Danny Duffy took his second loss of the year after a lackluster outing against the White Sox. He allowed six runs on 10 hits over five innings, walking two and striking out three. Duffy's velocity is down this season and so are his strikeouts, dropping from 9.42 K/9 last year to 6.57 through his first 37 innings of 2017. The swinging strikes are still there at an impressive 13%, although he got just 11 whiffs in this outing out of 103 pitches. He's been using his changeup a lot more this year at 25% compared to 17% last year, and that's the key to avoiding large platoon splits as a slider-heavy lefty. It has actually been a very good pitch for him, and despite his elevated walk rate from a year ago, his first pitch strike rate is still a strong 61%. I still have my doubts about him holding up over the course of a full season, but aside from a few ticks off the radar gun, everything under the hood looks fine here. Expect Duffy to rebound and his K:BB numbers to improve as well. He gets a tough Indians offense at home in his next start.
Yonder Alonso smacked his fifth home run of the season, finishing 2-4 with two strikeouts. The revamped swing and change in approach have been very noticeable so far. In the offseason, Alonso wisely decided to adjust from an on-base approach (which led to just a .335 OBP over his career) to one that put much less emphasis on contact and more on power. His current .264 ISO is more than twice his career mark of .122. His strikeouts have jumped as a result of the change in approach to a career-high 24%, but even that is very acceptable in this current climate of increased strikeouts. His 76% contact rate is also 8 points lower than last year, with a swinging strike rate that is up 3% to over 10%. This all backs the new swing and approach, and as fantasy players we will very gladly take the increased strikeouts in favor of a lot more home runs. Alonso is putting himself on the map as a corner infield option in standard mixed leagues, and even though the A's lineup isn't very good, he's getting on base and driving in enough runs to make up for that. He's still available in the vast majority of leagues, so go snatch him up.
Aaron Judge hit another two home runs on Tuesday, but he's been discussed ad nauseam so there's really not a lot more to say about him at this point. Instead, we will look at his teammates Jacoby Ellsbury and Aaron Hicks. Ellsbury might be hitting the DL thanks to a bruised nerve in his elbow, which would open up more playing time for Aaron Hicks. Hicks homered and drove in two RBI himself on Tuesday, and has been enjoying a brilliant start to the season in limited action as the Yankees fourth outfielder. He has 11 walks to just 8 strikeouts over his first 63 plate appearances with five home runs, two steals, and a .300/.419/.640 slash line. Those numbers will fall dramatically with more playing time since we aren't looking at someone who has turned into a superstar overnight, but as a deeper league option you could do worse as you scan the waiver wire for injury replacements. He hasn't made any significant gains in his contact or swinging strike rate, but he has been incredibly patient so far, with just a 34% swing rate and an outstanding 15% chase rate that would lead MLB if he had enough plate appearances to qualify. OBP and points leaguers especially should take a look at him if Ellsbury hits the DL.
Alex Cobb fired six shutout innings against the Marlins, allowing just four hits and two walks while striking out two. The outing lowers his ERA to 3.86, and if you've been unable to get rid of him in a deep league you may want to use this outing to your advantage and move him. He had allowed a 46% hard contact rate coming into this game, and a 5.91 K/9 isn't going to help you in any format. His 2.06 BB/9 is encouraging, and his home run rate should regress from it's current 1.29 mark closer to his career rate of 0.79. That said, his changeup has been crushed this season, and that's a pitch he needs to have working if he's going to have any success at all, nevermind being standard mixed league relevant. He'll typically face much tougher matchups than the Marlins in Miami, although his next test is the Jays at Tropicana Field, which isn't as intimidating this year as it normally is. You shouldn't have him in shallow leagues as it is, but if you can squeeze any value from him in deep formats, this is the time to do it.
Delino DeShields has, for the time being, won the starting left field job for the Rangers according to manager Jeff Banister. It's a bit of a dubious honor since Ryan Rya and Jurickson Profar essentially hit themselves out of a job, but as fantasy players this is solid gold. DeShields is far and away the most fantasy relevant of that bunch thanks to his 80-grade speed, but he's also got some power to go with that speed. He showcased said power as he took Astros starter Mike Fiers deep with a leadoff home run, his first of the year. It was his only hit of the night and he struck out twice, but as long as he is getting at-bats and leading off for Texas, he needs to be owned in all but very shallow mixed leagues. He's going to strike out a lot and hit for a mediocre average, but he walks a ton (10% career walk rate, 14% so far this season over 46 PA's) which is all it takes to put him on first base and get him into position to steal bags and score runs. If you've lost Adam Eaton or Starling Marte and need to replace the stolen base production, don't say Delino, say Deli-yes, and pick him up.
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