What do you guys think Jake Marisnick is doing right now? Like as we speak? Well, he’s probably sleeping as the Fresno Grizzlies are off for the All-Star Break this week, and he finished off a doubleheader last night against Las Vegas. In my head, he’s tucked into some Motel 6 bed just clutching at his Astros’ jersey and thinking, “how did I end up here?” Well, it’s less of what he did wrong and more of what Kyle Tucker did right. Yesterday was the major league debut for one of the top prospects in real-life and fantasy baseball, and he produced a modest 1-4, R, RBI, BB line. He’s a bum, and you should drop in all formats immediately.
Jokes. Wait…you already dropped him? Whoops. Anyways, massive amounts of FAAB dollars have been dropped or will be dropped as Tucker’s significant upside is now possible at the major league level. Chandler Rome of the Houston Chronicle said that the ‘Stros intend on using him at all three OF spots and that he will more than likely play every day. I think that means he’s probably here to stay, folks. He’s…how you say…everlasting? For this year at least. That’s incredible news for fantasy owners who sold the farm for him. Obviously, we will see what unfolds in the coming weeks, but he does have some nice pop in his bat with decent plate discipline. Did I mention he plays for the Astros? They’re good and stuff.
Let’s take a look at some of the other performances from Saturday:
David Peralta (OF, Arizona Diamondbacks) – 5-6, 3 R, 2B, 3 RBI. Peralta scored 3 of the Diamondbacks 20 runs yesterday, and he’s now got a very solid line of 41 R/15 HR/49 RBI/.292 on the year. He’s also seen improvements in his hard-hit rate (46.7%!) and barrel percentage. With that in mind, he’s got a very real chance to have his most productive season yet if he stays healthy and on this pace.
Mark Reynolds (1B, Washington Nationals) – 5-5, 3 R, 2 HR, 2B, 10 RBI. It was a monster night for Reynolds as he drove in more than half of Washington’s 18 runs yesterday. Still, even after all this hoopla, his line sits at an awkward 18 R/10 HR/24 RBI/.292. 10-RBI game be damned…he’s still just a platoon player and you can’t really trust it moving forward. Unless you yourself have him in some sort of platoon situation of course.
Javier Baez (2B/SS/3B, Chicago Cubs) – 4-5, R, HR, 2 RBI, SB. The remarkable season continues as this now makes it 16 swipes on the year. It’s already been mentioned many times that this is already a career-high for him, so it’s just icing on the cake at this point. He’s been red-hot over the last two weeks with 3 HR/3 SB and slashing a remarkable .414/.426/.707. You can call it a hot streak, but this is the breakout season we’ve been waiting for.
Mookie Betts (OF, Boston Red Sox) – 4-6, 2 R, 2 2B, RBI, SB. Swipers gonna swipe? I think that’s fair to use for him as this makes it 16 on the year. Usually, you say that when it’s the guy’s calling card, but Betts is superman and can do it all. Still, no one’s mad if the phrase is used, right? Anyways, the Red Sox and Yankees’ race to win the division is going to be one of the most exciting storylines of the 2nd half. As is the possible but inevitable Red Sox/Yankees vs. Astros/(but more likely) Mariners AL Wild Card game.
Matt Chapman (3B, Oakland Athletics) – 4-4, R, 2 2B, BB, SB. This was his first swipe of the year, so give it up for guys who never steal! This was just his 4th game back from a wrist injury that kept him out for the better part of a month, so it’s encouraging to see this production. He had a very good March/April that had us questioning if he was the Matt to own in Oakland, but his .186 average in May made us reconsider. His true talent is probably closer to March/April, so don’t treat him like a door…matt…or else you’ll get all chapped about it….man.
Niko Goodrum (1B/2B/OF, Detroit Tigers) – 4-4, R, 2B, BB, SB. This makes it 7 swipes on the year, and that’s a career-high! Don’t get excited, though, because he had 11 games under his belt before this year. So, everything is a career-high. He’s been rather spicy over his last 7 games slashing .464/.483/.786, but I’m still not trusting him outside of AL-only leagues right now. Monitor him, though, as he’s been hitting out of the 3-hole this past week.
Brandon Belt (1B, San Francisco Giants) – 3-4, 2B, 2 RBI. He’s now slashing .296/.387/.504, and oh hey power surge! At this point, you’re either along for the ride or watching someone else see how this plays out. I doubt anyone is actively trying to pay for the un-characteristic power of the 1st half. And speaking of power, that seems to have normalized over the last 30 games as he’s jacked just 2 dongs in that time frame.
Alex Bregman (3B, Houston Astros) – 3-5, 3 R, HR, 2B, 2 RBI. This was his 17th dong of the year, which means he needs just 3 more to destroy last year’s mark of 19. He seems to have been correctly touted by guys like yours truly in the preseason as he’s continued his blazing hot finish to 2017 and been a fantasy stud this year. His plate discipline has also taken a big step forward as he’s got a 1.02 BB/K rate thus far. Yes, that does mean he’s walked more than he’s struck out.
Daniel Descalso (2B/3B, Arizona Diamondbacks) – 3-5, 3 R, 2 2B, 2 RBI. He’s been useful in OBP leagues with a .360 mark and a moderately productive line, but he’s mired in platoon land with the likes of Ketel Marte and Chris Owings. I’m not rostering him outside of NL-only leagues because of that reason.
Freddie Freeman (1B, Atlanta Braves) – 3-4, 2 R, 3B, 2B, RBI, BB. Please go watch the clip of Freeman kissing Christian Yelich’s boo-boo the other night. Everyone’s favorite older brother in the league just continues to have an All-Star season as his line is now up to 56 R/16 HR/58 RBI/6 SB/.310. I am personally looking forward to watching him in DC in a few days.
Billy Hamilton (OF, Cincinnati Reds) – 3-4, R, 3 SB. I’m not sure how he made it into the Batter’s Box this morning seeing as he died at the age of 74 in 1940. EDIT: I have just been informed by the graveyard shift staff that I was looking at the wrong Fangraphs page. Hamilton is good at scoring runs and steals. He is doing both of those things this year, but it looks like he will not eclipse 50 SB for the 5th time in his career this season.
Bryce Harper (OF, Washington Nationals) – 3-3, 4 R, BB. He’s been way more valuable in OBP leagues right now with that 0.81 BB/K rate and .371 OBP, but he’s Bryce Harper and you’re not going to give up on him because of a bad batting average. No way, Jose! Anyways, he hit just .188 in the month of June, so let’s hope that was a fluke, and nights like this one become more the norm. I believe it will be.
Starling Marte (OF, Pittsburgh Pirates) – 3-4, 2 R, HR, RBI. He now has a solid line across-the-board posting 46 R/10 HR/38 RBI/21 SB/.275. He’s producing similar stats to last year, but his power has taken a step forward as he’s already eclipsed last year’s HR total. His ISO has also gone from .104 to .181 this season. To further the case for increased power, he’s shown a 6% increase in hard-hit rate with improvements to his launch angle and barrel percentage as well. I’m buying in on the productivity at this point.
Wil Myers (1B/OF, San Diego Padres) – 3-3, 3 R, 3 HR, 4 RBI, BB. Well, that didn’t take long for him to pick up where he left off! The heralded triple dong night was bestowed upon Myers yesterday, and that’s nothing new as he’s more than capable of bashing 30 with ease. Since coming back (15 games), he’s produced a line of 9 R/4 HR/12 RBI/.300.
Mike Trout (OF, Los Angeles Angels) – 3-4, R, HR, RBI. Taters gonna tate! He’s terrible and you should all trade him to me if we play in a league together. Even if we don’t, trade him to me anyway. We’ll make it happen. It’s 2018, and anything is possible. For the record, he had a WAR of 6.9 last year. He’s already got a 6.5 mark this year.
Jose Altuve (2B, Houston Astros) – 2-4, R, 2B, BB, SB. Swipers gonna swipe! This makes it 13 on the year, but I know some of you are disappointed that his gaudy HR/SB numbers from previous years aren’t happening so far. Listen, it’s gonna be ok. He has a good shot at a 20/20 season at least, and you can’t complain about the .339/.406/.482 triple slash so far.
Andrew Benintendi (OF, Boston Red Sox) – 2-2, 4 R, HR, 2B, 2 RBI, 4 BB. This makes it 14 dongs on the year, and he’s now up to 14 HR/16 SB on the season. He walked a ridiculous 4 times in this game, and let’s talk about that plate discipline for a minute. He’s got an improved BB/K mark of 0.74 so far, and keep in mind that he posted a mark over 1 (more walks than Ks) at three different stops in the minors. That’s definitely a part of his game. He’s a stud and should be treated as such.
Khris Davis (OF, Oakland Athletics) – 2-5, R, HR, RBI. 40 HR/.247 AVG check: Khrcurrently currenty has 21 HR and a .242 AVG. Ok, so the batting average made some improvements since we last checked. I am nervous about the HR though because he will have to stay healthy and continue the pace he’s on now from here on out. He’s given us no reason to doubt him so far, so all I can say is…I believe in you, K-hris!
Brett Gardner (OF, New York Yankees) – 2-5, 2 R, HR, 3B, 3 RBI, BB. This makes it 6 dongs on the year, and that’s putting him on a pace well short of the 20/20 season some may have been expecting him to repeat from last year. He’s been struggling over the last two weeks slashing just .220/.324/.339.
Paul Goldschmidt (1B, Arizona Diamondbacks) – 2-3, 2 R, HR, 3 RBI, BB. Taters gonna tate. This makes it 20 on the year, which means he’s now eclipsed the 20 HR plateau for the 6th time in the last 7 years. I can’t wait to unlock his June monthly rewards card on MLB the Show. That card is gonna RAKE!
Yuli Gurriel (1B/3B, Houston Astros) – 2-4, 2 R, HR, 4 RBI, BB. This makes it 6 dongs on the year, and I won’t say anything about his lack of power because that makes the readers feisty I’ve learned. So, let me appease the natives and say some good things. He’s slashing a VERY USEFUL .303/.336/.439 on the year so far, and hitting in that lineup makes him intriguing moving forward. There. Happy?
Rougned Odor (2B, Texas Rangers) – 2-4, R, HR, 2B, RBI. He continues to be spicy over the last two weeks as he’s now got a line of 12 R/4 HR/8 RBI/4 SB. He’s also slashing .281/.359/.526 over that stretch. It could just be a hot streak, but the upside is pretty high. I’d ride this out as long as I could.
Eugenio Suarez (3B, Cincinnati Reds) – 2-3, R, HR, 3 RBI, 2 BB. Taters gonna tate. Yes. I’m bestowing this title to Suarez. He’s made power strides each of the last 3 seasons, and he has a very good chance of crushing 30 this season. I see a perennial 25 HR hitter moving forward, and maybe that’s not enough to be a noble “tater.” However, I just love the dude’s game, and check out that .312/.402/.580 triple slash. I think he’s very legit.
Getting sick of Hosmer not producing, should I drop him for Myers or Gurriel?
I’d def pick up Myers.
Speaking of Gurriel, I subbed him in this week for Rizzo, and haven’t looked back. Despite all the raised eyebrows from the “experts”. Rizzo just continues to hit straight into the teeth of those shifts, hence the 240s batting average. ( He did try to bunt to the left side yesterday, but of course that didn’t work out). I’m going Gurriel next week too, cherry matchups. Time to accept and acknowledge at the midway point….this isn5 gonna be a classic Rizzo year. It happens.
9-team mixed roto using OBP instead of AVG, 1 catcher. Do I activate Cervelli or just roll with W.Ramos, who I picked up while FC was on the DL? OBP, HR, RBI are all tight categories for me.
I’d roll with a hot Ramos for now. Cervelli long term.
To me, Tucker has always been one of the most overrated specs in the game. I wouldn’t bet against long-term success but it certainly is no lock that he will provide any value this year. He is a strange case of a spec never really lighting the world on fire and people always looking past it for the positives. I think a realistic projection for 162 games would be 20 HR, 10 SB and .270 AVG, which doesn’t help anyone in any of those categories – it would have in 2014. As far as top hitting prospects go he is not very exciting IMO. I remember a time when rookies were a bad add in general – not sure anything has changed.
Will Myers has never eclipsed 30 HR… he has looked good teh past few days but he is as streaky as they come.
And I’m still 100% rostering him with confidence for the power-speed upside.
I would argue that Baez broke out last year – many of his stats are not too far out of line with what he has done in the past. He was hitting largely in front of or right behind the pitcher last year – I wonder if he wouldn’t have done this last year too if Maddon gave him the opportunity. In any case, I hope good Baez is here to stay.
Sure you could argue last year was the breakout. However, he’s on pace to too many of his career bests this year, so from a statistical standpoint, this is the breakout.
I grabbed Tucker when he was called up, however Myers is available in my league. Would you drop any of Rosario, Yelich, Pham, Choo, Tucker, or Acuna for Myers?
I think I’d probably drop Tucker for Myers. High upside with Tucker, but there’s still a possibility he doesn’t do much this year. I couldn’t justify dropping any of the others.