It looked grim for Chris Stratton as he entered his Sunday afternoon start against the Washington Nationals. He held a 5.11 ERA through 15 Triple-A starts in 2017 and had been nothing short of a disappointment in his first two starts in the majors, allowing nine walks and fanning just five en route to seven total earned runs. However, he shocked many with ten strikeouts and just six baserunners in 6.2 shutout innings and suddenly he’s an intriguing option on a barren waiver wire in fantasy leagues. Even though he faced a Nationals lineup that didn’t contain Bryce Harper or Daniel Murphy, performing at this level against any major league lineup is worth a deeper look.

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We’ve been waiting all year for Reynaldo Lopez to show up in Chicago and he came out with guns blazing in his 2017 debut, fanning five in his first six outs en route to allowing just two earned runs in six frames. Plenty are buying into the hype Lopez has garnered after his first start, but is he for real? Is Lopez someone you can count on down the stretch in your fantasy league? Let’s walkthrough the entirety of Lopez’s 2017 MLB debut with plenty of GIFs to help us out.

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