FRANCO JUST NOT HITTING
Maikel Franco has hit .252 with 25 homers and 88 RBI and a .740 OPS in his career. Those are solid numbers for a player his age and one with only 161 career games played in the big leagues. Alas, he wasn’t drafted to be Trevor Plouffe.
Franco has been bad this season, and things have gotten worse of late as he’s gone hitless in 16 at-bats. The 23 year old third sacker of the Phillies is batting .231 with a .281 OBP and .409 SLG. Do you know how bad that is folks? Luis Valbuena is hitting better (.244). Matt Duffy, who everyone says stinks, has a .313 OBP. Yunel Escobar, who has three homers this season, has a higher SLG at .414. It’s bad stuff folks. It’s just not happening for Franco.
His walk rate is down from 7.8 percent last year to 6.1 percent this season.
His K-rate is up from 15.5 percent last year to 19.4 percent this season.
His swinging strike rate has gone up from 11.1 to 13.8 percent.
He’s batting .176 with a .670 OPS against lefties. Last year the mark against southpaws was .825.
His Isolated Power mark is down from .217 to .174.
His wOBA is down from .360 to .290.
Honestly, he is doing nothing better than last season. Toss in the knee issue and it’s starting to become clear that a push to top-10 at third base this season would take a monumental second half. Hard to envision that happening at the moment. I’m sure you’ve already made other plans at the hot corner. If you haven’t, get in there and do it now.
PERALTA DOWN, BRITO UP
David Peralta’s season of woe continues as he’s headed back to the disabled list, this time with a lower back sprain (he missed time earlier with a wrist issue). The only positive for Peralta is that he could return as soon as eligible. Of course, we’ve heard such machinations before only to be disappointed.
Brito was up early in the year and received 31 plate appearances as he hit a mere .226 with a homer, two RBI and eight strikeouts before being sent back to the minors. Brito has spent 52 games down at Triple-A accruing 226 plate appearances. He still has no idea what a walk is, he’s been issued seven free passes, so even though he’s hitting a solid .289 at Triple-A his OBP is terrible at .310. Brito has been effective with five homers, 30 RBI and 31 runs scored while he’s also hit eight doubles with six triples leading to a .450 SLG. Solid, but nothing to get excited about.
This outfield is a mess in Arizona. Not only is Peralta out but they are also without A.J. Pollock (elbow) and Chris Owings (foot). That leaves the team with Yasmany Tomas, Michael Bourn, Socrates Brito and Peter O’Brien. Brito should play a good deal but maybe not enough to be a weekly mixed league play in the short run.
WHO IS EZEQUIEL CARRERA?
Jose Bautista has been placed on the DL with a toe issue. We’re still waiting for a full report on his outlook, he’s seeing another specialist Monday, but I get the feeling that he’s likely to miss more than 15 days. Just me, but that’s my feeling. Regardless, the team appears set to run with Ezequiel Carrera as the full-time replacement. Who is Carrera?
When a guy is less than three months from his 29th birthday and he’s never had 205 at-bats in a big league season, you should have some concern. Still, there is a bit to like here. Carrera is batting .313 with a .382 OBP this season, and those are impressive numbers. Alas, his career marks are .266 and .320, and that is more who he is than the guy we are seeing right now (last year the numbers were .273 and .321). He doesn’t have much pop with eight homers and a .363 SLG over 782 career plate appearances. He has a bit of speed with 30 thefts, but he’s the guy who steals 10-15 not 20-25. He can hit lefties though, always has, with a strong .296 average and .354 OBP. Still just a .370 SLG against them though.
He’s an AL-only play for me and mere a 5th outfield dart throw in mixed leagues, one that will likely be forgotten in a couple of weeks when Bautista returns.
DFS DIAMONDS
*The following list of players are guys that Ray recommends as daily plays.
CATCHER: Chris Iannetta has produced two homers and hit .467 against Mike Pelfrey in 15 at-bats. Iannetta has produced two homers, four doubles and six RBI his last nine games overall.
FIRST BASE: Mark Trumbo hasn’t homered in 10 games. He also hasn’t scored in 10. So why suggest him tonight? (1) He’s due. (2) He’s facing Derek Holland with five homers and a 1.065 OPS over 48 plate appearances. (3) He’s blasted seven homers over 61 at-bats against lefties this season.
SECOND BASE: The last three games Jaime Garcia has allowed batters to hit .377 as he’s posted a 5.63 ERA, 1.88 WHIP and allowed three homers while striking out only eight batters. Javier Baez is batting .314/.377/.571 at home this season. Baez is also batting .350/.422/.575 slash line against lefties.
THIRD BASE: Marwin Gonzalez is ripping it up in June batting .322 with a .375 OBP and .799 OPS. In five of his last 10 outings he’s produced at least two hits, and overall he’s had a lot of success at home this season (.275/.340/.495).
SHORTSTOP: In 11 games Jhonny Peralta is batting .273 with a .751 OPS. For his career he’s hit .268 with a .756 OPS. He’s the same as always. Peralta has a homer, four doubles and seven RBI this season and he faces vet John Lackey hitting .355 with a .751 OPS over 33 plate appearances.
OUTFIELD: Lefties don’t phase Ichiro. Not only is he batting .381 with a .839 OPS against them this season but he’s also hit .500 over 10 at-bats against Jorge De La Rosa. Ichiro is hitting a massive .425 with a .964 OPS over 16 games in June.
OUTFIELD: It might seem odd, but let’s suggest going with Jayson Werth against Clayton Kershaw. (1) Werth has a .367/.424/.667 slash line with five homers over 60 plate appearances against lefties this season. (2) He’s the owner of a .310/.394/.517 slash line over 33 plate appearances against Kershaw.
OUTFIELD: Ian Desmond is batting .342/.402/.534 in the Month of June with 13 RBI, 12 runs scored and three steals. He’s also crushing at home with a .360/.392/.551 slash line. He faces Kevin Gausman who has struggled a bit versus righties (.287/.345/.464).
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 7 PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).