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FRIDAY START
As I wrote yesterday, Jason Hammel will not start Friday for the Cubs because of right elbow tightness. In his spot Jake Buchanan will start.
Buchanan has appeared in one game, September 5th, but will be making his first start with the Cubs (he started twice in 2014). In 24 outings at Triple-A this season, 22 starts, he posted a 4.34 ERA with a mere 105 strikeouts over 141 innings though he does generate a lot of grounders.
Reds versus righties this season: they rank 16th in OPS and 17th in wOBA. They are 23rd in homers.
Still, hard to recommend Buchanan.
THE LAST WEEK
Here some men making a push with a hot last seven days. They might be on waivers in your league.
Chris Coghlan has been hideous for a good deal of the season, but he’s hot now. Over his last 18 plate appearances he’s hitting .417 with a .611 OBP as he’s driven in four runs while stealing a base.
Charlie Culberson has hit .500 with a .564 wOBA.
Paulo Orlando has had an up and down season and with little pop he’s not worth much in mixed leagues unless he’s hitting for average since there is no run production. We’ve seen this from him before, and we’re seeing it right now. Over his last 26 plate appearances he’s hit a robust .542 with five runs and two steals. Start away.
Rafael Ortega has driven in five runs, stolen a base, and has hit .462 with a .504 wOBA.
Can’t think Renfroe is still out there but Hunter Renfroe has been a monster since being called up by the Padres with four homers, 12 RBI and seven runs scored in six games. He has a .909 SLG.
Hyun Soo Kim has hit two homers with five RBI and a .444/.583/1.111 line the last week.
YOUNGSTER TAKING OFF
Trea Turner is batting .336, the best by any rookie since 2001 when Ichiro Suzuki hit .350 (minimum 300 at-bats). Turner has been s p e c t a c u l a r. But I want to talk about another rookie in this article.
The Braves’ Dansby Swanson has been out of control good of late. Over his last 20 games the infielder has hit .354 with a .411 OBP and .585 SLG. He’s also drive in 13 runners. In 35 games this season Dansby has shown the skills that lead the baseball community to the position that he is a “can’t miss” prospect who simply will not fail. Over the 35 games Swanson has hit .300 with a .353 OBP and .442 SLG, numbers he could hold on to next year. He’s been a bit fortunate with a .371 BABIP, and I don’t love the 46 percent ground ball rate, but this guy is going to be a very good baseball player.
TAKEOFF NUMBER TWO
Byron Buxton has had an up and down career to this point. Of course, that “career” is less than 140 games played in the big leagues. One of the best prospects in baseball, people simply moved on from Buxton labeling him a “failure” because of his slow start. Talk about being shortsighted.
Since being recalled the last time, on September 1st, Buxton has appeared in 26 games. Low and behold he’s performed like… a fantasy star. Buxton is batting .286 with a .343 OBP and .615 SLG leading to a .399 wOBA. He’s gone deep eight times with 18 RBI and 18 runs scored. Only one steal, but that’s quibbling.
Take a breath.
Hear this.
Buxton’s appeared in 89 games this season and has struggled.
He still has eight homers and 10 steals.
He’s on a 15/20 pace with 75 runs scored… and he’s struggled.
Don’t forget about him next season.
DUFFY WRAP ON 2016
Danny Duffy helped a lot of folks win in 2016. Period. He struck out 188 batters, the most by a Royals lefty in team history. He also posted a 3.51 ERA over 179.2 innings, the most he has ever thrown. He also went 12-3 and didn’t lose a decision at home. In total. That’s a really impressive effort. But…
Whether it was because he was tired or because of regression to the mean, the fact is that Duffy wasn’t at his best at the end of the season. Duffy allowed four runs over 6.1 innings, her last start of the year, and he allowed yet another homer. Over his last seven starts Duffy was battered for 12 homers. Battered. He also posted a 6.37 ERA and 1.59 WHIP over the seven starts. He also won just a single game.
Great season.
Horrendous finish.
DFS DIAMONDS
*The following list of players are guys that Ray recommends as daily plays.
CATCHER: Mike Zunino is a mess, but he hit a homer last night and has tons of power including nine homers in 118 at-bats against righties. Raul Alcantara has allowed righties to mash to the tune of a .341/.400/.644 line.
FIRST BASE: Hanley Ramirez has 10 homers and 26 RBI in 24 September games. He also has 18 homers with a .567 SLG at home. All Marco Estrada does is strike guys out and give up fly balls. He’s allowed 23 homers this season including nine his last nine outings.
SECOND BASE: Starlin Castro has hit .296 in September. At home this season he has a .852 OPS. He’s long hit Yovani Gallardo with a .356 average over 45 at-bats. Gallardo has a 5.56 ERA with a WHIP of 1.64 his last 15 starts. Wow.
THIRD BASE: Jose Ramirez has six hits in 15 at-bats against Yordano Ventura (.400/.471/.467). Ramirez has hit righties all year with a .309/.358/.456 line. He’s hitting .327/.364/.490 in September. And we all know Ventura is an uneven mess who has allowed 15 runs his last four starts.
SHORTSTOP: J.J. Hardy has nine hits, including three homers, in 20 at-bats against Michael Pineda (.450 average). Hardy has a hit in 7-straight games. In the month of September, he’s batting .330 with a .375 OBP and a .466 SLG.
OUTFIELD: Jose Bautista has hit three homers his last eight games with eight RBI. He’s hit 40 homers in 135 games against the Red Sox. He faces Porcello who he has hit .417 with a .667 SLG and three homers over 36 at-bats.
OUTFIELD: George Springer is batting .283 with a .377 OBP and .462 SLG in September as he’s scored 17 times in 26 games. Daniel Wright cannot get righties out, he can’t get anyone out, as he’s allowed them to hit .346 with a .402 OBP and .523 SLG.
OUTFIELD: Righties mash Braden Shipley with a .327/.403/.450 line. Alex Dickerson has a .250.330/.76 slash line against righties with nine homers and 13 doubles in just 187 at-bats. Dickerson has had a solid September with a .368/.394/.451 slash line as he’s only struck out 13 times while walking 12 times.
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).
Player News
Orioles manager Brandon Hyde told reporters that Zach Eflin (lat) is likely to return and start Sunday against the Angels
It was assumed that Eflin would be back this weekend, but now we have a concrete date. The 31-year-old may not be at full strength after throwing fewer than 60 pitches in his rehab start, but the Orioles feel confident enough to have the right-hander back on the bump for the series finale against the Angels.
Riley Greene is not in the lineup for the first game of a doubleheader against the Rockies on Thursday.
Greene will get a break and likely return to the lineup for the second game of the twin-billing. Zach McKinstry will get the start in left field while Greene rests.
Yu Darvish (elbow) is facing live hitters on Thursday.
Darvish has been throwing bullpen sessions and traveled to the team’s complex in Arizona to face live hitters on Thursday. It will be his first time facing live batters since a spring training appearance on March 13th. He will likely need a few sessions like this before the Padres can map out a rehab appearance timeline for him.
Adael Amador is starting at second base and batting ninth for the Rockies on Thursday.
Amador has now started three of the last four games at second base for the Rockies. He’s gone just 7-for-43 this season with 15 strikeouts in 16 games. He’s just 22 years old, so there is plenty of time for him to adjust to the MLB level, but he doesn’t need to be on redraft radars right now.
Jackson Holliday is playing second base and batting second for the Orioles on Thursday against the Twins.
With Cedric Mullins sitting out on Thursday, Gunnar Henderson will bat lead off, and Holliday will jump up from sixth in the order to second. Holliday is riding a hot streak right now, and the Orioles are taking advantage. This is likely just a one-game sample with no Mullins or Adley Rutschman in the lineup, but Rutschman has been struggling, so perhaps it could become a more permanent spot in the lineup for Holliday moving forward.
Endy Rodriguez (finger) had his splint removed this week.
Rodriguez suffered a lacerated right index finger on April 14th. Now that he is out of his splint, he “is playing catch and doing a slightly modified swing.” Once he can progress to taking full swings, we’ll have a better sense of the timeline for his return.