A look back at last week’s advice about players to watch during the Dog Days of August highlights this week’s Week That Was.
Brad Miller: Last week we wrote: “Brad Miller went 2-for-4 with two runs, four RBI and two dingers Saturday in the Bronx. His big game was overshadowed by the Austin/Judge coming out party, but do not miss out on Miller if you have the chance. On the year, the former shortstop, now first baseman, has 22 bombs in only 384 at-bats. When you add in the fact that he’s been money over the last 30 days – nine dingers and a .290-plus average – you have a guy who could easily carry you to a title if you can pry him away from his current owner or if you play in a shallow league where somehow he is still available.” Hmmm, I hope you listened. In the last week, the Rays’ stud hit .346 with three home runs, eight RBI and posted a gaudy .433 OBP. I think the train has left the station!
Jedd Gyorko: Last week we wrote: “Jedd Gyorko hit his 17th dinger Saturday, adding two runs and two RBI to his stat line to help the Cards break the Cubbies’ win streak. Unlike Miller, roto owners could be sleeping on Gyorko given the crowd in St. Louis. Ten homers in the last month, .300-plus over the last week and a bunch of Cardinal injuries say that Gyorko will be on many a winning roto team come game 162. [FN: the advanced metrics support the power outburst as Jedd is hitting the ball in the air more and hitting it harder than he did in the first half].” If you missed out on Miller, I hope you listened about Jedd. Over the last week, the Red Bird hit four home runs, knocked in nine runs and posted an OPS over 1.000. With all of his positional eligibility, there has to be a place in your lineup for those kind of numbers.
Scooter Gennett: Last week we wrote: “Scooter Gennett went 4-for-5 with a run and an RBI on Saturday for the Brew Crew. Quietly, on a team heading nowhere fast, Gennett is doing the job. On the year, Scooter is hitting .280 with 10 dingers and eight swipes in only 357 at-bats. With an increased walk rate showing his maturity and a BABIP in line with career numbers (showing lack of luck), Gennett’s coming out party seems real. I am buying for the last six weeks and you should too!” Well, no one is perfect. Gennett cooled off substantially over the last week and did his owners no favors. That said, he has two hits in his last six trips to the plate and has seven games this week against pitching luminaries such as Chad Bettis and Chad Kuhl so I would not give up just yet.
Cheslor Cuthbert: Last week we continued to extol the virtues of the Royals rookie including our note about another strong week: “the Royals rookie had another strong week hitting .340-plus with a dinger, five runs and four RBI. Who wouldn’t take that production week in and week out?” I will call this one a wash. His .267 average probably did not help or hurt you but at least he continued to put up some counting numbers with his four runs and three RBI (note that if a player put up those counting numbers every week, he would score 104 runs and knock in 78).
Sandy Leon: Last week we wrote: “Anybody notice that Sandy Leon is hitting .390? Yep, you read that right. Oh, he must only have like 20 at-bats, right? Nope! Leon has posted that .390 average over 123 at-bats while playing baseball’s most demanding position. Can this continue? Of course not. That said, he can continue to be very good. Before shuttling back and forth between Triple-A and the majors, he was a consistent hitter. Indeed, he hit .300-plus at every level in his last full season in the minors. Again, the .390 average will come down and the .475-plus BABIP cannot last but can he hit .300 or at least produce nicely in the Sox offense down the stretch? Yep, he can.” Leon kept on keeping on, hitting .368 with two dingers, four RBI and a garish 1.166 OPS. Yeah, there are a lot of catchers producing for roto teams in August to those tunes. Not!
Howie Kendrick: Last week we wrote: “Howie Kendrick went 2-for-5 with a run and RBI on Saturday to continue his hot streak. The professional hitter who has played all over the diamond this year has hit over .340 in the last month with 15-plus runs and RBI. Can he stay hot? Well, considering that he hit better than .285 in all but one year since 2006 (and that was .279), why not? The price is still depressed but it shouldn’t be. I would be happy to own Howie K in all formats.” This was a bit of a mixed bag. The batting average was not good but the .333 OBP was solid and the three runs and RBI are decent counting numbers. With a full seven games on tap this week and a .369 batting average over the last two weeks, I am holding the line.
Ryan Schimpf: Like with Cuthbert, last week we continued to extol the virtues of this Padre rook. Indeed, we pointed out: “if you listened and bought Schimpf, you were rewarded with three dingers, nine RBI and a .350-plus OBP. If you have another chance to land Ryan this week, do not sleep on it.” A week with two more dingers and five more RBI says we continue to be on to something (again to put that kind of week in to perspective, that is the one week equivalent of 52 dingers and 130 RBI).
And now the moment you all may or may not be waiting for -- the Baron of Bottom of the Page pontificates -- a/k/a Schultz says: “One of the reasons Kris Bryant was such a valuable roto-commodity this season was the relative dearth of third basemen who could be relied upon to provide above-average roto-stats. From a roto-perspective, one of the things that should be remembered (besides Schultz' overuse of the roto prefix) is the surfeit of productive third basemen who could have been obtained for bargain basement prices.
Quick question: which third baseman has the most home runs since the beginning of June? Well, it's a surprising tie. Of course, Kris Bryant has 20 but how many of you out there also knew that Justin Turner has also hit 20? The 31-year-old, unheralded infielder has somehow morphed into a surprising source of power at a fraction of the investment. Another surprise atop the statistical leaderboards is that, depending on the day you look, no one but Jose Altuve will be hitting for average better than Yunel Escobar. Despite hitting .314 for the Nationals last year, Escobar was practically an afterthought as he lost shortstop eligibility and the move to Anaheim did nothing to help is projected value. Proving his 2015 wasn't a fluke, he's been one of the AL's most dependable third basemen and he likely cost nothing to acquire.
Appearing on no one's radar, Hernan Perez has been a roto-revelation for the stat-starved Milwaukee Brewers. With just 285 at-bats, Perez has slugged 11 homers, driven in 41 runs and stole 23 bases. Think about that one for a second - 23 steals from a third baseman! As Perez had shown no prior inclination for hitting or running successfully at the major league level, he is unquestionably a sleeper's sleeper. It would also be hard to ignore that Cheslor Cuthbert has more than adequately filled in for the injured Mike Moustakas, hitting .295 with 10 home runs. Nothing too fancy - however, these stats came off the waiver wire.
Big ticket items make the computer algorithms congratulate you for adding credence to the prevailing wisdom. Looking elsewhere for supporting parts that out-produce their expectation can reward you with a roto-championship.”
Response: Love the use of the SAT word surfeit and the self-deprecating third person style. Yes, I know readers want to hear me make fun of the Carlton the Doorman of fantasy sports but I cannot. This is interesting stuff!