SOX MAKE DECISION IN OUTFIELD
Rusney Castillo is entering dangerous territory, that of a man with a big contract (he is due at least $11 million in each of the next five years), lots of talent, massive amounts of hype and utter failure at the end of the rainbow. The Cuban born outfielder has hit .262/.302/.379 over the course of 329 big league plate appearances with seven homers and seven steals. He just hasn’t gotten it done. He’s continuing to be craptastic this spring hitting .227 with a .542 OPS over 48 plate appearances. As a result of his suck-i-tude he will open the year as the wrong side of a platoon in left field for the Red Sox. That’s right, Castillo is no longer rosterable in mixed leagues as he’s set to only face lefties with Brock Holt being the guy in left against right-handed pitching. Holt has actually been better against lefties (.293/.355/.401) than righties (.270/.327/.358), so we shall see how this situation plays itself out.
PIRATES STAFF TAKING SHAPE
The Pirates will go with a top-4 this year of Gerrit Cole, Francisco Liriano, Jon Niese and Jeff Locke (the last fella was just named a starter Tuesday). That leaves Ryan Vogelsong and everyone’s favorite, Juan Nicasio, battling for the final spot. Everyone out there seems to want Nicasio to win the job because of his lights out spring (0.00 ERA, 1.00 WHIP, 24 Ks in 15 IP). Note, as I’ve pointed out before, that that Nicasio made just one start last year and has a mere 15 starts under his belt the last two seasons. Also, if you look at his Baseball Reference page you will not that his Opponent Quality score this spring is 8.3. What does that score reference? It speaks to the Quality of Opposing batters as a mark of 8.0 equates to Triple-A where major leaguers come in at 10.0. That means Nicasio’s average opponent has been a low level Triple-A performer. Ryan Vogelsong’s faced stiffer competition by the way with a mark of 8.5. Be very careful in mixed leagues with Nicasio.
RANGERS STAFF TAKING SHAPE
The Rangers will go with a 5-some this season to start the year of Cole Hamels, Derek Holland, Colby Lewis, Martin Perez and A.J. Griffin while they wait for Yu Darvish. That means that Nick Martinez will open the year at Triple-A. Lewis is borderline rosterable in mixed leagues whereas Perez and Griffin are only options in AL-only leagues. Don’t be seduced by the duo who rounds out the rotation given that they don’t strike batters out.
BREWERS BULLPEN SITUATION
Will Smith will try rehabbing his injured knee (LCL) before deciding about surgery. Here’s the plan. Smith will rest for three weeks. He will then start to ramp things back up. Six week from now, if no progress has been made, he will have knee surgery. If he does go under the knife he is likely to miss the entire season. Jeremy Jeffress will get the first shot to run with the Brewers closing job. JJ strikes out about a batter per inning and his GB-rate the last three seasons is an insanely good 59.3 percent leading to a 3.62 GB/FB ratio.
GRANDAL/SEAGER UPDATES FOR DODGERS
Yasmani Grandal has a forearm issue. He says he’s going to be ok and manager Dave Roberts said on Tuesday that the team fully expects Grandal to be ready to rock on Opening Day. Meanwhile, Corey Seager (knee) continues to progress with the hope that he will be able to make the O.D. roster as well. Everyone is on the Seager train though I agree with my SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio co-host Kyle Elfrink that the Seager to own this season is Kyle Seager, not Corey. The Dodgers’ shortstop has a bright, perhaps luminous future, but I get the feeling that if he doesn’t hit .285 with 25 homers people will be ticked off. As for Grandal he will look to hit 20 homers for the first time, and though he’s hit a mere .241 for his young career his .351 career OBP is impressive.
PLAYERS WHO HAVE MADE THE OPENING DAY ROSTER
Hanser Alberto, Rangers: He will serve as the backup, up the middle, for the Rangers.
Jeff Francoeur, Braves: He hit .327 this spring to earn the spot. He should see time against left-handed pitching.
LOOKING FOR A TEAM
Drew Stubbs hit .324 with a .921 OPS this spring over 18 games and 42 plate appearances. He also went deep twice and stole three bases. His reward? He was released by the Rangers. An odd move if you ask me. Stubbs plays solid defense, and still owns that power/speed game. He’s also always handled left-handed pitching very well with a borderline impressive slash line of .276/.350/.454 over 892 plate appearances.
Shane Victorino has an injured calf, and it’s unclear what his next move will be. He won’t make the Cubs roster and has technically been released, though the Cubs have offered him a spot down at Triple-A if he wants to take it. A one-time borderline fantasy star, he’s looking to go out on a high note playing for a winning team.
Ray Flowers can be heard Monday through Friday, 7 PM EDT and Friday on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 6 PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).