What’s that rule again? “I” before “E”, except after “C”? Or when sounded as “A”. As in “neighbor” and “weigh”. Or when followed by “X” or when preceded by “X” as in “Teixeira” and “Teixeira”. What in the world is with that spelling? It’s awful and is begging to be misspelled. While he’s only sporting a .245 batting average, that means very little in the land of points leagues. With 17 home runs, 45 RBIs and a stolen base, Mark Teixeira has 198 points, putting him at number 5 among all hitters. His 0.88 points per plate appearance (PPPA) puts him behind only Paul Goldschmidt (0.97), Bryce Harper (0.97) and Anthony Rizzo (0.92). For those of you avid Scrabble players interested in other words that contain “eix”, here are a few you can try out: deixis, peixere and gorceixite.
By the way, do you know who comes after Teixeira on the PPPA list? That would be Travis d’Arnaud (0.85). It’s based on a much smaller sample size (46 PA) however. Having just come off the disabled list, he’s a player I’d keep my eye on. Why does d’Arnaud and deGrom both start with a lower case “d”? Is that a Mets thing? don’t know…
Votto? What’s a Votto with you? Nothing… Don’t you know I just hit three home runs in one game! Isn’t “votto” as spanish term for “dude”? Urban dictionary defines it as “Mexican OG for duude”. Oh wait, that’s “vato”. Keith should really clean up his dictionary. Ignoring weeks 5, 6 and 7 in which he combined for 16 points, Joey Votto has been great, posting 13 homers, 35 ribbies and 179 points. How great would be if he had a son and named him Otto.
Don’t look now, but A.J. Pollock is in the top 10 outfielders with respect to fantasy points. Batting .326 with 8 home runs, 28 RBIs and 14 stolen bases, Pollock has amassed 170 points and could be on the verge of a 20/40 season. A.J. has publicly announced that he enjoys all “pollock” jokes and takes no offense.
In the last two weeks, Troy Tulowitzki has come alive. During that span he has 5 homers, 14 runs batted in and 58 points. It was only a matter of time until he went on a tear. Playing in Denver, I wonder if he is sometimes referred to as Troy Tu”high”witzki. You see what I did there. I replaced “lo” with “high”. Maybe that’s because I just finished listening to Cypress Hill’s Hits From The Bong. When is Tim Lincecum going to be traded to the Rockies?
What else have I noticed in the last two weeks. Only Albert Pujols has as many home runs as Giancarlo Stanton with 8. And only Jimmy Paredes, with 20, has more strikeouts than Stanton’s 19. Joc Pederson also has 19 during that stretch. Nolan Arenado leads all players with 16 rib eye steaks.
Todd Frazier is outpointing Mike Trout. So is Jason Kipnis.
Anyone know who the top point scoring shortstop is? Troy Tulowitzki? Nope. Hanley Ramirez? Nah. Jung Ho Kang? I don’t think so. The honor goes to Jhonny Peralta, another player, like Teixeira, whose parents were clearly not great spelling bee competitors. Ripley’s believe it or not, Peralta has 10 homers, 35 RBIs, a .315 average and 158 points. Who saw that coming? I knew winter was coming, but not this.
Valahd. I wonder if that’s what Stanton as he swings and makes contact…
On a side note, a friend of mine is troubled by a proposed trade in his 10-team head-to-head points league and asked for my opinion. Now I am asking for yours. It’s a keeper league where only 5 players can be kept per team. The trade is Dallas Kneuchel and Eduardo Rodriguez for Andrew McCutchen, Jose Abreu and Dustin Pedroia. Thoughts?
