WWJDH – When Will Jesus DH? Today. Jesus Montero is being called up. Today is baseball’s Easter. The Yankee DH spot is no longer the lineup leper. Or is it? I’m not sure the Yankees are going to play Montero every day as their DH. They may just play him vs. lefties. He’s more than capable. In Triple-A this year, 17 homers and a .289 average. What makes him really appealing to those that aren’t just Jesus freaks is his position eligibility. If you’re in a two catcher league, he’s worth the flyer. Conservatively, I wouldn’t expect more than 3 homers and a good average. In the big picture, it’s mostly hype for this year. In keepers, he’s probably already owned, and, if he’s not, he should be. The real positive is while most Yankees will be resting in September for the postseason, Jesus should be able to show off his bat and frankincense. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Hanley Ramirez – May have a serious shoulder injury that may require surgery. In an O. Henry twist, Logan Morrison will be performing the surgery. Hanley may not even be ready at the start of 2012. Maybe he’s Mayan. If this is true, not sure where Hanley will be drafted next year, but this is a blow, i.e., this blows, i before e except in Teixeira, Hanley will fall at least a half dozen rounds kinda like Chase Utley did this year. If you have Hanley in keepers, you need to start thinking about whether it makes sense to keep him. Then take a quaalude and reevaluate when the news gets confirmed.
Matt Diaz – Was traded back to the Braves. Diaz is about as useful in mixed leagues as he is in a mixed salad. Speaking of food, I watch a lot of terrible reality TV but perhaps the worst show of them all is Hell’s Kitchen. These chefs are supposed to be competing for head chef job at BLT Steak. Forget that, I can’t imagine any of them making a good BLT.
Devin Mesoraco – The Reds saw the Yankees’ top catching prospect and called with their own. At Triple-A this year, Mesoraco had 15 homers and a .289 average. I actually like Mesoraco better than Montero for next year simply because no one knows if the Yankees will ever give The Deity playing time. For this year, Mesoraco may not see enough playing time for mixed leagues and, even if he does, he’s gonna give you what in a month? 3 homers and a good average. I see your eh, and I raise you a meh. In two catcher leagues, you do what you do, I’ll do what I do and we’ll meet somewhere in the middle with Monie and Malcolm.
Eric Hosmer – 3-for-4, 2 RBIs and two homers. Now has 14 homers and a .278 average in 417 ABs. At the age of 21, this has been a solid intro into the league. Much better than the Royals’ previous first basemen crapbucket. Even better than his Big Fat Greek Teammate, but it’s still early for both of them. Hopefully they keep taking steps forward unlike Alex Gordon, who took steps forward, then back, then to the side then slide, slide.
Mike Gonzalez – The Rangers acquired the lefty reliever as they try and make each game 4 innings long. This also helps the Rangers goal to have every Gonzalez and Rodriguez in MLB play for them at some point.
Jake Peavy – 5 IP, 6 ER, 8 baserunners, 4 Ks. How much of a pay cut you think Peavy would take to pitch again in Petco? 60%? 75%?
Tsuyoshi Nishioka – Held out of the lineup with general soreness. General Soreness is his interpreter/bodyguard.
Scott Diamond – 6 IP, 3 ER, 6 baserunners, 5 Ks. In the box score, it said S. Diamond and I thought Selma Diamond pitched 16 years after her death. She had sass, but not that much, I guess.
Jason Kubel – 1-for-4 with his 2nd homer in the last two games… *yawn* Sorry, who was I talking about? Oh, yeah, Jason Kubel– *snooze* Wow, I might need an afternoon nap. So who was I saying is currently hot? Oh, yeah, Jason– *conked out*
Madison Bumgarner – 8 IP, 0 ER, 4 baserunners, 11 Ks. In August, his ERA was 2.30, which includes one massacre (vs. Astros 6 2/3 IP, 6 ER). He can’t seem to escape those occasional sharts.
Jesus Guzman – 3-for-3 with his 8th steal. Now hitting .330 in 182 ABs with 5 homers. For those who saw this coming raise your hand. Now everyone with their hand up that is related to Jesus Guzman, lower your hand. You don’t count. You’re like Bud Fox with insider info about Blue Star.
Jhoulys Chacin – Because of swollen tonsils he’ll miss his start in San Diego. I think I’m facing his tonsils this week in H2H.
Jason Bay – The Mets announced they think Bay can play center field next year on a regular basis and they love his leadership and positive clubhouse presence. They also said they’d trade him for a bag of Funyuns.
Edwin Encarnacion – 4-for-5, 2 RBIs and his 15th homer. This was also his 6th homer for the month of August. On July 29th — ya know, right before August started — I said, “Last time he hit a home run, it was at the tail end of a 14-for-31 streak. This could be the start of another such run. And, yeah, ‘another such’ sounds lame. I’m aware.” And that’s me quoting me! At this point, I’d own Encarnacion until he’s no longer hitting well.
Kelly Johnson – 2-for-5, 3 RBIs and K.J.’s first homer as a Blue Jay. He’s now doing better in his new surroundings than Aaron Hill. Still too early to call one a winner. Put on the suspense music and watch out for cats jumping out of closets!
Eric Thames – 4-for-6, 3 runs, 1 RBI and a steal. For what it’s Wuertz, the Jays were facing a peg boy.
Henderson Alvarez – 8 IP, 0 ER, 3 baserunners, 5 Ks. Ground ball, pitch-to-contact pitcher who doesn’t strike out a whole of hitters. In other words, the complete antithesis to every other Blue Jay pitcher. Not wild, low Ks, kinda boring. Before we start reaching around on each other, this was a good matchup vs. the O’s. Still only a very deep league flyer.
Brent Lillibridge – 1-for-3, 2 RBIs and his 13th homer. Doesn’t his name sound like a Native American name for a person of small stature? “Papa, I want to go on the Superman Tower of Power Rollercoaster!” “I’m sorry, Brent Lillibridge. You don’t reach Daffy Duck’s hand.”
Dayan Viciedo – 2-for-4, batting .538 since his call up. The problem when he was first called up was we weren’t sure of his playing time. He’s playing every day. You pick him up now. You’re welcome.
Austin Jackson – 4-for-4, 3 runs and his 19th steal. He had two singles, a double and a triple for the Juan Pierre cycle.
J.D. Drew – Injured his middle finger. There have been a lot of middle-finger injuries involving J.D. Drew, but this is the first time one happened that didn’t involve a fan and repetitive-stress injury.
