DFS PLAYBOOK PRO – An exciting offering from the Alarm is 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
ELITE PITCHERS UPDATE
Three of the top righties in the game are dealing with issues…
Jose Fernandez (biceps) is set to return to action Saturday against the Nationals. He’s been fantastic this season with a 2.30 ERA and 1.02 WHIP. He should be effective as long as his body hold up but any kind of hiccup and the team will almost certainly shut him down.
Matt Harvey and his innings pitched situation. Thought it was summed up pretty well in this article by Cliff Corcoran. All we know at this point for certain is the following. (1) Harvey will not be moved to the bullpen. (2) Harvey will start Tuesday and pitch in the final series of the season against the Nationals. Other than that your guess is as good as mine.
Stephen Strasburg (back) has been cleared to start for the Nationals Wednesday when the club takes on the Mets. Strasburg has a 4.35 ERA and 1.26 WHIP this season though he does have 98 strikeouts in 91 innings and he’s walked an average of 2.08 batters per nine. I don’t trust him at this point. Neither should you.
SCHWARBER UPDATE
Kyle Schwarber is dealing with a rib issue that has kept him out of the lineup since September 1st. He took BP Monday, but it sounds like he might still miss the series with the Cardinals. He’s been a massive offensive performer with a .917 OPS, 13 homers, 38 RBIs and 41 runs scored his last 48 games. That’s out of control good. Should be pointed out that his performance has slowed greatly of late. Over his last 70 plate appearances he has five homers and a .433 SLG, that’s solid, but he’s only hitting .167 with a .271 OBP. Tough to know just what to expect from the rookie the rest of the way, but I’m not overly bullish at the moment about his prospects.
HAMILTON UPDATE
Billy Hamilton is set to return to the Reds lineup Tuesday. Dealing with a shoulder issue, Hamilton is about ready to start running for the Reds (he’s been out since August 19th). He returns to 
54 thefts in just 107 games, but he’s also one of the worst offensive performers in baseball with a bat in his hands .226/.272/.390 line. That’s flat out embarrassing.
SECOND HALF NOTES
Xander Bogaerts is on fire and has been for a long while. Over his last 46 games Xander is tearing it up hitting .345. Only two homers and three steals, and that .368 OBP certainly doesn’t stand out given his huge average, but that’s a bit nit picking and I never do that. Well sometimes.
Jay Bruce is batting .202 with seven homers his last 47 games. He has 20 homers and 75 RBIs this season, but he’s just barely getting by. That .233 batting average and .305 OBP show him to be a very limited player but he is one steal away from a second 10-theft effort in a row which adds a nice little boost to his value.
Matt Carpenter has 12 homers his last 47 games. The last three seasons he hit six, 11 and eight homers. His average is way down at .260 though, so there’s certainly been a tradeoff. He’s hitting a few more fly balls, but it’s the 14.1 HR/F ratio that he’s living off of. It’s nearly double his 7.7 percent career mark.
Brett Gardner has really slowed down of late. Over his last 45 games he has three homers, three steals and a .202 batting average. That’s simply not playable, at all. You can’t look at his overall effort and be disappointed, not with a .267-13-57-85-18 line, but he’s going so poorly right now that benching him may not be the worst idea anyone has ever had.
Scooter Gennett has had an up and down season personified by all the time he spent in the minors, but he’s returned to be the hitter he’s long been – solid but nothing fancy. His last 40 games he’s hit a mere two homers with 13 RBIs, but he’s also batting .304 and has scored 20 runs. That’s strong middle infielder stuff in NL-only leagues.
Yan Gomes has had a down season, zero doubt about that, but he’s also driven in 29 runs his last 38 games while going deep eight times. You’ll take that from your catcher any day even if it comes with a .229 batting average and .314 wOBA.
Carlos Gomez isn’t 100 percent, we all know that, but this is pretty poor work nonetheless. Over his last 45 games Gomez has hit two homers with 12 RBIs and a .266 wOBA. He’s hit a mere .216 with a .595 OPS as well. Does it matter that he’s stolen six bases in that time? Not really. As I’ve said many times over the year, the guy just doesn’t own the skills to be a .280 hitter. His current .251 mark is only eight points off his .259 career level. This is more who he is than the guy who hit .284 the past two seasons. The injuries have also limited Gomez to 13 steals, a third of what he’s been doing the last three years (37, 40 and 34 steals).
Jedd Gyorko has 10 homers and 31 RBIs his last 45 games. He’s even hit .257. That’s not awful now is it. Never gonna be the guy that many thought, but there’s still a solid power bat in there for a second sacker.
Victor Martinez is batting .193 with a .295 SLG over his last 47 games. He’s been atrocious.
Joc Pederson’s struggles are pronounced, we all know that. How bad? Try on for size a .160 batting average the last 40 games. For a reputed power hitter, how on earth does Joc have a .286 SLG in that time? Catastrophic fall anyone?
Michael Taylor is batting just .238 with a .281 OBP his last 43 games but the eight homers, seven steals and 28 RBIs paint him as a mighty useful NL-only option who might even have some value in mixed leagues… if you can afford to take on the weight of the batting average hit.
Troy Tulowitzki is batting .222 with a .383 SLG his last 42 games. He’s scored 30 runs so there is that, but this is about as bad as it gets with Tulo. He’s been durable with 121 games played, and there’s nothing wrong with the .280-17-68-74 slash line, though it is well off his previously established norms.
Ray Flowers can be heard Monday through Friday at 8 PM EDT on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 9 PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).