Rotoworld MLB Daily Dose: Thursday 06/01/2017

[Rotoworld.com Fantasy Baseball]( Rotoworld.com has all the tools you need to win your fantasy Baseball league. [Check out Rotoworld.com Season Pass]( To read this article on Rotoworld.com [click here]( [Player News]( | [Columns]( | [Injuries]( | [Transactions]( | [Depth Charts]( | [Scoreboard]( | [Tickets]( Dose: Astros Trounce Twins - 06/01/2017 BY Jesse Pantuosco [Ever Wonder? By NBCSports]( LATEST FANTASY BASEBALL HEADLINES [- Jones goes 3-for-5 with a homer and five RBI]( [- Tanaka slammed for seven runs in 5 2/3 vs O's]( [- Guerra fires six shutout frames to beat Mets]( [- deGrom pounded for seven runs in four frames]( [- Pinder blasts two bombs in win over Indians]( [- Justin Upton forced out w/ right quad strain]( [- Mike Trout (thumb) has successful surgery]( The AL West race was fun while it lasted, wasn’t it? To say the Astros are running away with the division would be putting it lightly. The Astros are blazing through the AL West like the Golden State Warriors tore through the Western Conference on their way to the NBA Finals. And like the Warriors, who have had to wait over a week for the Finals to commence, the Astros may have a lot of free time on their hands in September while the rest of the league is still jockeying for playoff position. In baseball, there’s no such thing as a perfect season. Everyone takes their lumps and that includes Houston, invincible as the Astros may seem right now. In fact, the Indians swept them as recently as a week and a half ago. But Houston’s early body of work still puts them head and shoulders above the rest of the league. They’ve won 38 games through the first two months and look well on their way to fulfilling Sports Illustrated’s [ambitious prophecy](. At the season’s one-third mark, the Astros are an astounding 22 games over .500. The last team to finish May that many games over .500 was the 2001 Mariners, who ended up tying a major league record with 116 wins that year. So I guess you could say the Astros are in pretty good company. The Astros’ win/loss record is undeniably impressive but to understand the full extent of their dominance, feast your eyes on Houston’s preposterous +90 run differential. Talk about firing on all cylinders. The Astros lead the majors in runs scored with 292 and have yielded the second-fewest runs in the league behind only the Dodgers. Baseball has become a convoluted mess of analytics and other made-up stats (not that I’m against it—I spend half my day scouring FanGraphs), but here, there’s nothing to interpret. The Astros are doing everything well. Just ask the Twins. The Astros annihilated the Twins this week, sweeping them in ruthless fashion. Two days after hanging 16 runs on Minnesota with 14 of those coming in the eighth and ninth innings, the Astros went berserk with a 17-run outburst in Wednesday’s matinee at Target Field. The hit parade featured six Houston home runs including two by leadoff man [George Springer](. Getting a rare day off from center field, Springer made the most of his time at DH, pounding four hits while reaching base in all six of his plate appearances. Owning Springer in fantasy is an exercise in patience. He’s a human yo-yo, alternating between weeks of breathtaking awesomeness and others where you wonder if he’d be better off working the snack bar up on the concourse. Luckily for Springer and his fantasy owners (including yours truly), his day job is going just fine at the moment. He’s hit .482 during his six-game hitting streak while raising his season average from a lowly .231 to a passable .265. Springer has also drilled four homers during the streak, bringing his season total to 13. If you’re going to an Astros game any time soon, I’d recommend parking your car down the block or taking public transportation because if Springer gets a hold of one, he might deposit a baseball through your windshield. Springer’s home runs go further than most of my tee shots. The UConn alum is a pioneer of sorts, ushering in a new era of bulky (he stands at 6’3/221) power-oriented leadoff hitters. Springer has made a living off tape-measure blasts but Wednesday’s shot off poor [Ryan Pressly]( was [his magnum opus](. Springer’s seventh-inning homer traveled 473 feet, adding eight feet to his previous career-best of 465. That’s how you [purify yourself in the waters of Lake Minnetonka](. Editor’s Note: Introducing FanDuel Mixup, the newest way to play FanDuel Baseball. Smaller lineups, so you can draft your team on the go, plus fun themes every week! [Play now](. As prolific as Springer has been over the past week (predictably Springer’s success has coincided with Houston’s seven-game winning streak), he’s not even the Astros’ hottest hitter right now. That title belongs to [Carlos Correa](, who was at it again with three hits including his ninth home run of the season Wednesday in Houston’s 17-6 triumph. The former AL Rookie of the Year labored through a difficult April (.233 AVG) but flourished in May, hitting .386 with seven round-trippers and 26 ribbies. He’s been [hotter than Hansel]( lately, batting an absurd .516 during his seven-game hitting streak. Correa now leads all shortstops with 34 RBI and ranks second in home runs behind Cleveland’s [Francisco Lindor](. Still just 22, it’s legitimately frightening to envision the player Correa will become when he reaches his fully evolved final form. Houston’s beat-down of Minnesota was one for the ages. Over the three-game set, the Astros outscored the Twins by an unheard of 40-16. The 40 runs were the most Houston has ever scored in a single series. Even more remarkably, the Astros’ top two starting pitchers, [Dallas Keuchel]( (8-0, 1.81 ERA) and [Lance McCullers]( (6-1, 2.48), didn’t even pitch. The Twins had won five of their last seven games before the Astros came to town and went scorched Earth on them. Now it’s back to the drawing board for the flawed but talented young Twins. It’s going to take a heavy dose of chicken and beer (I’m referring to the [Red Sox’s infamous collapse]( in 2011, not [the Ludacris album]() for the Astros to squander their lead in the AL West. Right now they’re 11 games clear of the second-place Angels and 12 ahead of the third-place Rangers. Remember this is only the Astros’ fifth year in the American League, so they’ve never won an AL West title. But that’s not what the Astros are after. With the amount of talent Houston has, anything less than a World Series ring would be a disappointment. AL Quick Hits: [Mike Trout]( underwent successful surgery to repair a torn UCL in his left thumb on Wednesday. The injury will sideline him for 6-8 weeks … [James Paxton]( returned to the mound Wednesday against the Rockies after missing most of May with a strained forearm. He scattered three hits over 5 1/3 shutout innings for his fourth win of the season … A strained groin will send [Matt Andriese]( to the disabled list. The right-hander has been arguably the Rays’ best starter this year, going 5-1 with a 3.45 ERA over 11 starts … [Sean Doolittle]( is set to begin a minor league rehab assignment with High-A Stockton on Friday. The left-hander landed on the DL with a shoulder strain about a month ago … [Jacoby Ellsbury](, who is still recovering from a concussion, took batting practice on Wednesday. [Aaron Hicks]( has been manning center field in his absence … [Welington Castillo]( was placed on the disabled list after suffering a testicular injury Tuesday against the Yankees. [Caleb Joseph]( and [Francisco Pena]( will handle catching duties while he recovers … [Adam Jones]( returned to Baltimore’s lineup Wednesday after missing the previous four games with hip and ankle injuries. He had a monster night, contributing three hits including his ninth home run of the year in a decisive win over the Yankees … Props to [Eric Hosmer]( for notching his 1,000th career hit on Wednesday. He’s the 11th Royal to reach that milestone … [Justin Upton]( exited Wednesday night’s game against the Royals with a strained right quad. He ripped two doubles and drove in a pair of runs before exiting … [Carson Smith]( is scheduled to face live hitters on Tuesday. Now 12 months removed from Tommy John surgery, Smith is aiming to return around the All-Star break. NL Quick Hits: [Bryce Harper](’s four-game suspension for charging the mound on [Hunter Strickland]( was reduced to three games on appeal. He began serving it on Wednesday and will be eligible to return Sunday against the Athletics. Strickland, who was banned six games for intentionally hitting Harper, is still waiting to hear back from MLB … The Nationals granted [Joe Nathan]( his release on Wednesday. The 42-year-old has struggled in the minors this year, producing a 6.19 ERA over 17 appearances for Triple-A Syracuse … [Jameson Taillon]( will make his next rehab appearance Friday at Triple-A Indianapolis. Taillon has made a remarkable comeback since undergoing surgery for testicular cancer three weeks ago … [Vince Velasquez]( considers his flexor strain “mild” but he’ll still require a trip to the disabled list. Velasquez has had a tough year for the Phils, collecting just two wins with a 5.58 ERA over 10 starts … The Cardinals released [Jonathan Broxton]( on Wednesday. The 32-year-old has been a disaster this year, delivering a hideous 6.89 ERA over 20 relief outings … [Hunter Pence]( began a rehab assignment with High-A San Jose on Wednesday. The Giants right-fielder has been out with a strained hamstring since mid-May … Manager [Dave Roberts]( says [Justin Turner]( will need another week before he’s ready to join the Dodgers’ lineup. Turner was off to an explosive start before his hamstring injury, batting .379 with 17 RBI in 140 at-bats … [Giancarlo Stanton]( got the afternoon off on Wednesday. He’s still nursing a hamstring injury he suffered Tuesday against the Phillies … [Justin Bour]( went deep twice in Wednesday’s victory over the Phillies. That gives him 15 homers for the year, which matches his entire total from last season. Bour had an incredible May, batting .344 for the month with 11 long balls and 21 RBI … [Kyle Schwarber]( had another nightmare day at the plate, going 0-for-4 in a loss to the Padres. A 1-for-20 spell has dropped his average to .170. That’s second-worst in the majors ahead of only Padres third baseman [Ryan Schimpf]( (.168) … Mr. Met was on his worst behavior Wednesday at Citi Field. The Mets’ iconic mascot was seen [giving fans the middle finger](, prompting the Mets to issue an apology after the game. Only in New York. Rotoworld.com © 2017 You received this newsletter because you are a registered subscriber of Rotoworld.com's Daily Dose. To unsubscribe, or to update your preferences, [click here.]( Please DO NOT REPLY TO THIS MESSAGE. For all inquiries, please [click here](. If you are having problems contacting us, send a letter c/o Webmaster to 1 Blachley Road Stamford, CT 06902.