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USATSI

Happy Friday, everyone! I think it's an especially happy Friday for New York Yankees fans who got a chance to watch last night's 3-0 win over the Toronto Blue Jays. Why? Not because they beat one of the teams they are competing to win the division against but because their former ace looked like his vintage self. As someone who ended up with a couple of shares, and with the Mets off, I flipped on YES, and I'll be honest: Yankees SP Luis Severino was a fun watch.

Severino allowed just two hits and two walks through five innings and came alive as the game went on. He struck out six with 15 induced swinging strikes on just 83 pitches. His changeup looked awesome and generated six swinging misses. His new cutter also looked awesome and generated five swinging misses. He leaned on that cutter, throwing it 23% of the time and it was borderline unhittable. Then, he can hit you with a high-90s fastball. Speaking of his fastball, the velocity was all the way up to 97.4 MPH bringing back glimpses of the 2018 Severino, who threw it at 97.6 MPH. Severino looks all the way back to me, and this might be the last opportunity to buy relatively low on someone who remains skeptical due to the injury scare or any other factor.

We'll dive into all of the action from Thursday, including a much-needed redemption game from a Mariners top prospect and ultimately a nice categories day overall for most of the rostered and started Seattle hitters. We'll also dive into other standout hitters and Scott White's Week 3 sleeper hitters and two-start pitchers to consider streaming plus the best hitter and worst hitter matchups by team in case anyone wants a team to target stacking for or against in DFS next week.

But first, in case you missed it on Thursday, Scott White debuted his first in-season prospects report and this was jam-packed with goodies like the five prospects you need to stash on your benches now and why Padres SP MacKenzie Gore is a must-stash that you should act fast on. Scott also dove into the hot start by Guardians 2B Owen Miller and other players to keep an eye on and consider targeting on your waiver wire. You can also find a fun dive into the hot starts from Dodgers SP Clayton Kershaw and Giants SP Carlos Rodon from Chris Towers here. 

And of course, as always, you can follow to make sure you get the latest episodes of Fantasy Baseball Today right when they drop on Apple and Spotify. 

Ohtani's outing goes awry

Angels SP/DH Shohei Ohtani simply didn't have it on Thursday night. He lasted just 3 2/3 innings and allowed six hits and two walks. While he did strike out five batters, he generated fewer than double-digit swinging strikes (nine) on 70 pitches. The good news is that the velocity is up, but the bad news is he's giving up hard-hit balls -- this was an issue for him at times in 2021, too. He allowed two batted balls with 106.5 exit velocities -- he'll have to clean that up.

And now for your stolen bases...

Thursday's stolen base getters included a few 'surprise bags' as well.

Speaking of Kelenic

The former top prospect had a big breakout from a categories standpoint on Thursday as he not only stole his first base of the year but also hit his first home run. Kelenic has gotten off to a slow start this season and he's batting near the bottom of the order with very few hits so far on his 2022 resume. Hopefully, this sock and shoe can help him break through.

Machado had himself a night

These are the nights you draft Machado in the second round of your Roto categories leagues for. He plays at one of the scarcest positions for production in Fantasy (3B) and he offers a commodity most third basemen can't -- random bags. Machado is good for double-digit steals annually and his two from Thursday brought him to three on the season. He finished Thursday's takeover going 5-for-5 with a home run. According to Jeremy Frank (@MLBRandomStats), Machado became just the fifth player with five hits, four runs, two steals and a homer in the same game since 1901.

Sleeper Week 3 hitters from Scott White

Two-start streaming pitchers from Scott White

News and lineup notes from Thursday

Every night the Fantasy Baseball Today team dives into all of the happenings around the MLB from top performers to injuries, trades and more. The podcast is a must listen for any diehard, if I do say so myself. Tune into the podcast to hear the FBT crew expand on the news and notes below.

  • Per an article from Justin Toscano who covers the Braves for the Atlanta Journal Constitution, the plan is for Braves OF Ronald Acuña to join Triple-A Gwinnett on April 26 for a rehab assignment. That seems to be in line with his early May timeline.
  • Padres SP MacKenzie Gore has been confirmed as the starter Friday against the Braves. He's 61% rostered. Check to see if he's available in your league -- stash him.
  • Blue Jays OF Teoscar Hernandez was placed on the IL with a left oblique strain. Raimel Tapia batted fifth and started in left field Thursday. He's worth a look in deeper five outfielder leagues.
  • Reds SP Luis Castillo will throw a live bullpen on Friday. If all goes well, a rehab assignment could be up next. 
  • Tigers 2B/SS Javier Baez was scratched Thursday due to thumb soreness.
  • White Sox OF Eloy Jimenez was out of the lineup Thursday after fouling a ball off his ankle the day before.
  • Phillies 2B Jean Segura was out of the lineup after getting hit by a pitch on his arm Wednesday.
  • Tigers OF Robbie Grossman has missed the last two games due to groin tightness.
  • Bryce Elder will pitch Saturday for the Braves, which means Huascar Ynoa will lose his second start this weekend.
  • Rangers SP Spencer Howard was placed on the IL with a cracked finger nail/blister issue.
  • Athletics SP James Kaprielian started a rehab assignment Thursday. He's 17% rostered in CBS leagues.

Lineup notes