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
PUJOLS IN TROUBLE
Albert Pujols has 35 homers and 83 RBIs. That’s great. That’s the end of the great however. Concerns are everywhere with the future HOFamer.
Pujols is dealing with a sore right foot that is basically keeping him at designated hitter right now. He’s batting .233 with a .295 OBP and .419 SLG as a designated hitter (45 games).
Pujols as batting .269 over his last 55 games. Wait, that’s his OBP. He’s hitting .219 over his last 55 games. That’s disgusting for a player of his talent. Pujols is also sporting a backup middle infielder .645 OPS over 55 games.
Pujols has hit nine homers his last 55 games. He has five his last 43 games.
He’s not worth starting in mixed leagues right now.
Back to his season…
Yeah, the power is nice, will give you that. But a .241 batting average is embarrassing. A .302 OBP is ghastly. He’s a terrible offensive player if you look past the homers and RBIs.
SOLER IS BACK
Jorge Soler has been activated from the DL and should return to the Cubs starting lineup on Friday. Soler missed four weeks with an oblique issue. Dexter Fowler will continue to man center with Kyle Schwarber playing in left field which likely means that Chris Coghlan will see his playing time reduced to accommodate Soler. The outfielder has a massive 11 strikeouts in 343 at-bats and a mere seven homers after he hit five in 89 at-bats last season. Soler has seen his HR/F ratio cut in half, from 20 to 10 percent, but he’s jacked up his line drive rate to 29 percent which has helped him to hit .265 and hide all those strikeouts. A change in approach is needed or it’s hard to envision him hitting even .265 the rest of the way.
CHOO SURGING
The last four times that Shin-soo Choo has appeared in 130 games he’s stolen at least 20 bases. This season he’s been out there .132 times and he’s stolen four bases. That’s seven steals over his last 255 games. He’s just not running anymore and that certainly diminishes his fantasy value. However, he still has some things going for him. The power is still there, he’s up to 18 homers, and he has 67 RBIs and 77 runs scored. The average is down at .261, but his OBP is still solid at .360. Moreover, he’s really cranked things up after the All-Star game with an out of this world .446 OBP over 52 games. You think that is amazing? Check out what he’s going in September as he’s batting .389 with a .522 OBP through 15 games. That’s elite stuff folks. It’s not what we hoped for overall, but Choo is streaking to the finish.
For no reason… improve your Office Etiquette.
BETTER THAN YOU THINK
Matt Kemp has not been a star this year, totally fair to say. At the same time he’s not getting the respect he deserves either. Kemp has appeared in 144 games this season, and after some dreadful valleys the overall numbers are still pretty darn impressive. Kemp has 22 homers and 11 steals. Only four other outfielders have gone 20/10: Mike Trout, Justin Upton, Ryan Braun and Curtis Granderson. Kemp also has 97 RBIs. The only players in the outfield with more are Yoenis Cespedes (103) and Jose Bautista (102). Kemp has also scored 74 runs, not an impressive total by any means – part of the blame goes to his blahtastic .313 OBP – but he’s still scored the same number of runs as Adam Jones. Just like last year as well, he’s been en fuego in the second half of the season. Over his last 55games he’s hit .290 with a .889 OPS. Kemp has also plated 50 runs and hit 14 homers for the Padres. He’s lived up to his draft day cost and surpassed it in most cases.
BETTER THAN YOU THINK II
Martin Prado qualifies at multiple positions which helps to add some value to his game. Yes, he’s not exciting overall, and yes, he’s often overlooked because he does nothing outstanding in 
fantasy. But right now, he’s hitting. A lot. Over his last 12 games he’s driven in nine runs while batting .372 with a .404 wOBA. Not enough you say? How about that over his last 28 games he’s batting .330 with 22 RBIs and a .515 SLG. According to Fangraphs his WAR the last 30 days is actually the third best in baseball for a third sacker. Bet you didn’t know that, did you?
THE SAME AS ALWAYS
I remember back to early in the year when complaint after complaint was flooding my inbox about the Pirates’ Neil Walker. Well lookie there, he’s the same guy that he’s always been. Think I’m joshing ya? The proof.
Per 135 games for his career: .272-15-67-66 with a .767 OPS
In 135 games this season: .266-13-60-63 with a .745 OPS
See what I’m saying? Patience with proven players usually leads to solid results.
TRYING TO GET BACK
Stephen Vogt was blasted in the balls and last played on September 6th. I really shouldn’t be joking about anyone’s testicles, that’s no joke (having been drilled a couple of times while I played I’m being completely insensitive even though I know the pain that it can be. I just thought “blasted in the balls” was funny and I was going for the cheap laugh). Vogt hit the break batting .287-14-56 with a .872 OPS. In 40 games since he’s stunk it up batting .238 with four homers, 11 RBIs and a .691 OPS. People are pissed. Why? Did you really think he was going Mike Piazza this season? That would be a foolish position to take, well, ever. He’s been great this season, even with the limp to the finish line. Vogt is tied for 4th at the catcher’s position in homers. He’s 4th in RBIs. His average is third among batting title qualifiers. His OBP is second among batting title qualifiers. His .46 SLG is second among batting title qualifiers. It ain’t been even, but overall it’s been a tremendous season for a guy who was roundly taken outside the top-20 at the catcher’s positions back in March.
ONLY TWO?
In the history of the Cubs only two lefties have had at least two seasons of 30 homers. One is Hall of Famer Billy Williams. The other is Anthony Rizzo.
Ray Flowers can be heard Monday through Thursday at 8 PM EDT and Friday at 9 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).