What a wild first week of baseball it was! Haters will surely deny it, but there is no doubting that the MLB is back, and in full force! It looks like we could be in for a real treat this season, as game lengths are down, and steals and scoring overall are up. We’ve already had a brilliant 3-homer performance (shoutout Trayce Thompson) and a complete-game shutout by the reigning NL Cy Young winner.
There have certainly been some depth chart shakeups across the field, despite being just five or so games into the young campaign. Also, there are plenty of surprise players making waves across the league right now, and we’ll try to touch on some of them here. Let’s kick it off with the current MLB wins’ leader of 2023.
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That’s right, this week’s list is being highlighted by the 35-year-old journeyman that sits tied with two other players for the MLB lead in wins through the first week of the season. Somewhat surprisingly, Gibson ended up being the Orioles’ Opening Day starter ahead of Cole Irvin, who had initially been expected to earn the nod. Nevertheless, Gibson managed to pick up the win against Boston and followed it up with an impressive seven-inning performance against the Rangers.
Gibson has thrown 12.0 innings in total and now holds a 4.50 ERA with an 8:1 K:BB ratio. Not overly impressive numbers by any means, though he did hold a Texas team that had been averaging over seven runs per game to just two in his outing.
The main takeaway is this – Gibson could be proving early on that he has fantasy streaming potential when the right matchup presents itself. A large majority of the time, the aggressive Baltimore lineup is going to provide him with enough run support to secure victories. The Orioles should be taking on the bottom-dwelling Athletics during Gibson’s next scheduled start. There is no better matchup across the entire league.
This one is a huge surprise, as d’Arnaud was expected to be nothing more than a backup option to Sean Murphy, a Braves’ offseason acquisition that is costing them upwards of $70 million. Yet here we sit, with d’Arnaud atop the MLB leaderboard with ten hits in the early going. Even on days where Murphy has started behind the plate, d’Arnaud has been occupying the DH spot in the lineup.
The 34-year-old is currently riding a five-game hit streak to kick off the campaign and he was 3-for-4 with his third double of the young season his last time out. With a batting average currently sitting at .455, he has positioned himself well within streaming territory for fantasy managers looking to boost their offensive production numbers in the short term.
Anyone that was paying attention this offseason should have been aware of the ever-building Adam Duvall hype as the winter rolled on. All signs pointed towards a bounce-back season for the former Brave and so far he has proven that opinion right.
Duvall is tied with the aforementioned d’Arnaud for second in the league with 10 hits, and this already includes a two-homer performance (including a two-run walk-off shot) back on April 1st. The 34-year-old veteran already has nine RBI (also tied for second in the MLB) and an incomprehensible 1.000 SLG%. Duvall is going to be a staple in the middle of the Red Sox lineup and needs to be owned in 100% of fantasy leagues until further notice.
Though not an everyday player to kick off the season, Cal Raleigh’s position on the depth chart has shown interesting usage through the campaign’s first six games. Of late, he has been sliding in around the fifth spot of the batting order, which has actually allowed for guys like Teoscar Hernandez and Eugenio Suarez to drop behind him. A guy that has seemingly flown under the radar for a while, people seem to forget that Raleigh did mash 27 homers and 63 RBI across 119 games last season.
A unique switch-hitting Seattle catcher, Raleigh is off to a fine start at the plate so far. He has appeared in five of Seattle’s six games, and gone 6-for-18 (.333) with three doubles and five RBI. The Mariners should be one of the better teams in the AL West come season’s end, and much of it will be due to their offensive production. With Raleigh toeing the middle of the lineup, he should be able to produce another fine fantasy season in 2023.
Springs was the third starting pitcher out of the Rays’ rotation this Spring and he did not disappoint in his inaugural appearance. The 30-year-old overpowered the Tigers with a six-inning, zero-hit performance in which he walked one and struck out 12. Springs is expected to receive another mouthwatering matchup in the Athletics his next time out. He is looking like a dominant force early on and needs to be owned in 100% of fantasy leagues regardless of format.
Quick Hitter Notes:
- Joey Gallo is off to a strong start with three home runs and was already bumped up from 7th to 5th in the order his last time out. He should continue to hit higher as long as the production continues.
- Following Opening Day, Nolan Gorman also ascended in the order and has responded by batting a robust .500 with two homers and five walks.
- The Brewers sit first in the NL Central at 4-1 due to Brian Anderson of all people. He leads the team in batting average (.533), hits (8), home runs (3), and RBI (10) through five games. It would be no surprise if he gets bumped higher in the order with this continued effort.
- David Bednar has been dominant in his three appearances so far, allowing just two hits with five strikeouts across three innings. He has earned a save each time out and is a sneaky candidate to exceed expectations in that category, despite playing for an underwhelming Pittsburgh team.
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