RADIO
What a pleasant day of Sunday baseball. It's tough to be made about a day filled with 15 MLB contests. While there were a lot of average to good performances, there were certainly some good and bad standouts.
Here's who came to play and who took a proverbial day off on Sunday.
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Fantasy Baseball Studs
Justin Verlander (SP, DET): The Tigers' ace continued to shine against the White Sox, going seven innings while allowing just five hits and a walk. Verlander struck out eight white sox, and the two runs of damage came from Jose Abreu and Todd Frazier solo shots.
Corey Kluber (SP, CLE): A rain delay cut Kluber's outing short, but he still finished with a fantastic line of six scoreless innings, two hits, two walks, and six strikeouts. This was great to see for the underwhelming starter, and hopefully he can build off it in his next start.
Francisco Lindor (SS, CLE): Remember when the shortstop position was shallow? Lindor is one of the best at the position, and he's now batting .313 on the season after a home run and a single with three RBI on Sunday.
Jose Fernandez (SP, MIA): Wow. That's all I have to say about Fernandez right now. He threw seven scoreless innings, allowing just four hits and striking out 14 Mets. He's with Noah Syndergaard just a step below Clayton Kershaw right now.
Washington Nationals' Heart of the Order: Bryce Harper, Daniel Murphy, and Wilson Ramos combined for nine hits, seven runs, 5 RBI, and two dingers. The overall production of this Nats lineup will help Harper's pitch selection. Let's see if they can keep it up.
Odubel Herrera (OF, PHI): Herrera went 4-for-5 with four singles, two runs, and a stolen base in a Phillies' victory. You can't ask for much more from your leadoff man.
Cameron Rupp (C, PHI): Teammates Maikel Franco and Jimmy Paredes homered as well, and we shouldn't overlook them, but Rupp's power display is particularly exciting. The catcher position has been awful this year, and Rupp has been hitting the ball hard consistently. He's finally translating that hard hit average into results, and the Phillies are playing him as much as possible. He's must-own in two catcher leagues and becoming interesting in one catcher leagues too.
Marco Estrada (SP, TOR): If you were to tell me that Marco Estrada would no-hit the Red Sox for seven innings prior to Sunday afternoon, I would have sent you to the loony bin. It happened. A rough eight inning made his line pretty unexciting in the end, but it should be noted that he kept one of the best offenses in the league at bay for seven innings. Estrada is showing true promise out of nowhere.
Evan Longoria (3B, TB): Two of Longoria's three hits on Sunday were home runs, and that brings his total to 14 on the season. It's a nice power resurgence for a player who has been largely frustrating for the past couple of seasons.
Byron Buxton (OF, MIN): Buxton collected three hits on Sunday, including an RBI triple from the bottom spot in the Twins' order. We saw some warning track power along with the elite speed on a bunt base hit. The upside is palpable for Buxton, and it remains to be seen if he can push his way back to the top of the order.
Corey Seager (SS, LOS): Wow. So I guess Seager is a power hitter now. The young shortstop did his best Mookie Betts impression this weekend, and he closed it out with two more home runs on Sunday. He's the real deal, and the shortstop position is fantasy baseball's new outfield position in terms of depth.
Rockies' Top Half of the Order: What Coors Field effect? Charlie Blackmon, Trevor Story, Nolan Arenado, and Carlos Gonzalez combined for nine hits, nine RBI, nine runs, three home runs (two from CarGo, one from Arenado), and two stolen bases (Blackmon and Arenado). It's tough to lose when your good hitters do that. This is a glimpse of what this team can do when everyone is healthy and on the same page. Let's see if they can keep it up to help our their pitchers like Jon Gray.
Fantasy Baseball Duds
Jose Quintana (SP, CHW): Quintana had his work cut out for him on Sunday, and it showed. The Tigers eat up left handed pitchers, and the southpaw was chased after just 4.2 IP. He allowed five runs on nine hits and three walks. He should bounce back nicely next week against the Royals.
Kansas City Royals Offense: Corey Kluber certainly deserves some recognition for his six strong innings here, but the Royals still only managed three total hits against the Indians on Sunday. This team needs to get healthy and turn things around fast if they want to keep the reputation that has been built from the past two seasons.
Starlin Castro (2B, NYY): Castro struggled from the cleanup spot on Sunday, going 0-for-4 with three strikeouts and five men left on base. The fast start for Castro has really slowed down, and he'll find himself back at the bottom of the order if this continues.
Mark Trumbo (OF, BAL): As good as Trumbo can be, he can kill an offense too. He struck out three times and left six men on base from the heart of the Baltimore lineup. He'll go yard often, but the .292 average will continue to drop thanks to games like these.
Josh Donaldson (3B, TOR): Once upon a time, Donaldson was a lock for at least two hits against left handed starting pitchers. He went without a hit on Sunday against southpaw Eduardo Rodriguez, and his odd mediocrity against lefties continued. His career numbers say this shouldn't last all season.
Jake Lamb (3B, ARI): Another poor performance from a cleanup hitter on Sunday. Lamb went 0-for-5 with three strikeouts and left five men on base. He's shown immense upside already this season, but a collapse is not completely out of the question for the young hitter.
Matt Wisler (SP, ATL): Wisler's strikeout rate was improving, and he was displaying a masterful WHIP in recent outings. However, the Dodgers got to him early on Sunday. Wisler lasted just four innings, allowing eight runs on nine hits and three walks. He did strikeout five batters, so it's possible that this blip on the radar becomes just that in the big picture.
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