HOLLIDAY OR MUPRHY?
Matt Holliday or David Murphy. Who do you want? Obvious question and answer, right? Or is it? Seriously. Check it.
Holliday: .297/.409/.416 with a .825 OPS
Murphy: .307/.357/.458 with a .815 OPS
Shocked? Me too. Further…
Holliday: 3 HRs, 26 RBIs, 21 runs, 2 SBs in 185 at-bats
Murphy: 5 HRs, 26 RBIs, 22 runs, 0 SBs in 192 at-bats
My money is still on Holiday, but wow, right?
PUJOLS STUPID GOOD
Albert Pujols is up to 29 homers in 89 games. He had 28 homers last season in 159 game and 30 in 154 games in 2012 (he was limited by injury to 99 games played and 17 homers in 2013). Still don’t understand how he’s keep the HR/F ratio at 22.5 percent. The rate was under 14 percent each of the last two seasons and hasn’t been above 18.3 percent since 2009.
Tthe Big 3, July 21st - Aaron Nola, Steven Souza, Matt Kemp.
FREEMAN CLOSE
Freddie Freeman (wrist) should return to the field soon for the Braves. Sounds like he will be cleared for some minor league work in a couple of days and could return next week when the club is in Philly. Freeman was killing it before he was hurt (.299-12-41-43 in 66 games) though wrist injuries always make me nervous, especially when it comes to the power stroke.
This is just fantastic. Batman, Superman and It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia.
LOWRIE CLOSE
Jed Lowrie is on the shelf with a thumb issue he’s working his way back from. He’s starting his minor league work Wednesday. With Carlos Correa now the shortstop, and Jose Altuve at second, you have to think that Luis Valbuena will start to lose playing time when Lowrie is ready. Valbuena has 19 homers which is shocking, but that .207/.290/.435 slash line is poor to say the least. Homer or bust.
PITCHING MOVES
Joe Kelly will start for the Red Sox Wednesday to give everyone in the rotation an extra day. He stinks. Great stuff, but just cannot transition it into success. He has a 5.67 ERA over 14 starts earlier this season.
Stephen Strasburg threw 30 pitches today as he works his way back from an oblique issue. Joe Ross will take the rotation spot of Strasburg until he is ready to go (sounds like it won’t be until August). As for Ross, he struck out 23 batters and walked two in three starts over 20.1 innings. He’s not that good though with minor league numbers that don’t come close to those (8.2 K/9, 2.2 BB/9). Decent streaming in mixed option is he, nothing more, though against the Mets on Tuesday… lock and load.
Jason Vargas has been activated from the DL and the man sent down to open up a roster spot is… Yordano Ventura. Ugh. He has a 5.19 ERA this season but still owns a great/dynamic arm. Don’t give up on him in AL-only leagues, and if you’re in a deep mixed league, like a 15 teamer, see what it costs to add him. You just can’t find arms like his.
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).
* NOTE: Those are pics from my trip to Hawaii.