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

Dylan Cease was spectacular again on Monday, striking out 11 Angels batters while allowing just one hit and no walks through seven innings. He moved to 3-1 on the season with the win and lowered his ERA to 2.48. After a breakout season in 2021 that saw Cease strike out 226 batters over 165 2/3 innings, he is off to an even better start to 2022. Though it’s still early and the 29 innings represent a small sample size, his 2.48 ERA is backed up by a 1.98 FIP, 2.74 xFIP, 2.60 SIERA, and 1.51 xERA.

More importantly, he was on my bench in my daily lineups CBS league because CBS is the worst and didn’t save my lineup.

Jose Altuve returned from the IL and went 0-for-3 with a walk. The sample size is still very small, but he’s batting .154 with 1 HR and 2 SB through 10 games.

Bo Bichette has gotten off to a slow start but is now 7-for-12 with 1 HR, 3 RBI, and 2 R over his last three games as he starts to show signs of life. His batted ball metrics are excellent, but his K%, BB%, Whiff%, and Chase Rate are all in the bottom 25% of MLB among qualified hitters.

Fun!

Kevin Gausman joins Cy Young (1906) as the only pitchers (min. 20 IP) to begin a season with 5 straight starts of 0 BB and 0 HR allowed in the World Series era (since 1903)! pic.twitter.com/2YvmsdJjoO

— MLB Stats (@MLBStats) May 1, 2022

Studs and Duds

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

Studs (Pitchers)

• Dylan Cease – 7.0 IP, 0 ER, 1 H, 0 BB, 11 K in win over Angels
• Steven Matz – 6.0 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 4 K in win over Royals
• Jake Odorizzi – 6.2 IP, 0 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 3 K in win over Mariners
• Zack Greinke – 6.0 IP, 1 ER, 3 H, 0 BB, 1 K in loss to Cardinals
• Drew Rasmussen – 5.0 IP, 1 ER, 1 H, 1 BB, 3 K in win over A’s
• Max Fried – 6 IP, 2 ER, 4 H, 0 BB, 6 K in win over Mets
• Zac Gallen – 6.1 IP, 2 ER, 5 H, 0 BB, 5 K in win over Marlins
• Chris Bassitt – 7 IP, 3 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 8 K in loss to Braves

Studs (Hitters)

There were only 8 HR hit across 8 games last night.

• David Peralta – 3-for-4, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 R
• Gleyber Torres – 2-for-4, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 R
• Travis d’Arnaud – 3-for-4, 2 2B, 3 RBI
• Yandy Diaz – 2-for-5, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 2 R
• Paul Goldschmidt – 2-for-3, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 R
• Manuel Margot – 3-for-4, 1 RBI, 1 R
• Austin Riley – 2-for-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 R (up to 7 HR)
• Mark Canha – 2-for-4, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 R (1st HR)
• Jeremy Pena – 1-for-3, 1 HR, 2 RBI, 1 R
  • Still batting just .215 but does have 5 HR
• Yordan Alvarez – 1-for-3, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 R (up to 7 HR now)
• Luis Robert – 3-for-4, 1 R
• Bo Bichette – 2-for-4, 1 2B, 1 RBI, 1 run
  • 7-for-12 over his last three games

Duds (Pitchers)

• Daulton Jefferies – 5 IP, 6 ER, 11 H, 0 BB, 4 K in loss to Rays
• Pablo Lopez – 4.2 IP, 4 ER, 6 H, 2 BB, 7 K in loss to Diamondbacks

Duds (Hitters)

• Mike Trout – 0-for-4 with 4 K
• Aaron Hicks – 0-for-4, with 3 K
• Jose Miranda‘s debut – 0-for-4
• Whit Merrifield – 0-for-4
  • Batting .151 with a .390 OPS
• Jesse Winker – 0-for-3 with a BB
  • Down to .190 AVG with a .565 OPS…
• Jose Altuve – 0-for-3, 1 BB in his return
  • Batting .154 with a .498 OPS through 10 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.

• Ryan Yarbrough will be activated from the IL and start Tuesday’s game
• Lou Trivino likely to be activated for Tuesday’s game against the Rays
• J.P. Crawford extends hitting streak to 11 games Monday
• Kyle Tucker extends hitting streak to eight games Monday
• Luis Urias (quad) reinstated from 10-day IL
• Zach McKinstry optioned to Triple-A Monday
• Kyle Garlick hits the IL with right calf strain

Dingers

Here is every player who hit a home run yesterday:

David Peralta
Gleyber Torres
Yandy Diaz
Paul Goldschmidt
Austin Riley
Mark Canha
Jeremy Pena
Yordan Alvarez

Swipes

Here is every player who stole a base yesterday:

Jon Berti
Tim Locastro
Tyler Wade
DJ LeMahieu
Aaron Judge
Seth Brown
Jordan Luplow

Arm Barn Report

Here is every player who recorded a save yesterday:

Chad Green
Giovanny Gallegos
Rafael Montero
Kenley Jansen
Jhoan Duran
Ian Kennedy
Liam Hendriks

Check out all of our weekly fantasy baseball content

Today’s Starting Lineup

• Two nationally televised games today: Braves vs. Mets and Giants vs. Dodgers. The former features Charlie Morton vs. David Peterson, while the late game features an excellent matchup in Carlos Rodon vs. Julio Urias.

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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.