Happy Tax Day everyone. Here is a small sample of today's player notes:
Kyle Blanks (OF-SD) - Blanks has been recalled from Triple-A Tucson and will take the roster spot of the suspended Carlos Quentin. Blanks was batting .296/.414/.519 for Tucson and will see a fair share of starts in left field with Quentin sidelined. Over parts of four big league seasons, Blanks has hit just .219/.316/.421 in 488 plate appearances. He has shown some power with 20 home runs, but his 31.6% K% highlights the reason why Blanks has yet to establish himself as a big league regular. If he could just stay healthy, perhaps he'd have a chance to do so, but look for this stint to be short-lived. That said, there is some NL-only value to be had here if he's playing regularly.
Kevin Gregg (RP-CHC) - Without a spot available for him the Dodgers cut Gregg loose this week, and he was quickly scooped up by the relief-starved Cubs, who recently saw their most recent closer, Kyuji Fujikawa headed to the DL. Gregg will report to the team's spring training facility in Arizona and then head to Triple-A, but as long as he fares just okay there, he should find himself in the big leagues sometime later this month perhaps. Gregg hasn't recorded a big league save since 2011 and his 4.95 ERA last year resulted in little free agent interest over the winter. That said, the Cubs are likely looking at a Shawn Camp / James Russell closer duo, so the opportunity could be there for Gregg to see a few save opportunities at some point. Don't go grabbing him right now, but definitely monitor his progress in the minors.
Chris Capuano (SP-LAD) - "Cap" will get the first chance at replacing the injured Zack Greinke in the LA rotation. Greinke is expected to be sidelined until mid-June with his well-publicized collarbone injury at the hands of linebacker / outfielder Carlos Quentin. Capuano really didn't deserve to get booted from the rotation in the first place after last year's solid season - 3.72 ERA, 7.4 K/9, 2.5 BB/9. He is a guy who is going to allow slightly north of a homer every nine innings, but the solid command and control helps minimize the damage. Another season of a sub-4.00 ERA would be a slight surprise given his age, but it's certainly possible. Capuano will have to pitch well to hold off Ted Lilly, but he should be able to do just that.
Jason Grilli (RP-PIT) - I wound up with Grilli on several of my teams this year, as he's a new closer with excellent peripherals, but he's old and pitching for a bad team. That allowed him to fall through the cracks a bit when considering the top closers. Well, Grilli notched his fifth save of the season on Saturday and in 5.2 innings, he's yet to allow a run while notching those five saves in just six appearances. Grilli recorded an excellent 13.8 K/9 last year thanks to a fastball that gets up in the mid-90s and a solid slider. The 36 year-old had just five career saves prior to this season, but he also had 32 holds last year and the strikeouts are extremely valuable for fantasy owners. At some point we're going to see Grilli's name mentioned in trade rumors, which could potentially kill his fantasy value, but right now he's clearly a top-10 closer.
Tony Cingrani (SP-CIN) - By the time this blurb posts, we could potentially know more, but the speculation Sunday was that CIngrani was in line to take the rotation spot of the injured Johnny Cueto. Cueto is headed to the DL with a triceps injury, but early word is that he will be able to avoid surgery at least. Cingrani was already one of the team's top prospects entering the season, but after his first two starts (12.1 IP, 0 ER, 21:2 K:BB), he's zooming up the overall prospect charts. Cingrani's fastball ranges in the upper 80s to up as high as 94/95, and it has movement which will be key at the big league level. Reports on his secondary offerings are mixed, but if his first two starts in Triple-A are any indication, he's trending in the right direction. Go ahead and grab Cingrani in deeper formats and monitor him in all others.
