Fantasy Baseball Today: George Springer nearing return, Dustin May breaking out, Rays call up major prospect

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Happy Monday! It was an especially eventful weekend that saw two pitchers on opposite ends of their careers steal the show on Sunday. Those were Michael Kopech, who struck out 10 Rangers, and Madison Bumgarner, who threw a seven-inning no-hitter against the Braves. You can read about each pitcher just below.

Not everything was positive, however, as Luis Castillo continues to struggle early on. Through five starts, Castillo owns a 6.29 ERA with a 1.60 WHIP. He's been the biggest disappointment among the top-15 starting pitchers drafted. Before you go out and do anything rash, remember that he is typically a slow starter. Throughout his career, Castillo has a 4.43 ERA in the month of April. Do not drop him or sell-low on Castillo in a trade. Just be patient!

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OMGG players of the weekend

Scott White's pick: White Sox SP Michael Kopech

Kopech went five innings against the Rangers with the following stat line: 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 10 K. That's right -- Kopech was brilliant in striking out 10 batters in five innings. He generated 14 whiffs on 87 pitches and 11 on his fastball. His first seven outs of the game were strikeouts and he delivered an incredibly impressive 39 percent CSW rate (called strikes plus whiffs). Here's what Kopech had to say after the game about his maturation as a pitcher:

"I feel like right now, I'm throwing a better fastball than I did when I had a 100 mph fastball. I know what's going on in my body and in my mechanics every time that I throw a fastball, whereas before, the goal was more so, let's try to throw this as hard as I can."

Kopech now has 27:4 K:BB ratio in 15.2 innings this season and he's still just 66% rostered. The question mark now is less so production and more so what his role will be once Lance Lynn comes off the IL. Right now, Kopech looks better than Dylan Cease, and if it's likely that he'll replace him in the rotation once Lynn returns, then he's worth adding everywhere. Even if Cease holds the job temporarily when Lynn returns, it could only be a matter of time before Kopech replaces him.

It's important to keep in mind he hasn't thrown many innings since 2018, so we can't expect any more than 120 IP on the season. If he's bouncing back and forth from the rotation to the bullpen, he'll be limited in some Fantasy formats. Scott doesn't think Kopech is a must-roster SP right now regardless of how electric he looked against Cleveland. The other factors outweigh it.

My pick: Diamondbacks SP Madison Bumgarner

Before I dive into Bumgarner, I wanted to make sure everyone takes the time to run back the podcast and hear Towers' rant on no-hitter qualifications -- transcribing it would not do it justice. Anyway, it may be time to take Bumgarner more seriously after his seven-inning no-hitter with seven strikeouts against the Braves. He had 10 swinging strikes on 98 pitches and most importantly his velocity was up on all three of his pitches up (91.1 mph on the four seam Sunday and that was 91.4 mph back in 2019 when he had a 3.90 ERA). He's only 47% rostered.

Despite all this, and despite banging the table for how much he deserves this to be considered a no-hitter, Chris has next to no interest in adding Bumgarner. He simply doesn't see the upside. Scott sees things a bit differently and is monitoring if Bumgarner can keep his velocity up.

Chris Towers' pick: Dodgers SP Dustin May

If May was breaking out, this is exactly what it would look like. He's throwing his curveball and his cutter more, and his sinker less. He's getting consistent swings and misses on three different pitches right now. He's near a 15% whiff rate and 35% strikeout rate. Just like on Sunday, he has a once-a-game blip (usually in the form of a home run), but otherwise, he sure looks like an ace right now. We can now add to his resume a dominant performance against one of the best teams in baseball. Scott did throw a little cold water on May though in that he hasn't gone deep innings-wise in any start and there could be a cap on him at about 20 starts.

More news and notes

There is a good chance OF George Springer is activated Tuesday for the Blue Jays. Throw him back in the lineup? Both Chris and Scott think it's a smart move to start him in five-OF leagues. In three-OF leagues of the more shallow nature, it's only worth moving Springer in if you're struggling at the position, but all signs point to him being good to go for Tuesday.
Angels OF Mike Trout missed each game this weekend against the Astros. Trout was hit by a pitch on his elbow Thursday. Joe Maddon doesn't think Trout will land on the IL.
Brewers OF Christian Yelich was sent for an MRI this weekend and he's avoided structural issues with his back. There is currently no timetable for his return.
Blue Jays SP Hyun-Jin Ryu was lifted from his start Sunday due to a right glute strain. Manager Charlie Montoyo said there's a chance Ryu could be ready for his next scheduled start.
Yankees SP Deivi Garcia has been confirmed as Monday's starter against the Orioles. The Yankees are apparently transitioning to a six-man rotation. Garcia is 38% rostered and looks like he'll have a two-start week against the Orioles and Tigers.
Nationals SS Trea Turner left Sunday's game in the eighth inning after he was hit by a pitch in his left forearm/elbow area.
Joe Maddon said that Angels 3B Anthony Rendon will be activated either Monday or Tuesday from the IL. Max Stassi will also come off the IL "any day now," according to Joe Maddon.
Braves OF Ronald Acuna returned to action this weekend. He missed two starts with an abdominal strain.
Mets SP Noah Syndergaard threw one inning in an intrasquad game, apparently hitting 97 mph. He won't be eligible to return until the end of May.
Nationals SP Stephen Strasburg has been throwing from 120 feet after throwing from 75 feet earlier in the week. Reminder he's dealing with shoulder inflammation.
Rangers C prospect Sam Huff is out eight weeks after knee surgery. Huff hit three home runs in 10 games last year and has big pop but is going to miss at least the next two months.
Braves OF Cristian Pache was reinstated from the 10-day IL and optioned to the alternate training site Saturday. Guillermo Heredia has started consistently in center field during Pache's stay on the IL.
Cardinals C Yadier Molina exited Friday's game with right foot soreness. He missed Saturday and Sunday.
The Brewers placed both SP Brett Anderson and SP Josh Lindblom on the 10-day IL.
Blue Jays RP Jordan Romano returned Saturday and his fastball velocity was down 2 mph. He got hit. What's happening in the Blue Jays bullpen? Scott thinks right now the one Blue Jays reliever to roster for saves is Rafael Dolis and not Romano.
Astros SP Jake Odorizzi exited his start Saturday with right forearm tightness. Astros P Kent Emanuel recorded the next 26 outs in relief against the Angles and finished with the following stat line: 8.2 IP, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K. He's only 2% rostered and doesn't have great minor league numbers. In other words, leave him on your wire.
Dodgers RP Corey Knebel was placed on the IL and will miss multiple months with a lat strain.
Dodgers OF Zach McKinstry will miss more than the minimum time on the 10-day IL with that right oblique strain.
Rays P Luis Patino was called up Sunday. He opened the game with 2 1/3 shutout innings, one walk and three strikeouts. He's only 22% rostered but isn't worth rushing to scoop up despite being the big piece returned in the Blake Snell trade. He's worth chasing if there's confirmation he'll stay in the rotation, but Chris would be surprised if the Rays go in that direction.
Tigers SP Michael Fulmer had another abbreviated start Sunday because he was pitching on short rest.
Yankees OF Aaron Hicks was out of the lineup Sunday due to back tightness. Brett Gardner started in CF, Mike Tauchman in LF.
Brewers OF Lorenzo Cain is nearing a return from the IL as he rehabs his quad.
Reds 3B Mike Moustakas was taking reps at third base prior to Sunday's game. He was placed on the IL last week with a non-COVID-related illness.
Astros 2B Jose Altuve is trending toward an early-week return as he recovers from testing positive for COVID.
Padres OF Tommy Pham left Sunday's game against the Dodgers with left calf tightness.
Giants OF Mike Yastrzemski left with left oblique tightness.

Waiver wire hitters

Brewers 2B Kolten Wong (61% rostered). He racked up seven hits over the weekend, including a home run and a steal.
Rangers OF Adolis Garcia (34%). Garcia has eight hits over his last six games, including four home runs.
Braves 3B Austin Riley (49%). Riley has six hits over his last five games, including two home runs.
Rangers OF Willie Calhoun (33%). Calhoun has started three games in a row, has four hits in those games, and hit a game-tying home run off Liam Hendriks on Saturday.
Rockies 1B C.J. Cron (46%). Cron is starting to heat up with four hits on Sunday, including his third HR in five games.
Rockies OF Raimel Tapia (52%). Tapia is now on a seven-game hitting streak, batting .306.
Cubs SS Nico Hoerner (30%). The rookie started all three games this weekend and picked up four hits and two RBI.
Twins 1B/OF Alex Kirilloff (63%). One of the top prospects in baseball went 0 for 11 this weekend after struggling this spring.
Marlins 1B Jesus Aguilar (48%). He has hit a homer in three straight and is now batting .284 with 17 RBI and 11 BB to 10 K.
Mets 3B J.D. Davis (46%). Davis went 3 for 4 with his second homer and he's been red-hot since returning from the IL.

Waiver wire pitchers

Royals SP Mike Minor (42% rostered). Minor delivered the following stat line against Detroit: 5.2 IP, 2 ER, 2 BB, 9 K, 16 whiffs on 102 pitches. He gets the Pirates for this week.
Royals SP Brady Singer (53%). Singer was excellent against Detroit this past weekend with the following stat line: 7 IP, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K, 15 whiffs on 93 pitches. Singers strictly used his sinker and slider in this start.
Braves SP Huascar Ynoa (62%). Ynoa was strong against Arizona, delivering this stat line: 6 IP, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, 11 whiffs on 82 pitches.
Cardinals SP Kwang Hyun Kim (56% rostered). In his most recent start, Kim delivered: 5.2 IP, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K, 15 whiffs on 85 pitches.
Blue Jays SP Robbie Ray (51%). Against the Rays, he looked good: 6 IP, 3 ER, 0 BB, 9 K, 19 whiffs on 91 pitches while averaging 95.1 MPH on the fastball -- the fastest of his career. Ray is worth targeting for upside right now.