DFS PLAYBOOK PRO – An exciting offering from the Alarm is 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). You can find the link to the Hitting and Pitching articles under the DFS Playbook pro tab at the top right of the screen.
OTHER LINKS TO BOOKMARK
ASTROS/ATHELTICS DEAL
Astros Receive: Scott Kazmir
Athletics Receive: C Jacob Nottingham, RHP Daniel Mengden
Ramifications
ASTROS
Kazmir has a 2.38 ERA and 1.09 WHIP and he gets to return home to pitch for the Astros who clearly are going for it in 2015. His numbers include an 8.29 K/9 rate and 2.87 BB/9 mark and a career best 46 percent ground ball rate as he’s pitched extremely well. My concerns with Kazmir remain though, and it’s about his durability or extreme lack of actually. Only once in seven years has he thrown 160-innings. Please read that again. He’s currently at 109.2 innings and he recently had some triceps issue thing. It might be a sample size/regression thing, but the only time he reached that 160-inning mark was last season (190.1) and he was horrible late in the year. Was his second half el foldo (4-6, 5.42 ERA, 1.45 WHIP, 6.9 K/9) a result of the workload or the fact that he was simply too good in the first half (11-3, 2.38 ERA, 0.98 WHIP, 8.3 K/9)? Then there is this. Kazmir has a 3.92 ERA on the road with a 1.35 WHIP this season. Time will tell, but you should be very, very cautious when trying to evaluate the outlook of Kazmir.
So what does this mean for the Astros’ rotation? Well, best I can figure it would seem to me that Vincent Velasquez is likely the odd man out killing his mixed league value, with Scott Feldman taking the 5th spot in the rotation. That is until Kazmir gets hurt again.
ATHLETICS
Nottingham is a 20 year old catcher playing at Single-A ball. He’s had a nice season hitting .326 with 14 homers and 76 RBIs but he won’t see the bigs this season or next.
Mengden was a 4th round selection by the Astros last season and the 22 year old has a 3.46 ERA and 84 Ks in 88.1 innings this season at Single-A. He won’t see the big leagues this season or next.
The only significant move in terms of the fantasy game is what will the Athletics do with the open starting spot in the rotation? Drew Pomeranz will get the start Thursday against the Blue Jays – the Jays crush lefties – and he could run with the job if he performs given the setbacks that guys like Jarrod Parker and A.J. Griffin have experienced in their attempts to return from surgery. Pomeranz has a 3.58 ERA and 1.24 WHIP over 60.1 innings as he also owns a 7.3 K/9 mark. He’s made 20 relief appearances and eight starts on the year, and his numbers as a starter includes a 4.40 ERA, 1.28 WHIP, 6.7 K/9 and 3.35 BB/9 mark. Think AL-only value versus someone that you should be running to the wire to add in mixed leagues.
WHO IS THIS SALADINO?
The White Sox Tyler Saladino was called up recently to play third base after Conor Gillaspie and his no offense game was designated for assignment. Through nine games Saladino is batting .314 with a .542 SLG as he’s gone deep twice. The 26 year old was batting just 255 with four homers in 52 games at Triple-A but he was doing one thing very well. He was running. Saladino had stolen 25 bases in just 52 games and in 149 games at Triple-A he’s swiped 66 bags. Tyler puts the ball in play, runs fast and owns a .351 career OBP in 541 minor league games. He’s a decent add if you’re looking for a speed boost on the infield.
FREESE TO THE DL
David Freese has been placed on the DL with a non-displaced fracture in his right index finger. Sounds like an injury that could keep him of action for a month or more. The Angels will have a couple of options at third in Taylor Featherston and Kyle Kubitza. Featherston has been awful this season with a .390 OPS over 74 plate appearances. Kubitza was a third round selection of the Braves in 2011 and has been only slightly better in his 31 big league plate appearances with a .465 OPS. Kubitza would be my choice for the most at-bats moving forward but it only matters in AL-only leagues.
THE LAST 30 DAYS
Jose Abreu is batting .278 with two homers, eight RBIs and a .411 SLG his last 22 games.
Erick Aybar is an effective, boring option, up the middle. Regardless, he’s doing his best Ted Williams of late batting .405 over his last 23 games. He’s also scored 16 times in 23 games for the Angels. Can try to ride the wave but we know who it is – and that’s a boring, effective option, nothing more.
Charlie Blackmon has a .935 OPS the last 30 days which impresses, but how about those seven steals? Charlie is up to 12 homers and 24 thefts (he stole 28 bags last season) and has a shot at a 20/30 effort a season after he fell one homer short of 20/20.
Lorenzo Cain is picking up steam hitting .373 with a .435 OBP and .663 SLG. The only thing he needs to do is stay healthy. It’s the one issue that has held him back in his attempt to be a legitimate fantasy force.
Robinson Cano is batting .306 with six homers his last 24 games. That is all.
Matt Duffy is fourth in baseball with 19 runs scored. He’s hitting a solid .310 but with a mere .337 OBP the runs scored mark is obviously an outlier.
Need a boost at second base in a mixed league? In 21 games Scooter Gennett is batting .370 with a .418 OBP, 11 RBIs and 13 runs scored. Smallish game, but big time production right now.
Carlos Gonzalez has four homers and a .590 SLG. He’s also batting .321. The bat has awakened, but he’s still not running (zero steals).
Billy Hamilton (14) leads baseball in steals while Jose Altuve is second (10). Altuve is batting .323 the last 30 days. Hamilton has a .287 OBP and .275 SLG. Hamilton is an absolutely dreadful hitter, like embarrassingly bad.
Jonathan Lucroy has been a disappointment this season. Still, he’s scored 18 times in his last 23 games even if he is batting only .256 in that time. A professional hitter, I wouldn’t be at all surprised if Lucroy’s bat woke up in the second half.
Mitch Moreland just keeps hitting. Not only does he have eight homers his last 21 games he’s also driven in 16 with a .570 SLG. His season long HR/F rate is 22.2 percent, well above his career 14.9 percent mark, so expecting some power regression moving forward seems prudent.
Rougned Odor has returned from the minors with a vengeance. He’s batting .366 with a .688 SLG over his last 23 games as he’s driven in 16 and scored 15 times while hitting five long balls. No one should think that he’s an elite option at second base at the moment, but that doesn’t mean he hasn’t caused people to reassesses the thought that he should be an afterthought in the fantasy game. He might be here to stay and has the talent to be a mixed league starter at the position.
Buster Posey leads baseball with 25 RBIs, in just 21 games (Adam Lind is second with 24 RBIs in 23 contests). Posey is also batting .395 with a 1.033 OPS. There’s no debate when it comes to who the best hitting catcher in baseball is.
Christian Yelich is on fire. Over his last 23 games he’s stolen four bases, hit .358 and posted the best OBP in baseball at .453. The sluggish Marlins offense should be ashamed that they’ve only knocked him in 11 times. He looks like the guy you drafted, not the player we all saw the first two months this season.
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).