You’ll have to forgive me for any shortcomings in this Draft article. I’ve spent the last two days going down a Childish Gambino rabbit hole (I still can’t believe this is Donald Glover singing Redbone). Glover is one of the most versatile performers going right now, much like A.J. Pollock is one of the most versatile baseball players in the game at the moment. Power, speed, clean-up spot: Pollock is a fantasy triple threat.
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Corey Kluber, SP: Early. No one in the game toys with hitters quite the way Kluber does. Two starts ago, he tallied eight 3-pitch strikeouts. Do you know how hard it is to K a major league hitter with just the 3 minimum pitches? Now times that by 8. A free-swinging Brewers team figures to be off balance all night.
Luis Severino, SP: Middle. The start of 2018 hasn’t been quite what most expected from Severino. I’d like to chalk some of the Yankee pitching struggles up to a new staff and everyone getting adjusted to each other. Not that Severino’s been awful by any stretch, he just wasn’t thoroughly dominating at 2017 levels. That’s changed the last few times out with a fastball nasty as ever.
Luis Castillo, SP: Late. It was not a great start to the season for this Luis, either. High expectations can do that. The Ks finally came for this young strikeout artist in his last start, albeit against the Brewers. The Mets are in a funk at the moment, though. It’s a riskier option, but if you find yourself in a pinch at SP, a guy with a 14.6 SwStr% could play.
Nolan Arenado, IF: Early. At home vs a lefty almost always makes Arenado the top selection in Draft’s snake format. There’s enough pitching today that I’m comfortable going IF at number one.
Manny Machado, IF: Middle. The Macho Man eats up lefties. Danny Duffy is a LHP who is currently struggling to keep the ball inside the park. Manny is killing baseballs with the second most hard hits (95+ MPH) in the league.
Zack Cozart, IF: Late. You don’t need me to tell you to play Mike Trout in Coors. You don’t really need me to tell you to play anyone in Coors. What you could use is someone to tell you which Angel has a good fly ball and hard-hit rate. Cozart checks the box on both, with 41.7% and 38.1%.
Rhys Hoskins, OF: Early. Derek Holland can occasionally get by at home in pitcher’s haven AT&T Park. Unlucky for him, but lucky for Hoskins, this one’s in Philly at the Bank. The Phillies jumped on the Giants last night, and I don’t see this one going much different. Hoskins and his .338 career ISO vs LHP should lead the way.
A.J. Pollock, OF: Middle. Pollock is raking right now. He loves hitting lefties, as 4 of his 10 home runs have come off LHPs in less than half the at-bats. He’s also tied with Trout for the most HRs+SBs (18). He can score points for you in so many ways.
Ronald Acuna, OF: Late. Two young stars will face off when Acuna steps in the box against Blake Snell. It’s a gamble, but one I’m willing to take with the talent level we’ve seen out of Acuna. He’ll be there with your last pick in almost any league.
I’m Only Happy When It Rains
Another quiet day of weather for us. No real precipitation concerns. The temperature will be low 90s in Texas at game time, which is always good for hitting.
Doing Lines in Vegas
I was surprised by the 8.5 O/U in the Royals-Orioles game. Neither offense is ferocious, but with Danny Duffy and Dylan Bundy on the hill, that number is totally reachable.
