Considering Memorial Day is a federal holiday, there’s a good chance I can say Happy Monday and have it well-received as many of you are off from work and are spending time relaxing with family and friends. If you’re part of the grind, well…that’s the way it goes. Some of us don’t get to reap the benefits of a long weekend as much as others. But because many of us are still in work-mode, we can get a leg-up on our competition who get to enjoy their time off. While they’re at the beach, grilling burgers and dogs and lounging around like a bunch of slugs, we can take a closer look at the latest news around MLB and see if we can’t find some information we can use against them.

Cardinals Demote Grichuk

While I cannot say I or anyone else has been impressed with Randal Grichuck’s current .222/.276/.377 slash line, I’m not so sure a full bump down to High-A Palm Beach is where he needs to be. Maybe he has a strong relationship with Erick Almonte, hitting coach for the Palm Beach Cardinals, but it seems difficult to believe that facing a lower caliber of pitcher is going to help him fix the plate discipline and mechanics issues he is currently facing. Owners in leagues of 12 teams or fewer can probably drop him, but I feel like he should be stashed in NL-only and deeper formats. He will be back and he will be able to help in the power department once he does.

In the meantime, it looks like the Cardinals are going to give Tommy Pham a bigger opportunity to take hold of a starting job. He should be picked up in NL-only and deeper leagues, but I just can’t get on-board with him contributing even in 12-team leagues, let alone a 10-teamer. Listen, I get it. He’s hit safely in his last four games and has homered in each of his last two, but have we not danced this dance before? When Pham was first called up on May 5, he hit three home runs with five RBI over his first three games. Fantasy owners went bananas for him and they were backing up the Brinks Truck to the Club FAAB loading dock and spending crazy bid dollars on him. From May 8 through May 23, a span of 11 games, Pham batted .222 (8-for-36) with no home runs, seven RBI, five runs scored and two stolen bases. He also struck out in 15 of his 36 at-bats, a rate of 41.7-percent and saw his on-base percentage drop nearly 200 points.

Over his three intermittent seasons as a professional in the majors, Pham has done the exact same thing to fantasy owners and if you haven’t learned your lesson regarding chasing yesterday’s numbers, you never will. Pham lit it up for three games and vanished after fantasy owners started him. He was finally dropped or benched during his 11-game rut and now that he’s heated up again this past weekend, he’s a hot commodity off the waiver wire once more. What’s he going to give you over the next dozen games? He’ll disappoint, that’s what he’ll do. You’ll get frustrated, you’ll drop him for the next Flavor of the Week and get all sorts of mad at yourself when he has another solid three-game set. Rostering Pham is the perfect example of the definition of insanity – doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results.

Rays Call Up De Leon

Prospect hounds are champing at the bit and drooling all over themselves as another highly-touted prospect makes his way to the majors. But before you start freaking out, keep in mind that the Rays only brought Jose De Leon up to serve as bullpen depth. He’ll see multiple innings tonight with the current Rays pen being taxed after a grueling game Sunday, but he’s not getting the starting nod. Could he find his way to a spot-start? Maybe. It depends on the Rays’ grand plan, but thus far, there is nothing to indicate he is here to not just stay, but to start.

Now don’t go whining and crying that I’m running down your favorite pitching prospect. I’m not doing that at all. He has a fantastic raw skill set, but is he ready for the majors? Maybe. No guarantees, though. His minor league numbers look rock-solid though we’re also not looking at a whole lot of innings logged. If you’re talking re-draft league, there’s limited interest here. Yes, he’ll be really good at times, but overall, he’s probably best left for DFS play, as four or five innings with six or seven strikeouts has value there. It would in seasonal play if you could convince me he won’t be giving up almost a run per inning.

Karma’s a Bitch!

You probably thought I was going to go to the Bryce Harper/Hunter Strickland fight as the Giants hurler decided to plunk Harper for something that happened three years ago, but no. That’s not karma. That’s being a jackass. Both of them. Strickland for hitting him and Harper for charging the mound. Bat-flipping douche bags have no cause for charging the mound even if it’s a racist a-hole who holds a petty grudge for three years.

I was actually talking about…

Been spending a good amount of time talking fantasy karma with Lisa Ann on the Saturday show, but we got a taste of some real-life karma during the Red Sox/White Sox game today. Dustin Pedroia could have very easily avoided his collision with Jose Abreu, but opted to step onto the lower leg of Abreu, whose foot was pressed up against the back side of the base. The collision resulted in Pedroia leaving the game with a wrist injury while Abreu, who took the spikes to the leg in stride, walked away unharmed. How’s that grab ya! Pedroia is the first to complain about someone trying to break up a double-play, but when he has an opportunity to either avoid a collision or injure another player, he opts for the latter. Doctors are calling it a sprain right now but Pedroia is currently on his way back to Boston for an MRI.

Back to the DL

Gregory Polanco owners are back to hating life again as the outfielder was carted off the field today with an ankle injury. He is set to undergo tests and we’ll likely get a proper timetable later on but expect him to hit the DL tonight. Obviously this is an aggravating kick to the fantasy groin as owners just got Polanco back from a 10-game absence, watched him go 5-for-13 (.385) with two home runs, two RBI and three runs scored over three games and now lose him today after he went 1-for-2 with a stolen base. You can expect to see Adam Frazier with full-time work while John Jaso and Jose Osuna go back to that straight platoon again. If your league allows mid-week pick-ups, you may want to give these guys another look in NL-only and deeper league.

Bullpen Lives Matter

Doesn’t matter if it’s DFS or seasonal, knowledge of bullpens can make all the difference. It’s a lot more obvious in seasonal play, given the categories of course, but knowing which bullpens are weak or have been recently taxed is HUGE for DFS purposes. Case in point: today’s Astros/Twins game. After a 15-inning marathon against the Rays in which the Twins had run out eight different relievers (well, seven and Hector Santiago), the team was hoping to not have to use too many in today’s game. While they got seven innings out of starter Ervin Santana, they were forced to bring in guys who pitched yesterday and they got shellacked. We’re talking 14 runs between the eighth and ninth innings today. Those who stacked Astros and were afraid Santana was going to ruin their day with a complete game were paid off handsomely as every Astro not named Brian McCann or Nori Aoki got into the fray.

Kind of makes you wonder how these Texas bats are going to fare tonight against the Rays, amirite? All in the hands of Jose De Leon, apparently.

Sorry for shorting you this morning on the Morning Buzz. Blame those damn people from Microsoft for having updates after booting up rather than doing them all while shutting down. I’ll make it up to you, for sure!