Make no mistake, some number two starters are superior to many of the aces out there. But only a couple of the ones that pitched during last night’s light schedule fit this category. Others are not even considered to be number twos. It was an odd day with a few duds and a couple of very good pitching matchups:

ARMS

Alex Wood – ( 5IP / 4H / 2R / 2ER / 3BB / 4K )  Didn’t have to do much for his first win of the year. His teammates got 7 runs in the 1st. 

Matt Latos – ( 0.2IP / 6H / 7R / 7ER / 2BB / 0 K )  Wow. Anyone see this coming? Welcome home. Better watch out though, Matt. Your home state could become Latos intolerant.

Wei-Yen Chen – ( 4.1IP / 4H / 3R / 3ER / 2BB / 4K)  His teammates spotted him 6 runs early, but he couldn’t get through the 5th to seal the win – doesn’t bode well.

Nathan Karns – ( 5.2IP / 5H / 6R / 6ER / 4BB / 4K )  Welcome to the Bigs, Kid.

Colby Lewis – ( 6IP / 3H / 1R / 1ER / 2BB / 4K )  Lewis brought his A game. The A’s brought nothing. Hate to doubt Billy Beane, but I’m expecting a lot more of these small scores from Oakland.

Jesse Hahn – ( 6IP / 7H / 3R / 3ER / 0BB / 3K )  Sits right on the fence between a quality start and not.

Jordan Lyles – ( 6IP / 5H / 2R / 2ER / 1BB / 2K )  Don’t get too excited by this. Coors Field looms in the distance. Washington’s 6th starter (Roark) is better than the Rockies whole rotation.

Matt Garza – ( 5IP / 8H / 4R / 4ER / 1BB / 2K )  Keeps on plugging away, but Garza’s best days are getting further away.

C. J. Wilson – ( 8IP / 2H / 0R / 0ER / 1BB / 2K )  Strange things happen in April. Does this mean the Mariners might have issues with lefties? Probably not.

James Paxton – ( 6IP / 4H / 2R / 2ER / 1BB / 5K )  Quality start from one of our Sleeper picks. The Canadian is living the dream of playing for the team he cheered for as a kid. Paxton grew up just 20 miles from the Washington state border.

Ryan Vogelsong – ( 4.2IP / 6H / 7H / 7ER / 4BB / 5K )  His last name means: dweller where the birds sing. Trying to find a positive here.

Rubby De La Rosa – ( 5.1IP / 8H / 6R / 6ER / 2BB / 5K )  For all daily (and for that matter, weekly) Fantasy plays, pick the offenses that go up against the D-Backs and the Rockies. Don’t miss out on all the fun.

Tyson Ross – ( 6IP / 6H / 2R / 2ER / 3BB / 4K ) Just when he thought he was going to get some run support.

Zack Greinke – ( 6IP / 2H / 1R / 1ER / 1BB / 4K )  Sailed through the Padres new and improved lineup. Both hits came in the 1st from Kemp and Upton. Not sure why Mattingly had to take him out of the game

 

BATS

Chris Davis – 0/3 with a HBP. First game since his suspension. He was swinging for the hills in each at bat. It’s a matter of time. We predicted 40 in Mining and Pining for the Home Run, which splits the difference between his last 2 seasons.

Steve Pearce – 2/4 with 2R, 2RBI and 1HR. The guy who’s up for some kind of award or record for the number of consecutive years he’s spent playing games in both the Minors and Majors, looks good early. His streak will end this year.

Evan Longoria – 1/2 with 2BB, and a run. Are we looking at a new, more patient Longoria?

Freddy Freeman – 3/5 with 2 R and 2 RBI. Less support they say. I can’t help but think about Goldschmidt last season. How much support did he get? For that matter, look at the guy directly above him.

Christian Yelich – 2/4 with no production

Giancarlo Stanton – 0/1 with 3BB. Needs Morse, Prado and Ozuna to protect him, or we’ll be seeing a lot more of these 3-walk games.

Michael Morse – 0/4

Prince Fielder – 2/3 with 2 RBI. The big sook made the difference. And yes, I’d say it directly to his face… if it was there looking at me from some sports magazine, like Caveball Weekly.

Adrian Beltre – 0/4. Still hitless, but don’t fret. He’ll be among the top five third basemen by the end of the year. he’s not done yet.

Brett Lawrie – Struck out 4 times on 12 pitches

Carlos Gonzalez – 1/4 with a 2B, 1R and an RBI. The Rockies have 6 doubles in each of their first two games, without having set foot in Coors Field. If only they could stay healthy.

Troy Tulowitzki – 2/5 with a 2B, 1R and an RBI. (see above)

Nolan Arenado – 2/5 with a 2B, 1R and an RBI. (see above)

Corey Dickerson – 1/3 with a 2B, 1R and an RBI. (see above)

Ryan Braun – Out with some kind of nagging issue… again

Kole Calhoun – 1/4. Hit the ball hard.

Mike Trout – 1/4 with a 2B

Albert Pujols – 1/4 with a 2B

Austin Jackson – 0/4  One of our late busts.

Robinson Cano – 0/4

Nelson Cruz – 1/3 with one of the Mariner’s 2 hits on the night.

Angel Pagan – 1/4 with a 2B, a BB and 2 R. Looking like a good fit in the 3-spot.

Buster Posey – 3/3 with a BB, 1R, 2RBI and a HR. Just seems like one of those baseball names from the early 1900s, much like his new third baseman, Casey McGehee.

Brandon Belt – 1/2 with an RBI. Pulled his groin doing something. He sure doesn’t look fragile, but I’m starting to wonder. He’s day to day.

Jake Lamb – 1/3 with 4 RBI. The League leader in RBI is giving the D-Backs some leverage to keep Yasmany Tomas in the Minors for as long as it takes. Yes, that is correct – the league leader. 

Paul Goldschmidt – 2/2 with 2BB and 2R. As we said, he’s the most complete first baseman in baseball. 

Will Myers – 1/5 with 1R, 1RBI and a SB. Still strange to see him leading off. He’s more of a number 5 hitter.

Derek Norris – 2/5 with a 2B, 2R and 2RBI. Just picked him up on the waiver wire before the game and dropped Miguel Montero, as I don’t have a good feeling about the platoon situation with the Cubs. Lester could be expressing a desire to have Ross as his catcher. On the other hand, Norris has a lot of upside. He’s one of our 3 Sleeper picks at the catcher position.

Adrian Gonzalez – 3/4 with a 2B, 2R, 2RBI and a HR. As Vin Scully put it last night, “he continues to put on a clinic with each at bat.