Week 2 Fantasy Baseball Recap: What you might have missed from 30 MLB teams

Chris Meaney tours the league and finds 30 things you might have missed during Week 2 of the fantasy baseball season.

The regular season is upon us! Don’t worry, there’s still time to add that “one more league!” You can start a league at Fantrax.com 364 days a year.

Week 2 Fantasy Baseball

Arizona Diamondbacks

• Adam Jones’ nine-game hit streak to start the season ended Sunday, but he has an impressive .364 average on his Arizona resume. Jones has seven multi-hit games and four home runs.
• The Diamondbacks rank fourth in runs scored thanks to strong starts from David Peralta, Ketel Marte, and Jones.
• Merrill Kelly only allowed one run on four hits in his start Sunday against the Red Sox. He struck out nine over eight innings and has picked up two quality starts in his first two MLB showings.
• Robbie Ray has 10 walks in 10.1 innings. Some things never change.

Atlanta Braves

• Kevin Gausman allowed two hits over seven scoreless innings in his 2019 debut. He struck out seven and should be owned, even if that display came against Miami.
• Max Fried took a perfect game into the sixth and ended up allowing just one hit over six scoreless innings against the Cubs. He struck out five and will look for two straight wins this week in Colorado.
• Mike Foltynewicz should only need one more rehab start before returning to the Braves’ rotation. It could push Kyle Wright to the bullpen.

Baltimore Orioles

• Trey Mancini and Jonathan Villar are both hitting .333 and have combined for six homers.
• Chris Davis can’t hit a beach ball.

Boston Red Sox

• Chris Sale’s velocity took a hit in his second start, but he only allowed three hits and one run over six innings. He only had one strikeout against Oakland, but it was the first time in 13 outings where he made it out of the fifth.
• Rick Porcello has allowed 16 hits, 11 runs, 7 walks and 3 HRs in his two starts. Owners should see how he does against Baltimore before cutting ties. I’ll be honest, I have no shares and I don’t want any. That doesn’t mean he can’t turn things around. Walks and home runs will always be an issue, though.
• Ryan Brasier picked up the last two saves for Boston. Matt Barnes served as the setup man Sunday, and there’s value in that. Looks like Brasier is the closer for now.
• Boston has allowed a league-high 72 runs.

Chicago Cubs

• The Cubs have allowed 71 runs (second-most) and a league-high 53 walks.
• Jason Heyward hit three home runs last week, but don’t be fooled if you play in a 10- or 12-team league.

Chicago White Sox

• The Yoan Moncada breakout is off to a really good start: .353, 2 HR & 11 RBI.
• Tim Anderson is hitting .560 this season and was unreal vs. SEA over the weekend: 10-for-13 with two home runs, four RBI and six runs. 20/20 is repeatable, but he’ll top out at .260.

Cincinnati Reds

• The Reds’ rank last in runs (21), average (.165) and OBP (.231).
• Joey Votto, Eugenio Suarez, and Yasiel Puig are all solid buy-low candidates. Votto hit a home run over the weekend, but it seems unlikely he’ll ever get back to 30.

Cleveland Indians

• Carlos Santana is the only one hitting in Cleveland and they lead the league in strikeouts (31%).
• Buy-low on Jose Ramirez.

Colorado Rockies

• Ryan McMahon joined Daniel Murphy on the IL and is worth a slot if you have one. Garrett Hampson is getting a shot to play every day but has struggled so far. Be patient.

Detroit Tigers

• Matthew Boyd has 23 strikeouts in 11.1 innings and gets Cleveland this week. His strikeout upside is legit, but keep in mind he’s an extreme fly ball pitcher which has resulted in plenty of home runs. That’s going to happen, but you deal with it.
• Spencer Turnbull struck out 10 batters in his second outing and now has 15 through two starts.  He was in my last spring training piece.
• Nick Goodrum had 16 home runs and 12 stolen bases over 492 plate appearances as a rookie last season, but he’s failed to combine for any this season. He does, however, have six doubles.
• The Tigers have seven wins and Shane Greene has seven saves.

Houston Astros

• Collin McHugh has looked good in both of his starts (11 IP): 2.45 ERA, 0.91 WHIP & 13 K.
• Tyler White has been benched in five of his last seven games and is only a hold in 14-team leagues.

Kansas City Royals

• Alex Gordon hit two home runs last week and checked in with seven RBI. Don’t get too excited.

Los Angeles Angeles

• Mike Trout homered for the fourth straight game Sunday. He finished 6-for-11 with 5 HR, 9 RBI, 5 R & 6 BB in his four-game series with Texas. He’s slashing .393/.581/.1.000 through 10 games.
• Tyler Skaggs was strong in his second start of the season against Texas as he allowed one run over 6.1 innings. He picked up the win and struck out five along the way.

Los Angeles Dodgers

• The Dodgers’ 24 home runs and 84 runs rank second in baseball. They were red hot before their three-game sweep in Colorado where they scored 29 runs.
• Cody Bellinger is the number one player in fantasy: 7 HR, 18 RBI, 17 R & .455 average.

Miami Marlins

Nothing has changed for me since Week 1’s ranking of this young Miami rotation:

• Trevor Richards (worthy of a 12-team roster spot)
• Caleb Smith
• Pablo Lopez
• Sandy Alcantara
• All will struggle with command but should contribute to your ratios while generating strikeouts.
• Starlin Castro is a starting 2B/MI in 12-team fantasy leagues.

Milwaukee Brewers

• Jesus Aguilar, Mike Moustakas, and Travis Shaw are all hitting under .200. Keep an eye on Eric Thames.
• Josh Hader picked up his fifth save of the season Sunday. He tossed 2.2 perfect innings against the Cubs and struck out three.

Minnesota Twins

• If you’ve been following along, I like Michael Pineda. You should too. 10 K in 9 innings and grabbed his first win in two years last week in Philly.
• Willians Astudillo is the Twins second-ranked hitter in fantasy. Say it with me…#FreeWilly. Jorge Polanco is their best and is hardly owned. Not sure why. He has an 85.3 contact percentage for his carer and hit for the cycle last week.

New York Mets

• Jacobs deGrom has 24 strikeouts over 13 scoreless innings. My goodness.
• Zach Wheeler walked a career-high seven batters over 4.2 innings Sunday against Washington. He’s allowed 10 hits, 11 runs, and 8 walks in 9.2 innings – all against Washington. He has Atlanta next.
• Pete Alonso has a .382 average and leads the Mets with 11 RBI through two weeks.
• J.D. Davis is probably only a DFS guy, but one you could consider in the right matchup. He has power.

New York Yankees

• Clint Frazier hit a pinch-hit three-run home run Saturday and went 4-for-5 with two homers and 4 RBI in Sunday’s start. He’s not a lock for regular playing time when everyone is healthy, but he’s intriguing for now.
• Troy Tulowitzki is the latest Yankee to hit the injured list.
• Gary Sanchez hit three home runs Sunday to give him six on the year.

Oakland Athletics

• Chad Pinder is taking advantage of Matt Olson’s injury as he has two home runs in his last four starts.

Philadelphia Phillies

• Zach Eflin has only allowed one run (solo HR) in his two starts against Washington and Minnesota. He has 14 strikeouts through 12 innings and gets Miami next.
• Hector Neris picked up the save Sunday. He was perfect and struck out two. Seranthony Dominguez has struggled, but I would hold. Neris is worth a spec add as he’s been the closer before.

Pittsburgh Pirates

• Joe Musgrove was brilliant against the Reds in his first start of the season: 7 IP, 3 H, 8 K, 0 ER. That’s nine scoreless innings for him so far this season.

San Diego Padres

• Kirby Yates has nine strikeouts and five saves in six innings this season.
• Chris Paddack only lasted 3.2 innings in his second start, but he didn’t allow a run and struck out four Cardinals. Paddack only walked eight hitters over 90 minor league innings last season, but he walked four against St. Louis.

San Francisco Giants

• Madison Bumgarner has 13 strikeouts through 13 innings so far this season. He’s been SF’s only bright spot and they should probably trade him.

Seattle Mariners

• Seattle leads baseball with 26 home runs, 85 runs, and 9 wins.
• Tim Beckham left Sunday’s game due to hamstring tightness. He may be fine as the Mariners were up big 11-2 at the time.
• Yusei Kikuchi has allowed seven runs in his first 15.2 innings.

St. Louis Cardinals

• Michael Wacha has been St. Louis’ best pitcher despite issuing 12 walks already. Wacha has allowed two runs on seven hits with 14 strikeouts over his 11.2 innings. He had respectable 3.20 ERA over 84.1 innings last season.
• Kolten Wong is hitting .433 on the season.

Tampa Bay Rays

• Yandy Diaz people…I’m telling ya! He’s been in just about every spring update and checked in here last week after a decent Week 1 showing. He hit two home runs in Week 2 and is now hitting .303 with a .395 OBP.

Texas Rangers

• Shin-soo Choo is starting to get regular at-bats after missing two of his first three games. He has value as the Rangers’ leadoff man.
• There’s no need to own any Texas pitcher other than Jose Leclerc.

Toronto Blue Jays

• Matt Shoemaker, Marcus Stroman, Aaron Sanchez, and Trent Thornton have all been brilliant to start 2019. They’ve combined to allow six runs and they have 53 strikeouts over 44.1 innings.

Washington Nationals

• Trea Turner is out indefinitely due to a non-displaced fracture of his right index finger.
• Keep an eye on Victor Robles’ spot in the order as he could move up.
• Howie Kendrick picked up his first start of the season Sunday. He hit in the two-spot and finished 1-for-3 with two runs and an RBI.

Chris Meaney is a contributor for FantraxHQ, covering fantasy football, baseball, and hockey. Chris covered NHL, NBA, NFL and MLB as a producer, writer, and host at FNTSY Sports Network. He was the lead host of the daily live shows, “Home Ice Advantage” and “Fantasy Sports Today.” Meaney has several years of radio and television experience both in the sports world and music industry. He’s written for The Athletic, Associated Press, New York Daily News, Fantasy Footballers, NBA Fantasy, Play Picks, NewCap Radio and more. You can follow him @chrismeaney.

Fantrax was one of the fastest growing fantasy sites of 2018 and things are only heating up in 2019. With multi-team trades, designated commissioner/league managers, and drag/drop easy click methods, Fantrax is sure to excite the serious fantasy sports fan – sign up now for a free year at Fantrax.com.