Devon Travis hit two home runs Friday night including one to lead off the ballgame and a heroic, Olympic-sized tie-breaking shot in the ninth inning to give the Jays the lead. Clearly, Travis just wanted to get back to his hotel room so he could catch the Opening Ceremony in Rio. Speaking of which, that ceremony was really…something, wasn’t it? When you watch four hours of the Olympics and not a single event is played. Hmm, I think I might be burned out on the games already and the torch was just lit. At least Gisele was there. According to my sources, Tom Brady would have held the flag for the U.S.A. but he’s busy at training camp. Devon Travis, however, was busy leading off his third straight game for Toronto. The second year infielder is batting .313 over the past week with three homers, 4 runs, and 5 RBI, including that game-saving shot Friday night. It’s Devon Providence! Let’s call him Christ the Redeemer. Remember last April when he hit .325 with 6 home runs? I do. The dude can get hot in a hurry, and batting in this stacked Blue Jays line up could mean big things for your fantasy team. He is slashing .290/.332/.479 with nine homers in 217 at-bats to date, and Travis is currently available in about 70% of fantasy leagues and he’s feeling the Olympic spirit. I’d grab him if you need a middle infielder who plays for Canada but bleeds for the red, white and blue.
Here’s what else I saw Friday night in fantasy baseball:
Travis Jankowski – 2-for-4, run. Oh, hello! Another Travis! Didn’t you get kicked off the Raiders for head-butting a team mate? Regardless, you are a serious SAGNOF option if I’ve ever seen one. Jank once stole second, third and the shortstop’s wallet all in the same play! He’s got 6 steals in the past week and is available all over. He was a BUY and if you need speed, Jankowski could be a gold medalist.
Edwin Diaz – 1.0 IP, 3 K, SV (3). BUY. When you miraculously become one of the most dominant closers in baseball in three days. #edwinning
Jorge Soler – 1-for-4, HR (6), 3 RBI. Homered in his return from a two month DL-stint. It’s been a while since we’ve seen the Soler power. Is that because Bernie Sanders is no longer in the picture? Of the 99% of fantasy baseball players, ONLY 9% own all the Jorge Soler’s on Wall Street. We need to end the Jorge Soler ownage gap!
Jon Lester – 7.0 IP, 6 hits, 2 ER, 8 K, W. I hate when people push their faith on you, so for the first time in a while I’m going to get through this post with mentioning Scientology. Wait–d’oh! Xenu dammit!
Trea Turner – 2-for-4, HR (2). Trea has now homered in back-to-back games and that brings his triple slash to a coooool .321/.353/.543 with 8 stolen bases. He was a BUY but if he’s still available in your league, clearly, you and your league mates have checked out and are already preparing for fantasy football. But this is your chance to grab players like Turner and run away with the thing! What are you waiting for?
Blake Snell – 5.1 IP, 4 hits, ER, 2 BB, 7 K. I can Snell what you’re cooking, Blake, and it’s got my eyebrow raising for sure. If the 2.95 ERA and 1.40 WHIP doesn’t have you hooked his 56/27 K/BB rate surely must. Not completely sold on his start in Toronto next week but I’ll be watching him closer than the 2016 Olympic Opening Ceremony. Did I mention I’ve watched 4 hours of Olympics to date and not a single event? Yeah, I don’t know why either. It’s all part of leading a miserable life.
Ervin Santana – 6.1 IP, 6 hits, 2 ER, 8 K, W. When your ace is Ervin Santana. Hmm. When your ace holds a 3.62 ERA, 1.23 WHIP and 93/31 K/BB ratio over 126 2/3 innings. OK, fair enough.
Miguel Sano – 3-for-5, HR (16). My condolences if you drafted him too high this year, but this means we can all own him everywhere next year! And I have a good feeling we’re going to want to own him next year.
Justin Verlander – 6.0 IP, 4 hits, 2 ER, BB, 9 K, W. It’s not enough that he’s engaged to Kate Upton, JV also had to be the AL pitcher of the month for July. Over the past month, Justin has a 1.94 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, 4 wins and a 49/12 K/BB rate. Very nice, but I’d prefer Kate Upton.
Jameson Taillon – 6.0 IP, 6 hits, ER, BB, 6 K. Jameson barreled through the Cincinnati line up–get it, because whiskey barrels? Shots! Jameson has gone 6.0 innings in five straight starts, allowing just eight runs in the stretch with a 28/1 K/BB rate. Yes, you should own him. Yes, you should be doodling his name in curly cursive on your notebooks. Yes you should have pictures of him in your locker.
Dallas Keuchel – 9.0 IP, 3 hits, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, W. A nice rebound after getting lit up in Detroit for seven runs last week. But sometimes you need to lose yourself in Detroit before you can really get your chance to blow. Just ask B.Rabbit.
Francisco Liriano – 6.0 IP, 7 hits, 2 ER, BB, 5 K. Not a bad debut for Lirano in a Blue Jays uniform, but to be fair going from black and yellow to blue and white is one heck of a transition. I wonder if he and Wiz Khalifa will still be friends.
Paulo Orlando – 2-for-4, HR (3), SB (8). Paulo is hitting .408 with 2 homers and 3 steals in the past two weeks. Orlando remains one of the least exciting ownable players in all of fantasy. He’s hitting .329 and won’t hurt your team, but probably won’t help it too much either. Kind of like listening to my fantasy advice.
Jaime Garcia – 8.0 IP, 3 hits, 0 ER, BB, 11 K, W. Uh, 2012 called. They want their middling to average to slightly below mediocre fantasy starter back. Also, 1995 called, they want their [Insert Year Here] called joke back. No way! It’s mine!
Wil Myers– 3-for-4, HR (21). Wil “I Passed the Other L to the Player on my Left” Myers is my fantasy confidant and Overwatch partner. We both agreed over Jimmy John’s take-out that Overwatch may be the only thing I am slightly better at than Wil. Still probably not though. Wil is OP as F. You should see him play the monkey!
Yasmany Tomas – 2-for-5, 2 HR (21). That’s four homers in three days! Sweet sassy molassy! He was a BUY this week, and now might be a good time to mention Yasmany was my pre-season pick for break out player of 2016. Let’s ignore that I picked Chris Archer to Cy Young. Tomas can’t really run or field, but doode can hit the ding dongs, and for fantasy purposes that’s really all you need.
Pedro Alvarez – 2-for-5, 2 HR (18). He has six homers in the past week and Pedro is slashing .262/.317/.540 with 18 homers! He was a BUY this week and the Orioles sure are a great place to revive a struggling slugger’s career. Someone trade Prince Fielder to Baltimore. Make it happen, Selig!
Starlin Castro – 2-for-3, 3 runs. Grand Slam HR (12). Oh Starlin. Please believe me. I haven’t dropped you yet, but I probably should have two months ago.
Steven Wright – 9.0 IP, 3 hits, 0 ER, BB, 9 K, W. Alls my life he had to fight! Player! Knuckleballs float like God. Hard hits like, “Gawd!” Nazareth! Red Sox up, homie you got stuff, but if God got us then it’s gon’ BE ALL WRIGHT! Tell ’em, Kendrick!
Mookie Betts – 3-for-5, HR (23), 2 RBI. UH! And when I wake up! I recognize you only looking at me for the pay cut! Oh sorry, I got caught up in the moment. Mookie is having his own moment right now. If I invite you to my end of summer ice cream social, Mookie, will you come? Because I don’t want to invite you if you’re not going to come.
Sandy Leon – 2-for-3, HR (4), 4 RBI. Honestly, unless it’s Margot Robbie in hot pants, I really don’t care who your catcher is. Sandy the Mandy is hitting .316 in the past week, and Ryan Hanigan just hit the DL, so Leon will have more opportunities to hit baseballs. Still, I really don’t care who your catcher is.
Carlos Estevez – 0.1 IP, 4 ER, 2 BB, BS (3). If you own the Rockies closer, sometimes, you’re gonna have a bad time. A couple more outings like this and I’ll be looking to join the Suicide Squad myself.
Dee Gordon – 1-for-4, 2 runs, SB (10). Just continue to joke about his suspension. It only makes him stronger and faster. That and PEDs for elevated testosterone.
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!
