There haven't been many things to like about the Reds' season, but Joey Votto is certainly one. Votto reached base nine times in 10 plate appearances during Wednesday's doubleheader with the Cubs. NINE TIMES, Mrs. Bueller.
After injury-shortened seasons in 2012 and 2014, Votto was the 11th first baseman off the board in this year's drafts, with an ADP of 75. He has outperformed that slot, ranking fifth at his position in batting average (.298), T-6 in runs (49), seventh in home runs (17), 14th in RBI (45), third in OBP (.413) and T-3 in steals (6). Nice job, Joey Votto.
In other news ...
D-backs OF David Peralta left Wednesday's game after getting hit in the head by Jose Fernandez. Peralta passed all concussion tests after the game, but don't be surprised if he gets tonight off.
In case you missed it, Royals SP Jason Vargas is done for the season after tearing his UCL, and Yordano Ventura has been brought back from the minors to replace Vargas after a demotion that lasted less than 24 hours. In fact, everything happened so fast that Ventura didn't even have time to leave Kansas City for his Triple-A assignment.
Astros OF Preston Tucker homered twice in a Wednesday win over the Red Sox. Tucker now has eight homers with 26 RBI and 26 runs scored in 58 games, which is not bad if you're looking for an outfielder in a deeper mixed league. He's owned in 1.2 percent of FOXSports.com leagues.
Clay Buchholz has confirmed that there's no ligament damage in his elbow, but the Red Sox still don't have much of an idea when he'll pitch again. Too bad - he was having a pretty good season.
I fell asleep during Sharknado 3: Oh Hell No!, but did Tara Reid really have a baby while inside a shark that re-entered our atmosphere from outer space? Anyway, bravo to Frankie Muniz's character for fighting off sharks while having all his limbs bitten off.
There are four afternoon games on today's schedule, starting with O's-Yankees at 1:05 p.m. ET. Set your lineups accordingly.
Robbie Ray stunk as our Wednesday streaming starter. There are hardly any low-ownership starters on today's schedule, but if you're desperate, you could try Ervin Santana (owned in 20.9 percent of FOXSports.com leagues) at Anaheim.
DFS advice (based on 50/50 games, night games only, salaries from DraftKings): Clayton Kershaw ($14,500) has posted 98.1 DK points over his last two starts, and he faces the Mets. That's as slam-dunk as you get, but you'll need cheap bats ... There aren't any good, cheap SP2s options, with John Lackey ($8,400) being the lowest-priced play you should consider. If you avoid Kershaw, lead with Lance McCullers ($9,300) vs. the struggling Red Sox ... Indians C Yan Gomes ($2,600) has averaged 11 DK points over his last four games ... Brewers 2B Scooter Gennett ($3,200) has been hitting well lately, and faces Arizona righty Zach Godley in his MLB debut. Godley has pitched three games above A ball, with a 5.14 ERA ... If you want to save money at SS, Tyler Saladino ($2,300) is still cheap and batting second in the White Sox order. He's got six homers with 25 stolen bases this season ... One good thing about spending on starters tonight is that the high-priced third basemen are all off. Justin Turner ($3,400) looks pretty good against Bartolo Colon ... If you need to save in the outfield, consider Nats' leadoff hitter Michael Taylor ($2,500), even though he's facing a tough pitcher in Francisco Liriano.
See you back here tomorrow morning.
