Atlanta Braves top prospect/hot shot rookie/middle infielder/the “New” Georgia Peach Ozzie Albies hit his second career major league home run in just his ninth career major league start going 2-for-4 with the 3-run bomb. Albies has basically been doing what we expected/wished/hoped/prayed Dansby Swanson would do all season: hit baseballs. Well, luckily for us there’s plenty of young middle infielders in the sea. By the way, were you impressed by my Shelley reference in headline? You didn’t think I’d miss a chance to mention one of my favorite non-Shakespearian sonnets, Ozymandias, did you? Speaking of English romantic poets (killer segue, I know!), the 20 year-old Albies was slashing .285/.330/.440 at Triple A Gwinett, and the kiddo’s got some game-changing speed with 21 steals in 91 games. If those numbers aren’t romantic or poetic enough for you I don’t what it is you’re looking for. Funny enough, I said the same thing to my real life human girlfriend. He hit just nine home runs in the minors but its pretty clear the power is on the way, with two dingers already in just nine major league starts. Friday night was Ozzie’s first multi-hit game in the bigs, and with the homer and 3 RBI he seems to be adjusting well to his new surroundings and getting plenty comfortable at the plate. Grey told you to BUY this week, and he gushed about him here. In keeper/dynasty formats you should own him already, but I think he’s worth a flier everywhere else based on his potential to help with speed/average. The .214/.313/.464 in just nine games is too small to take away from, but the two homers and 6 RBI are certainly an exciting sign for the young infielder and fantasy owners alike. This kid’s gonna be a star! Ha-cha-cha!
Here’s what else I saw Friday night in fantasy baseball:
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Brad Ziegler – 1.0 IP, K, SV (3). For a guy that’s unowned in over 80% of leagues he sure has been getting a lot of saves. Like what are you even waiting for!? We could be bombed by North Korea tomorrow and Ziegler would just be sitting there on waivers! Whata waste. Smdh.
Giancarlo Stanton – 2-for-4, HR (40). Never in my wildest dreams could I imagine that Giancarlo would stay healthy enough to–wait, Stanton is in all my wildest dreams. Usually shirtless, but always, always, always a 40+ home run hitter. In these dreams, we’re also room mates and best friends and he asks me to pitch to him in BP so I can watch him mash dingers into the seats. Mmm. Our bond is a strong one. Let’s hit 50 home runs together, Giancarlo!
Andrew Benintendi – 2-for-3, HR (14), 2 RBI. Speaking of wildest dreams, Benny makes an appearance in most of them, except he’s usually dripping with gatorade and hair flipping that wicked walk off flow. Bae-nintendi love. 12/10 would bang. Err…I mean buy.
Eduardo Rodriguez – 6.0 IP, 2 hits, 2 BB, 7 K. How Ed-Rod manages to remain unowned in half of leagues is a mystery to me. His 96/34 K/BB makes me want to dance. In fact, I just quit my job to be the full time choreographer for the Boston Red Sox outfield. The more they win, the more they dance, and its of the utmost importance that they keep those moves fresh.
Jameson Tailon – 6.0 IP, 6 hits, 2 ER, BB, 7 K, 7th win. Jameson barreled through the Toronto line up–get it, because whiskey barrels? Shots! Jameson now has back-to-back quality starts with 15/3 K/BB in that stretch. Yes, you should own him. Yes, you should be doodling his name in curly cursive on your notebooks. “Dan Tailion.” Yeah. It’s a very pretty name.
Marcus Stroman – 8.0 IP, 4 hits, 4 R, 0 ER, BB, 4 K. I drafted Stroman as my ace on a few teams and I initially I started to thinking I could be very smart genius maybe? But then nah. But then…yes? But then nah. Sounds like an inconsistent starter with tons of talent on a inconsistent team. I just typed inconsistent wrong three times there, all differently. Thank you, otto core act!
Jay Bruce – 2-for-4, run. I could totally see Bruuuuce going on a tear with the Injians and carrying your team to the playoffs. I could also totally see him going ice cold in September and getting you eliminated in the first round.
Carlos Carrasco – 8.0 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, 2 BB, 10 K, 11th win. Carrasco is good but that Tampa Bay offense has looked all kinds of awful lately. Still, Carlos should keep in going in Minnesota next week. Maybe!?
Mikie Mahtook – 2-for-4, HR (8). Oh Mikie you so fine! Homering in back to back starts with four straight multi-hit games! That blows my mind! Hey Mikie!
Eddie Rosario – 3-for-5, HR (15), SB (5). Rosario is hitting .346 in the past week with 8 runs, 4 homers, 8 RBI, and a stolen base! You read that correctly, he hit four homers in the past week and is available in about 90% of leagues. Even more amazing, the Minnesota Twins have won six games in a row! What a time to be alive!
Amed Rosario – 2-for-4, 3 runs, HR (10). Speaking of Rosarios, ailing fantasy teams should buy Amed. See what I did there? Would that have made a great headline or what? The Mets top prospect had his best game in the majors to date Friday night, but the best is yet to come, folks! Grey told you to BUY and this kid’s got more talent than the Chris Pratt/Anna Faris household. Wait–they’re what? Divorcing!? Sad! All hope is lost!
Yoenis Cespedes – 2-for-5, HR (13), 4 RBI. His name is Yoeeeenisssss! A Cespedes for the rest of us! A Festivus miracle. Gather round the pole and let Yoenis demonstrate his feats of strength! He’s got two jacks in the past week, that will help your fantasy team!
Tim Anderson – 2-for-4, HR (12). Suuuure, Tim A is not the most exciting pick up, but doode is batting .346 in the past week with 3 homers and 7 RBI. He has yet to flash the speed we’ve all heard stories about but leading off for the ChiSox you could do worse if you need hot potato for your middle infielder spot.
Renaldo Lopez – 6.0 IP, 4 hits, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K. One of the big gets in the Adam Eaton trade Lopez was rocking a 2.70 ERA and 63/15 K/BB K rate before being called up. Like everyone on the White Sox right now, he’s got a lot of upside but not much else at the moment. I could see maybe considering thinking about the possibility of perhaps streaming him versus Texas next week.
Mike Moustakas – 2-for-4, 2 HR (34), 2 RBI. Mooooose is one of the hottest hitters going slashing .282/.316/.568 and hitting two dingers last night! He’s hitting .423 over the past week with 4 jacks and has five multi-hit games in his past six. We may be witnessing the emergence of a perennial second rounder you guys! This is all too exciting. I’m going to take a xanax and watch the little league world series.
Tyler Clippard – 0.2 IP, 0 ER, SV (3). BUY Clippards if You Need Closer Saves. How about that one. I am full of mediocre to below average headlines today!
Paul DeJong – 2-for-5, 3 RBI. Rising from the ranks of a lowly schmohawk to a mid-tier hot potato, Ding Dong DeJong has now earned his spot as a player that should probably be owned everywhere. He’s has five multi-hit games in the past week and is hitting .344 with 2 homers and 8 RBI in that stretch. If that’s not worth a pick up I just don’t know how to satisfy you people anymore.
Cole Hamels – 7.0 IP, 3 hits, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, 7th win. Nice start, Cole! Now let’s just hope they don’t trade you to the Dodgers.
George Springer – 2-for-4, HR (28). It’s going out! I’m yelling SPRINGGGGGGGER! Remember that song, you guys? Pitbull and Keisha? Yeah, I’m sorry I reminded you. I read a Pitbull tweet that said if he was a dog he’d be a chihuahua. That is all.
Zack Cozart – 3-for-5, 3 runs, HR (15). Has there been a better shortstop than Cozart this year. Don’t answer that–it was rhetorical. I’m saying the Zack Attack has been unreal, and since returning from the DL last week, Cozy’s already got three homers in just five games. His .988 OPS makes me go, “Whaaa?!” and I can’t wait to see where this guy gets drafted next year.
Billy Hamilton – 1-for-4, 2 runs, 3 SB (48). Hey, roto leaguers! Check your standings, how are you doing in steals? Billy’s probably good for another 20 or so. Will this help you win the category or nah? Then trade him. Or don’t! That’s the kind of solid fantasy advice you get here free of charge.
Eugenio Suarez – 3-for-3, run, 2 RBI. Eugenio is batting .323 in August with four homers and 10 RBI. He had three hits last night! Should you pick him up? I don’t know! Yes? Probably?
Eric Thames – 3-for-6, HR (26), 3 RBI. Pfft. About time he went yard again. If you ask me he ruined his swing in the HR derby.
Jonathan Villar – 3-for-5, HR (9), 2 RBI. Just when I tell everyone it’s OK to drop you, dot, dot, dot…classic Villar. Typical.
Alex Avila – 1-for-3, HR (2). Just to keep you all in the loops on my catcher experiment this year, I have traded my catcher nine times this season. Including owning Matt Wieters twice, I would have to say my low point in catcher owning thus far was Brian McCann and my high point Yadier Molina. I also got a great week out of Christian Vazquez. I just flipped Yadier for Jonathan Lucroy, if for no other reason than to say I traded my catcher again. Regardless, if you are interested in Lucroy please make me an offer and I will almost certainly accept. If you are interested in picking up Alex Avila I say, sure go for it, I don’t care, and I’m trying to prove it doesn’t really matter in the long run.
Tim Beckham – 2-for-4, run. Bend it like whaaaaaat!? I told you to BUY him last week! We discussed at length the importance of girls soccer movies. Also, he’s hitting .393 with a homer since I told you to buy. That was pretty good advice by me that one time! Wow!
Ubaldo Jiminez – 5.1 IP, 6 hits, 3 ER, BB, 11 K. If you started him you are a wild one and I would like to party with you sir or miss, I don’t care how good he’s been. This Oakland team sure did make him look filthy though, before he left the game after getting hit by a line drive. Regardless, I don’t think you could have asked for a much better start out of Ubaldo.
Blake Treinen – 1.0 IP, 0 ER, K, SV (3). BUY. Whoever says there aren’t saves on the waiver wire probably already gave up in mid-July and is probably drafting their fantasy fantasy football team right now. Where’s my invite guys? Ezekial Elliot at number one or gtfo. Is Peyton Manning still available?
Nelson Cruz – 3-for-4, HR (28). Nelly is hitting .440 with 6 homers and 12 RBI in the past week! That’s seven days, folks! Sweet sassy molassy! He leads the league in RBI. Heck, he could win the triple crown! Nelly conducted his post game interview with a band-aid under one eye. He told the world, “I am #1!” Then he dusted off his Air Furce Ones, flipped his bat and strutted off into the sunset.
Jose Pirela – 1-for-4, HR (8). Grey told you to BUY. He’s got three homers in the past week! Pick him up that’s how this fantasy advice thing works!
Manuel Margot – 2-for-4, 2 HR (12). Three homers in the past week, he was also a BUY. I told you to buy him last week too, after tell you to buy him in week one. Then I thought about all the other players I’ve told you to buy and how many of them actually panned out. Then I thought back about all the posts I wrote this year and how hilarious I am and how faithful my readership remains even in the dog dayz. Then my mind drifted to Margot Robbie somehow and then I had to take a cold shower.
Cody Bellinger – 3-for-5, 2 RBI. Between Giancarlo, Mookie, Baenintendi and Mike Trout, I don’t know if have room in my life for another player obsession, you can only stalk so many players in a 24-hour span, you guys, and the constant travel and hiding in bushes is exhausting and expensive. More importantly I don’t think I have room in my locker for all the Tiger Beat photos I’ll need to cut out and post of him. For the record, Cody is an amazing Tiger Beat name though. Regardless, I guess I will have to make room for you now Cody Bellinger! Especially since you’re making Aaron Judge look bad. Let’s be best friends.
Thanks for reading! Questions? Problems? Complaints to management? Advice, small gifts or large bribes? Please leave it in the comments below. Join us next Saturday for another Friday recap as fantasy baseball continues next week, all week long!
