Matt Boyd (SP-DET) - Boyd lasted just five innings while throwing 102 pitches against the Angels Monday, but he held them scoreless and managed to pick up the W. Boyd allowed just two hits while walking three and striking out four and lowering his ERA to 3.00 in 57 innings. Boyd has probably been a bit lucky given his pedestrian 45:20 K:BB and he survived Monday despite generating just one ground ball out to 10 fly outs. That won't happen too often with that sort of batted ball distribution. Boyd though has allowed two or fewer runs in each of his last three starts despite averaging just 89 mph with his fastball this year, a full three-mph drop compared to 2017. Boyd has improved his walk rate over last year, going from a 3.5 BB/9 to 3.2 in 2018, but the diminished velocity does give me pause in trusting him going forward. Couple that with a sluggish offense supporting him, and Boyd remains a risk.
Greg Bird (1B-NYY) - Bird obviously has a checkered medical history, but with his former prospect status and a stacked New York lineup, he needs to be rostered in all leagues. Bird hit cleanup Monday, going 2-for-4 with a solo homer off Justin Verlander, he of the 1.11 ERA. For the year, Bird is hitting .273/.333/.545 (3-for-11). For his career, Bird is just a .225/.315/.469 career hitter, but that .244 ISO is solid and he's walked in 10.6% of his plate appearances. Bird made his big league debut way back in 2015, but a lack of consistency and a multitude of injuries have held Bird back from reaching his ceiling. Go ahead and grab him in the unlikely event he's available, but it would be a surprise at this point if he stays off the DL for an extended period of time.
J.D. Davis (1B-HOU) - Davis this year has been the Triple-A version of Toronto's Vlad Guerrero Jr., batting .415/.473/.654. Predictably he's had some struggles adjusting to big league pitching, entering Monday batting .222/.382/.222 with seven walks and zero XBH in 34 PA. Monday though, Davis went 1-for-4 with a three-run home run off the Yankees' Domingo German to take his ISO from .000 to .073 in one swing. Davis doesn't have the look of a guy who will hit for much of a BA, but he did combine for 30 homers over three levels last year, so if he can somehow get regular playing time, Davis could be a sneaky source of power. That doesn't seem too likely in Houston however, but with Marwin Gonzalez and Josh Reddick not exactly tearing it up at the outfield corners, perhaps Davis can steal some time after all.
Alex Cobb (SP-BAL) - Rare is the day I will trust any Baltimore starter sans Dylan Bundy, but after a brutal (and late) start to 2018, Cobb may be shaking off the rust. He dropped to a pretty ugly 1-7 Monday after allowing three runs in seven innings against the Nationals, but in five of his last six starts, Cobb has allowed three or fewer runs. His ERA during that time is just 4.67, but considering his 13.11 mark in his first three starts, we have to call that improvement. Cobb is showing his normal velocity and excellent control (2.3 BB/9), but he's been far too HR-prone (1.7 HR/9) and pitching in the AL East right now is no picnic. I'd remain wary, but perhaps against lesser teams and in Draft Kings formats, Cobb could be useful soon.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr. (3B-TOR) - If Vlad is somehow available on your waiver wire, run, don't walk to go pick him up. The Blue Jays may be simply waiting for the Super-two arbitration deadline to pass, and that usually comes right around the first week of June (i.e. as early as next week). Vlad went 2-for-4 in Double-A on Monday, and it's safe to say he's conquered that level given his .433/.481/.713 slash. He's hit 10 homers and swiped three bases while posting a quality 20:18 K:BB. I don't use this term lightly, but he could be a true generational talent and should debut in the big leagues at age 19 a la Juan Soto. Vlad is also hitting .475 with eight homers in May after what for him was a slow April (.380/.442/.582). One complicating factor is that the Blue Jays have a pretty good 3B in Josh Donaldson, though he's hitting an uncharacteristic .234/.333/.423. The Jays though could certainly use an upgrade at DH given Kendrys Morales has been awful (.181/.256/.310), but do they feel Guerrero needs to play the field or are they really comfortable moving Donaldson off third? We should see soon.
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