Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes: April 2

Here are some fantasy baseball notes from games that took place on April 1, as well as a few looking ahead to April 3 that will help you succeed in your league.

A.J. Burnett looked sharp in his Philadelphia Phillies debut. Burnett really had his curveball working, he threw it for just over 30 percent of his pitches and batters were swinging over it all night. Burnett has an opportunity to provide owners who picked him on draft day with a tremendous amount of value, and he'll look to pick up where he left off early next week against the Milwaukee Brewers.

Alex Wood gave up a leadoff home run to Carlos Gomez, but he absolutely shut down the Brewers after that. Wood threw seven innings on Tuesday and allowed just the one run to go with five hits, three walks and five strikeouts. Wood is going to be a major part of the Braves' 2014 and he should be owned in all leagues. Wood has a very tasty start coming up against the Mets next week.

Erasmo Ramirez was also sharp on Tuesday night, holding the Angels to just two runs over seven innings while giving up just six hits, no walks and striking out six. I watched nearly his entire start and Ramirez was in complete control the whole game. Ramirez kept hitters off all game by throwing a good mix of his fastball, slider and changeup and his location was on point all night. Ramirez is in line to start against the Athletics this Sunday.

Ramirez wasn't the only Mariner who looked sharp on Tuesday night. Brad Miller launched two home runs and Justin Smoak (I’m not rushing to pick him up yet, but he’s someone worth keeping an eye on) homered for the second game in a row. If I owned Jose Reyes and needed a replacement, Miller would my top choice. He’s available in just 23 percent of Yahoo! Leagues, but he’s out there in 81 percent of ESPN leagues.

About a month ago, I wrote about how C.C. Sabathia's diminishing velocity was a major cause for concern and that he could experience a serious decline. On Tuesday, his fastball was clocked right around 90 mph, which is about one tick slower than it was last season, and the big fella was lit up for six runs over six innings by the Houston Astros.

Wilson struggled to find the strike zone on Tuesday (first-pitch strike percentage was an ugly 42.3 percent). As a result, he couldn't keep runners off the bases and he was up over 100 pitches in the beginning of the sixth inning. Wilson finished the day with an ugly 1.76 WHIP and I'd be shocked if he finishes the season with a WHIP better than 1.30.

Sergio Santos picked up his first save of the season, but it wasn't pretty. Santos gave up two hits, one walk and allowed a run, but was able to rack up three strikeouts.

It wasn't a save situation, but with the lead, Chad Qualls pitched the eighth inning and Matt Albers pitched the ninth inning for the Houston Astros in their Opening Day win against the Yankees. Qualls allowed three hits and a run, Albers gave up one hit.

Jose Quintana vs. MIN (64% Yahoo! leagues; 94% ESPN leagues)

Wandy Rodriguez v. CHC (92% Yahoo! leagues; 99% ESPN leagues)

Jacob Turner vs. COL (97% Yahoo! leagues; 99% ESPN leagues)