Chris Davis (1B-BAL): Davis had a monster game on Wednesday, going 4 for 4 with a home run, 4 RBI, and 2 runs scored. He has homered in back-to-back games to start the season and is looking primed to build off of his 2012 breakout, where he smacked 33 HRs in 515 ABs fueled by a well-above average 25% HR/FB rate. While I definitely see him maintaining such a rate above 20% and producing 30+ homers again, keep an eye on his BB/K ratio. He had a 6.6% BB rate and an astounding 30.1% K rate last year, fueling batting average concerns moving forward. While the average is a question, the power looks to be legit.
Alexi Ogando (SP-TEX): Ogando's transition back to the rotation got off to a tremendous start on Wednesday night, as the tall righty pitched 6 1/3 scoreless innings, allowing 4 hits, 1 walk, and striking out 10. Ogando's stuff looked sharp (even controlling for the Astros effect), as it garnered 19 swinging strikes out of his 94 pitches, most of them coming from his slider. For his career, Ogando's K and BB rates are noticeably better as a reliever, so look for the Rangers to monitor his pitch counts closely in order to keep him fresh. For fantasy owners, this will be a welcomed trade-off.
Ubaldo Jimenez (SP-CLE): The enigmatic (former) flamethrower known as Ubaldo Jiminez began his quest for a comeback season on Wednesday night, allowing 1 earned run in 6 innings with 3 hits, 2 walks, and 6 strikeouts. He also had a solid 8 outs via the ground ball vs. 4 via the fly ball in 104 pitches. Since joining the Tribe as part of the then blockbuster trade from the Rockies, Ubaldo has been nothing short of a disaster, seeing his BB% and line drive rate climb, and his K% and swinging strike % drop. Ubaldo finally seems to be adjusting his attitude and approach, admitting to his struggles and need to adjust. Perhaps the new regime in Cleveland can right the ship, but until we see a larger sample size, I'd only keep an eye on him for now.
Josh Reddick (OF-OAK): After an 0 for 2 night on Wednesday, Reddick is now 0 for 10 to start the season. Interestingly, the bearded-one hit 7th in the lineup against lefty Joe Saunders. Reddick displayed no significant lefty/right split last year (.750 OPS vs. lefties against .777 versus righties), so you have to worry that if he continues to struggle this drop in the order could be permanent. After the all-star break last year, Reddick struggled mightily, hitting only 12 homeruns, stealing only 3 bases, and posting a miserable .647 OPS. He's already a batting average liability with his high K rate and high fly ball rate. Hitting lower in the lineup would seriously hurt his counting stats, something his owners can ill afford. Monitor this situation into the weekend.
Nick Swisher (OF-CLE): The switch-hitting Swisher is scheduled to face-off against the Jays and Mark Buehrle on Thursday. In his career, Swisher has posted a .400/.531/.440 line against Buehrle with 7 walks against 3 strikeouts in 25 ABs. This could be the matchup that kick starts Swisher's season, as he's off to a 1 for 7 start so far. The outfielder has been a quietly consistent fantasy force during the past four seasons, posting an OPS+ of 122, 129, 120, and 126 respectively, belting between 23 and 29 homers, scoring between 75 and 91 runs, and knocking in between 82 and 93 runs. Interestingly, Swisher's numbers have actually been better on the road as opposed to Yankee stadium (e.g. 13 more homeruns on the road vs. at home during the past 4 years), so I don't see any regression here.
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