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). 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
KLUBER…
Told you so. Hopefully you listened. Some notes from Corey Kluber’s historic 18 strikeout night.
Corey Kluber had 18 strikeouts and didn't walk a batter, the 5th pitcher to do that in a game since 1900. - @BBTN
Kluber done and the fans are booing. Klubot went 8 IP, 1 H, 0 R, 0 BB, 18 K, 113 pitches. Highest Game Score (98) ever for 8-inning start. - @MLBastian
Corey Kluber's game score of 98 ties #Indians record (for 9 inning game), tying Len Barker's perfect game and Dennis Eckersley's no hitter. - @BaseballEncyclopedia
Besides Kluber, the only other game in history of 18+ strikeouts, 0 walks & no more than one hit: Kerry Wood's 20-K, 0-BB one-hitter in 1998 - @jaysonst
TO SEE ALL THE STRIKEOUTS.
#SampleSize
#ItsNotAboutERA&Wins&Loses
BREWERS MAKE A MOVE
Jean Segura got some bad news when tests revealed that he has suffered a fracture to his right pinkie finger. As a result, he’s been placed on the DL. Given that he throws with his right hand, it’s quite possible he could miss more than the minimum time though no official time line has been listed that I’ve yet seen.
Up to the bigs comes Luis Sardinas to fill the roster spot of Segura. Acquired in the Yovani Gallardo deal, Sardinas is a 21 year old prospect who at one time was a top-100 type of fella (in 2014 he was inside the top-80 prospects in baseball according to Baseball Prospectus and MLB.com). Sardinas hit .290 at Triple-A last season over 60 games, but he also had one homer, nine steals and posted a .684 OPS. Not exactly exciting stuff. This season, more of the same as he was batting .288 with a .710 OPS over 32 games at Triple-A. Over 92 games at Triple-A he has hit a solid .289 but with a .315 OBP and .378 SLG it’s clear that his bat isn’t going to overwhelm anyone. Sardinas should see the majority of time at short though Hector Gomez and/or Elian Herrera could see some work there as well. It’s unlikely that Sardinas will become mixed league worthy.
IT JUST DIDN’T HAPPEN
Micah Johnson was supposed to hit, get on base and steal bases for the White Sox. Not so much. He was demoted to Triple-A Thursday as he struggled defensively in addition to batting poorly (.270-0-3-8-3 in 83 plate appearances). It looks like Carlos Sanchez will be called up to split time with Emilio Bonifacio at second. Sanchez has hit .262 with a .591 OPS over 107 big league appearances but he was hitting .344 at Triple-A this season with five steals. A switch hitter with good bat speed, he hits the ball to all fields but has little power. Think Omar Infante with a bit more speed. Sanchez is a solid AL-only add, but I see no reason to pay attention in mixed leagues. Meanwhile, Bonifacio is batting .219 with a .483 OPS and no steals. Ugly.
HEATING UP
Here’s a quick run through of some warming bats.
Brandon Belt the past two weeks is finally hitting with a .351 average, .455 OBP and .541 SLG. Alas, he hasn’t gone deep a single time in the time frame and oddly has just two RBIs. Still, it’s heartening to see his bat awakening. Still a viable corner infield option in mixed leagues.
Andre Ethier will continue to get a lot of work now that Yasiel Puig had a setback with his hamstring and has been shut down (sounds like he might be out about three more weeks now). Ethier the last two weeks has hit .342 with a .457 OBP over 11 games. He’s worth a short-term add if available.
Logan Forsythe just keeps going. Over his last 12 games he’s batting .341 with a .523 SLG. He’s not that guy, no way. Who is he? He doesn’t have any pop with 21 homers in 1,101 at-bats. He doesn’t have much speed either with 20 career steals. He’s also doesn’t hit for average - .243 for his career – or get on base (.310 OBP). So how do I explain his recent run? Luck? A .340 BABIP is part of it which is .052 points above normal despite a hard hit ball rate that is slightly below his career rate (his line drive rate is down as well at 19.6 percent versus 24.0 percent for his career). He’s hot and playing daily, but that’s about it. It’s not likely to continue.
Jason Kipnis has hit .440 with two homers, three steals, seven RBIs and 12 runs scored his last 12 games. He’s an elite option at second base. Hopefully you remembered that through his rough April.
Logan Morrison is batting .326 with a monstrous .767 SLG over his last 12 games during which time he’s hit five homers and scored nine runs. LoMo has talent, zero doubt, but injuries have just killed the guy. Over his last three seasons he’s failed to record 100 games played a single time. LoMo isn’t an average booster by any means, his career mark is .251, and he’s stolen a total of nine bags in his career meaning he needs to be in the lineup to rack up the counting stats. Over his last 449 at-bats Morrison has gone deep 17 times offering decent pop without being anything exciting. Honestly, he’s a very moderate talent with a bit of pop, nothing more. He is healthy/hot right now though.
Jimmy Paredes is batting .347 with two homers and nine RBIs the past 12 games. That effort pushes his career mark to 166 games played and 518 at-bats. In that time he’s hit .263 2ith 10 homers and 16 steals. He’s also driven in 57 runs while scoring 59 times. He’s also racked up 147 strikeouts and walked just 27 times. Look, he’s got decent skills, but there’s really no way you should be expecting this to continue. His current line drive rate of 26.9 percent and his .422 BABIP are anomalous and will regress substantially. His walk rate is terrible. His career ground ball rate of 52 percent caps his homer upside despite the five homers in 88 at-bats this season. He could break out like Steve Pearce did last year for the Orioles, but I’m dubious that he will. I’m dubious he will even be in the starting lineup in a couple of months.
Jace Peterson is batting .341 the past two weeks with a .413 OBP. His strikeout rate is only 6.5 percent in that time as he’s putting everything in play. He’s not running as much as hoped with only five attempts on the year (three successful), but he’s clearly ingratiated himself with the Braves to the point that it’s going to take a significant slump to get him removed from the starting role. No homers, nine RBIs and just 11 runs scored though since only 19 of his at-bats have come earlier than the 6th spot in the lineup (he’s hitting .410 in 12 games batting 7th) so he’s posting some rather hollow fantasy numbers.
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).