Michael DeCavalcante on STATS Fantasy Advantage

[Greg Ambrosius]

We're happy to have Michael DeCavalcante of Hoboken, New Jersey on tonight's STATS Fantasy Advantage show at 11 pm ET. Michael is from the same hometown that brought us our first $100,000 NFBC champion, Artie Rastelli. Michael is in his first year in the NFBC and he went into this week leading the NFBC Auction Championship from the New York $2,500 Auction League. He's also in second place in his New York Main Event league. Welcome to the NFBC and congrats on the great debut Michael.

We will be on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio from 10 pm ET to midnight and have a full lineup of guests. We'll talk with Rich Wilson of Prospect361.com about the next wave of minor-league callups at 10:15 pm ET. We'll also talk with Tony Ambrogio of Rogers Sportsnet in Toronto about those amazing Blue Jays. And we'll talk a little fantasy football in the last half hour with Arnie Stapleton of the Associated Press, who covers the Denver Broncos. Should be a fun, fun show.

See ya in a couple of hours.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Thanks to Michael for joining us on the show last night. He's having a fantastic debut season in the NFBC and he was a great guest last night on the STATS Fantasy Advantage. Great job Michael.

Here are a few factoids from the STATS Research team that we used last night. Enjoy:

Let’s lead off with Minnesota’s Phil Hughes, who was a hot fantasy pick because he was moving from hitter-friendly Yankee Stadium to pitcher friendly Target Field. So guess what? Hughes is 7-2 with a 3.17 ERA, but it’s because he is 5-0 in his first 6 road starts this season, including a win at Toronto today. The last Twins pitcher to go 5-0 in their first 6 road starts was Johan Santana in 2005.

** The Cubs bullpen has struggled to nail down saves, but did you know that Neil Ramirez has a 0.60 ERA through his first 17 career relief appearances, a record for the Cubs.

** The Cardinals have shut out their opponents in three straight road games. The last time they did this was in 1943 from July 6 to July 11 when they did it in four straight games.

** Lonnie Chisenhall had an epic game on Monday with 5 hits, 3 HRs and 9 RBIs. Was there anything historically significant about that performance?

The only other players with 3+ HR, 5+ Hits, 9+ RBI – Since 1920 were Fred Lynn in 1975 (3 HRs, 10 RBIs), Gil Hodges in 1950 (4 HRs, 9 RBIs) and Walker Cooper in 1949 (3 HRs, 9 RBIs).Since 1920 (when RBI became official stat), Chisenhall is first player to go 5-for-5 with three home runs and nine RBI in a game.

** Who have been the best leadoff hitters so far this season in terms of OBP, batting average, runs scored and other major statistical categories?

Highest Batting Average When Batting 1st, MLB 2014
Jose Altuve, Hou .333, Angel Pagan, SF, .326, Ian Kinsler, Det., .311, Josh Harrison, Pitt., .302, Nick Markaskis, Bal, .302

Highest OBP When Batting 1st, MLB 2014
Shin-Soo-Choo, Tex .409, Matt Carpenter, St.L, .384, Angel Pagan, SF, .376, Carlos Gomez, Mil., .374, Jose Altuve, Hou., .369

Most Runs Scored When Batting 1st, MLB 2014
Brian Dozier, Min, 44, Matt Carpenter 42, Denard Span 39, Christian Yelich 39, Charlie Blackmon 37.

** Starting pitchers who can pitch deep into games have huge value and sadly are a bit of a rarity these days. What starting pitchers are averaging the most innings pitched per start and who are the most productive in innings 7-9?
Most IP Per Start, MLB 2014
Johnny Cueto, Cin, 7.38; Hisashi Iwakuma, Sea, 7.25, Adam Wainwright, StL, 7.17; David Price, TB, 7.12; Masahiro Tanaka, NYY, 7.06; Felix Hernandez, Sea., 7.00