Tim Lincecum- P- SF- Cold- Lincecum exhibited wildness yesterday, walking 5 in 4.2 IP. Only 53 of his 99 pitches were strikes. Lincecum allowed 3 runs on 5 hits while striking out 4. He looked more like the pitcher he has over the past couple of disappointing years and not a rebirth of the dominant performer he was in years gone by. If you can still sell high based on his 2.43 ERA and not his 4.17 xFIP, do so.
David Peralta- OF- ARI- Idea- Peralta has produced well against right-handers this season, with a slash line of .304/.367/.580. All 4 of his homers have come against right-handers. Chad Billingsley will be on the mound and has a career slash line of .268/.358/.402 against lefties. Those make good odds that Peralta will continue his success. Value play- FanDuel salary $3500
Todd Cunningham- OF- ATL- Rookie- Cunningham was called up to replace the injured Kelly Johnson. He will probably take Johnson's place in the Atlanta left field platoon. Cunningham followed up a .287 average at AAA Gwinnett in 2014 with an almost-identical .286 so far in his third season at that level. He had a career high 8 homers last year, but with none so far in 2015 is looking more like the low power prospect he was in prior years. Cunningham has some speed, with a low of 19 steals in his full minor league seasons. He could add a little in that column but probably doesn't deserve much more time than a fourth outfielder, which will limit his fantasy value.
Michael Wacha- P- STL- FYI- Wacha only allowed 1 run in his 5+ IP yesterday. However, he needed 105 pitches to get that far. 73 of those pitches were strikes, so his ratio was good, but a lot of balls were being fouled off (32 in all.) Wacha did record 7 Ks. He did seem to wear out quickly, giving up a leadoff homer followed by a double to start the 6th before he was pulled. Those fouls could indicate that batters were close to catching up with his pitches and his 2.06 ERA could suffer from some regression as his xFIP is 4.02.
Jack Leathersich- RP- NYN- Rookie- Leathersich was called up from AAA Las Vegas, where he owned a 1.59 ERA and 15.88 K/9. He has briefly been with the Mets this season, tossing an inning in 2 games. He appeared in his third game last night, walking the only batter he faced. He is likely to be used as a LOOGY in this major league stint. A positive sign in the minors is that he BB/9 was 2.38. It had been at least 4.11 in any of his stops above A ball. The strikeouts have been there, but control was an issue. If Leathersich has solved that he may get a more prominent bullpen role.
Follow me on Twitter all season - @fantisticspaul
There are over 100 player news blurbs posted in the member area each morning. Members can read the rest of today's player news by clicking here. Not a member? Join today.
