Week That Was September 19, 2016

Late season additions who could just make the difference highlight this week’s Week That Was.

Seth Smith:  Do not look now but the righty mashing Mariner is on fire.  Over the last two weeks he is hitting a cool .342.  What did he do Sunday?  Well, he went 2-for-2 with three runs, four RBI and two dingers.  Nice!  With at least four RHP on his schedule next week, he should do some damage – especially if he continues to hit in front of Robinson Cano and Nelson Cruz.      

Mitch Haniger:  Not much has gone right for the D-Backs but Haniger has been a find. Sunday, the snake OF went 3-for-5 with two runs, two RBI and a dinger.  In the week preceding Sunday’s game, his OPS was over 1,000 so Sunday was not a fluke.  Is Haniger this good?  No.  Can he help you in the last two weeks?  You bet.  Yes it was the PCL but Haniger had on OPS over 1.000 in 2016 in Triple-A so . . .  

T.J. Rivera:  T.J. Rivera has been a revelation in Queens.  Sunday, the new Mets folk hero went 2-for-4 with two runs, one RBI and a dinger.  Rivera hit .353 in Triple-A so it is hardly surprising he can hit.  He can.  Oh, and with all the late season injuries and shut downs, you think it helps that Rivera qualifies at 2B and 3B in most formats?  Sure does!

Chad Bettis:  Last week we wrote: “The Rockies righty went seven strong innings Sunday giving up just two runs while walking one and striking out five.  I know, I know, no one gets rich relying on Colorado pitching.  However, if you look deeper, you see that over his last six starts, Bettis has a respectable 3.50 ERA and a WHIP under 1.20.  Oh, and he actually pitches better at home than on the road so a home start against San Diego next does not scare me (especially because he has pushed his GB rate over 50% this year).”  Well, if you listened, you got a pretty good start and that oh so coveted W.  Bettis was not lights out but he got the job done Sunday going five innings to get the win – his 13th of the season.  Keep him rolling with a road start against the inconsistent Dodgers next week. 

Sean Rodriguez: I have been waiting forever for this guy to reach his potential.  Well, it will not happen but he has produced under the radar this year.  Sunday, the Bucs utility man hit his 17th jack of the season and his 8th in the last month.  Oh, and S-Rod is eligible everywhere but catcher!  There are a lot of teams out of FAAB.  If you have a buck left, roster S-Rod as he is no fire and can play anywhere.       

And now the moment you well, may or may not be waiting for, the Baron of Bottom of the Page pontificates -- a/k/a Schultz says: “Since it's mid-September, the championship contenders in every roto-baseball league have long separated themselves from the also-rans and dumped-for-2017 pretenders. It's also the point of the season where Schultz has run out of clever metaphors and analogies and starts spouting cliches and hackneyed tropes that the Overlord is too benevolent to edit. Since those who forget the past are eternally doomed to repeat it, it might behoove savvy roto-practitioners to get a sense of the present before it becomes the past that they do not wish to repeat. (Ooooh, trippy). 

Does anyone else remember the Colorado reporter who opined in March that Corey Dickerson wasn't a Coors creation? Well, setting aside the fact that Dickerson's batting average plummeted from .298 to .243 in his first year as a Bay Ray, the reason why many take such issue with the ostensibly horrible prediction is that everyone seems to collectively overvalue what Dickerson actually did with the Rockies. Using generous math, Dickerson averaged just more than 20 home runs and drove in about 60-70 runs in the midst of a young, occasionally potent Colorado offense. What's he going to finish with in Tampa? About 20+ homers and about 60-70 RBIs. Whats the takeaway, Colorado reporters are apparently oracles that provide cryptic prophecies that come true in ways we don't truly foresee.

Perhaps another item worth remembering is that Victor Martinez with two healthy knees is a fantasy monster. Victor Martinez without two healthy knees, mmmmm, not so much. Since signing with the Tigers, V-Mart has been boon or bust. When he has his knees underneath him, he's a .300 plus hitter with 30 HR-100 RBI potential that everyone totally ignores in April. When his knees are wobbly, he either misses an entire season or limps to a sub-.250 average with no power. In the first half of the season, Martinez was one of the deadliest hitters in baseball . . . until his knee started acted up and his plummeting numbers are directly related to his aching knees. What's the takeaway, next April, when all anyone can remember is V-Mart's poor second half, just go on to the Detroit Free Press' web site and see what's going on with his knees. That will tell you everything you need to know for 2017.”

Response:  Good stuff about VMart, funny third-person methodology and odd use of trippy all in one itty bitty little living space (Aladdin reference).  Hmmmm indeed.