DFS PLAYBOOK PRO – An exciting new offering from the Alarm is here! It’s the DFS Playbook Pro. I will be doing a daily breakdown of the hitters –Hitting Coach – while Howard Bender looks into the Pitchers (Pitching Coach).
OTHER LINKS TO BOOKMARK
PERFORMANCE UPDATES – HITTERS NOT HITTING
Jose Abreu hit five homers in his first 52 at-bats. He’s gone 32 at bats without a homer since then. That’s 12 homers in his last 85 games played. His ground ball rate is also insanely high right now at 51.5 percent. Oh, and he’s hitting .267 too. #ItsEarlyBut…
Xander Bogaerts started off on fire. He’s not even smoldering at this point. Through 24 games he’s hitting .264 with a poor .694 OPS. One homer, two steals. That’s it. As I feared, we’re not seeing the skills consolidation right now making him a blahtastic mixed league option.
WHAT HAPPENED TO…
Alex Wood entered the year as a low end starting pitcher #2 in mixed leagues according to this scribe. Right now… not so much. Through six starts he’s walking 3.51 batters per nine, more than a batter above his mark last season. His K/9 rate of 6.47 is more than two full batters below his mark from last season (8.91). Yeah, not good. Also disconcerting is the fact that his nine percent swinging strike rate is down all the way to 4.8 percent. That’s not remotely close to being good, nor is the 88 percent contract rate batters have posted against him (79 percent last season). Oddly though, there are still many things to like though. (1) He’s only allowed one homer in six starts. (2) His ground ball rate is 50 percent (career 47.3). (3) His GB/FB is 1.83 (Career 1.50). (4) His BABIP is .370. Well that’s horrible, but obviously a major amount of regression is on the way (last year the mark was .295). Batters aren’t hitting the ball appreciably harder either as his hard hit percentage of 30.3 percent is just barely above last year at 29.6 percent. (5) His fastball velocity is only down two tenths of a mph. He is throwing his fastball more than 10 percent more frequently and that’s something to keep an eye on (he’s really pulled back on his changeup going from 17.8 percent last year to 10.4 percent this season). I’m still saying he’s a hold, or a good buy low option, but the expectations have to be lowered until he rights the ship.
A DEMOTION?
Rougned Odor could be demoted according to Jon Heyman. Well, yeah, that seems possible. Currently, through 25 games of action, Odor is sporting a .244 SLG. His batting average last year was .259. A .507 OPS over 25 games would seem to suggest either (A) he’s in one hell of a slump or (B) he could use some more minor league seasoning. After all, he’s barely 21 years old and has just 139 games of big league experience under his belt. If Jurickson Profar hadn’t gotten hurt last year it’s debatable if Odor would have seen the field 114 times. OK, he wouldn’t have.
Jerry Sands was demoted to the minors by the Indians. So much for hitting .348 with a .400 OBP over 25 plate appearances. Tough when you do everything right and still get your walking papers.
A CALLUP
Chris Colabello was called up by the Blue Jays with Jonathan Diaz being sent down. In 23 games at Triple-A Colabello was batting .337 with a .975 OPS. In 114 big league games Chris has hit .214 with 13 homers and 56 RBIs. He famously crushed it last April hitting .286 with 27 RBIs in 23 games. He drove in 12 runners in his final 35 games. An AL-only addition.
A RELEASE
Anyone need a catcher with some power?
Jarrod Saltalamacchia has been released by the Marlins after they were unable to find a trading partner (that’s not a shock given that Salty is due $15 million dollars this year and the next). Whomever signs Jarrod now can do so at the major league minimum while the Marlins are on the hook for the remainder of the salary. The switching hitter has averaged 17 homers and 56 RBIs the past four seasons in an average of 390 at-bats per season. There are holes in his game, he hit under .236 in three of those four seasons under discussion, but he can power the ball into the seats.
INJURY NEWS
Alex Cobb may have a partial tear in his elbow says Mark Topkin of the Tampa Bay Times. Let’s be clear what Marc is reporting. Quoting now…
Rays RHP Alex Cobb's season may be very much in jeopardy. Informed speculation is that a new more detailed MRI revealed a partial tear in his elbow ligament, which in the short term puts him on a program of rest and treatment and longer-term could lead to surgery.
Note the use of “informed speculation.” Topkin is not officially reporting that there is indeed a tear, but it certainly seems like he has it on some solid authority that there might be a significant issue with Cobb’s wing. Topkin speculated that Cobb could try PRP therapy and try to pitch through the issue but that surgery is also a distinct possibility. A very odd report since it’s not “real,” but I can’t think Topkin would have put it out there if he didn’t believe what he was writing to be basically true.
Scooter Gennett has been brought back from the DL (Logan Schafer sent to DL). In 682 career at-bats he’s hit .296 with 15 homers, 76 RBIs and 86 runs scored. He’s not an elite play, and was hitting just .207 in 10 games before his injury, but I know he’s on many a waiver-wire right now. Shouldn’t be.
Anthony Rendon has been diagnosed with a strained oblique muscles and as a result it’s looking highly unlikely that he will see the big league field in May. “We’ve gotta make sure we take care of it. We’ll get a test on it. We’ll look at it,” manager Matt Williams said. “We’ll have to see how Anthony reacts. There’s no timetable on it until we fully assess it.” Dumpster fire.
Christian Yelich should return from his back issue Friday. Pay close attention to how he is moving. Back woes can be season long worries of course. He needs his wheels to be working to produce to full effect.
From John Thorn… On this day in 1925: Ty Cobb tells writers he could hit homers like Ruth if he wished. Goes 6-for-6‚ with 3 HRs.
Ray Flowers can be heard Monday through Friday at 7 PM EDT on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 7 PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).