Daily Archives: April 21, 2016
Chicago Cubs Win Runs Scoring Survivor 2016 – Then Shutout Reds To Knock Them Out Of MLB Shutout Survivor
John Minchillo – AP
Chuck Booth (MLB Reports MajorityOwner/Lead Analyst)Follow @chuckbooth3024Follow @mlbreports
Jake Arrieta through his 2nd no hitter in just 12 regular season starts, and effectively eliminated Cincinnati from the quest to be the last team blanked in the MLB.
The Reds will finish no worse than 13th.
Chicago also wrapped up the MLB Runs Scoring Survivor when the Marlins failed to tally either 8 or 9 runs in their 5 – 1 win vs the Nats Thursday. There are still plenty of things to look forward to in the contest, including who is the last to complete the journey.
What Runs Survivor is: A MLB team scoring 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10 or (10+) in different games throughout the course of the season.
Once a club has one of these run totals once, you cross it off and keep going…
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MLB DFS Picks For FanDuel – 4/22/16
Longoria has bashed 6 HRs in 64 career AB vs CC Sabathia, and is the bargain of the night at just $2900 on FanDuel.
Hunter Stokes (Chief Writer/Part Owner) Follow @stokes_Hunter21
Follow The MLBreports On TwitterFollow @mlbreports
Coming off a No hitter in Cincinnati on Thursday, I love the Cubs to continue their dominance over the Reds this weekend. While I would say that Chicago will win the game handedly, the prices are just too high for some of the hitters.
I love picking Bryce Harper in any lineup right now. You always know he will walk even if he doesn’t club the ball out of the yard. I am calling for a stack against the Twins Kyle Gibson.
I also went with 3 Baltimore Orioles vs Chris Young in KC – who is yet to his stride this year.
Chris Davis has got to be the…
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Has Jake Arrieta Surpassed Clayton Kershaw As The Best Pitcher In The MLB?
On Thursday night, Chicago Cubs’ pitcher, Jake Arrieta, threw a no-hitter against the Cincinnati Reds. This was Arrieta’s second career no-hitter. His no-hitters are separated by only 8 months, which includes the offseason. Not many Major League Baseball fans would have predicted the success Arrieta has shown over the past two seasons, considering he didn’t blossom into an elite pitcher until he was 28 years old. In his first four seasons with the Baltimore Orioles, from the age of 24 to 27, he threw 358 innings with a 5.46 ERA, 277 strikeouts (7 strikeouts per nine innings), and 159 walks (4 walks per nine innings). At the age of 28, he was traded to the Chicago Cubs and his career was about to drastically change. Since stepping on the mound at Wrigley Field, he has thrown 459.1 innings with a 2.21 ERA, 460 strikeouts (9 per nine innings), and 115 walks (2.3 per nine innings).
Here is the real question; does Arrieta’s success over the past year and a half make him the best pitcher in Major League Baseball? Many people would claim that Clayton Kershaw holds that honor, but Arrieta is doing all that he can do to steal that title. Regardless of who is better, both pitchers are in a class far above any other pitcher in the big leagues. To help you make your decision on who is the best pitcher in Major League Baseball, look at the statistical comparisons over the past 3 seasons (including the first few starts from 2016) below:
To see the rest of the article and the argument for both sides, click the link below:
The Most Recent No Hitter For Each Franchise (Updated for Jake Arrieta, April 21 2016 )
John Minchillo – AP
FIRST NO HITTER OF THE YEAR!!
Evidently Jake Arrieta and Max Scherzer are the only pitchers allowed to throw no hitters! Well, Arrieta was given plenty of run support and earned it with his second masterpiece in less than a year.
Who knows? Maybe it will be a magic year for the Cubs.
It is time to update my list!
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Milwaukee Brewers Research – The Witches of County Stadium
On this date in Milwaukee Brewers history, April 22, 1970, something quite out of the ordinary happened – on the field, but not during a game. The brand new Wisconsin team was already slumping and in the midst of a seven game losing streak. The team was about to suffer their third loss in a series in California against the Angels. Their record stood at 3-10, and critics were already counting the team out of playoff contention. The team was about to fly across the country to play the Red Sox in Boston on their off day. Before they left California, something different was brewing back at County Stadium –literally.
Daily Fantasy MLB DFS Picks For Draft Kings 4/22/16
P- Aaron Nola (vs. Milwaukee Brewers) $8,300. Rather than picking an elite pitcher and a low/mid tier guy (which I typically do), I’m sticking with two very solid mid-tier options. Aaron Nola has been very impressive this year despite his high ERA. In 19 innings pitched, he has 23 strikeouts, a 5.68 ERA, but he owns a 3.14 FIP. His low FIP shows that his ERA is very inflated and shouldn’t reflect his performance early in the season. He has a great strikeout rate and he is facing a very weak Milwaukee Brewers offense. The Brewers have the 5th most strikeouts in Major League Baseball, so there is a great chance Nola will capitalize on the swing and misses of the Brewers on Friday.
P- Aaron Sanchez (vs. Oakland A’s): $7,200. Sanchez has started 2016 on a very impressive hot streak. In 20 innings pitched, he has a 1.35 ERA, 20 strikeouts, and 7 walks. His walk rate could hurt you a little bit, but at this price, I think he is worth it. He is facing the 25th worst offense in baseball on Friday. While the Oakland A’s don’t strikeout much (113 strikeouts, which is 11th best in the MLB), they do struggle to take a walk (only 37 walks, which ranks as the 5th worst rate in the MLB). Since Sanchez’s kryptonite has been his walk rate in his career, this statistic could work to his favor on Friday. If he can limit the walks, he could be a very solid daily fantasy option.
To view the rest of the picks, click the link below:
WATCH: Los Angeles Dodgers’ Pitcher, Clayton Kershaw, Throws A 46 MPH Breaking Ball
Los Angeles Dodgers’ pitcher, Clayton Kershaw, is known for his great fastball and elite breaking ball, but it looks as if he has added another pitch to his arsenal. Tonight against the Atlanta Braves, Kershaw unloaded a 46 MPH breaking ball against Atlanta Braves’ catcher, Tyler Flowers. The pitch was an accident, but perhaps the 3-time Cy Young Award winner should add this to his elite combination of pitches. Kershaw tried to quick pitch Flowers and throw a fastball as he wasn’t ready, but his catcher called another pitch prior to his decision, and Kershaw decided to lob a pitch across the plate in order not to cross up his catcher. While this pitch was called a ball, it wasn’t long before Tyler Flowers was walking to the bench after striking out against the best pitcher in baseball.
Please click the link below to see the video:
Odds To Win The MLB 2016 World Series + Best And Worst Bets
The Mets made it to the World Series in 2015 after a subpar start heading into the Trade Deadline. With a ton of pitching and some decent positional players still on the roster, they could set themselves up for a lengthy run in the NL East. Especially if they can coordinate a couple of trades near the Trade Deadline. While they may have started slow, the bats are alive and well, and the rotation should come around soon. They are this week’s best odd.
Hunter Stokes (BBBA Featured Writer) Follow @stokes_Hunter21 Follow @baseballblogs
The Nationals asserted themselves on this leaderboard thanks to a quick start. They were my 2nd best bet last week at +1100. Now the odd at +650 is not worth any money at all.
Since Washington was able to play so well, this has created the perfect storm to put some more cash on the Mets. At +1300, New York is just begging for a wager.
The strength of schedule to which the Nats have played has definitely factored in. 2 series versus the Braves and Marlins and one against the Phillies already, Dusty Baker‘s club has had about a ‘cupcake itinerary’ as you possibly could find.
It gets better for the District’s squad, as they go home for another series with Philadelphia – that comes on the heels of a weekend Interleague series versus the Twins.
If Washington wins those 2 series, they should be about 15 or 16 wins after 22 games. They should cement themselves in the playoffs with an easy NL East opponents schedule all year. I just want to see them play some tougher clubs.
The Mets offense has sprung to life behind the backs of Yoenis Cespedes, Neil Walker, David Wright and Michael Conforto. When the Pitching Rotation settles in a little bit, they should take off.
While Washington is leading the Division, they have yet to face the NL reigning pennant winners. The division win could come down to the 19 contests between the two clubs.
Terry Collins‘ team has 16 straight games versus squads with losing records. While the Giants are capable of contending all year, New York should be able to match them well for pitching. Read the rest of this entry
Strong Player Starts (and Not) From Around The League: American League West
We hit the National League West players off to hot starts this morning and discussed some that are not. We now wrap up our look around the league with the AL West…
Houston Astros
Hot
Tyler White, 1B – Talk about a guy coming out of nowhere. The 25-year old rookie was drafted in the 33rd round of the 2013 draft, turned it on in the minors and has turned in to a starting spot, albeit possibly a placeholder before the #23rd ranked prospect in the Top 100 Prospect for 2016 list, (A.J. Reed) gets called up. Still, White is hitting .340 to start the season with 4 doubles, 5 home runs, 12 RBI, and a 1.124 OPS!!
Jose Altuve, 2B – Not shocking that Altuve makes this list with his .310 average and 18 hits, but that 5 of those 18 hits are home runs. Tack on 4 more doubles and 7 walks to get a 1.050 OPS, oh and Altuve has stolen 7 bases already
The Numbers Behind John Jaso’s Early Success
To say nothing of his more-than-capable defense at first base, John Jaso has been a revelation at the top spot in the batting order for the Pittsburgh Pirates.
John Jaso has put up some solid slash lines over his career, so it should not come as much of a surprise that he currently carries a .414 on-base percentage as part of an .897 OPS.
How has Jaso been able to acclimate himself so quickly and effectively to the top of the Pirates’ lineup?
A Solid Foundation
For Jaso, his propensity for quality plate appearances starts with the first pitch.
His F-Strike percentage (percentage of plate appearances that start with a strike) clocks in at 53.3 percent. That figure represents the third-best on the club, behind Starling Marte (52.5) and Gregory Polanco (51.6). While the importance of first-pitch strikes has been debated in recent years, good things happen for Jaso on a 1-0 count. More on that later.
In looking a bit deeper at what Jaso is actually seeing on the first pitch, the four-seam fastball is seen the most at 46 percent. It likely may not even matter what type of pitch Jaso sees first, as chances are it won’t be anywhere near the strike zone. His Zone % (percentage of pitches seen in the strike zone) is 47.8 percent, which is not significant on its own until coupled with his O-Swing % (percentage of pitches outside of the zone that a batter swings at).
Jaso’s O-Swing percentage clocks at 16.5 percent, nearly two-thirds better than the league average of 30 percent. Incredibly, he isn’t even the best on this Pirates team in this regard. That honor belongs to David Freese and his 15.7 percent clip. Regardless, Jaso’s rate is fourth-best in the National League for anyone with 50 or more plate appearances.
The foundation that Jaso lays in his plate appearances almost feels as if he dictates to pitchers how the PA will go. He absolutely refuses to chase anything out of the zone, and such an approach can force an opposing pitcher to offer something he may not necessarily want to offer on the next pitch, which usually comes at a 1-0 count.
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