137 There was a 10-game slate on Thursday May 30th. The game between the Red Sox and Yankees was postponed. I will highlight a few players who performed really well and some who underachieved. Points and salaries are based on DraftKings. WinnersMike Moustakas ($4,800)Moustakas and the Brewers beat the Pirates in Pittsburgh 11-5 on Thursday and Moose had a monster game. Batting fourth in the Brewers’ lineup, Moustakas went 4-for-6 with two home runs. He racked up four RBI and scored two runs. This added up to 38 points and the top spot on the day. Moustakas has played well for the Brewers. He now has a batting average of .269 with an OPS of .889. Moustakas has 15 home runs and 36 RBI. He has 11 hits over his last seven games and has been hitting well since an early May slump. Moustakas’ OutlookThe Brewers have three more games left in their series against the Pirates. Pittsburgh’s pitching staff has not had a great year and has been even worse at home. They have a team ERA of 5.42, which ranks 26th in home ERAs this year. They also allow an opposing team batting average of .268 at home. Moustakas has had a good year and a few big games in the last couple weeks. I will look for Moose to continue this trend against a shaky Pirates rotation. Hyun-Jin Ryu ($11,200)Ryu and the Dodgers faced the Mets Thursday and Ryu pitched 7.2 shutout innings while taking the win. He gave up four hits and walked one while striking out seven. Ryu continued his hot season and improved to 8-1. He has been arguably the best pitcher in baseball this year as his ERA now sits at 1.48 and his WHIP is incredibly at 0.81. His strikeout numbers are not eye- popping, with a K/9 of 8.51, but he has not needed them to be a top fantasy pitcher. Ryu has now started 11 games this year and has not given up more than two earned runs in any of them! This is Ryu’s fifth straight game in which he took the win. Ryu’s OutlookRyu’s next projected start will come on the road against the Arizona Diamondbacks. Arizona’s offense has been good this year and averages 5.16 runs per game, ranking in the Top 10. They also have a Top 5 team batting average of .259. Even with these great offensive numbers I will continue to try and roster Ryu. If anything, it will be a good thing having Ryu face a quality offense as it will cause his ownership to drop some. I will continue to target Ryu until he shows some signs of slowing down.David Dahl ($4,200)Dahl and the Colorado Rockies hosted the Diamondbacks on Thursday. The Rockies won a high scoring game, 11-10. Dahl was the top scoring player in the game as he went 4-for-5 with a home run. He added three singles and a walk, while scoring twice and accounting for two RBI. Dahl has had a really good start to the year and has a batting average of .319 to go with his OPS of .884. He has hit five home runs and has 18 RBI. He has now recorded a hit in eight of his last nine games. Dahl is batting .345 at home and .260 on the road. As expected with the Rockies, he is a much better fantasy choice while playing at home.Dahl’s OutlookThe Rockies start a three-game series at home against the Blue Jays on Friday. Toronto has an average pitching staff this year with a team ERA of 4.32 and an opposing batting average of .248. I expect them to struggle pitching in Colorado, as most do. Dahl and all the Rockies will cost a bit more at home than on the road, but I see the Blue Jays as a pitching staff to target. In their last seven games, they have given up an opposing batting average of .326 and have a team ERA of 6.64. The Rockies could be a good stack option this series and Dahl should be included in that.LosersMartin Perez ($9,000)Perez and the Twins played against the Tampa Bay Rays on the road Thursday and lost 14-3. Perez did not pitch well and was not able to get through three innings. He gave up six earned runs on six hits while walking two. He struck out three while pitching only 2.2 innings. Perez has pitched much better this year than he showed Thursday. He now has an ERA of 3.71 and a WHIP of 1.40. He dropped to 7-2 on the year. His K/9 is now just under one strikeout per inning. Perez went into Thursday’s game allowing just seven earned runs in his last six starts. Perez’s OutlookPerez’s next projected start will come on the road against the Cleveland Indians. Cleveland has had one of the worst offenses in the league this year and barely averages four runs per game. They have a team batting average of only .227. Perez has pitched well and his recent bad start seems to be a minor blip in a good year so far. I will be looking for Perez to bounce back in his next start against a bad offense. Hunter Pence ($5,500)Hunter Pence and the Rangers hosted the Royals and lost on Thursday, 4-2. Pence wasn’t able to get anything going and finished the day 0-for-4 with a strikeout. Pence has been having a really big year so far and has a batting average of .295 with an OPS of .965. He has hit 11 home runs to go with his 39 RBI. Pence came into this game with a hot bat. He had a multi-hit game in six of his last 11 games. His May numbers are great with a slash line of .304/.356/.722.Pence’s OutlookThe Rangers host the Royals for three more games. Kansas City shut down the Rangers offense on Thursday but I do not expect that to be the case all series. The Royals have the second worst team ERA on the year at 5.24. They also allow an opposing batting average of .270, which ranks them in the bottom part of the league. Pence has played well lately and the Royals have pitched badly all year. This adds up to a bounce-back spot for Pence and the Rangers. Injury ReportHunter Dozier left in the fifth inning with chest tightness and is considered day-to-day. Tommy Pham also left his game in the fifth inning with a right lower leg cramp. He will be evaluated further but it is not expected to keep him out long.
