Red Sox first baseman slash DH slash pink hat heart throb Bobby Dalbec continued his power barrage Friday night going 2-for-4 with a solo home run, his 21st, and a triple with two runs scored. Bobby D now has three dingers (we call them Bobby Dal-jacks) in the past three days and he’s done nothing but mash since Boston gave him full reign of the first base job post-All Star break. He was a BUY this week, and I while told you to grab him back in June, I’ll admit that was a bit premature. Bobby is a little bit, hmm, how do I say this nicely, “raw”, as his 138 strikeouts in 368 at bats clearly illustrates. But yo, the power is real, and it is spectacular. Something has clicked for him post-All Star break, maybe it was the hitting coach, maybe it was the COVID, maybe it was the Kyle Schwarber trade threatening his playing time. Whatever it was, he slashed .339/.431/.774 in August with seven Dal-jacks and 21 RBIs. He also struck out just 18 times, his lowest monthly total all year. His September has looked a lot like his August so far, .321/.387/.786 with a 1.205 OPS. He’s also taking more pitches, and this is resulting in him getting the pitches he wants to hit into the stands. He’s got 11 walks since the start of August, and he had just 13 walks through the first four months of the season. I’m saying the kid is figuring it out, on the job, at a crucial time for this Red Sox team in a wild card race and he is delivering. Sure the Ks are still there–ten strikeouts in the past 10 games, but like I said the power is legit-piece, and his .247 isolated power is one of the tops in the league. I don’t know what your fantasy team needs at this point in the season, and tbh you might be better off checking out Razzball’s Fantasy Football Rankings, but if you need power–Bobby D has got you covered. He’s hitting .317 over the past two weeks with 5 homers and 11 RBIs (9 homers in his past 23 games) and should continue to get plenty of chances while the Red Sox chase the postseason. Grab him if you like home runs–this kid’s gonna be a star! Ha-cha-cha!
Here’s what else I saw in fantasy baseball Friday night:
Ke’Bryan Hayes – 2-for-4, 2 RBI. He’s batting .429 with 2 steals in the past week but overall his .258/.325/.377 slash and just five homers is more average than my Uber rating. Do the Pirates target these anemic-power hitting prospects or does it just pan our that way. What happened to the Pedro Alvarezes? I’ve learned my lesson this time, I will never fall for another Pirates prospects again. Never again!
Anthony Alford – 2-for-4, HR (5). BUY. Well hello there, beautiful! Four homers and three steals in the past two weeks? What did you say your name was again? I’m all in!
Josh Bell – 1-for-2, HR (26). Twenty-six home runs sounds way less disappointing than he actually has been. Maybe if he didn’t suck so much in April and May we could enjoy these home runs in September.
Josh Rogers – 6.2 IP, 8 hits, 2 ER, BB, K. When I saw a J. Rogers started for the Nats I was hoping so hard his first name was Jolly. But alas. You can ignore Jolly Rogers in fantasy.
Lane Thomas – 1-for3, RBI. BUY. Batting .323 with 2 homers 8 runs and a steal in the past week! Pick him up if you hate yourself.
Brandon Belt – 2-fo-3, HR (22). Evan Longoria also hit his 11th bomb. Belt has set a career-high in homers and is slashing .255/.360/.554 in just 83 games. Longo also having his best season since people actually called him Longo. Maybe the trick with SF is to get so many average guys and keep swapping them out so they never tire and the team always has a fresh new bat to carry the other guys?
Frank Schwindel – 2-for-3, HR (12). BUY. Hitting .352 with 7 homers and 15 RBI in the past two weeks. You’re Schwindling yourself by not grabbing him!
Kyle Hendricks – 6.0 IP, 4 hits, ER, 2 BB, 4 K. Not bad but remind me not to draft you next year.
Jon Lester – 7.0 IP, 3 hits, 2 ER, 4 BB, 2 K. Speaking of undraftable! Someone loves being in St. Louis! Called it! It’s the restorative power of the Gateway Arch, y’all! And no I wouldn’t own him.
Tyler Mahle – 6.0 IP, 4 hits, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K. Yo dat 188/56 K/BB is real nice doe. This is why you don’t draft starters. Mahle has been every bit the Ace as your Darvish or Giolito or Nola or seriously, just don’t do it!
Joey Votto – 1-for-3, HR (30). Why do I think I’m going to have Votto on like all my teams next year. I love me a good post-prime post-hype comeback story.
Mychal Givens – 1,0, 1 hits, 2 K, SV (7). BUY. The Reds Givens, and Mychal Taketh the Save. He’s the Reds closer! Kind of. He gets saves for them. Sometimes! You should add him. I think. He was a BUY. Definitely!
Tyler Rogers – 4.1 IP, 3 hits, 4 ER, BB, 6 K, 7th loss. SELL. Grey called it! I guess you can drop him now!
Ian Anderson – 5.0 IP, 5 hits, 2 ER, 2 BB, 9 K, 7th win. Damn those pesky Braves just win beisbol games don’t they. Would hate to be the Phillies right now.
Jesus Sanchez – 1-for-3, HR (8), 2 RBI. I told you to grab him last week with the hopes he’d save your season? Welp. How did that go? He’s bat .130 since last weekend with yesterday’s homer. BUT. He has struck out 13 times. So there’s that. You can’t win them all, friends. I will try harder this week.
Eric Haase – 1-for-3, 2 runs, HR (21). I can Haase home runs from my catcher spot? That’s all I want them to do.
Jonathan Schoop – 2-for-5, Grand Slam HR (20). I understand Schoop is not the most exciting option, but .281/.320/.442 with 20 homers and 77 RBI from your first baseman this year has been pretty valuable.
Michael Wacha – 5.0 IP, 3 hits, ER, 6 K. Last week I waxed poetic on how the Rays built a starting pitching staff on a couple rookies and guys no one wanted. Wacha and Yarbrough lead the team in starts with Rich Hill not far behind, and also not in Tampa anymore. Shane McClanahan hits the IL, so that make would make their game 1 starter…Luis Patiño?
Wander Franco – Likely headed to IL with hamstring injury. Do you see what God is doing to me, man?? Is this because I’m rude to my Uber drivers?
Tylor Megill – 7.0 IP, 4 hits, 2 ER, BB, 10 K, 3rd win. One in megillion! Another pitcher I was high on midseason and told you to buy with underwhelming results. Well, in addition to his third win, the 10 Ks were a career high and the 7.0 IP it was the furthest he’s pitched into a game all season. His velocity also seems up a tick! I’d stream him next week versus St. Louis wherever I needed starters.
Francisco Lindor – 1-for-3, HR (14). Three bombs and hitting .296 in the past week. There can only be one good team in NYC City at a time. And right now that team is the Mets.
Javier Baez – 3-for-4, run, 2 RBI. Boo-az is getting hot at the perfect time hitting a blistering .432 in the past week with 9 runs, 3 HR, 7 RBI and 3 steals! Are we sure Mets fans don’t want to reconsider keeping him?
Jordan Montgomery – 3.1 IP, 7 hits, 5 ER, 3 BB, 6 K. It’s almost like as soon as people started believing in them they started losing.
Joey Gallo – 1-for-4, HR (32). Anthony Rizzo also hit his 20th. Joey’s hitting just .111 in the past week and Rizzo hasn’t been much better. And here I was thinking money could buy happiness.
Myles Straw – 0-for-3, run, 3 SB (27). Jose Ramirez was 0-for-2, run, 2 SB (23). And Bradley Zimmer also stole a base! Man, did the Guardians wreak havoc for Houser on the base baths or what? 6 steals! I guess if you score 10 runs it doesn’t really matter.
Bobby Bradley – 2-for-4, 2 RBI. BUY. Speaking of Bradleys. Bobby Bombs has swag and hits big boy balls. Add him if you need power and are feeling dope asf.
Adrian Houser – 6.0 IP, 1 hit, 0 ER, 5 BB, 5 K, 9th win. Coming off a complete-game shutout. Houser is always good for a late-season I-can’t-look-I’ll-just-pray stream and this one went pretty well!
Eli Morgan – 4.1 IP, 8 hits, 7 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, ERA at 6.03. Your Guardians sleeper pitcher for 2022, folks! Mahk my words!
Eduardo Escobar – 2-for-5, 2 HR (27). Now has five homers with the Brewers after missing time with injury, hitting .306. The Brewers made multiple traded to replace Luis Urias (2-for-4, HR (20)) in their line up and yet he still remains, mashing dingers.
Lorenzo Cain – 1-for-5, Grand Slam HR (8). BUY. Great! Now if he could play more than three games a week I might consider grabbing him.
German Marquez – 6.0 IP, 6 hits, 0 ER, BB, 6 K. After struggling all summer, German has found his groove and is back to the pitcher he looked like in June and early July. Or maybe the Phillies are just blowing it big time. Probably the latter.
C.J. Cron – 2-for-5, HR (27). Trevor Story also homered, but Cron leads the team. A .274/.373/.539 slash with 27 bombs and 82 RBI? Yeah some team is definetely going to overpay him next year. Hopefully its Colorado!
Elias Diaz– 1-for-4, Grand Slam 9th inning HR (17). When in doubt, go with the Rockies catcher. I don’t even care if he’s playing in Coors.
Andrew Benintendi – 4-for-5, 2 HR (15), 5 RBI. Go ahead HR in ninth. A couple of bookended Benny Bombz! Dude is slashing .263/.308/.430 with 15 home runs, 57 RBI and eight SBs and however you feel about this guy that’s a lot more home runs than Franchy Cordero. When Chaim Bloom says you’re done, but you are not done.
Byron Buxton – 1-for-5, HR (12). Two homers in the past week, please, god, don’t hurt yourself again. I just need two more weeks of this.
Nicky Lopez – 2-for-5, run. Hey Nicky you so fine! Seriously, real talk, you blow my mind. I know he doesn’t have the power, but damn if Nicky Lopez doesn’t feel like my own personal Adalberto Mondesi right now, carrying me through my playoffs.
Shohei Ohtani– 1-for-1, HR (44). 3.1 IP, 9 hits, 6 ER, 0 BB, K. Oh, oh, Ohtani. Hopefully you started him on offense and not pitcher, but you probably didn’t. He gets another scary match up with the White Sox next week, and Vlad is creeping up in that MVP race. Whaddaya gonna do Shohei!? Shohei him who’s the man!
Jared Walsh – 2-for-4, HR (26). I dropped him when he went on the IL this summer and someone else grabbed him and tbqhwy, I don’t mind that much.
Alex Bregman – 3-for-4, 2 runs, 4 RBI. Carlos Correa and Jose Altuve had three hits as well as the Astros scored 10 runs on 16 hits. Bregman is batting close to .500 with 2 homers and 10 RBIs in the past week and the Astros continue to hit everything in sight. I think we forget about them because they’re big fat cheaters who cheat but this Houston team is as good as any in the AL.
Framber Valdez – 5.0 IP, 6 hits, 4 ER, 5 BB, 6 K, 10th win. 11 baserunners, 4 ER and his 10th win. Mmhm, it’s nice to have run support.
Tanner Houck – 3.2 IP, 4 hits, 3 ER, 3 BB, K. Houck looked less than great in a rough match up, but the Red Sox have limited options with half the team, and now Chris Sale, on the COVID list. He gets another shot versus C-Attle 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!
Carlos Rodon – 5.0 IP, 3 hits, ER, 0 BB, 7 K, 12th win. He’s been nursing a shoulder injury but who knows if its a real thing or not anymore. My boy is about to win the Cy Young!
Xander Bogaerts – 2-for-3. Back from the COVID IL and replaced by Jonathan Arauz and Chris Sale. Who will get COVID tomorrow? Stay tuned to find out!
Jose Abreu – 1-for-4, HR (29) 3 RBI (107). I hear people saying Abreu is having a down year from his MVP year and I’m like, wait what? He’s .265/.347/.498 with 29 home runs and 107 RBI. Maybe the average ain’t ideal but if you have 100+ RBIs you are doing your job. Just ask Bill Belichick.
Marcos Gonzales – 6.0 IP, 4 hits, 0 ER, BB, 3 K, 8th win. Will never have the strikeout numbers to get me excited enough to own him but for each their own I guess. How about them C-Attle M’s? I feel like I’ve trashed this team in these posts all year, but who wouldn’t want to seem them grab that Wild Card?
Madison Bumgarner – 6.0 IP, 8 hits, 5 ER, BB, 6 K, ERA at 4.66. He’s definitely looking like the kind of pitcher right now the Yankees would sign in the offseason.
Drew Steckenrider – 1.0 IP, 3 K, SV (8). Diego Castillo pitched the eighth and gave up a home run to get the hold but it was Big Drew who got the save chance. It was his first save chance since August and since Castillo returned so as good as Steckenrider has been methinks Diego gets the next chance.
Glenn Otto – 3.1 IP, 8 hits, 8 ER, BB, 5 K. Nope. Nuh uh. Not gonna do it.
Julio Urias – 7.0 IP, 3 hits, 0 ER, BB, 7 K, 17th win. Now has a two game cushion for the MLB league lead in wins and it’s looking like he won’t look back. Is Julio Urias in the Cy Young conversion? I guess he is cause I’m conversing about him now. Burnes, Scherzer, Buehler, Gausman all deserver to be mentioned, that’s why I just mentioned them, but this is Urias blurb and he gets the DBacks next week. Hello #18?
Joe Musgrove – 6.0 IP, 4 hits, 3 ER, 5 BB, 7 K. Joe has scuffled a bit since his complete game shut out two weeks ago but he’s also faced some tough comp in Houston and the Dodgers. It won’t get any easier next week in SF but his 2.93 ERA, 1.03 WHIP, and 180 strikeouts are elite and all but ensure I won’t be able to draft him next year.
Max Muncy – 1-for-4, HR (32). A 420 footer! Ha, 420! Ain’t too many mashers mash like Max Muncy mashes. Blaze it!
Starling Marte – 3-for-4, 2 runs, 2 RBI. I don’t know that there’s ever been a player more fit to wear an A’s uni. If only he didn’t get paid so much. But can he get on base? Yes, Brad Pitt! That’s like, all he does.
Matt Olson – 4-for-5, 4 RBI. Hasn’t hit a homer in two weeks but he’s batting .280 with 13 RBIs. Something tells me he’s about to go on a home run barrage and seal the wild card for Oakland. These things tend to happen in September.
Leody Taveras – 2-for-5, run, RBI. BUY. He was a big time lede BUY and he’s got pop and speed for days. Four steals in the past two weeks and if Tejas actually played him everyday there could be even more to come!
Seth Beer – 1-for-1, pinch hit HR (1). His first career hit and homer! I don’t know why, but I like this guy! Beer! Lol nice. Would own for that alone. He was the big get in the Greinke trade and hit 16 homers in AAA, let’s see how bad the Diamondbacks can screw him up.
Cedric Mullins – 1-for-4, HR (28), 2 SB (28). He’s a 30-30 guy! Sweet sassy molassy! He is likely the add of the year, not to mention a top 25 player next year. Ceddy is literally winning your fantasy league. No not literally, LIT-TRALLY, Rob Lowe.
Robbie Ray – 4.1 IP, 8 hits, 3 ER, 2 BB, 8 K. RobRay got into it with the O’s manager, suspecting the batters were picking up on his slider somehow? It’s gotta be the first time in years anyone suspected the O’s of cheating. I think it’s kind of funny the Jays end their winning streak to the last place team and despite how tight the Wild Card race has been in this division, Baltimore was the only AL East team to win last night. Remember Orioles, and this goes for fantasy too, even if you can’t win, it’s never too late to really screw things up for some other team.
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!