Barnes was activated from the IL with Will Smith returning to Triple-A. Barnes should resume main catching duties for the Dodgers, backed up by Russell Martin.
Thursday Injuries
J.D. Martinez left Thursday’s matinee with back spasms. His outlook for the weekend is unclear. Boston has a doubleheader on Saturday so it would be an even bigger blow if he’s forced to miss time.
Mitch Haniger was removed from Thursday’s extra-inning affair after fouling a ball off himself. The injury was later classified as a testicular contusion with further tests forthcoming.
Isiah Kiner-Falefa jammed his finger Thursday night and us likely headed to the IL as the Rangers can’t afford to be without a back-up catcher.
Dwight Smith Jr. appears to be in line for an extended absence as he’s entered concussion protocol after losing a fight with the outfield wall. Smith Jr. also banged up his shoulder in the process.
Looking Ahead
The Twins Michael Pineda will return from the IL to start Friday’s contest with the Tigers.
The Red Sox and Rays, along with the Athletics and Rangers play two on Saturday, so make sure to adjust weekend lineups accordingly.
