Daily Slivers of the Fantasy Soapbox - Yesterday's Recap

Welcome to the April 22nd edition of Daily Slivers of the Fantasy Soapbox.

Discussing baseball is as fun as the game itself. It has a way of bringing people together to share different opinions about the sport we all love. A similar action can be done with fantasy baseball where we not only discuss topics but also look to improve our teams as well as the teams of our fellow fantasy baseball enthusiasts. Everyone has their own perspectives which are not to be cast off as frivolous. They should be used as a method of expanding our own knowledge.

In this article, I review the previous day's boxscores and provide my opinion on a variety of topics. Some will be random, some will be fun, and some will be stat-driven. It's a soapbox so I may rant from time to time as well. So without any further delay, below are my thoughts on the April 21st games. Enjoy them. You can even respond with your own thoughts on Twitter @EllisCan2.

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Daily Musings

• "He's a Moniak, Moniak on the floor; And he's dancing like he's never danced before." His first HR is special.
• Zach Eflin (6 IP, 1 ER, 3 K) carefully hands the fragile Win to the bullpen...and Kintzler carefully receives it, then cautiously raises it over his head and SLAMs it on the ground.
• King Kong vs Godzilla. Nelson Cruz (six) dealt a couple of body shots, while Matt Olson (six) delivered a couple of punishing blows as well.
• Byron Buxton (six) is getting into the tattoo business. His best customer so far: Rawlings.
• Schoop & Serve, a gelato store, is finally open for the first time this year.
• Francisco Lindor finally located & dusted off the power schematics.
• Pete Alonso (three) swinging that cast iron skillet on that 429-foot monster (115.4 mph).
• Shohei Ohtani swings sweetly & struts his stuff swiftly and speedily around the basepaths in 17.3 seconds.
• Trevor Rogers (7 IP, 1 ER, 8 K) is marvelous, even with 60% four-seamer & 29% changeup; 38% Whiff rate. MIL is another juicy matchup.
• Jazz Chisholm didn't plan for a return trip to minors.  3 HR, 4 SB, .326 AVG
• Phillip Evans w/ 87 percentile Hard Hit rate; 78 percentile xBA; 78 percentile sprint speed. Leagues are deep for this guy not to get even a sniff.
• Woah, did Jorge Soler hear us? He shines so brightly tonight. Three-for-four with second HR.
• Javier Baez sits at his big table only to be satisfied by a hearty* Grand Slam breakfast. *hearty is used very, very loosely. (You have an INF pitch, he's gonna hit left handed on ya too.)
• Yonathan Diaz w/ his first fly-by of the year. This calls for more playing time. "Are you serious?!" ~ Sam Hilliard
• Austin Gomber (6 IP, 2 ER, 6 K) puts the Astros in their place w/ four pitches. SF/ARI next is juicy. His BABIP (.160), xFIP (5.02), and K-BB (5.7%) scream: Be careful!!
• There's alot of big-boy diapers that need changing after that one: Frankie Montas (4 IP, 6 ER); Maeda (3 IP, 7 ER)
• Uh-oh, X gon' give it to ya. Xander Bogaerts (two) w/back-to-back games with long balls.
• Late-bloomer? Adolis Garcia makes his third long-distance call to celebrate the big time.
• Kenta Maeda 13 % whiff rate is like a cool breeze coming ashore on Waikiki Beach.
• There is no way this continues. .394 AVG is outrageous. HA! Oh, he has 6 HR too?! Yeah,  right. What's his name? "Mike Trout" Who? Was this guy even drafted?
• That's why they call him a smooth operator. Smooth operator. Trea Turner w/ five SB.
• I said to myself, "Self"..cause that's what I call myself when I talk to myself. "Self, should a man get a break if he's only hitting .081 in 37 at-bats. Yes, this might be referring to Catt Marpenter.
• Family combo meal! Yuli Gurriel (2)hits the tater & Lourdes Gurriel Jr. snags the sauce (one). NO! There is no such thing as a joint-effort combo meal.
• Rowdy Tellez hitting cleanup?! Why! Randal Grichuk is hitting .306. Speaking of confusing, Cavan Biggio leading off w/ that sexy .281 OBP. Is that good?
• Justin Upton (four) trying to break speed records w/ 116.5 mph missile.
• Yep, changing one of your eye colors is the secret. It's called a heterochromia iridis surgery.  Oh yeah, Scherzer had it done, and look at him now. 6 IP, 1 ER, 9 K.
• Highway 64 brothers strike again. Nate (five) & Brandon Lowe (three) launch rockets at each other from across the tunnel.
• From the book of That's Shitty! Dinelson Lamet pulled from debut due to injury issues. Terrible. Get better (whatever it takes) and come back stronger, young man.
• Is Dan Vogelbach better than Keston Hiura?
• Tyler Mahle (6.2 IP, 2 BB, 9 K) knows how to wiggle it, just a little bit. 27.5% K-BB. LAD next won't be easy, but are you really sitting him?
• Avisail Garcia (5 K) and Eugenio Suarez (4 K) leading the charge in wind-powered energy.
• I feel old & grey hairs are sprouting where I never thought they would, waiting on Austin Riley to hit a HR. Finally. Just for Men time.
• Is there a record for most hitters in a lineup hitting .200 or lower? Yankees had 6. Six! Holy cow!
• Ian Anderson takes advantage of the slumping Yankees for 1st W. 6.2 IP, 4 BB, 4 K

Leaders (Hitting)

• RBI Leader: J.D. Martinez (20); Tyler Naquin (18); Nate Lowe (17)
• HR Leader: Ronald Acuna (seven); many with six HR
• Runs Leaders: Acuna (21); Mark Canha (20 runs) (only 80%  rostered in Yahoo)
• SB Leaders: Ramon Laureano (eight); Whit Merrifield (five); Javier Baez (five); Trea Turner (five); Garrett Hampson (five)

Swing & Misses

• Trevor Rogers 17
• Tyler Mahle 17
• Bruce Zimmerman 16
• Max Scherzer 16
• Zac Gallen 15
• Tyler Anderson 15
• Michael Fulmer 11
• Frankie Montas 11
• Carlos Martinez 11
• Luis Castillo 11
• Jose Quintana 11
• Ian Anderon 10

 

Endgame

• Josh Hader (three).
• Richard Rodriguez (two).
• Brad Hand (three).
• Yimi Garcia (four).
• Gregory Soto (two).
• Stefan Crichton (two). Unbelievable. You thought right & they said no, but they circle back.
• Anthony Castro (one)...Hahaha, you thought Rafael Dolis?
• Diego Castillo (0.2 IP, 2 ER, BS), go sit with Alex Colome (1.2 IP, 4 R, 1 ER) and think about what you did.

 

Closing Thoughts

• Have a great Thursday. In case you're curious, it's Earth Day. How about this? Be a good person. If you see garbage, pick it up, even if it isn't yours. Help your community. Take time to make your home better. Clean it up, inside and out. No, it's not only about the environment. It's about giving you more confidence and pride in your surroundings.
• (No Fear, Just Fantasy)

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