Fantasy Baseball Recap: Chris Davis Leading Off Raises Eyebrows

Opening day lived up to the hype with surprise line up choices, a home run off the first pitch of the season, not one but two Stanton home runs and some mixed pitching performances. However, for fantasy purposes a few things really stood out to me.

1. Aggressive Orioles

The Orioles surprised everyone by hitting Chris Davis lead off and Tim Beckham 6th. If this is going to be a regular thing for Davis then his fantasy value increases solely through weight of plate appearances. The optimal line-up would probably be Beckham with Davis second and Manny Machado third.

Another interesting thing to see from the Orioles was Machado stealing on opening day. If Machado is going to steal regularly then his value for fantasy purposes jumps hugely for those who drafted him.

2. Explosive White Sox offense

When James Shields gave up four runs early in Kansas City you could almost here the White Sox fans giving up on their season. However their offense has very different ideas. Matt Davidson’s three home runs and Tim Anderson’s duo led the Sox to a 14-6 victory.

Davidson was always a sleeper for power late in drafts and on waiver wires and is worth a speculative pick off. If Anderson can add a bit more pop to his speed then there is a lot to be excited about with him.

Another interesting point here was to see Yoan Moncada leading off. If that continues then he has every chance of being top 12 at the position.

3. Humi-no?

The excitement of the effect of the humidor lasted exactly two hitters as the unlikely D.J. LeMahieu homered off Patrick Corbin. Jon Gray also struggled but didn’t give up any long balls so it’s tough to completely disregard the humidors effect at this stage. It will definitely be something to watch over the coming days as this series progresses.

4. Saves saves saves

Corey Knebel blew his first save of 2018 whilst Josh Hader struck out three.

Hunter Strickland will be the closer in San Francisco until Mark Melancon returns from the DL.

Ken Giles struggled in his first outing of 2018, a non-save situation, but if you own Ken Giles you knew what you were letting yourself in for.

Other observations

 

Rough first outings for Lester, Martinez and Syndergaard. At least Syndergaard had some strikeouts but 4 earned in 6 innings is tough. CarMart had no control and Lester just seemed happy to pitch to contact

— 60 Feet 6 Inches (@60ftpodcast) March 29, 2018

Rougned Odor hitting 8th for the Rangers is going to be bad news for god fantasy owners if that doesn’t change soon — 60 Feet 6 Inches (@60ftpodcast) March 29, 2018

 

Greg Holland’s deal with #STLCards is for one year, source confirms. @MLBNetwork @MLB

— Jon Morosi (@jonmorosi) March 29, 2018

Strange But True:

Nick Markakis hit no HR in spring training in 44 plate appearances. He’d never hit a walkoff HR in 12 big-league seasons. But he just launched a walkoff against Hector Neris on Opening Day. Baseball! — Jayson Stark (@jaysonst) March 29, 2018

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