Every day, we will be taking a quick look at the best and worst fantasy baseball performers from yesterday's games. Friday reminded us how amazing (and frustrating) baseball can be, as a can't-miss prospect struggled, while an undrafted 29-year-old continued his resurgence.
Here's a quick look at those who impressed, and those who want to pretend the day never happened.
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Studs from 5/27/16
Josh Donaldson (3B, TOR): Donaldson mashed two homers and drove in five runs during a 7-5 win over the Red Sox. He now has four homers and eight RBI in his last seven games.
Juan Lagares (OF, NYM): Lagares hit his first homer of the season as part of a three-hit night against the Dodgers. While he should continue to see time against lefties, Lagares doesn't have an OPS higher than .754 from either side of the platoon.
Manny Machado (3B/SS, BAL): Machado racked up two doubles and four hits as the Orioles downed the Indians. Machado now holds a 1.032 OPS with 13 homers in 186 at-bats.
Jose Ramirez (OF, CLE): Ramirez's four hits Friday marked a career high for the 23-year-old. He has played well enough to carve out regular at-bats, and is now slashing .308/.367/.459 with three homers over 133 at-bats this season.
Chris Archer (SP, TB): Archer was only technically responsible for one of the four runs that crossed the plate in his eight innings on the mound. He struck out seven batters over that span. The outing marked Archer's longest this season by a fairly wide margin.
Masahiro Tanaka (SP, NYY): Tanaka threw seven innings of shutout baseball on the other side of the aisle. He allowed just two base runners and struck out four before departing. He owns a 2.89 ERA and a sparkling 54:12 K:BB ratio over 10 starts.
Jeff Francoeur (OF, ATL): Atlanta's hottest young star in 2006 made the most of his start against southpaw Adam Conley, notching four hits in five at-bats. Francoeur has tallied three multi-hit performances in his last six games.
Starling Marte (OF, PIT): Marte was one of four Pirates to go deep in a 9-1 rout of the Rangers, but he makes the list for totaling three hits and a stolen base. Marte is on pace to swipe 52 bags and hit 14 long balls.
Aaron Hill (2B, MIL): Hill homered twice in a victory over the Reds. The outburst was his second multi-homer game this month. He is slugging .443 in 140 at-bats.
Jonathan Villar (SS, MIL): Villar grabbed three hits and stole two bases in the contest. The speedster's bat will likely cool off soon, but he is providing plenty of value with 17 steals in 46 games.
Eric Hosmer (1B, KC): Hosmer had what may have been his biggest night of the season Friday, tallying three hits (including a home run) and four RBI in four at-bats. He has hit three homers in his last 10 games.
Yangervis Solarte (3B, SD): Solarte is our second member of the two-homer club, finishing the night with four RBI as the Padres trounced the Diamondbacks. Solarte now has three home runs this season, all of which have come in the last two games.
Matt Shoemaker (SP, LAA): Shoemaker has experienced a rebirth, striking out a total of 23 batters while allowing just two runs over his last two starts (15.2 innings). He will certainly be worth a look when he faces the Tigers next week.
Duds from 5/27/16
Adam Morgan (SP, PHI): Morgan allowed six runs (on three home runs) in just four innings against the Cubs. It seems likely that a trip to the minors is in Morgan's future, as he now holds a 6.67 ERA over six starts.
Max Scherzer (SP, WAS): The Cardinals got to Scherzer for five runs over seven innings. Scherzer's 4.05 ERA is a bit disappointing, but he does hold 90 strikeouts over just 73.1 innings.
Joe Kelly (SP, BOS): Kelly and his big fastball were able to strike out eight Blue Jays, but he still allowed five runs over 4.2 frames. He now owns an unsightly 6.30 ERA over five starts.
Joc Pederson (OF, LAD): Pederson went hitless in four at-bats with three strikeouts in a loss to the Mets. The whiffs can sometimes be too much to take, but Pederson does have eight homers through 46 games.
Julio Urias (SP, LAD): Happy Urias day? The 19-year-old flamethrower was inexplicably allowed to throw 81 pitches in just 2.2 innings before the Mets chased him with three runs. Urias likely has a bright future, but he isn't the first highly-touted prospect we've seen struggle in 2016.
Francisco Cervelli (C, PIT): Cervelli was the only member of the starting lineup not to tally some sort of positive statistic Friday. He has collected just two hits in his last six games following the 0-for-5 performance.
Cole Hamels (SP,TEX): Hamels has had both fantastic and dreadful performances in 2016, and came through with the latter Friday. He now holds a 3.34 ERA after allowing six runs (five earned) in 4.2 innings.
Chris Carter (1B, MIL): Carter was more bust than boom in the contest against the Reds, going hitless in all five of his at-bats. Carter is still on pace to hit 44 homers this season.
John Lamb (SP, CIN): Lamb allowed six runs on seven hits in 3.2 innings in the loss to the Brewers. There was some thought that Lamb would be a nice option in deeper leagues after returning from the disabled list, but I doubt there exists a league deep enough to justify holding a pitcher with a 6.85 ERA.
Danny Duffy (SP, KC): Duffy showed promise in his first two starts this season, but took a step backwards by allowing five runs in 5.1 innings against the White Sox. Duffy did throw 76 pitches in the game, meaning he could be fully stretched out after coming out of the bullpen earlier this month.
Robbie Ray (SP, ARI): Ray should have had a decent matchup against the Padres, but was tagged for five runs over 4.2 innings. He did manage to tally eight strikeouts before taking his leave.
Mike Fiers (SP, HOU): It was a day of offense around the majors, with Fiers allowing seven runs in 3.2 frames. He is sporting a 5.20 ERA over 10 games (nine starts).
Jason Castro (C, HOU): Castro went 0-for-4 with three punchouts in the loss to the Angels. He has gone hitless in his last 11 at-bats.
Felix Hernandez (SP, SEA): Felix was likely a popular pick in DFS circles, but the King disappointed his subjects, allowing six runs over six innings. His ERA now stands at 2.86 over 63 innings.
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