DFS PLAYBOOK PRO – An exciting offering from the Alarm is the DFS Playbook Pro. I will be doing a daily breakdown of the hitters – Hitting Coach – while Howard Bender looks into the Pitchers (Pitching Coach). You can find the link to the Hitting and Pitching articles under the DFS Playbook pro tab at the top right of the screen.
OTHER LINKS TO BOOKMARK
AN ARM TO WORRY ABOUT?
I wrote about Jon Gray the other day in a Daily Trends piece from August 3rd. Love the arm, don’t love the home park. Another obvious aspect of his value this season is… his workload. According to Nick Groke, Gray doesn’t have many innings left to throw this season. “We have the big picture in mind, when talking about bumping innings from one year to the next,” manager Walt Weiss said after Gray’s first start. “We don’t want to overwhelm him.” Here’s the plan.
Gray threw 124 innings last season.
The club will increase his workload 20-25 percent this year.
Gray threw 114 innings at Triple-A this season.
He made it through four innings in his first start with the Rockies.
That leaves Gray with about 30-35 more innings to throw this season.
Therefore, he will be shut down before the end of the season by the Rockies.
Remember that if you’re in a H2H league in particular, and in all leagues if you are counting on contributions from him down the stretch.
ASTROS PLAN WITH MCCULLERS
Lance McCullers was bombed in his last start (one out, six runs) and was sent to the minors so that he can rest a bit as the Astros are 
concerned about his workload (he’s already right at a career-high in innings pitched). Being sent to the minors meant that McCullers would be on the minor league roster for at least 10 days. We now have an update and manager A.H. Hinch said that McCullers would be on the farm for longer than just 10 days. “Lance is going to be fine,” Hinch said. “It’s always difficult, especially after a game like (Monday) night when you make moves like that. For us to be good, for us to see this thing through and get where we want to get, we’re going to need a good, refreshed Lance McCullers down the stretch.” He won’t be starting for the Astros until late August from the sound of it.
MECHANICAL TWEAK HELPS
Carlos Carrasco has been a bit up and down this season, but he’s rolling now. Recently Carrasco has worked with Mickey Callaway, the Indians pitching coach, hoping to gain the ability repeat his delivery more consistently. "What we've been working on mainly is getting his lead arm up again," Callaway explained, "trying to get it about the same height as it was last year. We noticed it was trending down for most of the season.” Carrasco allowed one hit and one walk in a complete game shutout of the Angels Tuesday night, this on the heels of a one run, complete game against the Athletics the time out before that. On the year Carrasco has 147 punchouts in 136.1 innings, is walking a mere 1.85 batters per nine and has a 52 percent groundball rate. It’s always been about his workload, not his talent, when concerns were brought up about his 2015 outlook.
BOYD STARTING FOR TIGERS
The Tigers recently added Daniel Norris and Matt Boyd at the deadline in the David Price deal. Norris has already been slotted into the rotation and Boyd will be now as well. Boyd starts Wednesday against the Royals. What does he have to offer? Some thoughts.
Boyd is a 24 year old lefty who is 6’3” and weighs in at 215 lbs.
Over 19 appearances in the minors Boyd has a 9-2 record with a 1.65 ERA. He also has 108 strikeouts over 114.2 innings and he’s only walked 27 batters. Former big league All-Star Larry Parrish had this to say about Byrd (he was Byrd’s manager with the Mud Hens). “…a good fastball and good plane, with above-average velocity. And he's got a good change."
Boyd faces the Royals Wednesday. He has a chance to secure a spot in the rotation with Alfredo Simon dealing with a groin issue and Buck Farmer back in the minors. Note that he threw 133.1 innings last season and is already at 114.2 innings. He’s worthy of taking a shot on in any mixed league of 12 or more teams.
TWO ROLLING BACKSTOPS
Welington Castillo spent time with the Cubs and the Mariners with little success. Things have been completely different since he joined the D’backs. In 40 games in the desert Castillo is batting .289 with a .372 OBP and .594 SLG as he’s hit 10 homers along with nine doubles. Those are elite numbers. He’s not an elite performer but he’s certainly a must start in two catcher leagues, especially when a lefty is on the bump (career: .293/.363/.466).
Geovany Soto has found his stroke of late. Over his last 35 games (25 starts) Soto is hitting .288 with six homers and 14 RBIs. The power stroke has led to a .600 SLG while he’s picked up 15 walks helping him to a .400 OBP. He should be playing nearly every day over Tyler Flowers who, despite a fantastic last name, just isn’t very good. At least he should be on the bench anytime there is a righty on the bump (.205/.240/.328). Soto has been any better against righties, unfortunately, hitting .211/.306/.432. Still, that’s better than Flowers. Check out that 1.073 OPS Soto has against lefties as well.
WHAT HAPPENED TO THE FUTURE STAR?
Remember when everyone was giving me crap about not being a Mike Moustakas fan? Anyone notice where he’s at now? As of right now Moose is batting .283 with 10 homers, 39 RBIs and a .761 OPS. What about the changed approach and all the greatness it was going to bring? As I said when Moose was surging early it’s a looooooooong season. Yes he changed his approach. So what? The season isn’t 50 games long it’s 162 games long. Currently he has a 30 percent opposite field batted ball rate (career 23.2) and he’s not pulling the ball at all (36.6 percent this season, 44.6 percent for his career). That’s heartening but so what? Do you know what he has done his last 124 plate appearances since June 26th? He’s hitting .176 with a .260 OBP and .278 SLG. Pathetic. Small sample size? Well let’s go back two months to June 4th. Since then he’s hit .242 with a .310 OBP and .360 SLG.
Sorry folks, he’s just not good.
Ray Flowers can be heard Monday through Friday at 8 PM EDT on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 9 PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).
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