Maikel Franco : Maikel Franco went 4-4 Saturday with two runs and an RBI to help the Phillies beat the Nats. With that outburst, Franco’s line through Saturday looks ok -- .255 with nine HR and 37 RBI – but hardly what the Phillies and his fantasy owners expected after he hit 49 HR over the last two years (all before reaching age 25). So, what can we expect going forward. Yes, I hear all the talk about the Phillies trading for a third baseman but I still believe in Franco. Why? Glad you asked. First, he is still only 25 but has 1,500+ AB under his belt. Thus, he is in prime growth space in terms of age and experience. Second, over the last two weeks ended Saturday, he has a .300+ average and .350+ OBP. Third, the BABIP of under .260 will rise. Fourth, his contact rate is hovering around 85% which is very solid and made even more appealing by a K-rate that is decreasing. If there is a Franco owner in your league willing to sell at a discount, seriously consider it.
Mitch Moreland : Lost among the J.D. Martínez and Mookie Betts lovefests in Boston has been the performance of Mitch Moreland . Friday night while JD was taking the glory with his four hits and five RBI, Moreland chipped in with three hits, three runs and a RBI. Through Saturday, Moreland has some pretty impressive stats: .300 average; .371 OBP; 10 HR and 37 RBI. Yeah, the elevated .350 BABIP says the average may come down a bit but he is hitting the ball harder, hitting more line drives and not looking to pull nearly as much. Put that all together and you have a guy who should continue to produce in a loaded lineup. [ps – there is a history of success here people gloss over. Outside of the injury-marred year, his last four seasons were 23, 23, 22, 22 HR.] [pps – After I penned this portion of the article, Moreland jacked his 11th dinger Sunday to continue his terrific production.]
Collin McHugh : The Houston righty pitched a perfect inning Saturday striking out all three batters he faced to get the W. On the year through Saturday, Collin has tossed 33 innings with 46 strikeouts and only seven walks and sweet ratios: 1.09 ERA; 0.82 WHIP. If he stays in the exact same role, the increased velo, swinging strike, groundball and first pitch strike rates should keep him posting solid ratios and K’s. However, there are two roads to serious upside: 1) one of the Astro starters with a questionable health history could land on the DL (Morton, McCullers and Keuchel all routinely spend time on the DL) opening a starting role for Collin; or 2) A.J. Hinch will finally admit he does not trust Ken Giles or Héctor Rondón and open the door for McHugh to close. Bottom line: This is a very good pitcher who has value as is and sneaky upside to boot. Buy.
Lou Trivino : For those in deeper leagues, check out Lou Trivino . The A’s righty went out Saturday and tossed 1.2 perfect innings while striking out four. In his last five outings through Saturday, Lou has some gaudy stats: seven innings, one hit, zero earned runs, zero walks, and nine K's for a 0.00 ERA and a 0.14 WHIP. Wow. Can he continue on this pace? No. Can he continue to be very productive? Yes. Check out these advanced metrics: Velo: 97+; a groundball rate around 53; and an elite swinging strike rate of almost 15%. Pay for strong set up numbers and be happy. However, you should keep in the back of your mind that Blake Treinen could be dealt in July opening a spot for Lou the fireballer to become Lou the fireman! [If you are wondering whether I truly believe in Trivino, here is further proof – I turned down an offer in AL Tout Wars because it would require parting with Trivino].
Mike Clevinger : Last week we wrote: “Have you watched Mike Clevinger pitch? Long hair flowing, arms and legs seemingly everywhere in herky-jerky madness. No, well you should. For now, we can look at the results. Thursday, the Cleveland hurler posted a pretty seven innings allowing just one earned run and one walk while mowing down 11. On the year, Mike has a 3.15 ERA with a 1.18 WHIP but only five wins. If he keeps pitching this way, the wins will surely follow. Thus, the question – can he keep posting those sweet ratios? I say yes. Why? Well, the 46% ground ball rate, 11% swinging strike rate and 67% first pitch strike rate all support continued success. Moreover, the hard hit, walk and line drive rates are both down while his velocity is up. I am in.” While Chad Kuhl made me look bad last week (see below), Clevinger came through big time. All he did was follow up his 11 strikeout performance with a 7.2 inning, one run, 10 K performance. With two starts in the upcoming week, he is a prime target for acquisition right now. Make the offer.
And now, the moment you have been waiting for -- Schultz says: “It seems like the height of idiocy to devote any portion of a roto-column towards touting the merits of Paul Goldschmidt . It's akin to waxing poetic over whether Clayton Kershaw can anchor your rotation, Mike Trout can help your outfield or whether Hank Aaron was a remarkable power hitter. Some roto-adages are self-evident - one of them being that you start Goldy regardless of what his yearly statline looks like. After a lackluster April and May that gave undue weight towards humidor issues, the perennial roto-stud has hit .393 with 10 homers and there's no reason to believe that a summer surge won't erase all memories of the turgid start.
One of the nice things about acquiring a player that's about to snap out of a lengthy slump is that you invest in the future without being weighed down by the past. Once the surest bet to put up a 20/20 season, Ian Desmond has been one of the toughest players to figure out - prone to downturns of epic, team-plummeting proportion. Desmond has somehow managed to survive a miserable spring that could have easily led to Ryan McMahon or David Dahl taking his place and has been heating up to the tune of a .273, six HR, 14 RBI and one stolen base stat line.
Michael Taylor - who has always been loaded with drool-inducing potential - has shaken off a miserable start and should not be forgotten. In June, Taylor went from flirting with the Mendoza line to putting up a .400 average while swiping 9 bases and taking over the major league lead. The emergence of Juan Soto and return of Adam Eaton will cause issues with playing time but Taylor will find at-bats as long as he keeps hitting.”
Response: Turgid – good word. Seriously, Schultz is railing against visiting overreaction theatre. In a word: Agreed!
Final Note: Ok, I will stop writing about Ross Stripling every week (though even in a loss this week he was still pretty good). Instead, I will have to admit that I advocated Chad Kuhl last week and he got hammered. Yep, my bad. That said, I still believe in the talent. He threw too many fastballs last week and paid the price. He will adjust and work in more of his change, curve and slider. Stay the course.