Wainwright’s season appears to be over after feeling discomfort in his ankle
The schedule was a bit truncated by two rain outs yesterday, but there were still compelling matchups. On the East Coast, Matt Harvey and the first place Mets faced the Yankees and on the West Coast, the Dodgers traveled to San Diego to play the Padres. Big news has also broke for a fantasy ace; this is the daily update for April 26, 2015.
Adam Wainwright’s injury for the Cardinals against the Brewers could end his season
Wainwright left his matchup with the Brewers with an ankle injury and news has worsened overnight about the injury. The latest news states that Adam Wainwright will likely miss the remainder of the 2015 season with a torn achilles. Wainwright had pitched four innings, allowing three hits and striking out three batters, before leaving the game after he felt pain in his left ankle. He was in a walking boot after the game and will be re-evaluated when the Cardinals return to St. Louis. Wainwright is a true SP1 and this loss will be devastating for the Cardinals and fantasy owners alike; it is also the second time in five seasons that Wainwright will have a wasted season, as he missed 2011 with Tommy John surgery. The best step now for fantasy owners is to work the waiver wire for high upside players like Nick Martinez or Anthony DeSclafani, look to veterans with spotty outings like CC Sabathia or John Lackey, or trade from other depth on your team.
Tom Koehler shuts down the Nationals
Coming off of a 3 1/3 inning, seven run outing and facing Nationals ace Stephen Strasburg, exceptations were not high for Tom Koehler. He exceeded expectations though, throwing 7 1/3 shutout innings against the Nationals on Saturday afternoon. Other than the bad start against the Mets last Sunday, Koehler has a 1.93 ERA and has not allowed more than two earned runs in three of his four starts. Koehler does have a poor walk rate in terms of his strikeouts (he has 12 strikeouts and eight walks), but he has been able to limit the damage from a .262 batting average against and 1.36 WHIP. Koehler plays in a spacious Marlins Park and should be a decent streamable option when he pitches at home.
Alfredo Simon shines for the Tigers once again
Simon has been outstanding for the Tigers in the early part of the 2015 season, posting three consecutive quality starts after allowing six hits and one run over 6 2/3 innings to the Indians on Saturday. Simon may have a low strikeout rate, just 14% of batters have struck out against him, but he also has only walked four batters this season in 27 1/3 innings and has held batters to a .229 batting average against. His batting average on balls in play is .256, which is low but not staggeringly low, and he has stranded 85.9% of batters this season. He slots in as an SP3 or SP4, and as with any Tigers pitcher, has the added value of the powerful Tigers lineup that will help him with wins.
Dodgers and Padres have a slugfest in San Diego
The Dodgers and Padres combined for seven home runs and 19 runs in their matchup on Saturday night in San Diego, an 11-8 win for the Dodgers. Justin Upton had two home runs and five RBI for the Padres and Wil Myers had a home run to leadoff the bottom of the first for the Padres; each of the Padres outfielders, including Matt Kemp as well, have a slugging percentage over .450 and 12 or more RBI. Seth Smith led all Padres outfielders with a .440 slugging percentage in 2014 and the Padres have not had 100 RBI from an outfielder since Greg Vaughn had 119 RBI in 1998. Adrian Gonzalez was 2-for-5 with his seventh home run and ninth double of the season for the Dodgers, adding to his outstanding start that includes 16 extra base hits and a 1.310 OPS. Andre Ethier, Howie Kendrick, and Juan Uribe all had home runs for the Dodgers, who are tied for second in baseball with 25 home runs.
Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez both hit home runs for the Rockies
For the first time since April 2014, Troy Tulowitzki and Carlos Gonzalez both hit home runs for the Rockies; Colorado lost 5-4 in 11 innings against the Giants, but this is a good sign for the Rockies and fantasy owners as well. Tulowitzki still has upside as a top-25 player this season, he has an .839 OPS in 66 at-bats this season, and has nine doubles already in 2015. He has at least one hit in seven of his past ten games and has already had two five game hitting streaks in the first 20 games of the season. Gonzalez, on the other hand, has struggled mightly after having hits in seven of his first nine games of the season. His OPS has dropped to .592, as he only has three walks and three multi-hit games this season; he has four hits in his last eight games.
What would have been yesterday’s top matchup, Jake Arrieta and Anthony DeSclafani, was washed away by rain and will be played Sunday afternoon. Nick Martinez also brings his 2-0 record and one earned run allowed in 20 innings pitched. Rays pitcher Chris Archer, who sports a 1.07 ERA, will face the Blue Jays today as well.
Chris Zolli is a correspondent at FantasyPros. To read more from Chris, check out his archive and follow him @thezman2010.
