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In 1776 on July 1st, Ben Franklin grabbed Betsy Ross and four of her friends, and was like, "This will be better than Flag Day. We will call this Flagellation Day. Now twerk with a firework!" That lasted for three days until Ben yelled out an Astros’ hitter last name and called for a volunteer fire department to put out his redness. As the fire department extinguished his Reddick, Ben proclaimed July 4th to be a day of national celebration and the rest is history. It's also when The Stros Spangled Banner was written. Any hoo! Josh Reddick (3-for-4, 2 RBIs) had a slam (8) and legs (4) yesterday, and it's 2nd day in a row with a homer. He's owned in only 30% of leagues and that is a crime to humanity, a first world one, at least. God Bless America and Ben Franklin's Reddick! Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Josh Reddick has been on a tear since returning from a concussion injury with an OPS over 1.500, two homers, and three steals (although his return sent future OPS Monster Derek Fisher back to AAA, sad trombone). Last year
I recommended him when he was also coming off the DL (you don't have to click on that link but I included it for posterity's sake and so you won't call me out. Of which there was a 0.0% chance of happening).
As you might have already figured out from the title of this post, Josh Reddick (+76.1%) was the most added player in fantasy baseball this past week. What else could you have possibly guessed? Wait, let me stop you at leather chaps and Rammstein. To each his own. But getting back to JOSH Reddick, it's not difficult to figure out why his recent ownership numbers have surged. Over the last two weeks, he's produced a 10/3/15/0/.463 batting line across 48 plate appearances, leading MLB in both on-base percentage (.542) and slugging percentage (.805) during that time period. Consider his early plate discipline numbers (8/5 BB/K), high LD% (29.7%), and low SwStr% (4.9%), and Reddick looks like he's locked in. Enjoy the ride while it lasts, and based on these early results, it could last for a while. Here are a couple of other big adds and drops in fantasy baseball this week:
Hello and greetings one and all. Some of you may not know me so let me introduce myself. My name is
Sky and the reason I highlighted my name with a hyperlink is because I have a super-secret alter-ego. So secret, it's all over the internet if you wish to look. You see, I also work over on the
Fantasy Football side of the Razzball universe. Over there, we yak about YAC whilst y'all babble about BABIP over here. But occasionally, there is a solar eclipse and I wake to find myself here and by 'solar eclipse' I mean 'Grey throws a black hood over my head and imprisons me' and by 'wake' I mean 'coming out of my chloroform hangover'. As I may or may have not said before on this site, I'm Bi-Fantasexual. Yup, a modern day Bo Jackson minus the muscles, money and athletic ability. Trivial things. Good, we now up to speed? So now we're no longer strangers but for the fact we've never met due to the internet which almost makes us
Perfect Strangers. I worked really hard to weave that last part into my lead. It'll pay off later, I promise. As an aside, I look a lot like Bronson Pinchot and if you don't believe me, you can ask
JFOH. Minus the rugged, island of Mypos good looks for sure...wait, what the hell? Yeah, Fantasy Baseball. Lost my shizz for a bit there. So let's get on with
[player]Josh Reddick[/player] and why he's a good outfielder to target for your deep league team for the 2014 Fantasy Baseball season...
The .245 AVG is going to look ugly next March but 31 HRs and 80+ R/RBI has been nirvana for anyone (like Rudy) who plucked Josh Reddick off free agency in shallow leagues this year. The power is real and, unlike the last A’s power hitter (Jack Cust), he is an above average fielder. Please, blog, may I have some more?
I’ve been an Oakland A’s fan since 1985. My family had season tickets from the time I was in kindergarten until about the time I was in high school, in the mid-90s, which happened to coincide with a significant downturn in the team’s fortunes compared to their dizzying heights of the late ’80s. Please, blog, may I have some more?
I Mean, Prospects Don't Last For 13 Years Right?
Some players get the call to stage quickly, and for some, like
Frankie Montas it takes a bit longer when you're sauteed on the hot stove. He began his journey stateside in professional baseball with the Red Sox in 2009. After working his way up their farm system to AA he was traded to the White Sox at the deadline in 2013 as a part of the 3-team deal that sent Jake Peavy to Boston. Starting over at A-ball he had to work his way up again, and finally, as a member of the AA Barons in 2015, Montas carried a 2.97 ERA in 112 IP.
That was enough to earn him a cup of coffee in which the young flamethrower posted a 12.0 K/9 despite a 5 BB/9 in a limited 15 innings. That same season he appeared in the Southern League All-Star Game as well as the MLB Futures Game. You see, in spring training that season Montas flashed his 70-grade fastball that began to touch 100 mph since he had built up more strength. And thus the hype built up with him.
Then that offseason, Frankie Montas was traded to the Dodgers. Once again, he was the primary chip in a deal; this time sending Todd Fraizer to the White Sox as part of another 3-team deal with the Reds.
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It's
Vidal Brujan SZN! BruSZN?! Tell me oh great Fantasy Baseball Overlord, it is not a dream I have awoken from--"Shut up and grab Vidal Brujan." That's the Fantasy Baseball Overlord speaking only to me. Sorry, you ain't got the cred! The Rays' beat writers said with Manuel Margot hitting the IL with a hamstring injury, which is truly too bad--DID SOMEONE SAY VIDAL BRUJAN?!--The beat writers also said Brujan wouldn't just be up for a doubleheader on Wednesday. He would remain with the Rays. So, I grabbed him in one league, and tried in all my leagues, including a 12-team mixed league. Here's my
Vidal Brujan fantasy. Bit old, still applies, which is different than my least favorite fruit, that's "still apples." The big takeaway from my fantasy take on Brujan is what Prospect Itch said about him, "It’s rare enough for a 40-steal player to enter our game. Even rarer to find one who hits enough to earn himself regular playing time. Rarer still to find one who speaks five languages. I mention this last piece because language learning requires the same determination needed for the grind of baseball. You’re going to make mistakes. Might look like an idiot. Might often feel dumb. But you have to keep putting yourself out there. And as long as you stay positive and focus on the long term, you can improve a little bit every day. In 2014, Tampa signed Brujan out of the Dominican Republic for $15,000. He was illiterate at the time. Now: five languages. Grey can’t speak one." Tough but fair, tee bee aitch. Go and grab him! Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Kyle Schwarber sat down for a long cross-country trip with his favorite, a can of Virgin Bloody Mary mix. Seated next to him was a tall, mustachioed man. Soon after takeoff, Schwarber dozed off and when he woke, he felt groggy, but that was to be expected, right? Seated next to him, that tall, mustachioed man drank from a Virgin Bloody Mary mix, wiping the red from his bristles. Well, what Kyle Schwarber didn't know was Joey Gallo was that tall man with a fake mustache, and, as soon as Schwarber dozed off, Joey Gallo began to transfer all of Schwarber's home run-hitting blood into his can of Virgin Bloody Mary mix. Later, Joey drank it all up, and burped all the names of the 500 Home Run Club. So, Joey Gallo (3-for-3, 2 runs, hitting .239) hit his 20th homer, has seven homers in the last five games, and, since Rob Manfraud took away the wacky tacky, Gallo's slashing .375/.500/1.125/1.625, but we know why, don't we? (Prolly just so Gallo gets traded the hell off the Rangers.) Anyway, here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
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(NOTE: THIS POST WAS RELEASED EARLY THIS WEEK ON OUR
PATREON. IT’S $10/MONTH OR $13/MONTH WITH AN EXTRA WEEKLY PODCAST.)
Hearing nary a peep on
Tony Gonsolin. I have my ear up to the computer screen for Tony Gonsolin questions, and, instead of Tony Gonsolin questions, all I hear is the 100 monkeys fighting over 99 typewriters in the other room, as they type up this reprot--Give Ling-Ling the typewriter! He's Spellchecker Monkey! Sorry, it's not easy being the monkey meditator. Maybe in the past two months people forgot the excitement over Tony Gonsolin, so due to some lazy-ass monkeys who I'm...*screams into other room*...about to fire, let's just look at what I wrote in my Tony Gonsolin sleeper from this past preseason, "Tony Gonsolin has some kind of special numbers when it comes to contact rates. Ace-like. Just the Swinging Strike rate (14%) and the Swing rate (50.9) alone. To put that to you in real world terms, he’s around the strike zone, and hitters are ready to get on him, until the ball falls out of the zone and they miss." In that post I compare him to Plesac and Maeda, which seems silly now, but you have to remember those guys are less good this year because they lost their command somewhere. If Gonsolin has his command, and in the rehab starts it looks he does, he could be at worst a fantasy number two to three for another 75 IP this year. Grab hmm! *screams into other room* Him! Him! Not hmm! That's it, no bananas for anyone! Anyway, here's some more players to Buy or Sell this week in fantasy baseball:
Kris Bubic picked up his first win of the season Friday night, pitching six strong innings allowing just six base runners, one earned run and striking out five in an impressive win on the road. It was his third quality start of the year and second in his past three starts and he's now rocking a pristine 1.52 ERA and 1.11 WHIP through 29.2 innings. OK, wow, that's pretty good, I guess. What'd you say your name was again? Bubic? Like Boob? Lol nice. OK then, time to see what all the Hub-Bubic is about here. After starting the year out of the pen, Kris got his chance to shine in the rotation and has pitched "admirably" over his past five starts going at least five innings and allowing less than 2 ER in each outing. Hmm, for all my Martin Perez stans out there, Kris Bubic sounds like he might be right up your alley. A quick glance at his next level stats show Bubic might be pitching a little over his head. The 4.25 BB/9 is especially concerning. Yo, I'm saying I'm concerned. I'm saying dude's been luckier than Ben Affleck's second chance at JLo. I've been waiting almost 20 years for Gigli 2, don't blow this for us, Ben! Basically Bubic is walking way too many batters to remain as effective as he has been, and issues with control have been his problem in the past. It's not as if he's counterbalancing that control with awesome strikeout numbers either. His 6.67 K/9 is a whole lot of meh and makes me sleepier than that melatonin pen that teenager told me to buy on TikTok. In other words, Kris Bubic has had some good luck on his side to date, and it certainly doesn't hurt that he's faced Detroit twice, and his most impressive performance was his first against an extremely lethargic Milwaukee offense. He'll get a chance to show me if he's the real deal next week in a rematch with the Twins, but for now he's in the scary-but-slightly-intriguing streaming territory for me. The fans aren't booing! They're saying Boo-bic! Boo-bic! But more importantly, let's get Gigli 2 into production asap as possible.
Here's what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Deep-league greetings, friends, and here's hoping that you are holding your own in your leagues. The injuries keep coming, and information about how long players may be out is vaguer than ever, making setting a weekly lineup full of players that you know will be healthy beyond difficult even in a standard league. And as we all know, what's difficult in a standard league is often next to impossible in a deep league. All I'm saying is that if you're finding the fantasy baseball waters particularly tough to navigate this year, you are not alone. And with that thought, let's look at a few names who may be of interest to those of us in NL-only, AL-only, and other particularly deep leagues.
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