You remember Matt Joyce? Of course you do! He had a year or two with the Tampa Bay Rays where he was fantasy relevant and then kinda fell off the table. Well he’s been having quite a month so far, slashing .271/.318/.695 since the beginning of August, and he continued that on Wednesday, going 1-5, 1 HR, 1 R, 3 RBI. He started the year off terribly, slashing .225/.334/.408 coming into the month, so it’s fair to be curious about what he’s been doing lately. Well I can tell you, this is simply a hot streak. He hasn’t figured anything out or changed anything, he’s still the same old Matt Joyce, it’s just he’s been slugging .717 over the past 15 days. A lot of it is thanks to a 33.3% HR/FB rate, and while his hard hit rate has increased slightly (just two points), he’s not going to maintain that. He’s still striking out a bunch and barely walking (as evidenced by his OBP), he’s just been fortunate enough to hit the ball pretty well lately. Personally, I’d recommend riding this streak til it’s over, he’s available in around 95% of ESPN leagues and could be a decent addition to your outfield while he’s hot, just give him a short leash and once he starts falling back to earth, drop him.
Let’s take a look at some of the other performances from Wednesday:
Rhys Hoskins (1B, PHI) – 2-3, 1 HR, 1 R, 5 RBI. It’s not really all that surprising that Hoskins has been hitting so well, especially his power, because he’s been doing it in the minors for some time now. Still, slashing .271/.407/.729 since being called up all the while having a sub-.200 BABIP is pretty impressive. The way he’s hitting, he might come close to 20 home runs, and he’s available in around 61% of ESPN leagues, go grab him.
Kevin Kiermaier (OF, TB) – 3-4, 2 HR, 3 R, 3 RBI, 1 SB. Welcome back Kevin Kiermaier, wow. The guy has been slashing .476/.522/1.048 since coming off the DL and while that won’t keep up, there’s no reason his season stats can’t keep up. He’s got a solid power/speed combo with a good batting average, and he’s available in around 84% of ESPN leagues. I’d grab him if he’s there, he can be a good contributor.
Jorge Polanco (SS, MIN) – 2-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 2 RBI. I talked about Polanco more in depth in my last Batter’s Box, but know that he’s on an awesome hot streak, slashing .368/.407/.645 over the past month with four home runs in the past three days and he’s available in around 89% of ESPN leagues. I’m going to just keep talking about him until more people pick him up. Go get him and enjoy the fantasy goodness while it lasts.
Corey Spangenberg (2B/3B/OF, SD) – 1-3, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI. I have to say, Spangenberg’s hot streak has lasted longer than I thought it would, but it’s been enjoyable. He’s had a rough past week, but his month has looked great. Sure, his .351 BABIP and 19.1% HR/FB rate probably won’t keep up, but his hard hit rate has jumped up and he could still be fairly productive the rest of the year. Remember, this guy was the 10th overall pick back in 2011 for a reason, he’s talented.
Whit Merrifield (2B/OF, KC) – 4-5, 2 R, 1 RBI, 1 SB. Honestly, I have to admit, I thought Merrifield would slow down a lot sooner than he has, but he’s been an excellent source of average and speed with some solid power. Based on what I see in his peripherals, the average and speed should keep up, but I would bet his power will slow down soon given he has a sub-30% hard hit rate. Still, he’s been quite good.
Adrian Beltre (3B, TEX) – 3-5, 2 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI. Not much to say here, I just wanted to recognize Beltre’s great game, the guy is awesome.
Any thoughts on dropping A.J. Pollock for Kiermaier in a 10 team?
Nah, I’d hang onto Pollock in that case. I think Pollock will have a better average and more steals.
Can I drop miguel cabrera in a 10 team league? As much as I hate to say it, just about any FA hitter in my league is more useful than cabrera right now. We are apporaching 5 weeks left, i have been waiting for miggy to get going all year. As much as i want to think he will do something, he hasn’t all year. There comes a time when you have to move on. He is actually worse in the second half than he was in the first. Thanks
I dropped Cabrera weeks ago for Gallo, who I then dropped for Hoskins.
I understand the frustration but personally, I wouldn’t drop Miggy because I don’t think anyone on the waiver wire is going to have the potential that he does. If you wanna bench him for a bit until he starts kicking it back into gear, that’s fine, but I think he’ll get better, the stats aren’t all that out of the ordinary for him. He’s had some bad luck with his HR/FB rate despite having his highest hard hit rate since 2014, I think it’ll correct, at least somewhat.
Maybe safe to assume that Deshields will go back to his usual part time role w Gomez/Gallo on the verge of returning Saturday/Tuesday, respectively? His hitting has slowed down as of late as well.
Yea, I would say that’s a safe bet.
Would you say Cameron Maybin nice pickup now if in need of SBs? It kind of appears he’s finally back to full time role especially with Revere maybe hitting DL.
Can I frickin’ drop Matt Carpenter already?!
I personally wouldn’t unless there’s someone especially good on the waiver wire. Carpenter’s had some really bad luck, especially in the power department. Over the past month he’s got just two home runs despite a solid hard hit rate and a really high pull rate. I still think he could hit in the .260s the rest of the way with a chance at the .270s. All of his other counting stats are pretty much in line with last year and I think he’ll finish with around that.