GURRIEL CALL UP DATE?

Yulieski Gurriel signed a 5-year, $47.5 million deal with the Astros. It’s a bit of an odd signing for the Astros who have Jose Altuve at second, Carlos Correa at shortstop and supposedly Alex Bregman at third base (soon). They also have Luis Valbuena and Marwin Gonzalez hanging around to add at all those positions. They then bring in Gurriel to the mix. Seems odd. Alas, you don’t give a guy nearly $50 million to sit on your bench, so he will be up when he’s ready. So we have two issues. (1) Where does Gurriel play? (2) What are his skills?

1 – He ain’t playing second or shortstop. Seems extremely unlikely he will play first base. That leaves either (A) third base or (B) the outfield. Yes, the team has made mention that Gurriel could see time in the outfield where the team currently runs out Carlos Gomez, George Springer, Colby Rasmus with Jake Marisnick the backup. Hard for me to see a spot that Gurriel is going to take over there, at least on a full-time basis. We’re also now hearing that Gurriel is likely about a month away from a promotion to the big league level. "Clearly, the goal is to get him in uniform and get him playing at Minute Maid Park as soon as possible," GM Jeff Luhnow said. " … One of the reasons [we] worked so hard to get this deal done as timely as we could is I want and Yuli wants him to be part of a playoff run this year." Yulieski will have to work through visa issues as well as getting some at-bats to find his stroke. Are the Astros going to wait that long to call up Bregman? If the young star is called up and hits upon his promotion, that would seem to make PT even tougher to find for Gurriel. It sounds like YG may be in line to be the dreaded “super sub” though he should be in the lineup most days.

2 – Gurriel is 32 years old and his track record includes some of the most impressive work you will find from any foreign born player. In 15 years, mostly in the Cuban National Series with a sprinkling of the Japan Central League, Gurriel has hit .335 with a .997 OPS. He’s an elite talent with power and a solid approach that most years led to more walks than strikeouts. He’s a .285, 20 homer type of hitter according to many of the sources in the scouting community. He should be added in 15-team mixed leagues, and potentially in 12-team leagues as well, but with questions about where he will play, and with all the time he is set to spend in the minors, he’s not a must add.

NATIONALS MAKE ROTATION MOVE – IT’S NOT GILIOTO THOUGH

The Nationals need a starter for Tuesday’s game against the Dodgers since Joe Ross is still on the DL with right shoulder inflammation. It won’t be Lucas Giolito though because the Nationals think he needs to spend some more time in the minors honing his curveball. That means the Nats will call up Reynaldo Lopez to make the start.

A 22 year old righty, Lopez stands six feet tall and weighs in at about 190 lbs. Lopez has struck out 109 batters with a 3.19 ERA over 87.1 innings this season with an elite fastball, one that can hit 98-99 mph, and one that routinely sits at 95 mph. The fastball is explosive. His curveball/changeup support duo lags behind, substantially. The changeup is a pitch he is continually working on, though his curveball has become a good pitch. As Lopez has aged and gained strength, the break on his curveball has improved.

The real issue for Lopez is a lack of consistency with his delivery. Failing to repeat that causes him to often lose control of the strike zone. When that happens, you know the results aren’t always pretty. The lack of consistency with his delivery is frequently exacerbated by throwing across his body which causes him to pull his fastball and lose the strike zone with his best pitch. The remedy to that likely lies in his lower half, keeping that pointed directly at the plate, which should help most of the worries I’ve noted. Still, at this point he might be best served as a power reliever and not a starter, but here he comes.

The Nationals rotation is in a bit of turmoil. Not really, though folks seem to think so.

Stephen Strasburg, Max Scherzer and Tanner Roark are lockdowns.

The 4th starter will be Joe Ross when his shoulder is ready to go. The club believes that could be by the end of the month. In sixteen starts this season he’s 7-4 with a 3.49 ERA and 1.26 WHIP.

That leaves the 5th spot for Lopez, Giolito and Gio Gonzalez. Gio, the veteran lefty, has been spotty this season with a 4.70 ERA and 1.40 WHIP. Not many care that he has a strikeout an inning, 104 in 103.1 frames. Not many care that his 3.40 BB/9 rate would be his second best mark of a nine-year career. Not many care that his 1.50 GB/FB ratio would be his second best mark in four seasons and better than his 1.45 career mark. Gio has even allowed two and three runs his last two starts before the All-Star break. He’s also the lone veteran the team “knows” making Lopez/Giolito arms that must force their way into the rotation. If they just pitch passably they really aren’t doing themselves much good.

Lopez will start Tuesday. Beyond that we have no idea what will happen until Ross is ready to return. Be very cautious with Lopez as it could be one and done.

DFS DIAMONDS

*The following list of players are guys that Ray recommends as daily plays.

CATCHER: Matt Wieters has a .274/.314/.457 line against righties with eight homers in 175 at-bats. He’s also hit .351 with a .455 OBP and .757 SLG, which includes four homers, over 44 plate appearances against Ivan Nova.

FIRST BASE: Joey Votto has six hits his last three games. In the month of July, he’s hit .351 with a .479 OBP and .432 SLG. Matt Wisler has allowed nine runs and 18 hits his last 11 innings.    

SECOND BASE: Ian Kinsler has two hits in each of the last three games, and that effort includes two homers. At home this season he’s been a star (.315/.369/.500). Against Ricky Nolasco over 23 plate appearances his line is .391/.391/.522.

THIRD BASE: Lonnie Chisenhall has a 1.113 OPS against Edinson Volquez over 16 plate appearances. He has also produced seven RBI his last eight games and in July he’s hit .304.    

SHORTSTOP: Marwin Gonzalez has produced two hits in five of nine games. He’s scored five times his last three games. Lefties have hit .294 with a .376 OBP against Kendall Graveman this season.
  
OUTFIELD: Curtis Granderson is batting .325 with a 1.088 OPS in July. He’s always put together good at-bats against Jon Lester with a .304/.360/.587 slash line over 50 plate appearances with three homers.  

OUTFIELD: Brett Gardner has a .285/.397/.417 slash line at home. Against righties the numbers are .266/.373/.393. He has two hits each of his last two games and has a .375/.375/.688 line, with a homer, in 16 plate appearances against Kevin Gausman.  

OUTFIELD: Nelson Cruz versus a lefty this season: .305/.378/.705. He has a .535 SLG in 12 July games. He faces Chris Sale with a .438/.500/.813 slash line with two homers over 18 plate appearances. His last two starts he’s allowed 16 hits, four homers and 13 runs.

 

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).