Jake Arrieta continued his strong start to the season Sunday

A full slate of games was headlined by two victories for the Chicago White Sox and a series win for the Yankees over the Mets. The Marlins and Astros have been two of the hottest teams, each finishing off a sweep on Sunday. This is the daily update for April 27, 2015.

Recap

Jake Arrieta stays hot for Cubs
On July 2nd, 2013, former top prospect Arrieta was traded by the Baltimore Orioles to the Chicago Cubs. Since then, Arrieta has pitched 235 innings with a 17-8 record, 2.72 ERA, 1.01 WHIP, and a 3.18 K:BB ratio. Those are the statistics of a SP1 or very high SP2, and he pitched to those statistics against the Reds on Sunday afternoon. Although he allowed his first home run of 2015 to Todd Frazier, Arrieta only allowed four hits and two runs in six innings, striking out six and walking three. In a matchup with fellow rising fantasy sleeper Anthony DeSclafani, who pitched five innings and allowed one earned run, Arrieta threw first-pitch strikes to 21 of 25 batters and notched his fourth consecutive quality start of the season. Arrieta may not be seen as a SP1 or SP2, but his statistics say that he is. Buy high on Arrieta and the emerging Cubs.

Chris Archer continues his torrid start
Archer has allowed one run or fewer in his past four starts, and shut the Jays down for seven innings on Sunday afternoon. Archer allowed only two hits and walked one batter. He may be the most impressive pitcher of 2015 thus far, posting 37 strikeouts and only six walks in 32 1/3 innings. Archer walked 3.3 batters per nine, and struck out eight batters per nine in 2014. Those numbers have improved to 1.67 walks per nine and 10.3 strikeouts per nine in the early season. This signifies that Archer is commanding the strike zone more effectively and emerging as a fantasy ace. Other fantasy pitchers were en vogue to enter the season, but Archer appears to be the young pitcher that made the “leap” in the offseason, ready to become an SP1 or SP2.

Orioles offense unloads against Red Sox
The Baltimore Orioles slugged past the Boston Red Sox 18-7 and had a balanced effort from the entire team, as each starter had at least one run scored. Delmon Young was the top performer, finishing 3-for-6 with three runs scored, a double, and 5 RBI. Chris Davis and Steve Pearce also were major contributors in the romp, finishing with three RBI each. Davis finished 3-for-5 with three runs, a double, and his fourth home run of the season and his early-season .860 OPS may signal a rebound campaign in 2015. For the Red Sox, Hanley Ramirez hit two home runs, moving his season total to eight, validating those that see him as a top-20 fantasy player.

Astros are in first, and Jake Marisnick is a big reason why
In recent years the Astros made a lot of aggressive trades for the future, and 2015 appears to be the season that they start to bear results. Marisnick has been a part of two huge deals in his young career, first in the trade that sent Jose Reyes and Mark Buerhle from Miami to Toronto and then a part of the deal that sent Jarred Cosart to Miami. This season he has become a big part of the Astros’ present and future. Without a strong option in centerfield, the Astros gave the starting role to Marisnick, and he has produced a .999 OPS, as he finished 2-for-4 against the Athletics yesterday, has scored nine runs, and stolen six bases, two coming yesterday afternoon. Although Marisnick hits near the bottom of the lineup, the Astros may soon make a change. Add Marisnick immediately, as he will soon become a household name.

Nick Martinez continues to impress
Martinez was impressive in six shutout innings against the Angels, and has only allowed one earned run in 26 innings this season. Although his season has been impressive, he does have a poor K:BB ratio, with 11 strikeouts and eight walks. He does have a .223 batting average against as well, but has a .250 batting average on balls in play. This is not to say that Martinez should be instantly dropped or that his start to 2015 is not valid, but expectations need to be tempered. He will not provide much in strikeouts nor will he be helped by the Rangers’ offense, as he has no-decisions in his past two appearances. Also remember that Martinez finished 2014 with a 2.40 ERA in September. It is wise to keep Martinez until he cools off, but be mindful that it may be ugly when he comes down off of this current hot streak, as he had a 6.46 ERA in 71 innings in June, July, and August 2014.

What to watch for

Corey Kluber looks to regain his Cy Young form as the Indians face the Royals. Another AL Central ace, David Price, also looks to put a poor outing behind him, as the Tigers face the Twins. The Padres (James Shields) and Phillies (Cole Hamels) also offer a solid pitching matchup during the Monday slate of games.

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