Brandon Beachy has elected to become a free agent. He’s thrown 38 big league innings since 2012. In 2011 he went 7-3 with a 3.68 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and 169 strikeouts over 141.2 outings. His elbow is just broken at this point.

Nelson Cruz went 40-108-87 in 2014. In 2015 he went 44-93-90. In 2016 he went 43-105-96. He’s also appeared in 159, 155 and 152 games. Pretty damn impressive for a guy who from 2009 to 2013 failed to appear in 130 games four times in five seasons.

Todd Frazier went .225-40-98-89-15. The average stinks, but why are people complaining about his effort? Do you know how many third baseman went 40-98-89-15? The answer is one. How many went 40-98-89-15 at any position? The answer is two – Frazier and Brian Dozier. Are you really sitting there complaining that Frazier hit .225? Shame on you.

John Jaso is going to work out at third base this offseason. You shouldn’t care unless you play in an NL-only league.

Jim Johnson has agreed to a 2-year deal with the Braves for a reported $10 million. The 33 year old righty saved 51 and 50 games in 2012 and 2013. He then had a hysterically bad 2014 with a 7.09 ERA and 1.95 WHIP over 54 outings. He rebounded a bit in 2015 though it’s not like a 2-6 record, a 4.46 ERA and a 1.46 WHIP is anything that caused anyone to ever look his way on draft day. Last season for the Braves he rebounded and became a person of note yet again. Johnson, for a poor club, saved 20 games with a 3.06 ERA and 1.19 WHIP. That’s more like it. Most intriguing for Johnson was that a man who has a 6.54 K/9 rate for his career flew upwards to 9.46 per nine in 2016. Can he sustain that? How can you think he will? This guy has pitched in the big league for 11 seasons and he’s never posted a mark above 7.52 and that was way back in 2010. Another reason to believe it won’t continue is that his swinging strike rate was 7.7 percent in 2016, still below his 7.9 career mark. #Caution

Joc Pederson went .210-26-54-67 as a rookie. In 2016, in 109 fewer plate appearances, Joc went .246-25-68-64. Better production in more than 100 fewer plate appearances. His OBP went up six points to .352 while his SLG went up to .495, an improvement of .078 points. Not often a guy posts a .847 OPS and no one talks about him. Pederson shouldn’t be slept on at the draft next season, though he still has a dangerous split to worry about (he has a .599 OPS over 213 plate appearances against lefties).

PLAYOFF NOTES

2: The number of pitchers who have beaten the Cubs 1-0 in the playoffs. The arms belong to lefties Clayton Kershaw and… Babe Ruth.

11: The number of postseason games this year that have been decided by one run (11-of-21 games).

Jose Bautista is batting leadoff in Game 3 for the Jays against the Indians. He is 0-for-6 with five strikeouts and two walks through two games. He’s complaining that the umps aren’t being fair. The data.

Yasmani Grandal is bringing the leather in the playoffs. He’s really boosting his mates with elite pitch framing. That link is really worth checking out, and it’s why Grandal will continue to be in the lineup even if his bat slumps.

The Indians’ Corey Kluber will start in Game 4 if Trevor Bauer is unable to go deep in Game 3 as he tries to pitch through the finger issue he suffered while playing with his drone. If the bullpen is needed heavily in Game 3 and Kluber is moved up to Game 4 it sounds like Ryan Merritt will start Game 5. If Bauer does deep and pitches well in Game 3, saving the bullpen, it sounds like Merritt will pitch Game 4 with Kluber going Game 5. Two things. (1) Mike Clevinger isn’t going to make a start. Sounds like the team just doesn’t trust him at this point. (2) Ryan Flippin’ Merritt is going to make a start. The 24 year old lefty made four big league appearances during the regular season, one start, with six strikeouts and no walks over 11 innings. A team is going for the AL championship and is starting Ryan Merritt in the playoffs. Yowzahs.

Andrew Miller has been spectacular for a few years. He’s taking his game to the next level in the playoffs. In four outings in the playoffs he’s nearly averaging two innings a turn with 7.2 innings of work. He’s yet to allow a run, has posted a 0.65 WHIP and has struck out 17 batters. Stupendous is the word I would use. Can’t pitch better. Can’t.

Devon Travis is done for the postseason as he will have arthroscopic surgery to help with a bone bruise and damaged cartilage in his knee. He should be fine for the start of  Spring Training next year.

 

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).