Kole Calhoun is a solid ball player, even if nothing he does stands out at all. The last two seasons he’s averaged 22 homers, 79 RBI and 85 runs scored. He’s boring but those are some pretty solid counting category numbers, aren’t they? Check this out. The last two years Calhoun has more homers than Eric Hosmer, more RBI than Freddie Freeman and more runs scored than Ryan Braun. Don’t forget about Calhoun in the middle rounds in 2017.
Jason Castro has like six teams vying for his services despite not being able to hit a lick. You can play a long time in this league if you’re a lefty hurler or a catcher with defensive skills.
*NOTE: Late word is that he signed a 3-year, $24 million deal with the Twins.
The Cubs won the World Series (you might have heard). Tuesday night a Fox Special about the World Series winning club premiers.
Andrew McCutchen might be asked to move to a corner infield spot in Pittsburgh as the team is concerned that he may have lost a step in centerfield. Additionally, it sounds like the Pirates will be taking calls this winter on their franchise player as they try and to decide what direction to move the franchise in. Coming off his worst season since, well ever, folks seem to be overlooking a few things. (1) McCutchen still hit 24 homers. His average the previous three years was 23 big flies. (2) McCutchen drove in 79 runners. His average the previous three years was 88. (3) McCutchen scored 81 times. His average the previous three years was 92. All of those three numbers fall right in line with the previous three years. Alas, he stole six bases and has just 17 the last two seasons after swiping at least 18 his first six big league seasons. He also hit a mere .256. The only other time he hit under .292 in a season was in 2011 when he hit .259. He followed that effort up with a career best .327 mark in 2012. McCutchen was much better down the stretch hitting .287 with six homers and 22 RBI in September and will be undervalued in many drafts next season.
Which youngsters shined at the Arizona Fall League? Jonathan Mayo shares his thoughts.
Everyone is diggin’ Mike Napoli on the free agent market. The recently turned 35 year old is one of the biggest free agent sluggers on the market who isn’t a big ticket item like Jose Bautista, Yoenis Cespedes or Edwin Encarnacion (see our 2017 FREE AGENT TRACKER). Napoli hit a career best 34 homers while driving in 101 with 92 runs scored (both also career bests) in his first season of 500 at-bats. Still, don’t overlook that Napoli hadn’t hit 25 homers the previous four seasons, he hadn’t reached 20 the previous two years, and four times in five seasons he’s failed to hit .250. Napoli’s HR/FB ratio was pretty much on his career mark of 19.3 percent in 2016 (20.5) so the increase in homers had to do with at-bats as well as an increased fly ball rate (the mark was 45.1 percent in 2016, the first time the mark was above 43 percent since 2008). He will get paid, but it’s hard to envision another similar effort from Napoli in 2017.
Kevin Pillar is a great defender but he’s shown no growth as a hitter. Playing at least 146 games the past two seasons, Pillar has hit .278 and .266 with a .314 OBP and .303 OBP. He also has posted a SLG of .399 and .376. Again, no growth. His 0.33 BB/K ratio from 2015 fell to 0.27 in 2016. Both numbers are lower than the league average. He doesn’t lift or drive the baseball (19 homers in two seasons). He’s driven in 56 and 53 runners. He can steal a base, 25 and 14 the last two seasons, but he’s a bench outfield option at best in mixed leagues. I’d try to do better if it was my club.
Squatty Potty has done it again.
Triple-plays are rare, but super cool. Here’s a link to view each of the seven triple-plays that occurred in 2016.
Matt Wieters just can’t seem to quite get to where the expectations have always been. He is hoping to get a big contract this season as a free agent, he might be the top catcher out there (either he or Wilson Ramos is at the top), but he was hurt in a household accident. It sounds like he injured his non-throwing arm and required a few stiches but that he should be able to resume baseball activities by January. Wieters is a switch-hitting backstop who plays solid defense. He’s a really good player who doesn’t provide really good fantasy production. The 30 year old is coming off a .243-17-66 season in 124 games, and per 124 games for his career he’s averaging .256-16-61. He was the same guy last year he always is. Despite those moderate numbers I’m still of the belief that Wieters has a .275-25-90 season in him. A strong second catcher in mixed leagues with the very real possibility that he could end the year as a top-10 option.
Ray Flowers can be heard Monday/Tuesday and Thursday/Friday, 8 PM EDT, Wednesday 7 PM EDT on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 9 PM EDT PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).