[ayaghmour2]

A little late, but wanted to mention Alex Cobb. He did do much better in real life, signing a 4YR/57MM contract with Baltimore, a lot more then the less then 2 million dollar contract.

April 27th, 2018: So Rizzo still isn't too fond of the deal. All I had to do was add 1* potential RP Dakota Bennett, and then lowered the retnetion to 25% and he was fine with the deal. So I was able to add Enny Romero and dump Joe Thatcher.

There used to be an achievement for first trade, but I guess not anymore. I quickly added Romero to the active roster and was ready for Colorado. He had to fly from Syracuse to Miami, so who knows if he'll get to the game on time.

We were hosting the Rockies and Odrisamer Despaigne (0-1, 4.50 ERA, 1.33) and the visitor Rockies trotted out Chad Bettis (3-1, 3.03 ERA, 1.10 WHIP). I kept the injured Miguel Rojas in since we had an off day yesterday. Hopefully he doesn't try to steal, or stretch a single into a double.

Gerardo Parra started the scoring for the Rockeis with a run scoring single in the top of the first. The Injured Rojas singled a run home in the bottom half, and didn't try stretching the single into a double, or try stealing. We then scored single runs in the 2nd, 3rd, and 4th to grab a 4-1 lead. In the 7th the Rox got one more, and we headed to the 9th up 4-2. Drew Steckenrider came into the game for the save and allowed 2 hits, including an RBI double to a personal favorite of mine (and another fantasy team guy) D.J. LeMahieu. Up only 4-3, Steckenrider settled back down, and finished off the game for save number 5, giving the Marlins their 8th victory on the year.

Despaigned pitched really well, allowing only 1 run in 6 innings (it was in the first so he settled in), and a single walk, while striking out 3. He grabbed the win, and Nick Wittgren, who allowed an unearned run in 2 innings, grabbed his first hold of the year. Derek Dietrich was charged with the error, his first in LF (he did go 2-for-4 and scored).

Along with Dietrich, Miguel Rojas also went 2-for-4 and scored, but drove in a run. Martin Prado hit a homer in a 3-for-4 night along with a run scored and a pair of RBI's. Lane Adams and Starlin Castro also had two hit games. Adams, Cameron Maybin, and Dietrich doubled, while Castro stole successfully (3) and Adams was not (2).

We got 12 hits off Bettis in 4, who took the loss, but only manged 2 more hits off the Rockies pen in 4 shutout frames. Parra was the only Rockie with more then 1 hit. He doubled and singled.

The Red Sox David Price will be out 6 weeks with a hamstring strain. He's 1-2 with a 4.13 ERA and 24 strikeouts in the same amount of innings.

April 28th, 2018: In a battle of lefties, the Rockies sent out Tyler Anderson (1-2, 2.08 ERA, 1.23 WHIP) to face the brilliant Adam Conley (0-1, 6.33 ERA, 1.55 WHIP) in game 2 of 3 in Miami. I game Miguel Rojas a day off and played Johnny Giavotella at 2B, moving the error friendly Castro to SS. The veteran Giavotella hit 7th behind Prado and in front of Adams.

Well, can't say I expected this result. Neither team could score untill the 7th when the Marlins woke up. Justin Bour and Martin Prado took Anderson deep for 2 run homers, giving the Marlins a nice 4-0 lead. We then picked up 1 on Zach Rosscup in the 8th, and cruised to a 5-0 finish.

Sadly, Adam Conley didn't pick up the win, but he went 6.1 innings and struck out 9. He only allowed a single hit to star Nolan Arrenado and 2 walks. Wittgren picked up the win, his 1st, finishing the 7th while allowing a two out double to Ian Desmond. We only gave up 2 hits all game.

No Marlin picked up more then 1 hit, but they didn't need to. Castro played a good game at short, and Giavotella went 1-for-3 filing in for Rojas. Conley even got a hit.

April 29th, 2018: We looked to finish off the sweep, and the Heath Hembree claim went through. He'd be ready for today's matchup, and Brian Ellington returned to New Orleans. I moved the struggling Dillon Peters down to AA.

Jose Urena (1-2, 5.87 ERA, 1.57 WHIP) looked to finish off Kyle Freeland (2-0, 3.48 ERA, 1.39) and the Rockies. We've had the worst pitcher in each match up, but it didn't matter too much. Rojas was back and this should be his last day partilaly disabled.

Urena was anything less the great, allowing 2 in the first, and a 3 run homer to Parra in the 3rd. He was done after 3 innings, allowing 5 on 5 hits, while walking and striking out 2. Former Coors Field legend Jorge De La Rosa came in to eat 3 innings, allowing just a single run in the 5th. Heath Hembree made his debut for us, going 2, allowing just 1 hit while striking out to Rockie hitters. Junichi Tazawa allowed 1 run in the 9th in the 7-2 defeat, dropping us to 9-18 and ending the mini win streak.

Kyle Freeland was great, now 3-0, tossing 8 great innings, allowing only 2 runs (1 earned), off 5 hits, 2 walks, and he added 3 strike outs. Parra was amazing all series, and went 3-for-4 with 3 runs scored and 4 RBI's. LeMahieu was 2-for-4 and drove in a run. Ian Desmond took Tazawa deep in the 9th for his first homer of the year.

Our offense wasn't much, although Cameron Maybin went 2-for-3 with his 5th double of the year, a run scored and an RBI, along with a walk. Castro had 2/3rds of the teams total strikeouts in a rare 0-for-4 day. Now Philly comes here to battle the Marlins for 3.

Tigers catcher James McCann went 5-for-5 in a 14-5 victory over Baltimore. Not going to lie, when I saw '5-for-5 Day for McCann' I thought 'how did Brian McCann go 5-for-5?' Well, James is much better, hitting .352/.435/.500 with 2 homers and 10 RBI's for the 15-12 Tigers! They have the same record as Cleveland and are half a game behind the 15-11 Twins. Miggy is hitting .310 for them, MVP form perhaps?

April 30th, 2018: The Mets had a 'shocking' injury to a starter, as Steven Matz tore his flexor tendon and will miss the rest of the year. He'll finish 2018 with a misleading 2-1 record. His ERA was 8.14 and his WHIP 1.89. Not the numbers the 26-year-old wanted.

Justin Bour is leading the MLB in isolated power (.372), with Giancarlo Stanton in 3rd (.357). Bour>Stanton.

And then come the power rankings. We're 28th this week! At 55 ahead of Kansas City (49.4) and San Diego (48.9).

On to the game, as Vince Velasquez (2-1, 5.22 ERA, 1.36 WHIP) faced off against Dan Straily (1-2, 4.50 ERA, 1.50 WHIP). Miguel Rojas was fully healed, and Cameron Maybin and J.T. Realmuto were given days off. Martin Prado as well.

We put up 2 in the 4th with a Starlin Castro homer and Rafael Ortega run scoring triple. We added 1 more in the 5th in a very boring, but productive, 3-0 series opener.

Straily was great, going 7.1 innins, allowing only 2 hits and 0 walks, while sending 9 Phillies back to the bench dissapointed. Kevin Chapman finshed off the game with 1.2 perfect innings, earning save 1 on the year.

The only Phillies to record hits? Carlos Santana and Cameron Rupp. Santana doubled in the 7th.

Castro and Ortefa were both option, 3-for-4 each while combining for the cycle (Castro doubled, Ortega tripled, Castro homered, and the both singled). Straily picked up another hit and is now hitting .429. Castro also grounded into a double play, but he was still great. Justin Bour had the last RBI, but didn't record a hit, dropping his average to .299.

The Rangers made a very shocking move, waiving Doug Fister, who was 3-2 with a 2.45 ERA and 1.15 WHIP in 5 starts. He only struck out 18 in 33 innings, but had a nice 2/1 K/BB ratio. I'd claim him if he wasn't too expensive.

May 1st, 2018: Guess who won AL player of the month? Giancarlo Stanton! Don't know how, he hit only .238, but average is overrated anyways. 12 homers and 23 RBI's are pretty good numbers. Shoei Ohtani and Ronald Acuna won rookie of the month, as I'd expect them to earn that each month.

After one month, we were 10-18, 5 1/2 back on last years champion Washington Nationals who were 16-13. Philly was only 1/2 a game back at 15-13 along with New York. Atlanta was 11-18, just 1/2 a game better then us.

Brian Johnson (3-2, 3.45 ERA, 1.22) looked to defend home turf against Aaron Nola (2-3, 4.26 ERA, 1.18). I decided to make an executive decision and start Rafael Ortega in right. Lane Adams is hitting .161/.262/.232 and the red hot Ortega was great last game, and is a lefty. Ortega hit 6 behind Relamuto and infront of Rojas.

We scored quick runs in the 1st and 2nd, and then Rhys Hoskins doubled off Johnson, scoring a run to bring the Phillies closer. With a 2-1 lead, Johnson finished the 7th, let Chapman take the 8th, and Drew Steckenrider the 9th, to finish off the Phils 2-1, our second win in the series. Johnson is now 4-2, Chapman has 2 holds, and Steckenrider 6 saves. Johnson was back to ace like, going 7 innings and alowing only 1 run and 1 walk. Yes he gave up 7 hits and yeas he only struck out 2, but he was still great. Chapman walked 1 and Steckenrider 2, but they didn't allow hits.

Nola pitched well on the flip sided, allowing 5 hits and a walk which turned into 2 runs. He struck out 5 Marlins. Hoskins wasn't having a sophomore slump by any means, and went 3-for-4. He did only have 5 homers, but that should pick up, hopefully after he leaves Miami. Aaron Altherr has 9 homers, leading the team.

Maybin went 2-for-3 with a walk and scored once. We only had 6 hits, all singles, but it was enough today. Justin Bour and Johnson (yes, the pitcher) drove in the runs. Ortega went 1-for-3, much better then Adams would've.

Could we complete the sweep? I hope...

May 2nd, 2018: Looking to complete the sweep, Odrisamer Despaigne (1-1, 3.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP) was back for another start in the homestand and faced former Blue Jay Drew Hutchison (2-0, 2.86 ERA, 1.16 WHIP) who was looking like the ace we thought he could be.

And Hutch pitched like it. 8 shut out innings where he scattered 5 hits and 2 walks in a 4-0 Philly victory. Despaigned allowed 3 in 5, off 8 hits and 2 walks. He didn't strike anyone out. New Marlin Enny Romero made his debut, but allowed a run off 3 hits and a walk in 2 frames. He did strike out 2.

Lane Adams got a hit, so maybe the benching helped. It was a 2nd inning double. Derek Dietrich doubled in the 1st, and J.T. Realmuto tallied a pair of hits, but we really couldn't do anything all game.

Well, it was a nice homestand, 4-2 against 2nd place teams. Next was a NL Central road trip, 3 in in Cincinnati and 3 in Chicago. I did not want to face the Cubs again, at 22-9 they were scary.

May 3rd, 2018: The off day gave us a little time to relax as we flew to the wonderful state of Ohio. The Dodgers offered me C Keibert Ruiz, but he was nothing special.

The Sox were making moves, as Chicago sent Joakim Soria to Boston for RF Tyler Esplin, RHP Jake J. Thompson, LHP Rayniel Adames, and 3B Jake Sweaney. Seems like a nice haul right? The 4* Soria notched 3* potential Esplin, 2* potential Thompson, 2* potential Adames, and 1.5* potential Sweaney. None of them stand out,but they can all make the majors and the White Sox hedged their bets. Soria wasn't having the best year, but he's a nice addition behind Craig Kimbrel and Matt Barnes in an avergae pen.

In two days the draft pool would come out, and our scouts would furiously scout it. I had to find the next franchise stud.

But first came the Reds. We would most likely see righty Tyler Mahle (2-3, 4.41 ERA), and lefties Brandon Finnegan and Scott Diamond (2-2, 5.40 ERA). Finnegan just came off the DL, but made 5 rehab starts in Louisville, going 2-0 with a 1.69 ERA, 1.54 WHIP, and 32 strikeouts to go with 10 walks. He's the only pitcher in history to pitched in the CWS and the WS in the same season (TCU and the Royals in 2014).

In MLB news, Mets Jacob deGrom tossed a no-hitter against the Braves! The Mets edged the game 2-0 as deGrom was dominate, striking out 11, but he did walk 4 for a total of 118 pitches.