Mike Maher | Fri, Apr 22nd 2022, 1:29pm EDT

Fantasy Baseball Daily Opener: Luis Robert, Pablo Lopez, Tanner Houck (4/22)

Greetings, friends. We’re back for another baseball season. More importantly, we have a fun new series this year.

Welcome to the Daily Opener.

Every morning, I’ll be with you to recap the previous day of baseball and talk about what stood out to me. We’ll find fun stats. We’ll lament some injuries. We’ll take a peek at the day ahead. And we’ll have a few laughs.

Have questions or just want to talk baseball? Feel free to reach out on Twitter @mikeMaher with questions or feedback anytime.

Top Stories

Luis Robert left Thursday’s game against the Guardians and is reportedly dealing with a “minor” groin strain. White Sox manager Tony La Russa said after the game that a trip to the injured list is possible. Gross. Dislike. Hate. Robert’s batting average had dropped down to .205 thanks to a cold streak, but he already has two home runs and five stolen bases through 11 games. Here’s hoping for a speedy recovery because a full (or close to full) season from Robert could see him put up some stupid numbers.

Pablo Lopez tossed seven shutout innings and struck out nine Cardinals batters on Thursday. Through three starts, he has pitched to a 0.52 ERA and 0.75 WHIP while striking out 17 batters over 17.1 IP. And hey, he already has two wins after winning just five games last season despite a sparkling 3.07 ERA. He is one of the best young pitchers in baseball, but he can sometimes get forgotten down there in South Florida on that young Marlins team.

Tanner Houck is scheduled to piggyback Rich Hill on Sunday as the Red Sox attempt to line up their starting rotation for their upcoming series in Toronto. Houck isn’t vaccinated and won’t be available for the Blue Jays series, so the Red Sox are starting Garrett Whitlock on Saturday and moving Houck to Sunday into Whitlock’s bulk reliever role. We’ll probably get two starts from Whitlock (one on Saturday and another in Toronto), but it’s unlikely he goes more than four or five innings, if that.

Houck and Whitlock will presumably switch back after the Toronto series, but you never know. Fantasy managers should still get one start out of Houck next week.

Fun!

Studs and Duds

Here are some of the best and worst performances from yesterday.

Studs (Pitchers)

Pablo Lopez – 7 IP, 0 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 9 K in win over Cardinals (2-0, 0.52 ERA)
- 0.52 ERA and 0.75 WHIP through 17.1 IP to start the season
Carlos Carrasco – 7.2 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 0 B, 7 K in win over Giants (1-0, 1.47 ERA)
Zach Plesac – 6.2 IP, 1 ER, 7 H, 1 BB, 3 K in win over White Sox (1-1, 1.53 ERA)
- 1.53 ERA but just 10 K through 17.2 IP
Kevin Gausman – 8 IP, 1 ER, 7 H, 8 K in win over Red Sox (1-1, 2.89 ERA)
Joe Ryan – 6 IP, 0 ER, 2 H, 1 BB, 5 K in win over Royals (2-1, 1.69 ERA)
Jordan Montgomery – 6 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 2 BB, 5 K in loss to Tigers (0-1, 2.51 ERA)

Studs (Hitters)

Ty France – 3-for-4, 1 HR, 1 2B, 2 RBI, 1 BB (up to 3 HR, .327 AVG)
Francisco Lindor – 3-for-5, 1 HR, 2 R (up to 4 HR)
Franmil Reyes – 2-for-3, 1 HR, 2 RBI (1st HR!)
Robbie Grossman – 3-for-3, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 BB, 1 R
Nathaniel Lowe – 3-for-5, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 R (.396 AVG, .889 OPS)
Jesus Sanchez – 2-for-3, 1 HR, 3 R, 1 BB (up to 3 HR, .356 AVG)
Sean Murphy – 3-for-4, 1 HR, 1 2B, 3 RBI

Duds (Pitchers)

Anthony DeSclafani – 5 IP, 5 ER, 9 H, 1 BB, 4 K in loss to Mets (0-1, 6.08 ERA)
- 9 ER in 13.1 IP to start the season
Tyler Wells – 2.1 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 1 K in loss to A’s (0-2, 6.75 ERA)
- I thought the Orioles had the best pitching staff in baseball?

Duds (Hitters)

Bobby Witt Jr. – 1-for-2, 1 2B, 1 BB – BUT was caught stealing and picked off
Julio Rodriguez – 0-for-5 with another 4 K
- Batting .136 with 22 strikeouts in 44 AB
Tyler O’Neill – 0-for-4, 3 K
Giancarlo Stanton – 0-for-4, 2 K
- AVG is down to .216
- 1-for-17 with 8 K over last 4 games
Whit Merrifield – 0-for-4, 1 K
- Batting .136 through 11 games but does have 3 SB
Paul Goldschmidt – 0-for-4, 1 K
- Batting .146 with 0 HR through 11 games

From the News Desk

We have an incredible news desk at FantasyPros. Seriously, they crush it. If you don’t already, you should sync your teams with My Playbook and check out the Fantasy News and Scores app for updates about your players.

Dingers

Here is every player who hit a home run yesterday:

Ty France
Sean Murphy
Jesus Sanchez
Francisco Lindor
Franmil Reyes
J.P. Crawford
Cooper Hummel
Daniel Vogelbach
Mike Yastrzemski
Nick Solak
Eduardo Escobar
Nelson Cruz
Jazz Chisholm Jr.
Matt Davidson
Jake McCarthy
Cristian Pache

Swipes

Here is every player who stole a base yesterday:

Andres Gimenez
Bo Bichette
Brian Anderson
Nico Hoerner

Arm Barn Report

Here is every player who recorded a save yesterday:

Gregory Soto
Emmanuel Clase
Dany Jimenez
Chris Stratton
Mark Melancon
Emilio Pagan
Jordan Romano

Check out all of our weekly fantasy baseball content

Today’s Starting Lineup

Fridays are Apple TV+ days, and we get Cardinals vs. Reds at 6:40 p.m. ET and Rangers vs. Athletics at 9:40 p.m. ET. That earlier game is mandatory viewing because Hunter Greene is starting for the Reds.
Rockies vs. Tigers is the ESPN+ game today at 7:10 p.m. ET featuring Antonio Senzatela vs. Tarik Skubal.
Michael Kopech starts for the White Sox against the Twins at 8:10 p.m. ET
Justin Verlander starts for the Astros against the Blue Jays at 8:10 p.m ET

Beyond our fantasy baseball content, be sure to check out our award-winning slate of Fantasy Baseball Tools as you prepare for your draft this season. From our free mock Draft Simulator – which allows you to mock draft against realistic opponents – to our Draft Assistant – that optimizes your picks with expert advice – we’ve got you covered this fantasy baseball draft season.

Mike Maher is an editor and content manager at FantasyPros and BettingPros. For more from Mike, check out his archive, follow him on Twitter @MikeMaher, and visit his Philadelphia Eagles blog, The Birds Blitz.

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