Owning Álex Colomé has been a rough ride to open the 2018 fantasy baseball season. He’s blown two saves against the Red Sox, so he tried his luck against a Sox of a different color in Chicago on Monday afternoon. Colome did record his first save, however, it did not come easy. He started the inning by walking José Abreu , then allowed a single by Nick Delmonico up the middle. After getting ahead in the count with two strikes to Yolmer Sánchez , he uncorked a wild pitch moving up the runners to second and third base.

At this point, it seemed like the inevitable third blown save would ensue, but Colome induced a comeback ground ball to get Sanchez out. Then groundouts to third base and first base ended the game, preserving Colome’s second save and cutting his ERA to 10.80 on the year. He also owns an inflated 3.64 WHIP, 5.12 FIP and only one strikeout of his 21 total batters faced. Perhaps there’s something going on behind the scenes besides trying to pitch in frigid temperatures. Take a look at Colome’s career vertical release points while focusing on his latest trend, coinciding with his struggles:

Colome did see his release point drop to a similar point in March last August, but he struggled in September along with start to the season. Velocities seem to be rebounding as he continues to throw, so it could be mechanical, but it bears watching as the season progresses. Helping Colome’s cause, Sergio Romo stands to replace him if something displaces Colome from the ninth inning. It does not appear the Rays will be in a hurry to make this happen.

Replacing Xander

Late breaking disabled list moves frustrate owners, especially in leagues which use weekly lineups. Boston did not release information about Xander Bogaerts until late afternoon which means many owners will take a zero with Bogaerts missing at least 10-to-14 days with a non-displaced fracture to his talus bone in the left ankle. Sounds awful, but the team’s hopeful he will only miss the timeframe listed above.

For those looking ahead, some interesting targets could be on the wire depending on league size, so not all obvious names will be listed, but here’s four players of interest if they’re sitting on the wire:

  • Tim Anderson , Chicago White Sox - Anderson’s off to a fast start and over his last 34 games dating back to last September, he’s hitting .324 over 139 at-bats with 27 runs, six home runs and 15 RBI. Add in a more aggressive approach on the bases with taking some walks for intriguing upside.
  • Chris Owings , Arizona Diamondbacks - Oft overlooked, but he’s presently second in the National League in batting average (.425) and tied for fifth in on-base percentage (.483). Owings also carries an eight-game hit streak into his match-up with the Giants on Monday night with two doubles, a home run and six RBI over his last 25 at-bats with 11 total hits.
  • Dansby Swanson , Atlanta Braves - This may upset one colleague and elate another, so here goes. Swanson’s tied for the lead in hits (13) in the National League entering game play on Monday and fourth in average (.382). During his last 52 games, he’s hitting .302 (55-for-182) with an impressive .385 on-base percentage.
  • Asdrubal Cabrera , New York Mets - No one targets the wily veteran, but he’s solid along with multiple eligibility. Cabrera’s on a seven-game hit streak as the Mets land in Miami going 11 for his last 29 (.379) with a .438 on-base percentage, five runs, a home run and three RBI within the streak.

Replacing a player as hot as Bogaerts will be less than ideal, but all is not lost due to the strong start by so many shortstops this year.

That just happened

Just when Rays fans were upset by Mallex Smith ’s poor defensive play in Sunday’s loss, he completes a perfect day at the plate on Monday afternoon going 4-for-4 with a run scored, a double, triple, an RBI and his first two stolen bases of the season. This represents the Smith fantasy owners targeted later in drafts for steals upside.

Hitting barehanded in frigid game situations did not affect Joey Wendle who launched his first home run of the year, batted second and he’s hitting .348 with a .985 on-base plus slugging percentage while no one seems to be talking about the former prospect.

Yoan Moncada racked up two hits and walked twice reaching base four times in five plate appearances on Monday. He also scored two runs. Leury García stole two bases and Adam Engel also swiped his first bag of the year.

Quick Hits

San Francisco will promote prospect Tyler Beede to pitch on Wednesday versus Arizona. Plan accordingly.

Greg Holland was activated by the Cardinals prior to their game on Monday with Mike Mayers being sent to the minors. See how the team uses him to start the year. St. Louis could ease him into the ninth inning with veteran Bud Norris holding down the closer role until Holland’s ready. But they payed Holland to close, and he’ll get the chance soon.

Baltimore promoted Hunter Harvey to potentially provide long relief to an overworked bullpen. Using the premise of using his bullets in the majors, this may be an intriguing arm in relief for the Orioles if Harvey starts the season strong. By the way, why is Jack Flaherty in Triple-A and Adam Wainwright starting games? Using the bullets logic, of course.

Remember when there may not be a position for Scott Kingery? He’s making his fourth start at shortstop for the Phillies while J.P. Crawford ’s hitting an anemic .043 with eight strikeouts in 23 at-bats this year. Update, Kingery homered in his first at-bat Monday night. Time may be running out for Crawford.

Adam Eaton did not start on Monday with Trea Turner ascending to the lead-off spot. Does anyone in fantasy want Howie Kendrick ? He’s hitting fifth in one of baseball’s best offenses.

On a sad note, it appears top Nationals prospect Victor Robles suffered a wrist injury. He may land on the disabled list and throws a damper on owners hoping he gets a look in Washington sooner rather than later.

Prior to submitting, Corey Kluber ’s mowing through the Tigers. Through seven innings, he’s whiffed 11 needing only 90 pitches generating 12 swinging strikes (13.3 swinging strike percentage) and recording 24 called strikes. Klubot in April? Mercy.

Burning questions

Is Kenley Jansen back? He sure looked good on Sunday. What’s going on with Cody Reed ’s hair? Will Tampa Bay suffer another Colome-oscopy again this week? Will the Indians offense heat up with better weather? Where’s all the steals? Who gets the next Brewers save?

Hopefully some clarity will emerge tonight. Be sure to stop back in the morning to read Justin Mason’s (@JustinMasonFWFB) round up to stay ahead of the competition thanks to Fantasy Alarm.

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Statistical Credits:

MLB.com, Fangraphs.com, BrooksBaseball.net, BaseballSavant.com