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
I WANT IN THE SECOND HALF
These players make me want to smile.
Jay Bruce is batting .342 with a .630 SLG over his last 19 games. He’s gone deep three times with 12 RBIs and 13 runs scored in that time.
Robinson Cano is coming. Can you feel it? The last week he’s hitting .400 with a .475 wOBA. He’s also hit two homers, driven in five, scored six times and stolen a base.
Andrew Cashner is too talented to continue to post a 4.06 ERA, and you know how I feel about downing a guy cause of his record (he’s 3-9). I see a 8.12 K/9, 2.82 BB/9 and 47 percent strikeout rate and think better times lie ahead. Some further data. Last year Cashner had a 2.55 ERA with a 3.70 SIERA and 3.53 xFIP. This season his ERA is 4.06 with a 3.72 SIERA and 3.68 xFIP.
Mike Fiers has his ERA down to 3.83 on the year as he’s allowed a total of three earned runs over his last three starts. Moreover, his last 11 starts have produced nine outings with two of fewer earned runs allowed (one of those other outings was six earned runs but the other was a three run job).
Joe Mauer. Yes, I’m being serious. Seriously. What, you didn’t notice that he’s finally found his game after floundering for so long? Over his last 12 games Mauer has hit .409 with a .449 OBP and .500 SLG. Maybe you haven’t noticed that he has the same amount of RBIs as Eric Hosmer (41) and only one less than Joey Votto?
I DON’T WANT IN THE SECOND HALF
These guys make me a bit scared.
Jason Grilli, Francisco Rodriguez, John Axford and Tyler Clippard could all be dealt at some point, and if traded they might all end up as setup men on better teams. Keep that in mind if you own any of them.
Did you know that Dee Gordon is batting .259 with a .265 OBP over his last 113 plate appearances? That .395 BABIP is likely to continue to tumble.
Albert Pujols has been great but this cannot continue. Pujols currently owns a 22.4 percent HR/F ratio. The last time he had a mark that high was 2006. Moreover, the last three seasons the mark has been 13 percent. He’s just not going to continue to hit homers at this pace. Should also be noted that his 17.3 percent line driver rate would be a 4-year low, he’s hitting a mere .264, and that .335 OBP is decent at best. Sell on the first half and get a bounty back.
Mike Moustakas has learned to stop trying to pull everything and the results have been tremendous as he’s hit .301 with a .357 OBP. But the old Moose is creeping back in. Over his last nine games he’s hit .094 and now he’s on the bereavement list due to a family emergency. As good as he’s been he has less homers than Chase Headley (eight to seven), the same RBI total as Adam LaRoche (31) and his .793 OPS is lower than Brock Holt (.802).
Starting pitchers I would be nervous about keeping up the early pace, and it’s a long list: Dallas Keuchel, Francisco Liriano, Wei-Yin Chen, Hector Santiago, Scott Kazmir, Yovani Gallardo and Kyle Gibson.
AARON NOLA IS COMING
According to their mid-season rankings over at Baseball America, Aaron Nola is the 12th best prospect in baseball at the moment. Sounds like the Phillies are about ready to give him his shot as well. "He's getting closer," Phillies general manager Ruben Amaro Jr. said. "At some point after the All-Star break, yeah… "We have a plan in place, and we'll execute it. We have a good thought about when he's going to be pitching for us." Now that’s not exactly a clear cut designation for his call up, but I get the sense it won’t be long. As of now the Phillies are running out guys like Aaron Harang and Chad Billingsley and until calling up Severino Gonzalez we were getting a heaping helping of Sean O’Sullivan.
Nola is a righty with a nice, loose delivery. His fastball is in the low 90’s but he has lots of movement with the pitch. His curveball is on par with the heater, and when he breaks it off just right it’s got a tight, hard spin to it that creates a strong tilt. When he doesn’t get on top of the pitch though it can roll up there as an inviting target for batters. Despite the stuff, delivery and makeup, and for that matter ranking among prospects, he’s projected by most to be a 3rd starter in the big leagues. That’s not an elite fantasy option. Then there is this. I know I’m the only one that seems to care anymore… but the guy has only 155.2 innings of professional work under his belt. The results have impressed no doubt (14-6, 2.31 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 7.4 K/9, 1.4 BB/9), but still. Oh, and he will be pitching for the Phillies and that’s not going make any hurler look like a prime option in the win column. Think Jesse Chavez in a best case scenario. Best case.
JOSE QUINTANA BETTER THAN YOU THINK
Jose Quintana was one of those mid-level arms that I pushed for people to draft this season. On the surface it doesn’t look like it’s worked out at all since he’s 
4-8 with a 3.69 ERA and 1.30 WHIP. As usual, there is way more to the story than that. Point by point.
- Quintana has a 7.71 K/9 mark. That’s solid and sustainable.
- He has a 2.18 BB/9 rate which would be a career best (his previous three seasons: 2.77, 2.52 and 2.34 as the rate continues to come down).
- His 1.50 GB/FB ratio is well above his 1.33 career rate while his 0.75 HR/9 mark is smack dab on top of his 0.78 career rate).
All of that is heartening stuff. Let’s look at his work of late.
Over his last eight starts his ERA is 2.70 and his WHIP is 1.24 while his K/BB ratio is impressive at 4.44. In addition there is this fact – each of his last eight starts has been a “quality” start. That type of consistency, sans the blow ups that seem to strike everyone at times, is impressive and noteworthy. Need some more data?
Over his last 14 starts he’s failed to go six innings once. (Read again)
Over his last 14 starts he’s allowed three earned runs four times.
Over his last 14 starts he’s allowed more than three earned runs one time.
Over his last 14 starts he’s been “quality” 12 times.
He’s not an elite option, but Quintana is most certainly better than you give him credit for.
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).