Shane Greene continued his impressive start Sunday

The biggest storyline of Sunday, and the whole weekend, was the ugly Royals-Athletics series. Scott Kazmir hit Lorenzo Cain in the first inning, sparking a warning for Kazmir and Royals manager Ned Yost’s ejection for arguing, but that was only the beginning of the issue. Four more Royals coaches were ejected and Kelvin Herrera of Kansas City threw a 100 mile per hour fastball at Brett Lawrie in the eighth inning. This hot rivalry will be renewed June 26 in Oakland.

Recap

Shane Greene continues to be masterful for the Tigers
Greene is the first Tigers’ pitcher to begin a season with three starts of seven innings or more and one earned run or less since Jack Morris in 1984. He logged seven frames against the White Sox, allowing only one run. The sixth inning RBI triple by Jose Abreu was the first run Shane Greene allowed this season after a 21 2/3 inning scoreless streak, and his ERA stands at 0.39 in 23 innings pitched. He did walk four batters and allow five hits to the White Sox, more than doubling his eight base runners allowed entering the game, increasing his WHIP to 0.74. The only critique for Greene thus far is his K:BB ratio, which stands at 2.2, as he has only struck out 11 batters this season. Greene had 9.27 strikeouts per nine last season with the Yankees, so it stands to reason that his strikeouts will increase in 2015. If that is the case, Greene could be a high priority sleeper as a SP3 or low-grade SP2.

Nelson Cruz’s addition to the Mariners has paid off
Cruz has had a massive start to the 2015 season, and Sunday was his best game thus far. He finished 3-for-6 with two home runs and five RBI. Cruz now has eight home runs and 14 RBI on the season. He has three more home runs than any other player, and is two RBI behind Adam Jones for the MLB lead. Many were skeptical of Cruz’s 40 home run season in 2014 and his move to a home run depressing park in Seattle. Cruz’s two home runs yesterday were his first in Seattle in 2015, but he has an .880 OPS at home this season. Cruz looks like an OF2 or fringe OF1 this season.

Stephen Strasburg gets back on track
Strasburg opened the season with two rough outings, posting a 6.75 ERA in only 10 2/3 innings, but he pitched 7 1/3 strong innings against the Phillies on Sunday. He allowed one run on five hits and two walks. He added seven strikeouts and had seven ground ball outs to eight fly ball outs. He still has a 1.61 WHIP in his 18 innings this season, although he has 21 ground ball outs and 20 fly ball outs over his past two outings. Strasburg is one of the polarizing cases in fantasy baseball. His upside is a SP1, but he has not fully lived up to that potential. He was very good in 2014 with 242 strikeouts and a 1.12 WHIP, but he was only top-10 in games started, strikeouts, strikeouts per nine, and K:BB ratio. It is nitpicking, but fantasy owners would expect more from their ace.

Garrett Richards has a bumpy first start
In his first start since knee surgery, Richards pitched five innings against the Astros, allowing four runs (three earned) on five hits and four walks. Richards needed 100 pitches to get through those five innings, but did have four strikeouts. Richards’ velocity was not down from last season, as his average fastball was 95.4 miles per hour, a good sign for fantasy owners. Richards could be an SP2 this season off of an outstanding 2014 season, but remember that he had an abbreviated spring session and is coming back quickly from a gruesome knee injury.

Brandon McCarthy continues on his torrid pace
McCarthy has allowed nine earned runs this season, but since being acquired by the Yankees in July 2014, McCarthy is 9-5 with a 6.69 K:BB ratio and a 3.16 ERA. McCarthy has 25 strikeouts and only three walks to open the season and looks more like a SP3 than a SP4 or SP5 early. He has allowed six home runs through his first 18 innings, so acknowledge that while adding McCarthy.

What to watch for

Trevor Bauer looks to extend his outstanding start to the season on Monday as the Indians face the White Sox. The 3rd pick of the 2011 MLB Draft, Bauer was seen as a disappointment over his first four MLB seasons, but he has allowed four hits and has 19 strikeouts through his first 12 innings of 2015. He does have nine walks thus far, but Bauer has the potential to be a meaningful part of the Indians’ rotation, and fantasy rotations, in the future.

Chris Zolli is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from Chris, check out his archive and follow him @thezman2010.