Jay Bruce has hit four homers in the last four days while hitting over .500 in the last week. Now has 22 homers in only 74 hits with 73 Ks to go along with 3 steals. I never thought Mark Reynolds would steal 24 bases. I didn’t think he had 15 in him. So, don’t take this comparison the wrong way, but Mark Reynolds is lucky he snatched up the Mini Donkey nickname because Jay Bruce looks like he could be headed that way next year. Bruce is still very young, and his propensity to strikeout leaves him vulnerable to big slumps, so I won’t predict a huge breakout in 2010. But he can hit 30 homers and steal 10 bases while batting .250. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Homer Bailey – 7 IP, 1 ER, 7 Ks. Now we’re getting to the point where he might actually be touted by the analcysts over at ESPN, which would mean his 2010 sleeper status could be in jeopardy.
Rick Porcello – 6 1/3 IP, 1 ER. He was in the borderline starters post for this week with a very mild recommendation.
Denard Span – 4-for-9 in the doubleheader. Quietly having a very solid year. Those Minnesotans are so modest! He needs a spokesman. His Wikipedia page is a third the size of the Wikipedia page for mutton. He needs the mutton man! His numbers are looking a lot like Victorino’s. Let’s see, someone already has the nickname, Feign Victorino. (I think I gave it to Fowler.) So, Victorino’s The Flying Hawaiian. Maybe The Flying Twinkie? Hmm… That needs work. Maybe The Flying Minnesotan? Hmm, that sounds like someone on a roller derby team. How about Wing Span? Too cutesy? Yeah, probably. Forget it, this is a job for the mutton man.
Josh Hamilton – Shutdown for the season. Back date this to April.
Mark Buehrle – Also shutdown for the season. Back date this to his perfect game.
Jack Wilson – Lastly, shutdown for the year. Back date this to the day he was drafted.
Ian Desmond – 2-for-4, HR and a steal yesterday. He hit the longest homer (460 feet, which was not this homer, but I just heard this yesterday) for any Nationals player at home this year. This is a team with Paul Bunyan aka Big Donkey aka Adam Dunn on it. Ian Desmond’s a shortstop. You ready for a math problem? Come on, I hear Winnie Cooper from The Wonder Years loves math. Okay, here it is: A shortstop that can hit a ball 460 feet + speed = Fantasy Sleeper.
Cameron Maybin – Speaking of fast guys with sneaky power, Maybin has two homers in the past 4 games. I was pushing him last March for a reason, and I’ll be pushing him again next March.
J.A. Happ – 5 2/3 IP, 3 ER, 6 Ks. He has a 2.85 ERA on the year with 12 wins. Is he generating Rookie of the Year buzz? Is there such a thing as Rookie of the Year buzz?
Ryan Madson – 2 IP, 0 ER and his 10th save. On Sunday, he got a four out save. Manuel’s finally figured out how to make the set-up man comfortable in the closing role. Start him in the 8th inning.
Huston Street – 1 IP, 3 ER. Maybe he’s still injured? I don’t know, that’s why I put a question mark on it.
Trevor Cahill – 4 2/3 IP, 6 ER as the A’s continue to flummox me. I might need to reach out to Bubb Rubb to see if he can counsel me.
Tony Gwynn – Has 4 steals in the last week. SAGNOF!
Cesar Ramos – 5 IP, 1 ER. The latest HodgePadre. Okay, close your eyes for a second. Don’t worry, I won’t pickpocket you. Now imagine Adrian Gonzalez is traded to the Rockies for Ubaldo Jimenez.
Miguel Montero – 2 HRs. Speaking of trades, hopefully the Diamondbacks move Snyder this offseason.
Scott Kazmir – Scratched to ready himself for the playoffs. He probably won’t see anything more than a tuneup before the end of the season.
Curtis Granderson – 2 HRs with the 2nd being his 30th. He also has 20 steals. Sure, his average is .252, but don’t get so tied up in average. That’s how you ended up missing Mark Reynolds this year.
Grant Balfour – Now has saves in back-to-back games. This could mean he doesn’t see another save this year, or it could mean he saves two more games.
Wade Davis – 7 IP, 1 ER. He’s still going to be too young and prone to major mistakes in the AL East for me to get that excited about him in 2010.
Adam Lind – 3 HRs yesterday. Now has 35 homers on the year. I already went over my Lind for 2010 campaign.
Clay Buchholz – Had a 3.21 ERA coming in, now has a 3.74 ERA. 7 earned runs in 5 innings is one way to make your 2009 stats look worse than they are.
Josh Beckett – Supposed to start on Saturday. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him pitch 5 innings and then get pulled from the game. Or as Dodgers fans say, “A Kershaw start.”
Edwin Encarnacion – Out with groin tightness. Sounds like an injury that would sideline a porn actress.
