It is great to be back after a nice long vacation in Hawaii. The only part of my Hawaiian vacation that was less than perfect was the fact that all West Coast teams are blocked from the MLB.com subscription package, which made it real difficult for me to watch a lot of games. Seriously MLB, how do you expect to grow the game if an entire state can’t watch up to one third of the games in play? Well, I am back now and ready to overindulge on some fantasy baseball goodness!

Things That Make You Go “Hmmmm…”

Renato Núñez was claimed off of waivers by the Baltimore Orioles. Nunez is a former top prospect for the Athletics that has struggled to get and stay in the Majors due to defensive liabilities. He has power in his bat, crushing 32 home runs in 126 AAA games last year for the A’s. With full playing time he could get to 20+ homers. As the Orioles start to sell pieces that could get him the shot he needs. Tim Beckham was transferred to the 60-Day DL to make room for him on the roster.

Mark Reynolds hit a pair of home runs on Sunday for the Nationals in their victory over the Diamondbacks. This was Reynolds season debut for Washington and he came up big. He could be in line for some decent playing time with Ryan Zimmerman hitting the DL over the weekend. Worth a pickup in deeper formats.

Franmil Reyes of the Padres has been called up by the Padres to make his Major League debut. Reyes has been murdering the ball in AAA, having already swatted out 14 home runs in 35 games while hitting .346/.440/.748. Reyes has never had much prospect pedigree and the prospect mavens I have talked to have all said that they don’t believe he can translate well to the Majors because of his long swing and lack of athleticism. He does have plus raw power, but this seems to be more Kyle Blanks than Rhys Hoskins .

Freddy Peralta made his Major League debut for the Brewers on Sunday versus the Rockies in Colorado. The results were fantastic as he struck out 13 hitters in just 5.2 innings of work. That is the good. The bad is that his stuff isn’t really overpowering and he has a weird delivery that could lead to control issues. He rocketed through the Brewers system since being acquired from the Mariners in 2016. There is talent here and the cross body delivery can throw off hitters, especially right handers, but this could easily blow up as teams get more of a look at him. He is worth a pick up in most formats, but this is also a sell high point and I wouldn’t invest too much FAAB in acquiring him.

Billy Hamilton finally broke out of a season long slump when it comes to stolen bases on Sunday. He stole three bags which brings him up to eight on the year. So far he has struggled to get on base, but with his elite speed, teams will be hard pressed to stop him from running wild when he does get on.

Shohei Ohtani struck out 11 in 6.2 innings on Sunday versus the Twins. It was a nice bounce back after struggling over his previous three starts. It appears he is over the blister issue that hurt him about a month ago and he should be back on track towards fantasy stardom.

Matt Davidson crushed his 11th homer of the season versus the Cubs on Sunday. Davidson started off the season red hot, but has been in a slump in recent weeks. He will likely continue to receive a lot of work over the this season as the rebuilding White Sox have no reason to push his power bat out of the lineup.

What We’ll Be Watching Today

It is a short slate today, but still plenty to watch!

Julio Teherán takes the mound versus the Cubs. Teheran has been fantastic over his last six starts, posting a 1.54 ERA while allowing only two home runs and striking out 37 in 35 innings pitched. That includes only five walks in his last four games. While this is impressive, it is the home struggles that plagued him last year with the short porch in right field of SunTrust. He still needs to prove he can keep the ball in the park there, but he is back to being a fantasy relevant pitcher.

What is going on with Patrick Corbin ? His velocity is down. He stopped throwing his slider as much in his last start. This sounds like red flags. Is it time to bail or hold?

Can Sal Romano keep it up? He has been great over his last three starts and gets a bad Giants offense in San Francisco. Sounds like a nice streamer with two starts this week.

How hurt are Robinson Canó and Adrián Béltre ? Cano broke a finger and has an exam on Tuesday. Beltre is considered day-to-day with a re-aggravation of a hamstring injury.

Can Chris Stratton rebound? He has struggled after starting hot. Can a return to SF help him?

Baseball. Lots of baseball.