Fantasy Baseball: What to know from Tuesday's MLB action
Fantasy Baseball analyst Dalton Del Don highlights some key performances from Tuesday's action. For his earlier story on updated park factors, click here.
Hitting performances that stood out
• Alejandro Kirk hit two homers with four RBI during Toronto’s win Tuesday, and the underrated catcher has multiple hits in four straight starts to move his season OBP up to .382. Power hadn’t yet been there until Tuesday night’s eruption, but with a 12:17 K:BB ratio, Kirk is a real threat to win the batting title. He’s just 31 percent rostered in Yahoo leagues and is going to have a bunch of fantasy value at an extremely thin catcher position moving forward.
• After homering twice Monday, Tyrone Taylor picked up three RBI Tuesday to finish a highly productive May. Hunter Renfroe’s stay on the IL is reportedly going to be short-term, but the Brewers had Taylor batting cleanup Tuesday, while Andrew McCutchen (64 wRC+) and Lorenzo Cain (46 wRC+) have been two of MLB’s worst hitting outfielders this season. Taylor’s bat needs to stay in Milwaukee’s lineup, and he remains available in more than 85% of Yahoo leagues.
• Byron Buxton got a breather Monday after batting just .102/.206/.220 over his previous 15 games and went 2-for-9 (two singles) during Tuesday’s doubleheader. He’s quite clearly compromised while playing through a knee injury whose healing time remains a mystery. He’ll improve (or go on the IL), but when evaluating fantasy trade offers and/or setting DFS lineups, realize that projection systems don’t know Buxton is playing injured.
Some eye-opening starting pitcher performances
• George Kirby tossed six shutout innings to pick up a win Tuesday but note that it came with a pedestrian 28% CSW and against a bad Orioles lineup in a Baltimore park that’s suppressed power in a big way this season.
• Ranger Suárez was shaky again (22% CSW) during Tuesday’s start against the Giants and continues to struggle making the transition into a full-time starter this year. Rostered still in 57% of Yahoo leagues, Suárez sports a 4.45 FIP and will remain hampered by a terrible Phillies defense, so he can be dropped in most formats.
• Blake Snell looked good during his third start of the season Tuesday, producing 15 swings-and-misses while limiting a strong, righty-heavy Cardinals lineup during a no-decision. Busch Stadium has also been highly favorable for homers this year, so Snell’s performance was especially impressive. He consistently battles control and health issues and can be extremely frustrating, but Snell also posted a 1.83 ERA and a 0.77 WHIP with 65 Ks over 44.1 innings after July ended last season. He possesses a bunch of fantasy upside now healthy again.
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