Shane Greene (DET) - Shane Greene blew his first save of the season for Detroit on Wednesday. He has converted all three of his other chances, so his owners shouldn't be overly concerned that he is in danger of losing his job. It is worth mentioning that the team does have a closer of the future in Joe Jimenez. The 23 year-old has yet to give up an earned run this year and have 7 strikeouts to 2 walks over 7.2 innings pitched. Jimenez is a nice dynasty league prospective stash since Greene could become an attractive commodity on the open market this summer. Greene still has three years of team control, despite being 29, which means his prime years will fall during the Tigers rebuilding period. Should he be dealt, Jimenez is the logical replacement at closer.
Brad Miller (TB) - Brad Miller played in his first rehab game on Tuesday and is on track to be activated on Friday April 20th. Miller returns to a poor Tampa Bay lineup, but will resume second base duties upon his activation. After his 30 home runs in 2016, Miller hit just 9 in 110 games played in 2017 as his HR/FB fell from 20.4% down to 10.8%, which is closer to his career average. The biggest driver? A closer change in approach as his pull rate fell from 42.5% down to 34.5% and his walk rate nearly doubled from 7.8% to 15.5%. We should see a better year from Miller this season, although he'll likely never reach the numbers that he posted in 2016 ever again.
Nick Delmonico - The best hitter on the Chicago White Sox is.....*drum roll please*...Nick Delmonico! Delmonico has started off the year hot and boasts an advanced approach at the plate with a 0.60 EYE. He doesn't add much in the power or speed departments, but his hit tool is strong enough that should keep him getting regular at-bats for the rebuilding White Sox. Thanks to a swinging strike rate >13% and an inflated BABIP, his batting average will likely fall below .300, but he's a warm body that can be a used as a reserve for injuries to your starters.
Byron Buxton (MIN) - Byron Buxton missed the Twins and Indians second game of the two-game series in Puerto Rico with another migraine and was officially placed on the disabled list. The team isn't overly concerned at this point, but as we saw with Brandon Drury earlier this season, migraines can be debilitating. Hopefully this remains a relatively minor issue for Buxton moving forward. He has enough performance-related issues, as it is. It's been two straight seasons of poor starts to year for the dynamic outfielder. Hopefully he gets out of his recent slump quicker than last year, but if he doesn't, he's going to quickly gain a reputation of being a second-half player.
Jed Lowrie (OAK) - Jed Lowrie hit another homerun on Wednesday, moving him into a tie for the AL lead with 6 to go along with 21 RBI ad 28 hits. When healthy, Lowrie has always hit the ball hard, but his current season 40.7% hard hit rate is the highest of his career. He's also pulling the ball over 40% of the time, which typically boosts the home run totals, as well (whose ever played slow pitch softball? Is it easier to pull a homerun or go opposite field with a homerun?). Lowrie is a must-own while he is healthy.
