DFS PLAYBOOK PRO – An exciting new offering from the Alarm is here! It’s the DFS Playbook Pro. I will be doing a daily breakdown of the hitters –Hitting Coach – while Howard Bender looks into the Pitchers (Pitching Coach). You can find the link to the Hitting and Pitching articles under the DFS Playbook pro tab at the top right of the screen.
OTHER LINKS TO BOOKMARK
Sign up for the Ray Flowers $1,000 Challenge, chose your team, and give it a whirl. Can you take me down?
WHAT’S WRONG WITH CARGO?
Carlos Gonzalez hit a three run homer last night. Is it time to buy in to the former fantasy superstar? Here’s what I see, and it’s vexing – i.e. crappy.
CarGo has a .192/.261/.327 slash line. That’s pathetic. He is supposed to be healthy. Is he really? The numbers suggest he isn’t. Still, maybe not all hope is lost.
(1) His walk rate is 8.7 percent. His career mark is 7.9.
(2) His K-rate is 24.3 percent. His career mark is 22.4.
(3) His line drive rate is 23.4 percent. His career mark is 20.2 percent.
That’s all positive and it makes that .230 BABIP he currently owns suspiciously low. Still, the concerns…
(1) CarGo has a 48.1 percent ground ball rate. That’s above his 44.9 percent career mark.
(2) His Isolate Power mark is .135. That’s well below his .223 career mark.
(3) He has a 34 percent “pull” rate. His career mark is 40.5 percent.
(4) He has a 28.6 percent hard hit rate. His career mark is 34.8 percent.
Those four data points suggest that he could be hurt or maybe a better way to put it would be to say that he’s simply not at full physical strength. He’s not able to turn on the ball, or to hit it as hard, as he has for the majority of his career.
I’m not willing to give up on CarGo, there’s too much talent there with the 29 year old, but we have to be honest about where he is right now. Over his last 100 games he’s hit .225 with a .283 OBP and .401 SLG. Even if we say that his bat will come around and that those are injury induced numbers, we have to be honest and note the following; he’s only attempted three stolen bases in that time. Until we see him start running all we can expect is a rebound with the bat. That said, he’s looked so listless that he’s way more Khris Davis than Carlos Gomez at the moment.
RAYS BULLPEN
Jake McGee is back from the DL and that’s raising questions about how the Rays will handle their 9th inning situation. McGee, for those that forgot (I know none of my readers did) had a scintillating season last year with a 1.89 ERA, 19 saves and 90 strikeouts in 71.1 innings. Will McGee immediately take back over the 9th inning leading to a demotion to Brad Boxberger? Here’s the words of manager Kevin Cash. “"I don't anticipate anybody assuming any role.” Wow, that helps Mr. Cash. What a joke. I’ll say this, I find it hard to believe that Boxberger will be removed at any point soon. Here’s why. Brad is one of five AL hurlers who have 10 saves and no blown saves (that’s the longest stretch of converted saves for a Rays relievers since Fernando Rodney went 15-for-15 in 2011). Boxberger also has a 1.29 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and 12.86 strikeouts per nine innings. He’s done nothing to lose his job. My money is on Brad B. leading the Rays in saves this season – note I said leading the team but that doesn’t preclude McGee from getting saves at some point.
ASTROS BULLPEN
Here’s what’s going on.
The closer is Luke Gregerson.
Chad Qualls is the setup man who will pick up save chances here and there.
The reason for the confusion? Gregerson has been dealing with a family situation of late, so that’s why Qualls has been seeing work in the 9th inning (Gregerson has been away from the team). Adding/holding Qualls in mixed leagues makes a lot of sense, but make no mistake the 9th inning job belongs to Gregerson.
PHILLIES MAKE A MOVE
Maikel Franco has been called up and he will get a chance to work as the Phillies every day third baseman with Cody Asche sent to the minors to learn to play left field. For more on Franco and his outlook see Ray’s Ramblings: Correa, Franco, Kang.
BYRD ON FIRE
Marlon Byrd has six homers in his last 11 games. In fact, he’s been doing his best Miguel Cabrera impression in May with a .342-6-14 line with a 1.395 OPS over 12 games. It’s hard to quantify “hot streaks,” but there is no way you can look at what he’s doing and not be impressed. Let me rain on your party. Even with his run of excellence, Byrd is still batting just .226 with a .311 OBP and .478 SLG. Both the average and on-base percentage are off league averages (.251 and .316). Second, his 22.2 percent HR/F ratio is literally double his career rate of 10.4 percent. Fair to point out the mark has been 16.4 and 15.2 percent the last two seasons, but it’s also important to note that he is exceedingly unlikely to maintain his current pace. Third, he’s also striking out a ton with 36 in 33 games played. Byrd could be the guy he’s been the past two seasons when he’s averaged 24 homers, 87 RBIs and 73 runs scored, but at his age (38 in August) and given his swing and miss, up and down ways, it’s still a stretch to expect him to reach those levels – even with this hot run.
VMART OUT ALL WEEKEND?
Victor Martinez is a mess. His lower half clearly isn’t right, a fact that can be readily seen in his horrible slash line (.226/.320/.283). Now we’re hearing that he 
likely will only be available to pinch hit this weekend in the matchup with the Cardinals (the games are to be played in St. Louis eliminating the DH). Martinez didn’t play last night, won’t play this weekend either. We can only hope that this mini-break will allow his body to improve to the point that he can return to being a productive batter.
GOMES CLOSING IN
Yan Gomes is working his way back from an MCL sprain in his knee. Seems like the return to action is going much better than originally hoped as he will head out on a rehab assignment Friday. If he avoids setbacks he could be back in action next week. Gomes has 505 at-bats since the start of last season and the results are very impressive for a backstop (.273-21-74-63). Make sure you check your waiver-wire to see if Gomes is still sitting out there. He’s on the cusp of returning to top-10 catcher status.
ANDERSON ROUNDING INTO SHAPE?
Brett Anderson allowed two runs over 5.1 innings last night against the Rockies. That effort lowered his ratios to 3.50 ERA and 1.33 WHIP. He’s got that 4.00 K/BB ratio going for him, and that 64.7 percent ground ball rate is insanely high. Bottom line is he’s pitching as he always does – very effectively. Still, the last time he threw 50-innigs was 2011 and the last time he reached 85 innings was 2010. You simply cannot trust him to last. If you stream him, great. If you add him off waivers, fine. Do not pay to add him to your team through a trade, and it would likely be wise to simply deal him while there is value… the guy cannot stay healthy.
TIME TO BE WORRIED?
Who is Jake Marisnick? I think he’s the guy that I thought he would be when I wrote his Player Profile. I say that because seemed to think he was going to be a superstar when he started out on fire, while others are now panicking because he’s posted three hits in his last 21 at-bats with 10 strikeouts. Strike a middle ground. He’s a fifth outfield option in mixed leagues.
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).