Maikel Franco has appeared in 38 games. Multiple his effort by four and you get 156 games played with a .311-40-116-92 line. Stupendous but also patently absurd. Just like with a fella such as Jose Abreu – Franco simply isn’t hitting enough fly balls to sustain this pace. Not even close. To this point his ground ball rate is 52 percent. You don’t have a fly ball rate of 31 percent, below the league average of 34-35 percent, and hit 40 homers. Pretty hard to do that and hit 30 homers. I’m impressed by his contact – only 23 strikeouts in 148 at-bats with an 80 percent contact rate – which would bode extremely well for his chances of keeping his batting average at a solid level (that 16.8 percent line drive rate is a touch concerning though). I smell the regression monster.

Joey Gallo over his last 19 games: .191/.276/.353 with an earth shattering 42.1 percent K-rate (32 strikeouts in 68 at-bats). #JustSaying.

Bryce Harper is out of the lineup again with his hamstring issue. The team is still saying he should be back in action soon, perhaps over the weekend. I remain nervous about his continual issues physically.

Adam Jones could be headed to the DL this weekend with continued woes in his shoulder. If he does go on the DL it can be backdated so as to have him eligible for a return on July 6th. Jones has been having a typical Jones season this year batting .298 with 10 homers, 36 RBIs and 35 runs scored in 63 contests. Each of the past three seasons Jones has appeared in at least 159 games and over the past five seasons his average effort has been 156 games played. He’s not getting there this year.

Still the best commercial ever made. Ever.

Dallas Keuchel had 12 strikeouts last night. You kidding me? He struck out 11 batters in his two previous starts and has a 6.52 per nine mark for his career. Still thinking a regression is coming, but damn has he impressed in a way that I simply didn’t expect. The fact he has improved on last season is rather astounding. Full marks for that. At the same time - .233 BABIP, 81.2 LOB%, 4.20 GB/FB - all suggest regression.

Phillies Ryan Sandberg resigned his managerial position with the Phillies after going 119-159 as the leader of the club. Pete Mackanin takes over the vacated position. How many remember Sandberg the player? As a second baseman, he was a hell of a fantasy performer. For 5-straight years from 1982-1986 he stole at least 30 bases each season and in 1985 he went 26/54 with 113 runs scored while hitting .305. Yeah, that’s a dynamic effort all right. In 1989 he went 30/15 with 100 runs scored and in 1990 he hit 40 homers, drove in 100, scored 116, stole 25 bases and hit .306. Sensational.

Hanley Ramirez is still out of the lineup for the Red Sox with his hand issue. The club is still saying he’s day to day and not at risk of a DL stint. They hope he returns this weekend. Did you see how it happened? Just stupid and rather hard to believe. And the announcer saying there was nothing he could do about it? Balderdash.

I wrote about Anthony Rendon being a joke, Byron Buxton being continually in the doctor’s office and the ‘Stros decision to call up Jon Singleton in the Daily Trends piece Friday.

Jonathan Schoop (knee) could come off the DL Saturday for the Orioles. He plays impressive defense and can pop the long ball pretty darn well for a middle infielder. He also strikes out too much and doesn’t walk. Have to think he receives the bulk of playing time at second. Sorry Ryan Flaherty owners.

Justin Verlander (back) thinks he will be able to return to the rotation for the Tigers Tuesday. I don’t care. As you all should know by now, the Verlander-Flowers partnership literally came to an end two years ago. I wish I could find a relationship that would last that long. 

 

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).