Javier Baez is batting .362 this season versus lefties over 58 at-bats. He’s also been a monster the past week as he’s hit .324 with two homers, six RBI and a .373 wOBA the past seven games. He’s coming into his own and likely qualifies at second base, third base and shortstop. He shouldn’t be on waivers unless you’re in a 10-team mixed leagues. Oh yeah, he hit a homer Tuesday while I was writing this.
Teddy Bears can be creepy.
Felix Hernandez is hopeful of returning from his calf issue on July 20th against the White Sox. He last pitched on May 27th. So much for that being a minor issue that would cost him a start since it’s likely to end up costing him more than seven weeks.
Sandy Leon is a name to keep in mind. The Red Sox are without Blake Swihart behind the dish. They have opted Christian Vazquez to the minors (they couldn’t have done that with Leon without exposing him to waivers). That means Ryan Hanigan, who was activated from the DL, and Leon will be the top-2 dogs with the Sox. Leon is crushing it right now hitting .500 with a homer, nine RBI and eight runs scored in 15 games. Alas, he hit .156 in 2014 and .184 in 2015 in 41 games. All told his slash line as a big leaguer is .237/.307/.313 and that’s the hitter Leon is, not the guy we’ve seen to this point. Still, he’s a potential bottom level C2 option in mixed leagues with playing time.
Tim Anderson is off to a great start in his career, but there are some concerns. Yasiel Puig has been on fire lately but the real question is, how long will it last? J.T. Realmuto is hitting the ball well of late and needs to be started against righties. CHECK OUT THE BIG 3 VIDEO.
Steven Moya has been terrific to this point hitting .301 with five homers and a .616 SLG. The good times will likely dry up soon though. He’s not holding on to what would be a league best 28 percent HR/FB rate. He has even less of a chance to hold on to his .378 BABIP. Third, he’s struck out 24 times in 73 at-bats. That batting average is likely to plummet so caution, and a heavy dose of it, is warranted here.
Daniel Norris was sent to the DL, again, this time with a strained right oblique (earlier this season he was placed on the DL with a non-displaced fracture in his spinous process). The 23 year old lefty has great stuff, but until he can stay healthy is simply doesn’t matter. Buck Farmer has been called up by the Tigers but Matt Boyd will likely be asked to start Saturday. Bear neither any attention.
Jose Reyes returns today with the Mets. Reyes will hit leadoff, and it sounds like he will be seeing a lot of time at third base at the expense of Wilmer Flores, even though he’s hit .315 since the start of June. Reyes didn’t hit at all in the minors with a .176 batting average over 11 games, but the 33 year old should obviously 
be much better than that with the Mets. I worry about his health chiefly, I get the sneaking suspicion that an injury is coming after he’s missed half the season (he’s always seemingly hurt), and there is an open debate as to just how good that bat is at this point. A must add in 12 and 15 team leagues though if you have any need up the middle, and that extra qualification at third base might just make him the ideal final piece on a fantasy roster.
Junior Guerra is a quality start machine at the moment and is surprising everyone. Lance McCullers looks like last season’s version but has to limit the walks to do that. Matt Moore is a talented pitcher and is pitching pretty well. CHECK OUT THE VIDEO.
Jean Segura walked 13 times last season and his four year high in the walk column is 28 walks. So it’s pretty surprising to see him at 20 walks half way through the year. There is even more intrigue than that. Over his last 16 games Segura has walked 10 times. Since the start of May, a 30 game run, Segura has walked 15 times. Way too early for me to think that’s the “new” Segura, but if he is able to keep his walk rate anywhere near that pace his outlook for the future goes up significantly. Huh, look at that. Over his last 30 games, with all those walks, Segura is batting .325 and has scored 21 times.
Mike Zunino has been called up to the majors with great hoopla. The former top-5 draft pick hit .282 with 15 homers and 51 RBI just 69 games at Triple-A. That’s superstar stuff. However, he’s never been anything other than a power bat at the big league level. He’s gone deep 40 times in 968 at-bats, that’s really good stuff, but he’s also hit .193 with a .253 OBP and .358 SLG in the majors. Those numbers stink and are reflective of the hitter he has been. According to Brooks Baseball, Zunino cannot hit anything other than a fastball. In fact, you should check out the link to see just how bad he has been on the slider (.155 average), curveball (.131 average) and the splitter (.067). He can’t hit anything but the hard stuff and is nothing other than a “mistake” hitter. He still has to beat out Chris Iannetta for at-bats. Low level catcher two is he at best. He still has to beat out Chris Iannetta for at-bats mind you.
Ray Flowers can be heard Monday through Friday, 7 PM EDT and Friday 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).
Player News
Christian Yelich is leading off for the first time this season on Monday against the Padres.
Yelich has been moved up to the top of Milwaukee’s batting order with Jackson Chourio hitting fifth and Sal Frelick moved down to the fifth spot. The 33-year-old has been on a roll lately, batting .296 (8-for-27) with one homer and four RBI over his last seven games.
Brendan Donovan was scratched from the lineup for Monday’s series opener against the Giants.
No word yet on the reason for the move. It’ll be José Fermín taking over at second base with Lars Nootbaar moving up to the leadoff spot in his absence.
Bruce Zimmermann will start on Tuesday against the Padres.
Zimmermann was called up over the weekend to pitch in long relief for Milwaukee, but he’s going to take the ball on Tuesday in place of an injured Brandon Woodruff (lat) to kick off a bullpen game. It’ll likely be a one-and-done outing for the 30-year-old southpaw as part of Milwaukee’s rotation. He’s not a recommended fantasy option, especially in a road tilt against the playoff-bound Padres.
Masyn Winn (knee) is scheduled to undergo arthroscopic surgery on Thursday, according to Cardinals manager Oliver Marmol.
Winn was shut down for the rest of the season back on September 13 with a torn meniscus in his right knee that he played through for the majority of the year. The 23-year-old shortstop wrapped up his second big-league season with a .253/.310/.363 triple-slash line with 72 runs scored, nine home runs, 51 RBI and nine stolen bases in 537 plate appearances over 129 games. He’s expected to be fully recovered in time for spring training.
Angels activated RHP Ryan Zeferjahn from the 15-day injured list.
Zeferjahn returns to Los Angeles’ relief mix prior to Tuesday’s series opener against the Royals following a two-week absence with right knee tendinitis. The 27-year-old middle reliever has posted a pedestrian 4.77 ERA and 72/33 K/BB ratio across 54 2/3 innings over 59 appearances this season.
Angels optioned LHP Sammy Peralta to Triple-A Salt Lake.
Peralta heads back to the minors with Ryan Zeferjahn coming back from the injured list for Tuesday’s series opener against the Royals. The 27-year-old southpaw was hit hard in four relief appearances for the Angels after being called up back on September 7.