Player Blurbs

Jesús Luzardo:  Jesús Luzardo was lights out Sunday tossing six one-hit innings while striking out eight on the way to a win.  The 7.19 ERA (even after this gem) shows that Luzardo has not been, well, good.  What changed?  It could be that Luzardo threw more changes and fewer fastballs. That would make sense considering the 16% swinging strike rate on the change and only 6% on the heater.  Oh, and the change generates almost twice as many ground balls so that certainly will help limit damage as well.   

For the Week That Will Be:  If you are leading your league, perhaps it is safest to sit Jesus against Philly.  If you need to make up ground, pencil him in and hope that he continues to mix in more changes!

Jean Segura:  Jean Segura continued to produce Sunday going 2-4 with 2 runs scored atop the Phillies’ lineup.  On the year, Segura is hitting a potent .297 and is getting on base at a .358 clip.  Not too shabby at all.    

For the Week That Will Be:  With OPS over .900 in the last week and the Mets and Marlins on the schedule this week, Segura is good to go!

Eddie Rosario:  Eddie Rosario paid early dividends for his new team as he smacked two hits, knocked in two runs and even stole a base.  Yes, the Atlanta OF is crowded but Rosario should play a lot.  Yes, I know he has not been great this year (.257 with only 7 dingers) but this is a guy who smacked 83 dingers from 17-19 with a batting average above .280.  Translation:  he can hit.

For the Week That Will Be:  Four games in Colorado.  Enough said. 

Taylor Hearn:  Taylor Hearn pitched 6.2 innings of two run ball to get the win Sunday.  Hearn added six strikeouts and no walks to that performance.  At this point in the season, the Rangers are easy to overlook but I would not dismiss Hearn.  He has 14K against just 2BB in his last three starts that have included two wins.  

For the Week That Will Be:  With the struggling Angels next, Hearn pitches for me this week.

Jorge Mateo:  Jorge Mateo hit a two-run dinger Sunday as his career resurrection continues in Baltimore.  In the last 14 days, Mateo is hitting .424 with an OPS over 1,000.  Given that he can play multiple positions and steal bases in bunches, Mateo is a sneaky add for the stretch run.

For the Week That Will Be:  Games in Toronto and Yankee Stadium, both hitter’s havens, say play Mateo this week. 

What to do if your FAAB bids did not go as planned:

If you did not get the pitchers you want, consider these middle relievers on teams with weak or unsettled closing situations or potential openings in the rotation, consider  Drew Steckenrider who saved his 7th game Sunday or Andrew Chafin who slammed the door for the A’s Sunday night.

If you are in the mood to gamble, how about Yoshi Tsutsugo who is showing that power he used to display in Japan. 

And Last But Not Least:

The moment you have been waiting for (just play along) -- Schultz says: “Has there been a more frustrating puzzle to solve than determining the roto-value or more appropriately roto-usefulness of Luis Gil? Normally, Schultz prefers to ignore the team from the Bronx and let the nice thing that daddy buys his spoiled child exist without comment. However, Schultz is legitimately baffled by their handling of the immensely talented right hander. 

First off, for leagues in which minor leaguers are ineligible to be picked up as free agents, it’s been near impossible to roster him. Gil’s time as a major leaguer is pretty much the time, he’s on the mound. When he leaves the game, it’s as if they escort him from the mound to the bus leaving for Scranton.  (Although they likely fly him on one of their private jets). 

More frustrating is that he’s even sent to the minors. In three starts, Gil has yet to give up a run and kept his WHIP right around 1.00. Plus, he’s struck out 18 in less than 16 innings. But why settle for that when you can have Andrew Heaney serve up gopher balls or Corey Kluber throw the pitches that remain in his arm before he hurts himself once more. 

Now it seems as if the [name redacted] are going to see what happens if they bring Gil out of the bullpen. For a team making a playoff surge, this makes a world of sense. For roto-purposes, it’s like watching Tony La Russa ruin a completely fine Craig Kimbrel. While it would be fun to see Gil play a role in deciding 2021 fantasy championships, he’s more likely not going to be a roto-factor until 2022.”

Response:  Yep, the Gil situation is puzzling.  The fantasy solution is to allow fantasy owners to roster minor leaguers in FAAB so long as they keep that player active for at least one week. That is how Tout Wars does it and it seems to work.