Mike Fiers- P- MIL- FYI- Watching Fiers Friday night prompted some thoughts. His velocity ranged from 91 mph down to 71. He also had very strong control, with 59 of his 89 pitches strikes and only allowing one walk in 5 IP. It seemed like a lot of his game boiled down to playing rock/paper/scissors with the batters. The pitches were going to be in the zone so it was a matter of guessing what kind of pitch Fiers would throw. He outfoxed his opponents enough to record 8 Ks, including the first three batters of the game. However, batters guessed correctly enough to result in 5 runs allowed on 7 hits. It appeared the this will probably be the worst you can expect from Fiers, giving up a fair number of hits but still striking out a lot. Best case is more like his numbers from last year. Even if there is some inconsistency, Fiers will probably provide value in some column each time out.
Lucas Duda- 1B- NYN- Idea- Duda is hot out of the gate, hitting .381 after going 3-for-5 yesterday. Today he has the splits in his favor, with a slash line last year vs. right of 273/.372/.543 facing Aaron Harang who had a slash line of .284/.350/.397 against right-handers. FanDuels value play- salary $3400
Darin Ruf- OF- PHI- Rise Value- Ruf slugged a pinch hit homer yesterday and stayed in the game at 1B in place of Ryan Howard after a double switch. It was Ruf's 21st homer in 462 major league PAs. He has hit homers at all levels and shown that ability when given a chance in the majors. If he gets some playing time then he could give you a boost in the homer column.
Mike Olt- 3B- CHN- Cold- The good news for Olt is that he was able to enter the game as a pinch hitter yesterday after taking a pitch on the wrist Saturday. The bad news is that he struck out in his only at bat, bringing his average down to .154 on the young season. This is not much of a case for keeping Kris Bryant down on the farm longer than is absolutely necessary.
Jung Ho Kang- SS- PIT- FYI- Kang picked up his first hit of his major league career. He had been robbed earlier by an excellent defensive play. That is reflected in his .167 BABIP across a microscopically small sample size of 8 PAs. An interesting part of the game was that Kang was starting at 3B. If the Pirates start trying to get him in a super utility role, Kang could get enough playing time to show off the power that led to him being projected by many to hit double digits in homers.
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