Fantasy Baseball Around the Majors for April 22: Jimenez, Fielder & More

The Brewers' offense had a huge day. Ubaldo Jimenez continues to look like the best pitcher in the game. Jay Bruce is waking up. Let’s look at these stories and all the rest from yesterday’s games:

Hitters:

• Kurt Suzuki (1-2, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 R) - How often does a player hit a home run and ground into a triple play in the same game? Outside of that, we all know he’s better than the .222 average he’s currently sporting. He has a pair of multi-hit games in his past three, to go along with two home runs and five RBI. He’s clearly starting to put things together.
• Prince Fielder (2-4, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 R) - Honestly, when you win 20-0, listing just one player doesn’t do your offensive performance justice, but Fielder gets the nod since it was his first home run of the season. Others who excelled included Rickie Weeks (3-7, 1 RBI, 3 R), Ryan Braun (3-4, 1 HR, 5 RBI, 3 R, 1 SB), and Jim Edmonds (4-6, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 2 R). If Edmonds keeps this up, Corey Hart could start to lose more and more playing time, so keep a close eye on that.
• Ike Davis (3-4, 2 R) - With Justin Smoak being recalled yesterday (I’m still surprised that the Rangers gave up on Chris Davis so quickly, but he clearly was struggling), fantasy owners may decide that Smoak is the better option among young first basemen. They’d likely be right, with Davis’ power in question, but Davis has a better shot of keeping his job all year long (remember, his only real competition is Daniel Murphy). The biggest problem with Davis is the power, but the kid can certainly hit. He’s gotten off to a strong start and could prove to be a viable corner infielder all year long.
• Martin Prado (3-5) - He’s hitting .417, which is extremely impressive. He has multi-hit games in four of his last seven games.  However, exactly what else is he offering? He has 1 HR, 3 RBI, 10 R and 0 SB. Without helping out anywhere but in the average department, he’s still better left to just the deepest of formats.
• Jay Bruce (1-3, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 2 R) - He now has a four game hitting streak, as well as a four game scoring streak. Over that span he’s gone 5-14 with 3 HR, 5 RBI and 7 R. He’s clearly starting to heat up, so hopefully you didn’t give up on him in the early going. He has the potential to get blazing hot and hit for a ton of power.

Pitchers:

• Mitch Talbot (6.0 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 3 BB, 3 K, W) - Talbot has been impressive in the early going, with a 2.25 ERA and 1.10 WHIP, but there are some huge red flags hanging out there. First of all, he has struck out just six batters. The three strikeouts were actually his high for the year. That’s just flat out pathetic. Yes, he’s better than that, but he’s never been better than 7.9 at Triple-A. Second, his success has come courtesy of a .192 BABIP. Sooner or later the bubble is going to burst, and I don’t want to own him when that happens.
• Ubaldo Jimenez (7.1 IP, 0 ER, 5 H, 2 BB, 5 K, W) - Just how good is he? Well, he’s not this good, at 4-0 with a 0.95 ERA and 1.14 WHIP, but he’s pretty darn close. He’s been lucky (.269 BABIP), but not overly so, so it’s certainly possible that he continues to dazzle all year long. He’s a stud and is proving to be among the elite in the game.
• C.J. Wilson (6.2 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 2 K, W) - He outpitched Clay Buchholz (6.2 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 10 K) and has been significantly more impressive in a starting role than anyone could have expected.  His 1.37 ERA and 1.17 WHIP has not been as aided by luck as you’d expect, either, with a .288 BABIP and 80 percent strand rate. Granted, I wouldn’t expect him to continue to pitch like this, but at the same time I wouldn’t shy away either. His next start comes against the White Sox and he’s proved usable at this point.
• Jake Peavy (4.1 IP, 7 ER, 7 H, 7 BB, 5 K) - I can’t simply blame his struggles on the ballpark at this point. If you walk seven batters, you’re not going to win no matter where you pitch. We all know he’s better than this, so don’t panic quite yet.

What are your thoughts from yesterday’s games? Which of these stories interests you most? Did anything else catch your eye?

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