One day later, Josh Hader ’s performance seemed to finally sink in for the talented young relief pitcher. After finding out there’s never been a 2.2 inning save with every out recorded via the strikeout, Hader responded, “It’s really awesome. But on to another day.” Fantasy owners realize Hader’s impact now, but he went overlooked in drafts while the name brand, Andrew Miller , went off draft boards over 100 picks earlier according to NFBC draft results.

While there’s only a month of data, Hader’s currently pacing towards 211 strikeouts in 97 innings. Last year, 16 pitchers eclipsed 200 strikeouts, all of them starters. Only seven relievers surpassed 100 strikeouts with Craig Kimbrel and Corey Knebel tying for the lead with 126 each. Through 18 innings, Hader’s whiffed 39 of the 62 total batters resulting in a 62.9 strikeout percentage. Basically, a cheat code in video games.

Tempering some of the enthusiasm, Knebel will head out for 3-to-4 rehab appearances and potentially resume his role as the closer as soon as next week in St. Louis. However, fantasy owners lucky enough to have Hader on their roster should not do anything hasty since his strikeouts and ratio benefits merit keeping him all season. As of this writing, Hader’s tied for 23rd in strikeouts among all pitchers and seems well on his way to eclipsing Miller’s 123 strikeouts in 2016 over 74.1 innings at a steep discount.

 

Night Moves

A perfect segue with Knebel projected to return against the Cardinals, the poll winner of who gets the next save for St. Louis, as voted by our savvy readers, was Bud Norris in a landslide. General manager John Mozeliak agrees admitting in an interview earlier Greg Holland will not be used in the ninth inning at this time. Hinted Holland needs to develop confidence in his fastball. Going forward, it will be Norris as the team’s closer. Act accordingly.

Atlanta will trot out another of it’s shiny new toys with Mike Soroka making his major league debut in New York against the Mets. Soroka’s arrival means the Braves will start the three youngest players in the league:

By the way, I feel older typing this. Not feeling his age, Matt Harvey made headlines for his continued propensity to party late into the evening. Drawing some ire from the Mets once again, check out this tweet.

 

 

New manager Mickey Callaway addressed this with Harvey, but with his exile to the bullpen and diminished results with the fastball, these two parties may need to part ways soon. Stay tuned.

As speculated on yesterday in this column, Miguel Sano landed on the disabled list and could miss at least two and up to four weeks with his latest injury.

Just when it seemed safe to trust an Angels reliever, Keynan Middleton landed on the 10-day disabled list with elbow inflammation. There’s no timetable on his injury nor a clear cut closer in the short term. Based on recent usage patterns, it appears Cam Bedrosian will get first chance at a save, but trying to predict Mike Scioscia proves maddening. Gun to my head, Bedrosian and maybe, he recaptures his 2016 magic. However, beat writer Jeff Fletcher speculates it could be Justin Anderson. Here we go again.

Teams seem to be shaking up the lineups. Both Bryce Harper and Anthony Rizzo will lead-off on Tuesday night. For Washington, this moves Trea Turner to second in the lineup. Harper’s been slumping of late and commented it’s tough to succeed playing with Syracuse’s lineup. Of course it is, Victor Robles is not playing at Triple-A due to injury. By the way, Adam Eaton ’s not doing anything related to baseball activity. Cripes.

In case you missed it, a Twitter beef between the Indians Trevor Bauer and the Astros sparked some interest. Both Lance McCullers Jr. and Alex Bregman entered the fray with Bauer suggesting Houston’s using illegal substances (pine tar) when they pitch. These teams will match-up later this month, the 18th-to-20th, which will be must see games.

Also landing on the disabled list, Rays rookie Yonny Chirinos with forearm soreness. He will be replaced on the roster by Ryan Yarbrough and will cede his spot in the rotation.

 

We’re going streaking

Over the last 15 games, Max Kepler ’s hitting .322 (19-for-52) with eight runs, seven doubles, a triple, three home runs and eight RBI. He’s also reached base 35.5 percent of the time with a .982 on-base plus slugging percentage while not swinging and missing at a pitch during his last 17 plate appearances. One short of the active record, 18, by teammate Joe Mauer . There’s a chance Kepler’s still on waivers in your league, it may be time to remedy this situation.

 

Burning Questions

Will the baby Braves rock Noah Syndergaard for a victory on the road? Who turns in the better outing, Max Scherzer or Chris Sale ? Will the Angels get a save chance, and if so, who gets it? How many runs will be scored in Cincinnati? More than Chicago?

All of this and much more will be covered in the morning Round Up on Fantasy Alarm.

 

Statistical Credits:

MLB.com

BaseballSavant.com

Fangraphs.com