The Fantasy Countdown

Get your Monday started with a little fantasy info to help get your team ready for the rest of week 1. 

Here is what we got for you today:

3 Winning waiver claims

2 Start starters

1 Story from around the league

3 Winning waiver claims

Mackenzie Gore: He was once a top prospect in the game, while he has shown flashes of greatness he has not been able to consistently throw strikes which has kept him from reaching his potential. However he is in a new environment and had a strong first start as he threw 5 1/3 with 6 K's while only giving up one run. He is only rostered in 9.1% of ESPN leagues, if his new team has been able to teach him to throw strikes he may be a steal off of the waver wire. 

Adam Duvall: One of the hottest hitters in the league this year. Duvall has been raking with his new team in the first few games of the year. Through 3 games he is hitting .571 with 2 HR's and 8 RBI's, including a walk-off HR on Saturday night. He had a pretty bad season last year, but in 2021 he hit 38 HR's and had 113 RBI's. If he can get back to this form Duvall has the potential to be a major contributor for fantasy teams.

David Peterson: With Verlander hurt for the Mets there needs to be someone who will step up for them, David Peterson may be that guy. This spring he threw 12 scoreless innings with 13 K's. On Friday he threw 5 innings with 5 K's and no runs given up. Now we aren't expecting him to keep the shutout streak for the rest of the year, but as long as he has a secure spot in the rotation Peterson can be a viable pitching option as he has the stuff to back it up.

2 Start starters

In order to get the most from your fantasy week it is important to map out your lineup. This can help ensure you are using all of your starts/innings in points leagues and maximizing your stats in category leagues. If a pitcher is making two starts in a week it can give your team an extra boost by giving you the flexibility of an extra roster spot or by being able to punish your opponent by starting a hot pitcher twice in a week. Here are all pitchers who are double dipping this week.

1 Story from around the league

Now that we're a few days into the MLB season, let's take a look at the effect of some of the new rule changes.

The most obvious change has been the pace of play. With the pitch clock, time of play has decreased dramatically. The Guardians and Mariners finished Saturday's game in 2 hours and 4 minutes, which is a whopping hour shorter than the average game time in 2022 of around 3 hours and 6 minutes. The pitch clock has definitely cut down the time of games but it has also added a different dynamic: pitch clock violations. There were 14 pitch clock violations on Opening Day. Most were committed by pitchers while 4 were batters, 1 baserunner, and 1 catcher. This is an adjustment that will need to be made by both pitchers and hitters alike. Besides the few violations, it does not appear that the clock is uncomfortably rushing players in more situations.

The rule change has had the biggest impact is the bigger base size and throw over rules. According to Sports Illustrated, runner were 21-23 on stolen base attempts on Opening Day, the most since 1907.

Here are a few speedsters who are taking advantage of the new rules:

• Jorge Mateo - 4 SB's

• Anthony Volpe - 3 SB's

• Corbin Caroll - 3 SB's

• Cedric Mullins - 3 SB's

• Chas McCormick - 3 SB's

High Heat 🔥:

Who was the last rookie to lead their respective league in stolen bases?

*see answer in next newsletter