Bobby bombs! Cleveland first baseman Bobby Bradley has been hotter than a Tiktok thirst trap since he was called up last weekend and continued that trend Friday night as he went 2-for-3 with his second home run, three runs batted in, and two walks. He’s 6-for-13 to start his major league career with five runs scored and six RBI! And not to knock the Jake Bauers but the Injians have managed to score 32 runs in just four games with Bradley in the lineup. Uhh, spit-take!? Yup. The 25-year old has all-or-nothing power for days, as evidenced by his nine homers in just 26 games at AAA. He also slashed .303/.314/.636 with two home runs and 11 RBIs in 13 spring training games, so this is not entirely out of left field. ACKCHUALLY he plays first base. And although we’re likely to see just as many strikeouts from Bradley as long balls I likes what I sees so fars! Speaking of Bobbys that strikeout and homer, I’ve got another one for you! That’s right, a bonus Bobby, aka Bobby Dalbec aka Bobby D., aka every pink hat’s future heartthrob by the end of October. He’s got dark flowing locks and power to spare. He hit a monster 440-footer Friday night and the balls were flying off his bat. I’ve mentioned Dalbec before because of his raw power and affinity for striking out (2 Ks Friday night). That 36.8 K% (67 strikeouts in 170 ABs) is real, but according to Manager Alex Cora, Bobby’s been working on a leg kick that’s improving his timing. It’s yet to be seen if this will have a positive effect but he’s 3-for-8 with a homer and double since the changes only struck out twice Friday night, so baby steps? Hank Hill would tell you these boys ain’t right, but I think both Bobbys are worth a look for those in deeper leagues who are powerless and in need of some pop, especially if they continue to hit as they have been the past couple of days. It’s the Bobby Bombs Buy Bonanza!
Here’s what else I saw in fantasy baseball Friday night:
Joc Pederson – 3-for-4, HR (8), 3 RBI. Anthony Rizzo (7) and Willson Contreras (11) also homered. Four homers in the past week for Pederson! This is Rock’n Joc baseball at its finest! Somebody call Dan Cortese!
Craig Kimbrel – 1.0 IP, K, SV (16). Maybe there hasn’t been enough gushing about Kimbrel this season so allow me to be your watermelon blast gusher. Craigie, who averaged a 5.90 ERA, 1.51 WHIP from 2019-2020 and gave up 11 homers, is rocking a sparkling 0.69 ERA, 0.69 WHIP and 42/8 K/BB ratio to start 2021 and surrendered just one home run. He’s got 16 saves, already more than he had in 2019 and 2020 combined, and the 42 Ks, also more than 2019 and 2020. I’m saying Kimbrel is back in a big way, and as someone who watched him be a heart attack closer throughout 2018, it’s kind of nice to see him rebound like this. Comeback player of the year or nah?
Ryan Yarbrough – 6.0 IP, 3 hits, 2 R, 0 ER, 6 K, 4th win. Not quite the complete game we were hoping for after last week’s outing but Yarbrough has been solid enough to justify more than his just under 50% ownership. Also, doesn’t Yarbrough sound like a town on the Cape in Massachusetts? Speaking of Cape, is this not the craziest thing you read all week? Besides this post of course.
Brandon Lowe – 2-for-3, HR (11), SB (4). The slam & legs! In St. Pete, the slam & legs is served with Metamucil, a fruit cocktail cup, and a nice warm Sanka.
Peter Fairbanks – 1.0 IP, K, SV (2). Diego Castillo is the closer, and J.P. Feyereisen is the backup closer, which makes Fairbanks the secret back up to the closer. *Kathryn Hahn wink* Regardless of roles they are all good and probably worth rostering.
Trey Mancini – 1-for-3, HR (12). Trey bombz!
Anthony DeSclafani – 9.0 IP, 2 hits, BB, 8 K, 6th win. It’s not even DeSclafani how good he’s been this year. Talk about coming out in SF for Pride Month. The shutout was his second of the year (tied with, surprisingly, Sean Manaea, for the league lead) and his seventh quality start of the season. We should call him Anony DeSclafan (I removed the h i t’s). Two of the base runners he did allow were quickly erased with double plays. I am slightly in awe of what San Francisco is doing with this pitching staff. Really, I’m at a loss for words so let’s just marvel at Anony DeSclafan’s 3.09 ERA, 1.02 WHIP and 66/20 K/BB. OoOooOoh.
Max Scherzer – 0.1 IP left game with groin injury but sounds like he won’t miss his next start. You can unclench your cheeks and exhale now. Paolo Espino filled in admirably for Max pitching 3.1 innings, allowing just a run and three hits while striking out five. Paolo could be a name to watch when the fantasy gods come for all our healthy players.
Buster Posey – 2-for-4, HR (11). The resurgence continues as Buster increased his slash to .340/.413/.595 with 11 homers and 23 RBI. Someone call Joe Mauer. He hasn’t played in a few years, maybe it’s time for a comeback? With the way Buster has played and this pitching staff has performed I don’t know how Posey could not be in the MVP conversation.
Blake Snell – 4.0 IP, 5 hits, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 K, 3rd loss, ERA at 4.97. Sigh. I hate, so much, the things that you choose to be. Well, we’ll always have last week’s start.
Jacob deGrom – 6.0 IP, 1 hit, 0 ER, 10 K, 6th win as he left the game with flexor tendonitis. He also had 2 RBI and the fans chanted MVP at one point in this one. Well, they’re not wrong. His 0.56 ERA, 0.53 WHIP, and 103/8 K/BB in just 64 innings is the stuff of fantasies, to be fair, my deGrom fantasy involves a lot more heavy breathing, Mookie Betts, and scented oils.
Jonathan Villar – 2-for-4, SB (7). Wasn’t a buy this week but he was this week and this week. I think I’m saying you should pick him up if he’s still out there.
Jake Cronenworth – 1-for-4, HR (6), 2 RBI. FWIC, for what it’s Cronenworth, it’s been almost a month since his last dinger and he’s been batting under .200 since then.
Billy McKinney – 2-for-3, run, RBI. BUY. The McKinney magic continues! He’s hitting .400 over the past week with 2 jacks, a steal, and 7 RBI and is available basically everywhere. Grab him before he gets injured like everyone else on the Mets.
Amed Rosario – 4-for-5, 2 runs, SB (6). He was a BUY last week and has hit .478 with a steal since then! If you’re injured and shouting for “A medic!” but the comms cut you off, you’d be at least in decent shape with “Amed!” in the meantime.
Aaron Civale – 8.0 IP, 1 hits, 0 ER, 11 K, 9th win ERA at 3.17. Nine wins! Sweet sassy molassy! The Mariners made Civale look like Shane Bieber. Which makes me wonder if the Mariners could even get a hit off Bieber. Also, why did I just add so many Mariners?
Tyler Mahle – 6.0 IP, 4 hits, BB, 6 K, 6th win. Not what I was hoping for from a home start against one of the worst offenses of the league but he got the win. Nerds will tell you his spin rate is down substantially, which means basically nothing to me. Maybe he needs more of the sticky stuff?
Nick Castellanos – 2-for-3, 3 runs, HR (13), 2 RBI. He like-a the sauce, eh!? Helios! Get some more sauce for da man! Nicky’s power numbers look a lot like his 2020, with the big difference being his .357 batting average this year. That’s a good change! I guess you gotta do something new to keep up with Jesse Winker.
Joey Votto – 1-for-3, HR (7), 4 RBI. Dingers in Back 2 Back games like that Drake song I can’t remember the name of, and don’t let me forget that clutch bases-loaded walk either. How exciting!
Tyler Stephenson – 1-for-3, 2 runs, HR (4). He’s hitting .308 in the past week. He’s also batting clean-up on a team that scores a lot of runs. You guys like catchers right? What a night for Tylers!
Jose Urquidy – 7.0 IP, 4 hits, 3 ER, BB, 8 K. Nice rebound after getting trounced by the Blue Jays last week. He gave up three homers which doesn’t give me a whole lot of confidence for his home start against the White Sox next week but they don’t call me Dangerous Dan for nothing. What!? Everybody calls me that! I swear!
Josh Donaldson – 2-for-4, 2 HR (10). Someone’s ego was a little wounded by Gerrit Cole this week I guess? Show us more of that ego, Josh! Keep hitter dingers. All the ego! Nelson Cruz (10) and Miguel Sano (13) also homered, which is basically the guys you want going yard nightly if you’re a Twinkies fan. Now if they can just get Buxton back…
Michael Brantley – 4-for-4, RBI. Bro, stop hitting everything. Are we sure the Astros aren’t still cheating? I’m sorry, I can’t help myself.
Ross Stripling – 5.2 IP, 5 hits, 4 ER, 2 BB, 6 K. I think Ross pitched pretty well considering he was facing a Boston lineup at Fenway that was refusing to back down. He should get an easier match-up at home against the Yankees next week and I might consider the prospect of maybe thinking about mulling over the possibility of contemplating whether or not I should review the option of potentially picking him up. I still don’t know for sure though!
Garrett Richards – 5.1 IP, 11 hits, 4 ER, 2 BB, 3 K. Garrett was all over the map and somehow gave up just 4 ER despite allowing 13 base runners. To be fair to Richards, his spin rate was great. Lol. But really, he’s had a tough string of starts including Toronto, Atlanta, Houston, Yankees, and Toronto again last night so maybe we give him a pass. No, that doesn’t mean I’d own him but I’m giving him a pass!
Christian Arroyo – 1-for-3, HR (3). BUY. His second game-tying home run in as many games. His .361 BABIP is a little wacky but methinks there’s some little deer boy Sweet Tooth hybrid magic here. Ride this hot little potato while he’s, uh…a hot little potato.
Alex Verdugo – 3-for-4, run, RBI. Amazingly, 22 of the Red Sox 39 wins have been come from behind victories and I’ll add 99’s game-winning RBI in the bottom of the ninth Friday to my spank bank. I didn’t think I would ever love a player so hard again after Mookie left–but then you come along, Alex, with your hustle and your passion and your game-winners, and the man you’re making it hard for me.
Vladimir Guerrero Jr – 3-for-4, HR (19), 2 RBI. Vlady Daddy! He likes to party. He’s the first player to 19 homers and the first to 50 RBI and darn he is just so good isn’t he? Dad would be proud.
Brandon Woodruff – 7.0 IP, 4 hits, 2 ER, 5 K, 5th win. His ERA ballooned in this one from 1.42 to 1.52. Ugh. Come on, Woody! You’re better than this! Jokes aside, could he for real be better than this cause that would be dope?
Chris Sale – Threw a bullpen session Friday and you could practically see Alex Cora salivating in his press conference. Normal players don’t return from Tommy John surgery months early and immediately pick up where they left off but Chris Sale is by no means a normal player. Wait, did the Great Crumble happen and this team is filled with dirty hybrids?? What animal would Sale be.
Ke’Bryan Hayes – 1-for-4, HR (3), 2 RBI. Hitting .333 with 2 homers (5 XBH) and 5 RBI since returning from the IL. I’d like to say the Bucs are winning more but they’re not, but at least they’re scoring runs now! This kid’s gonna be a star! Ha-cha-cha!
Jackie Bradley Jr – 1-for-2, 2 RBI. Of course, the team with the second-lowest batting average in the league (.213) has JBJ as one of their star players.
Lucas Giolito – 6.0 IP, 5 hits, 2 ER, BB, 9 K. Gio was in line for the win but Liam Hendricks (1.0 IP, 2 hits, 2 ER, BS (3), W) had other plans. Whenever Liam blows a save, it’s always A. Bummer (1.0 IP, BB, 2 K, SV (2)) to back him up.
Tarik Skubal – 6.0 IP, 7 hits, 3 ER, BB 6 K. I’m all in on Skubal, dot, dot, dot…let me finish, all…I was going to say I’m all in on Skubal, dot dot, dot…in 2022!–but I’m using him a lot this year, too. He gets KC next week and yeah I’ll probably use him there, too.
Daz Cameron – 1-for-2, HR (1) off Hendricks. From the box score, I thought this was Dove Cameron who homered, and she just came out for Pride Month which I think really helps her brand. Too bad it was Daz not Dove, because I think a game-tying HR would also really help her brand.
Adam Engel – 2-for-4, HR (2). If you ever wondered what it’d be like if Adam Engel and Adam Eaton were on the same team, well, you don’t have to wonder any longer! Engel’s got two homers and a steal in the past week, which are things I like when my players do, so maybe give Engel a shot? He’s no Eaton.
Ronald Acuña Jr – 2-for-4, 2 runs, RBI, SB (12). Alt-165! ÑÑÑ! It’s beeñ way too loñg siñce I used this alt code, frañd. Let’s try to keep this a weekly thiñg, shall we?
Charlie Morton – 5.0 IP, 4 hits, 4 ER, 4 BB, 3 K. After three wiñs in a row this was Charlie’s roughest outing since early May. He’s been good, but the stats aren’t eye-popping (4.50 ERA and 75/26 K/BB) which makes him, in my mind, one of the best buy lows available.
Sandy Alcantara – 6.0 IP, 5 hits, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K. Marlins baseball! Get Hooked! Have I mentioned how I love the Marlins pitching staff and they’re carrying my poor Ace-less team? No disrespect to Sandy, who lowered his ERA to 3.39 and was hitting 99+ mph on the radar guy. You’re an Ace in my mind, Sandy, just don’t tell the rest of my fantasy league.
Cole Irvin – 6.0 IP, 6 hits, ER, 4 K. Cole was quite efficient Friday night but ran into trouble coming out for the seventh when he gave up a home run and back-to-back singles. His night ended at just 62 pitches! Dude’s more efficient than the Time Variance Authority. And Marvel, if you thought I would like Owen Wilson expositioning at me for 50 minutes while Loki plays off him with perfectly timed quips you were very correct. I love it it so much. But if we could squeeze Wanda into an episode somehow that’d be ideal. She’s really pretty.
Brady Singer – 6.0 IP, 5 hits, 3 ER, BB, 7 K. This is all I could think about. And it made me shudder.
Salvador Perez – 3-for-4, 2 HR (16). When did Sally Perez become the most desirable catcher in fantasy baseball? He’s been unreal. The Royals are all like all like “gold teeth, grey goose, trippin’ in the bathroom, blood stains, ball gowns, trashing the hotel room. They don’t care.” I had to slip in the Lorde lyric cause she’s back and I was pretty sure she retired. In hindsight, a Jorge Soler power blurb would have worked even better with this video.
Matt Chapman – 3-for-4, 2 runs, RBI. I don’t know, man, Matt’s a good guy but I’m madly in love with his girlfriend and me and her have been best friends since childhood–I think it’s time I make my move and tell her how I really feel now that Matt’s out of the picture! Just wish he was around to give his blessing and–wait! He just moved! He’s alive!
Clayton Kershaw – 6.0 IP, 3 hits, 1 R, 0 ER, 9 K, 8th win. Grey told you to SELL so of course this happened. Mad props to Grey for negging Kersh on a game day, he’s got bigger balls than that guy who got eaten by the whale. In Grey’s defense, he’s banking on a Kershaw injury, which is a big bank @ Meg Thee Stallion. I personally would never tell you to sell any of your players for fear that it would come back to get me and I don’t know if you know this but people on the internet can be really mean.
Mike Foltynewicz – 2.2 IP, 8 hits, 7 ER, BB, K. OK. I’m gonna go out on a limb here but I think it’s time for you to think about selling Folty? Please don’t comment on my appearance, I can’t handle that kind of criticism.
Albert Pujols – 2-for-4, HR (10). Albert subbed in for Max Muncy who also homered but left with an injury. Justin Turner also homered. Oh, and Will Smith. Basically, all the Dodgers you want to except Mookie and Cody.
Gavin Lux – 2-for-3, HR (6), 4 RBI. G-Lux power! It’s like deluxe, but with a “G”!
Cody Bellinger – 2-for-3, run, RBI. Left the game hobbling, but insists it’s “just a cramp.” Ugh. Heard that before. Nine months later little Dan Pants, Jr. had arrived and my life playing Call of Duty until 3am was over. Bellinger was set for a day of rest Saturday anyway, so fingies crosses we see him out there Sunday.
Justin Upton – 1-for-4, 2 runs, 2 BB as he led off. BUY. It’s extremely DeSclafani to me that Justin Upton is a buy lol. Even DeSclafani-er that a guy batting .230 is leading off, but its a Mad, Mad-don World, Neil Young, and Upton is hitting .348 with two dingers in the past week! Flash that Justin Upside and grab him!
Kurt Suzuki – 3-for-3, HR (2). Max Stassi was the BUY but got the day off and still ended up the hero in the 10th in this one. Also, these box scores on days Shohei pitches are almost as confusing as the Loki timeline except I don’t have Owen Wilson’s charming, dry-cool wit and excellent mustache to make it all palatable.
Shohei Ohtani – 5.0 IP, 5 hits, 2 ER, 2 BB, 8 K and 2-for-4, run, RBI. Fouled a ball off his knee in the 4th then complained about stiffness. Oh, he also pitched his fourth quality start and had two hits with an RBI. Oh and he also performed as a dancer and background vocals in two of the opening scenes of In the Heights. Just Shohei things.
Eduardo Escobar – 2-for-5, HR (15). Hit the game-tying homer in the ninth to keep his team alive! Lezgetit! Howeverrrr, if he’d actually taken the time out of his day to think about someone other than himself FOR ONCE, maybe he could have asked his teammates first what they actually wanted and how they really felt, and they would have told him that they preferred to just go home early.
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!
