Through 96 games Lucas Duda has hit .236 with 14 homers. In 2013 he hit .223 with 15 homers. In 2012 he hit .239 with 15 homers. Are you thinking that his .253-30 effort last season was an outlier yet?

Maybe Eric Hosmer will never be a superstar but I should be hearing more about folks loving what he is doing given that he’s hitting .304 with a .365 OBP. He also has 49 RBIs and 50 runs scored. He’s not a big homer guy with nine, just how it is.

Kendrys Morales has hit .262 with a .408 SLG over his last 210 plate appearances. He’s also only gone deep six times. Worst number? He’s scored 11 times. For a third of the season Morales has scored 11 times. Dreadful.

Mike Moustakas is batting .296. That’s great. People love him. Why? He’s on pace for 17 homers, 65 RBIs and 73 runs scored. Lonnie Chisenhall went .280-13-59-62 last year. Were you excited to draft him this season? Pablo Sandoval hit .29 with 16 homers, 73 RBIs and 68 runs scored. Did he get your panties in a bunch at the draft table? How about this – since May 1st, just remove April, Moose is batting .273 with a .333 OBP and .412 SLG. Is that really good? From May 29th he’s hit .261 with a .332 OBP and .388 SLG. He was a great story but it seems like the final chapter is going to be disappointing.

Brandon Phillips has five homers this season and 13 his last 206 games. From 2006-13 he hit at least 17 each season. He’s just not lifting the ball any more with a SLG under .380 since the start of the 2013 season. He just doesn’t drive the ball any more.

Did you know that Jose Reyes leads all shortstop in steals this season with 16? That’s not a big number at all. Only one full-time shortstop has scored 50 times (Alcides Escobar has 52). Jimmy Rollins stinks, but he’s scored 44 times, just two less than Troy Tulowitzki can two more than Xander Bogaerts.

What happened to Kolten Wong? Since May 10th he’s hit .249 with a .318 OBP and .395 SLG over 280 plate appearances. That’s craptastic. He also has one homer since June 25th. Ten homers, 11 steals and 50 runs scored is solid work, but it’s been an extremely front loaded effort for the youngster.

Will Ferrell played for 10 teams in one day this spring. HBO released the trailer for the program. 

ANGELS ADD VICTORINO

Shane Victorino is now a member of the Angels after he was acquired in exchange for Josh Rutledge. Mike Trout and Kole Calhoun man the outfield for the Angels, but then it gets all kinds of dicey. Matt Joyce has been awful and now is out with a concussion. Guys like Daniel Robertson have been given a shot and not succeeded. Certainly looks like Victorino could play regularly in left and if he does that, and can somehow squeeze his way toward the top of the lineup, he could give his owners a big boost down the stretch. However, it’s more likely that he will struggle with health and hit 6th or 7th, so don’t get too excited in mixed leagues. Monitor the situation.

Final note. Rusney Castillo was called up by the Red Sox to take over the open roster spot. He’s likely to play in a regular bases and, actually, profiles as the type of performer that Victorino used to be.

ATHLETICS BULLPEN

Everyone is asking, so here are my thoughts.

  • Tyler Clippard has been traded to the Mets. He may or may not serve as a setup man, as Jeurys Familia is currently struggling (0-for-2 in save chances in second half). It sounds like Familia will retain his closing gig - for now.
  • You cannot expect Sean Doolittle to work the 9th, even if he does finally get healthy. Sounds like that might not be until a month from now anyway.
  • Evan Scribner has 51 Ks and just four BBs with a 1.06 WHIP. You would think his ERA would be much better than 3.91 but he has amazingly allowed 11 homers in 48.1 innings giving him 15 homers allowed his last 60 innings. Can’t have a guy working the 9th inning doing that.
  • Fernando Rodriguez has a 3.60 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 38 Ks in 30 innings. With a 45 percent fly ball rate he has been lucky to have a homerless season thus far. 
  • Eric O’Flaherty is a lefty, has one career save, and owns a 5.57 ERA and 1.90 WHIP.
  • Edward Mujica has 9th inning experience, and a 1.16 WHIP, but he’s also struck out just 6.35 batters per nine and has a 4.13 ERA.

According to John Shea – “Eric O Flaherty or Edward Mujica likely will close for the A’s unless they’re also traded this week.” He then goes on to state that Drew Pomeranz could be an option as well.

Bottom line – there is no certainty here. I’d rank them Mujica – Pomeranz – O’Flaherty for the time being.


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).