Mets outfielder/grandfather Jay Bruce hit his second home run in the past three days last night, a 3-run shot that put the game out of reach and he finished the night 2-for-5, with his eighth home run and four runs batted in. When Jay has-a-day at Fenway that calls for the throwback “Bruuuuuuuuce!” Despite battling injuries all year long, the veteran is now batting .270 with four home runs and 12 RBI in September and he’s getting hot at just the right time for his team and fantasy owners. The Mets have won seven games in a row, you guys! That’s right, that same Mets team that won just five games in June are 7-3 over their last 10 games! Why do you care? Well, Bruce’s mighty power bat could be a big reason why! There was also a rat in the dugout and on the field at ‘Family Friendly’ Fenway Friday night, and I’m inclined to say the New York Mess probably brought the plague with them, but at least no one has hand foot and mouth disease…yet. Barring him catching the black plague, Bruce might catch fire in the next couple days because that’s what Jay Bruce does, so I’m telling you now that all the signs are there for the beginning of an absolute tear and maybe you should grab him before that happens. It’s easy to forget he hit 37 home runs between New York and Cleveland last year. I’m not saying he gets to 30 home runs, or even 20, but the Mets are hot, Jay sits in the heart of this line up and one of a few players capable of a 5+ homer week. He was a BUY and he’s available in over 75% of leagues and the team is Queens in a fantasy gold mine right now. I can’t believe I’m saying that, what a wild season!
Here’s what else I saw in fantasy baseball Friday night:
Amed Rosario – BUY. 2-for-5, HR (9). I only love Amed and my mommaaaa I’m sorrryyy! I’ll do my best to limit that to the only Drake reference in this post but no promises. Amed has been extra helpful for me in my deep 28-team NL-East Only league. He’s hitting .340 with 2 homers, 2 steals, and 10 runs scored in the past two weeks. He leads off for the Mets. He was a BUY and needs to be owned everywhere. That means YOU, person who isn’t reading this and has moved on in July to our excellent fantasy football or fantasy basketball coverage. Shameless plugs yes pls! I’m a company man!
Jeff McNeil – BUY. 2-for-5, HR (3). Batting over .400 in the past week with a homer and 7 runs scored. McNeil is more a name you should remember for 2019 than for the final weeks of the year. When Queens dominates your BUY/SELL and Friday recap. Oyyyyy vey iz mir! Again with the Mets! This guy’s got chutzpah.
Ian Kinsler – 2-for-3, 2 SB (15). Better steal as many as you can before the fast next week. Shana tova, Ian! Wow this post is so Queens right now. Someone get me a bagel and a shmear.
Noah Syndergaard – 7.0 IP, 3 hits, 0 ER, 3 BB, 6 K, 12th win. Last Met I swear it! Thor brought the thunder in Boston, holding the league’s best offense to just three hits. He also said NYC City rats are “way bigger and meaner,” which I can only assume is some sort of metaphor on class stigmas and the stagnation of the middle class for the instrumental-rationalists of Wall Street. Noah you so political! *swoons*
Jose Peraza – 1-for-4, HR (12). Has now homered in back-to-back games and extends his hitting streak to nine games slashing .292/.332/.420 on the year. I told you to buy Peraza in April! I’m not going to say I told you so, because I much prefer to link to this gif!
Joey Votto – 2-for-4, HR (12). I’m no stranger to supernatural theories regarding players slumps and hot streaks but even if Peraza is somehow in cahoots with voodoo king Papa Legba and sapping all Joey Votto’s power from him, it’s still an off-year for Votto even with Peraza’s 12 additional homers. My oppressive thetan theory is much more plausible, and supported by scientological evidence. Joey still leads the league in OBP, so it sounds like we’re all going to get to draft him nice and cheap next year.
Matt Harvey – 6.0 IP, 4 hits, 0 ER, BB, 5 K. I can’t wait to see what poor team gives Harvey a ton of money. Brewers anyone? Although the Dodgers always like spending money, too.
Cole Hamels – 6.2 IP, 8 hits, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K. This has been a very surprising year for fantasy baseball, but nothing has been more surprising to me than Cole’s total transformation in the NL. I sneezed at this trade when it happened but Hamels is rocking a sick 1.57 ERA through his nine starts with Chicago and he’s basically carried their pitching staff over the past two months. Way to king, Cole!
Josh Donaldson – 2-for-4, HR (6). Went back-to-back with Edwin Encarnacion (31) for his first homer as an Injian. OK, the way Cleveland acquired him may not be by the most honest of means, but at least he didn’t go to Boston or New York, right? An Oakland reunion would have been nice but it would also never happen. Let’s just be happy the richest didn’t get richer this time.
Matthew Boyd – 5.1 IP, 3 hits, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K. Was cruising through this one until he gave up back-to-back homers in the sixth. I remember because I streamed him and that’s around the time my cell phone stopped working. It might have been when I threw it across the room, but more likely it’s that iOS 11.4. Damn software updates! As for Boyd, he gets the Twins next week and I could see perhaps considering the prospect of maybe thinking about mulling over the possibility of contemplating whether or not I should review the option of potentially streaming him.
Nate Jones – 1.0 IP, 1 hit, 2 K, SV (5). He’s back and he’s the closer for the Sawx again so you can drop your Jace Fries if you got em. Make sure to check for stragglers at the bottom of the bag!
Trey Mancini – 2-for-4, 2 HR (23). Is he the best player on the Orioles now? Ugh. You don’t have to answer that.
Yoan Moncada – 3-for-4, run, RBI. Yoan is batting close to .400 over the past week and he’s been just bad enough in the batting average department that we all still have a chance to Moncada in 2019 relatively cheap. Combined with my likely first round pick of Ronald Acuna, I can finally achieve my dream of a team named Acuna Moncada and that means no worries in the fantasy baseball world.
J.T. Realmuto – 1-for-3, HR (21). The JT stands for Just Trade me already!
Rhys Hoskins – 2-for-5, HR (31), 2 RBI. So he’s not the power-hitting freak we saw in the second half last year, dot, dot, dot…or is he? He’s got four homers in his past seven games and he is carrying me so hard right now in my head-to-head league! Give me that September magic!
Aaron Altherr – 4-for-5, 2 HR (8), 5 RBI. I like it when you do it right therrr! He’s hitting .185 on the year and plays about twice a week. Pick him up if you hate yourself.
Jose Bautista – 2-for-3, 3 runs, RBI, 2 BB. When Joey Bats is getting on base four times you can get an idea of the kind of game it was for the Phillies, who scored 14 runs on 18 hits. Even Carlos Santana had three hits! Nothing like a series with Miami to get those bats going.
Andrew McCutchen – 3-for-3, 2 runs, HR (3). Reached base five times and hit his third homer in the past seven days. Meanwhile, the Giants have been sliding into oblivion since Andrew left. Oh wait, they were sliding when he was there too. Never mind.
Didi Gregorius – 1-for-4, HR (24), 2 RBI. Didi has a good shot of topping all his totals from last year, which is saying something considering all the time he missed. Most importantly, however, Aaron Judge returned in this game as a defensive replacement. So who cares about any other Yankees right now, Judge is going to take back the lead in the AL East with his glove, folks! Watch!
Masahiro Tanaka – 6.0 IP, 4 hits, 2 BB, 8 K, 12th win. That’s 20 straight scoreless innings for Masahiro, and he’s getting hot at just the right time! If the Yankees are in a one game playoff who pitches? Can’t trust Severino right now and CC is old. Happ hasn’t lost as a Yankee but I think you gotta go with Tanaka here!
Marco Estrada – 2.2 IP, 6 hits, 8 ER, 3 BB, 2 K. If you streamed him at Yankee stadium, you probably deserve to lose your fantasy league. Which is likely exactly what happened if you started him Friday night.
Walker Buehler – 8.0 IP, 2 hits, 9 K, 7th win. Innings limit or nah? I don’t think the Dodgers can afford to play conservative with their young arms right now. Walker has a sub-2 ERA over his last eight starts and the 131/31 K/BB rate makes me want to own him everywhere next year.
Kenley Jansen – 1.0 IP, K., SV (35). Good work! Now take the next couple days off to rest that broken heart.
Jack Flaherty – 6.0 IP, 4 hits, ER, 2 BB, 8 K. Is it me or are Flaherty and Carpenter the only reason the Cardinals are even sniffing the playoffs right now?
Yasiel Puig – 3-for-4, 2 HR (18). Puig is a player I’ve owned all year and never really been happy about that fact but he hit two much needed home runs for me Friday night so part of me thinks that the last five months have just been an endurance test from the fantasy baseball gods and Yasiel is ready to carry me to greatness. Let’s make it happen!
Max Scherzer – 4.0 IP, 7 hits, 6 ER, BB, 6 K. U Mad Max? By the glory of Valhalla! Witness me ruin your chances to win your fantasy league!
Ronald Acuña, Jr. – 4-for-5, 2 runs, 2 RBI. Filling it up like a Nick Markakis box score! No homers, no steals, sweet, sweet contact! The four hits were a career high! He was just that homer shy of a cycle. He is my new favorite person.
Nick Markakis – 2-for-3, run, 3 RBI, 2 BB. Hey, we were just talking about you! He leads the league in hits and has 91 RBI! Yeah, you read that right, this guy!
Juan Soto – 1-for-4, 2 runs, HR (20). The record for homers by a teenager is 24 and Juan is probably going to break that record right? He’s just two homers shy of passing Bryce on the list at the very least, which might help ease the sting for Nats fans when Bryce signs with the Yankees or Cubs next season.
Trevor Hildenberger – 0.1 IP, 4 hits, 5 ER, BS (3). When you SAGNOF too close to the sun sometimes you get burnt. My condolences to your fantasy playoffs hopes. Mort.
Salvador Perez – 2-for-5, walk off Grand Slam HR (26), 5 RBI. I mean…if you’re gonna grand salami, that’s how you do it.
Jose Berrios – 6.0 IP, 5 hits, 2 ER, 3 BB, 9 K. His first game with over 6 Ks since the end of July. Meh. I can’t decide if I’m going to be all in on Berrios next year or will avoid at all costs. Methinks he bounces back big next year.
Adalberto Mondesi – 2-for-4, 3 runs, HR (8), SB (23). BUY. It’s crazy how much more valuable he’s been in just the past month than a player like say, Carlos Correa (a top 10 pick), has been all year long. Maybe slow down a bit though Adalberto so we have the chance to draft you next year.
Yoshihisa Hirano – 1.0 IP, 1 hits, K, SV (2). While Mario is saving princesses, Yoshi is saving baseball games. Hirano has that much sought after closing experience that mangers hold so dear and despite blowing his second save opportunity two days ago, my guess is he’s the primary closer and gets the next chance. Sorry Ziegler. Sorry Bradley. Maybe if you closed more games he’d let you close some games. Oh, wait.
Robbie Ray – 5.1 IP, 2 hits, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K. 2.51 ERA and 41 Ks over the past month. I’m still mad at you but, I guess, I’m glad I didn’t drop you or whatever. That’s about the highest compliment I can pay you at the moment right now, Robbie, I’m not ready to fully forgive just yet. But there’s still 3 weeks left and I have fantasy leagues to win, so there’s time to make things right.
Clay Buchholz – Shut down for the season with a strain in his elbow. Look at Clay’s 2.01 ERA and 1.04 WHIP. Now look the top starter you drafted ERA/WHIP. Here’s a pillow you can scream into.
Mike Moustakas – 3-for-4, HR (26). His sixth homer as a Brewer. To be fair, this trade actually turned out pretty well for the Crew, but they should have stopped there. Christian Yelich also homered. Yelich has 18 home runs and more RBI (45) than any other player in the league in the second half! He’s a top 10 player next year, you people! Yet Moustakas will probably get all the credit for sparking this offense. Why??? Racism!
Travis Shaw – 1-for-4, HR (29), SB (3). It’s a good thing they traded for several players to steal his ABs. In Wisconsin, you get your slam and legs with a whole lotta cheddah and a cold Pabst. I already don’t feel so good.
Gio Gonzalez – 4.2 IP, 3 hits, 3 ER, 4 BB, 6 K. When you miss a week of roto headlines and all of a sudden Gio Gonzalez is on the Brewers. When did this happen!? Does this make Gio their Ace. Are the Nats throwing in the towel? The answer to all these questions is: probably.
Jeremy Jeffress – 1.0 IP, 2 K, SV (12). Milwaukee might have the best bullpen in baseball but not one starter who can consistently go 5.0 innings. Sounds like a pitching staff that Kevin Cash could work wonders with!
Chris Archer – 5.0 IP, 6 hits, 4 ER, 2 BB, 8 K. OK, let’s see, Katniss, Legolas, Robin Hood, Lara Croft, and Chris. Hmm, troubling that Chris just barely beats out Hawkeye for top five Archers. It’s closer than you think though.
Matt Shoemaker – 4.2 IP, 5 hits, 3 ER, 8 K. The 4.2 innings make me a like the top half of a drake meme. But the 8 Ks make me all like the bottom half of a Drake meme.
Pablo Reyes – 2-for-4, HR (1). Reyes of hope for the Bucs, perhaps? The homer was the first career jack for the rookie second baseman and he’s now put together back-to-back hits every day. Time will tell if he gets enough playing time over the next few weeks to be fantasy relevant but I’m watching him closer than the finale of Sharp Objects. Except when Amy cuts herself, those parts I have to look away. Ewww! How does she get it on her back tho!?
Chris Stratton – 9.0 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, 10th win. His first complete game and just his second win since July. More importantly, the win snapped the Giants 11 game losing streak and really f’d over the Rox in the process. He gets a cushy start in San Diego next week but unless you’re as desperate for starts as I am for positive feedback I would avoid. Speaking of which, feel free to praise me in the comments.
Connor Sadzeck – 1.0 IP, K. No fantasy relevancy, I just like that his name reminds me of sad sack and sad sack reminds me of the Rangers starting pitchers. It’s funny how analysts ridiculed Kevin Cash’s approach to starting games with these “openers” at the beginning of the year so much, and now many teams are following suit. KC bucked convention and now everybody’s doing it! Wowow whata trend setter. He done changed the game! In fact, Cash would probably be Manager of the Year if Alex Cora wasn’t so good at stroking superstars egos.
Khris Davis – 1-for-3, HR (42). Go-ahead home run in the 10th for Kish Davish! It was a double go-ahead dinger because he took back the home run lead from JD MartinEZ.
Blake Treinen – 2.0 IP, 7th win. Blake is rocking a 0.85 ERA, 0.85 WHIP and 94/21 K/BB with 37 saves and is a decent bet for reliever of the year, possibly even some Cy Young votes. Let me just remind you the A’s traded arguably their most popular player in closer Sean Doolittle for Treinen and it has worked out even better than a Jen Selter instagram story. Meanwhile, the Nats bullpen has struggled mightily since. Brad Pitt and fat Jonah Hill fleeced ’em good! That’s moneyball, folks!
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!
