Seth Smith, San Diego Padres: Smith is tied with Brandon Belt and Freddie Freeman for the NL homerun lead after going 2-3 with a homer Tuesday evening. Smith puts together four straight 14+ homeruns seasons with Colorado and Oakland from 2009-2012 recording no less than a .180 ISO in any of those seasons. Smith fly ball rates have dropped significantly since leaves the confines of Coors Field (Career high 47.6% in '10) to a much more pedestrian 35.9% and 34.8% while with Oakland in 2012-13. Thus far (will the small sample size of two games) it appears that he is in a platoon with Tommy Mendica as Mendica started against Ryu while Smith started against Grienke, so odds are he will only be good for a handful of starts a week until a solid judgment can be made by the Padres staff.
BJ Upton, Atlanta Braves: The struggles just seem to continue for the older Upton, as he is now 0-8 to start the season with four strikeouts. His 2013 campaign is well known as he came to the Braves hoping to replace Michael Bourn but saw himself lose playing time to Jordan Schafer along with Jason Heyward who slid over to play center in some games. It is unknown how long the leash will be on Upton this year because although Schafer played well, he did over perform overall and is considered still a fourth outfielder. With Dan Uggla making solid contact (0 Ks through first two games) the Braves, may drop Upton lower in the lineup which would lower his projected runs total without Freddie Freeman, Chris Johnson, and Justin Upton hitting behind him.
Casey McGehee, Miami Marlins: McGehee played a few games last year with the Yankees Low-A affiliate Charleston Riverdogs and is now hitting cleanup for the Marlins this year. Through two games he is hitting .429 and has driven in five runs with four coming on Opening Day. When he receives regular playing time as he did with the Brewers in 2009-11 he was able to post double digit homeruns in each season. He looks to be earning the bulk of the playing time at third base will no real competition to take his spot, meaning he could end up being a low end third baseman for fantasy teams this year.
Nathan Eovaldi, Miami Marlins: Eovaldi helped push the Marlins to 2-0 with a six inning two-run effort to pick up the win. He scattered six hits over his six frames and struck out six against one walk. He had a solid year with the Marlins last year, posting a 4-6 record with a 3.39 ERA (4.15 xFIP) over 106.1 innings. Eovaldi has always had a slight command issue, walking on average about 3.5 per nine, but he is able to strikeout batters at a moderate-slightly above average rate. Playing in the expansive Marlins Park will definitely help his overall numbers; it will still be needed to see how many wins he can pick up with the Marlins over-performing offense thus far.
Alex Wood, Atlanta Braves: From the second pitch of the game on Wood was dominant in his first action of 2014. He allowed a first pith homer to Carlos Gomez but held the Brewers scoreless over the next 6 2/3 innings in route to earning his first win of the campaign. His strikeout numbers left a little to be desired (5), but fantasy owners have to be happy about the performance. He had an outstanding 63.2 GB% and surrendered just five hits. Wood was pegged as a breakout candidate after his strong spring (27 innings, 0.45 ERA, 8:1 K:BB), and his outing Tuesday has all but solidified that. He will likely have some ups and downs in his first full season, but he is definitely worth a pickup if he is available in your league.
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