Sonny Gray
Gray was dominant on Friday, tossing seven shutout innings while allowing only three hits, one walk, and punching out six. He's been one of the best pitchers in baseball thus far. In five starts, he's gone at least five innings while allowing two earned or less. While five starts is his small sample size, right now he is posting his career best marks in K%, BB%, and HR%. If there is a concern, it's that he's allowing a lot of flyballs (26.4%), which would also be a career high. His xERA sits at 2.15, so the flyballs he is allowing must not be of concerning quality. You may be able to get him for a deal given his meager preseason ADP. Buy.
JoJo Romero and Ryan Helsley
Romero and Helsley both threw clean innings to finish off a shutout against the White Sox. Helsley is coming off an NL Reliever of the Month Award after allowing only one earned run in fifteen innings. He's only allowed runs in two of his sixteen appearances on the year. Many were concerned about Helsley because of his weak spring, so congrats to all who bought the dip and were able to draft a lockdown closer for a deal. Meanwhile, Romero has been nearly just as strong. He also allowed only one earned run in 12 ⅔ in April, and has only allowed earned runs in three of fifteen appearances. I love both of them, but especially Romero in leagues with Holds.
Other News...
Luis Arraez
Arraez was traded to the Padres on Friday for a haul of prospects highlighted by Dillon Head. The Padres lineup is stronger on paper compared to the Marlins lineup, so Arraez will have more opportunities to collect counting stats, which is great. The Padres had an extra spot in the lineup, as Tyler Wade has been playing 3B while Machado DH's, leaving a hole at DH when Machado plays the field. Arraez is one of the worst fielders in the league, and slow, so I'd imagine he takes over the DH spot. That's not super important for fantasy purposes, but it does mean there is a path to everyday playing time, even in a crowded infield. I like the move for Arraez, and would hold onto him in case someone else in your league comes barking for a trade.
Joey Loperfido
The Astros recently called up one of their hottest prospects in Loperfido, who went 2-2 against the Mariners on Friday. Loperfido managed to hit 13 homers in just 25 games in AAA this year before being called up, so it seemed appropriate to bring to Houston. Unfortunately, Loperfido is a strikeout machine, punching out at a 30.3% clip in AAA this year and 32.6% clip last year. He's got five punchouts in eleven trips to the plate so far, and while that's the tiniest of samples, it's still a concern when we know ahead of time that this may be an issue. I understand the hype, but he is going to need to prove it to me before I consider him as an add.
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