JaCoby Jones put forth the seasons first combo meal, hitting a three run homer and adding a stolen base to help propel the Tigers to an Opening Day victory. The 24-year old rookie is known primarily for his plus defense in center field rather than what he can do with the stick. Last season he hit just .243/.309/.356 over 79 games at Triple-A, striking out 30% of the time. He hit just eight home runs across four levels last year including the majors, and went 18-26 in stolen base attempts. He doesn't have much competition for the center field gig while JD Martinez is on the DL, so AL-Only leagues should give Jones a look. Overall though, he doesn't offer up a ton of speed and has very little power potential, and he is going to struggle to make consistent contact. This fine performance can be safely ignored in mixed leagues.
Lance McCullers racked up seven strikeouts over six innings against the Mariners, allowing just one run on five hits and two walks and getting the win. The lack of walks is the most encouraging aspect to take away, as that was his real problem last year (aside from staying healthy). He posted an ugly 5 BB/9 last year over 81 innings, which led to a highly detrimental 1.54 WHIP. That also came with an 11.78 K/9, which ranked fourth in baseball last season (min. 80 innings) behind only the late Jose Fernandez, Yu Darvish, and David Phelps. He did manage to have under three walks in three of his starts last year, so it's premature to say McCullers has turned the corner just yet. However, if you took a chance on him in the middle rounds this year, this is a very promising start to the season. Now let's just hope he holds up. He'll get the Royals at home in his next start.
Joey Gallo drew the start and homered off of Carlos Carrasco in the second inning for his first bomb of the year, an absolute moonshot that nearly left the entire ballpark. He would finish the night 2-4 from the seven spot in the lineup, but struck out against Cody Allen with a runner on second base to end the game. It was a perfect microchasm of Gallo, who features light tower power and the ability to draw a walk, but also a 50% strikeout rate in 55 MLB games. He'll be up at least until Adrian Beltre is healthy enough to return from the DL, which shouldn't be long, but while Gallo is up he can be of use to those needing some power in OBP leagues. He sure is fun to watch, but he's stated that he doesn't want to change his approach to hit for more contact, and for the near future that might keep him from being an MLB regular.
George Springer led off per usual, going 1-3 with a walk and a strikeout. The discouraging aspect about his game, however, was his two caught stealings. He came up through the minors as a stolen base threat, even swiping 45 bags in 2013 in his near-40/40 campaign. He stole 16 bases in his first full season with the Astros in 2015, and just nine last year while being caught 10 times. He's clearly trying to run again early this year, but it just doesn't seem to be working for him anymore. There's a chance he cracks 10 steals just based on volume of attempts, but at this point it might not be long until manager AJ Hinch gives him the red light. If you drafted Springer for speed, you might want to start looking for a trade partner.
The Tigers lit up Jose Quintana early, and Nick Castellanos was active in the destruction. He blasted his first homer of the season in the second inning, a two run shot, and finished 1-4 with a walk. He was announced as the two-hitter in the Tigers lineup late in Spring Training, which will be a huge boon to his value from where he used to hit, typically 5th - 6th. He's not exactly an on base machine with a career .311 OBP, so he's far from an ideal two-hitter, but for fantasy owners who took him very late in drafts, we'll gladly take the lineup bonus. He'll probably get pushed back down in the order if/when JD Martinez returns from injury, but ride him in DFS while he's there. He's got a great matchup against James Shields on Wednesday and will cost just $3,900 on Draft Kings.
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