I didn’t think this was going to turn into my ode to the Beastie Boys this week, but as fate would have it, it did. Brock Holt has been a beast(ie) of late, but his ownership has barely budged (6.8%). This rap of nonsense has nothing to do with Mr. Holt, but the title worked for me. I’ll be honest, the creative juices are a little low over here. Have you heard some of these lyrics – “beer drinking, breath stinking, sniffing glue, belly fullin’ always illin’ , bustin’ caps” Huh? What? Maybe it isn’t that far off because Brock Holt doesn’t make sense to a lot of people either. But what does make sense is you need to hold on to Holt if you own him and grab him if you don’t. In a league I’m in with our resident Orgeonian Sky, he quickly scooped up Brock to fill in for the injured Nolan Arenado two weeks ago, and I thought he was a puffing penguin. When I saw this I was head scratchin’ a little bit. Who is this Holt kid? Why hasn’t he been plastered all over the place like every other Red Sox prospect that has a sliver of talent? Why do I ask myself all these questions?
Unlike Will MENDOZAbrooks, Brock “The Rock” Holt has been very useful and I think he has logged enough quality games to merit consideration for 12 team leagues. Since being re-called on May 18th, he only has 4 games without a hit, 7 multi-hit contests, 10 extra base hits and 2 stolen bases. His wOBA sits at a very nice .351, bating average at .314, OBP at .357, and has solidified the top of the Red Sox order. The return of Stephen Drew hasn’t effected him but the return of Mike Napoli will. With Napoli due to come off the DL on Sunday he will take back 1st base and leave Holt as a man without position. The other thing that hurts him is Xander BOREgaerts has returned to being the Xander Bogaerts many drafted him with dreams of unicorn stats and Leprechaun gold. Then why make him your creeper J-FOH? That’s a good question diligent commenter. The reports I’ve read out of Boston have him moving to the outfield because they don’t want to lose his bat. I talked on the phone with the Guru, Razzball’s resident Red Sox reporter, and he confirmed that Farrell had talked to Holt about this last week and with the rest of the OF is hitting .200 it’s looking good for the Rock. Thank you my turban wearing fantasy sports and musical contemporary. So while others will be dropping him, you should be scooping him up because he ain’t going nowhere. When Shane Victorino returns there will be a log jam, but I’m not worried about that right now. The guy will continue to bat lead-off, and unless John Farrell goes all platoony tunes, Holt should stay. I get this is a bit of a reach but when you have a bat this solid hitting atop of the Red Sox lineup with their second best power hitter returning, you want to ride that wave. This is a gut call for me, for I have a strange affinity for lead-off men, see: Calhoun, Kole. But if he stays like they say, this will be a great score for those that can grab him.
Brock isn’t getting much love from the Hitter-Tron this week, 24th rated and a $6.9 play. I’m not sure I can trust everything he’s selling. Word on the street is he hooked up with a rusted out Maytag and has been on a cycle of antibiotics the last couple of days. When I pick my Creeper’s I always like to have a player that gets a full week and this week Brock get’s 7 days of games. He starts the week at Baltimore facing Wei-Yin Chen, Bud Norris and Chris Tillman. He has hits against Tillman and Norris and has hit .429 against the O’s in his short career. Then he gets to travel home with a four game set against the Indians. On the year he hit .361 at home and even though he get’s four right-handers, .263 average, it’s hard to argue with the hot hand at home. For you ESPN players he’s only 3rd base eligible, but if you’re playing in a Yahoo league, he’s got 1st, 2nd, and 3rd base eligibility. I liken him to Yangervis Solarte, with the power swapped out for speed. In the minors this year he snagged 7 bags in only 27 games, and is primed to start running. The K-rate, 19.8%, is way above his norm, so as he adjusts more, that should come back down. If you’re an ESPN player, he’s a nice fill in at CI or Util. For the Yahoo’ers, he’s 1B, 2nd, and 3rd eligible, and can help Aaron Hill and Emilio Bonafacio owners deal with the Gyorkian slumps they are in right now.
Last week’s Creeper Josh Willingham has turned into more than a Zombtato with his ownership in ESPN shooting up from 4.8 to 68.1 percent! It was a great kickoff in my return to the Creeper title. This week, I also like Danny Santana (0.5%) for some SAGNOF and average boost with a week away from Target Field. The Hitter-Tron likes Andre Ethier (11%) and his blah-tastic bat. Roghned Odor (2.7%) gets 5 right-handers, and has been on a little roll lately. Drew Stubbs (4.4%) may get an uptick in playing time with Michael Cuddyer‘s mystery injury. Tommy La Stella (4.8%) is just flat out hitting, and I love Junior Lake (5.6%) every week if he plays.
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