May 23, 2016

Tom Bellucco takes a look around MLB, and analyzes yesterday's fantasy baseball studs and duds for 5/22/16. These players can be sleepers and busts for fantasy baseball owners.

There were some rainy games on Sunday, but all but one game in Pittsburgh finished without issue. There were some dominant pitching performances alongside some impressive hitting numbers. All in all, it was a great Sunday of baseball, and we're left wondering if David Ortiz is playing the best baseball of his life.

Here's a quick look at those who impressed on Sunday, and those who... well, did not.

Editor’s Note: to read about even more waiver wire options, be sure to check out our famous waiver wire pickups list which is a running list that is updated daily. Prefer using your phone? Our free waiver wire app is available for download in the Apple Store.

Fantasy Baseball Studs

Noah Syndergaard (SP, NYM): Update: Thor is still good. The Mets' stud pitcher threw seven innings Sunday and completely shut down the Brewers. Syndergaard let up six hits with one unearned run on the day and struck out 11. The most encouraging part of the predictable outing was Thor's ability to avoid walks and stolen bases. If he can do that all year, opposing teams will have no answer for him.

Cole Hamels (SP, TEX): Hamels still has it. The veteran lefty cruised through eight innings against the Astros, matching Thor's 11 strikeouts. Just one of the two runs off of Hamels were earned, and he limited a solid offense to five hits and two walks. The Rangers' pitcher will soon have to make room for Yu Darvish in the Texas ace conversation, but he's earned his the title for the first portion of the season.

Evan Gattis (DH/OF, HOU): Gattis went 2-for-4 on Sunday against Hamels, and he accounted for the earned run with a solo shot. However, the most exciting news to remember is that Gattis will soon be catcher eligible. Depending on the rules of your fantasy baseball website, the Astros slugger will fit nicely into the likely dismal catcher position, further upping his value this year. Gattis' power will instantly make him a top 5 option at the position.

David Ortiz (DH, BOS): Ortiz had another fantastic day at the dish, causing Red Sox fans to further wonder why he's retiring at the end of this year. The big DH went 4-for-4 with a single, two doubles, a home run, and a walk. Papi is locked in through the first quarter of the 2016 season, and it's going to be fun watching him go out in style on a great Boston team.

Jose Bautista (OF, TOR): The right hook that Joey Bats took last weekend must have woken him up, because he's now homered in three straight games after Sunday's leadoff bomb. The real question, however, becomes this: Why in the world is he still hitting leadoff? You'd hate to keep having Bautista hit balls over the fence in the game's first at bat instead of with runners on base. Still, this is a great sign for a slugger who started relatively slow.

Detroit Tigers middle of the order: J.D. Martinez, Miguel Cabrera, Victor Martinez, and Nick Castellanos collected a combined nine hits Sunday. Miggy was the lone three-hit Tiger. The two old guys homered (Cabrera and V. Martinez), and J.D. Martinez and Castellanos combined for three doubles. This is the type of production we expected to see from the Tigers in the first month of the season. Just imagine what would happen if Justin Upton learned to hit.

Fantasy Baseball Duds

Chris Archer (SP, TB): Well I hope you can make the connection between the final stud above and this first dud. Archer got rocked by the middle of the Tigers order. He lasted just three innings Sunday, allowing eight hits, a walk, and six earned runs. Until he completely figures out what's going wrong with his pitches, we will continue to see some shaky outings from the Rays' ace. Still, I would chalk some of this outing up to a Tigers lineup that was due for a big day.

Dallas Keuchel (SP, HOU): Keuchel had similar troubles with the Rangers' lineup on Sunday, but he was able to get through six innings despite the rough start. The lefty allowed nine hits and a walk which led to seven earned runs. The good came from his ability to last six innings and still strikeout a batter per inning. Keuchel's struggles have been a little harder to specify, but my bet is still on him turning this around sooner rather than later.

Joey Votto (1B, CIN): I really, really want to stop putting Votto in this section of these pieces. He did get a hit on Sunday, but he's leaving runners on base like it's his job this season. His hard hit average says this will change eventually, but the Reds can't afford to leave anymore base runners stranded due to a Votto ground out.

Carlos Correa (SS, HOU): After a nice hot streak, Correa now has just one hit in his past 16 at bats (four games). He is striking out more often than we thought he would in 2016, so let's hope that doesn't become a pattern for his career. Correa seems like a nice consistent hitter with great power for a shortstop, but these mini hot and cold spells are going to start giving him a Justin Upton-like reputation soon if he can't balance out his good and bad performances.

Baltimore Orioles big hitters: Manny Machado, Adam Jones, Chris Davis, and Mark Trumbo combined for one single and seven strikeouts on Sunday. That's bad. No need to panic here. It's more interesting than anything else. However, Baltimore will have some of these games, and Jones, Davis, and Trumbo have all proven to be streaky hitters. Orioles fans do not want their bad streaks syncing up for any period of time.

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