It’s been a great year, and it’s been a pleasure talking to you all throughout the course of the season. But as much as I thank you for all the comments, feedback and conversation over the year, I have to thank all my favorite plays this season for the joy, and sometimes heartburn, they gave me.
SP: Zack Greinke, Corey Kluber, Chris Sale: Some nights I gave the ball to Greinke with no hope to cash in my lineups. The bats were cold, the chips were down…all was lost. But Greinke came through anyway, all season long. First month Kluber had the underlying metrics without the results, mid-season Kluber found the groove and made late season Kluber jealous. And Sale….well, nice knowing that it never mattered how many runs you have up, because those Ks….those sweet Ks, always delivered. Thanks, fellas.
C: Kyle Schwarber: The Swarb has a warm back rub when the day was so tense. Sweet, delicious power in a catcher, forever eligible on DraftKings. The stuff cash was made of.
1B: David Ortiz: Last season he led in both hard hit rating and expected power and he spent the last 2/3 of the season getting back to that. Never age, Papi, never age.
2B: Luis Valbuena, Cesar Hernandez: Valby has been a vs. RHP crutch since his time in Chicago last year. He goes for the downs every time up and does it enough to make it worth rostering him, though he cost a bit more as time progressed. Cesar was a sub-3K dynamo for far too long, ripping base hit and steals at the top of the Phillies lineup. Cesar the Great? He sure was.
SS: Carlos Correa, Andres Blanco: Correa came up and raked and hardly ever stopped. His price eventually rose to All-Star heights, but he was fun to own for long time. and Andres Blanco is my favorite vs. LHP masher at SS and is always priced like he’s homeless. Gotta love the vs. LHP Phillies.
3B: Alex Rodriguez, Yangervis Solarte: ARod was fairly modestly priced all season and early on, he was a monster and great fun to roster as the Yankees were crushing. Solarte started leading off in San Diego and was a base hit, hard hit metrics darling and paid off often at his price tag, which always hovered around 3K.
OF: From Joey Butler and Grady Sizemore to Nelson Cruz and Mike Trout all the way through The Grandy Man, JD Martinez and Gerardo Parra, the Milwaukee version, the outfield produced so much good times, it’s hard to single anybody out. Thanks fellas.
Let me know who your favorites were in the Comments area and enjoy the last couple of days of baseball. I’m going to treat the Saturday slate as if these teams will all give a darn, but check the lineups for fun and games. Thank you all!
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Zack Greinke, SP: $12,600 – Hard to say how long he’ll go, but easy to say that against the Padres in Chavez Ravine, it won’t matter much.
John Lackey, SP: $9,900 – Lackey is a solid sub 10K SP who will get the Braves to wrap up and carries a decent -145 to win.
Kyle Schwarber, C: $4,400 – Once more with feeling! The last call for the Schwarb in this space and farewell to his wonderful near .500 wOBA against RHP and ridiculous slugging he provided from the catcher position.
Justin Bour, 1B: $3,900 – Nice park, big bat, bad pitcher. Bour has all he needs to park one in the seats.
David Ortiz, 1B: $4,000 – Had to. 4K seems low for as many home runs as the Klubot has given up lately. Ortiz is the most likely to make him pay.
Travis Shaw, 1B/3B: $3,100 – But if you wanted to double up, then his teammate, Mr. Shaw, is your guy. Shaw has turned in two 20pt games in the last week.
Luis Valbuena, 2B/3B: $3,700 – I called him out in the lead — and he delivered again Friday night. The Astros are still playing for something and you’ll want to get a few of these guys against Jeremy Hellickson at Chase Field, the second best hitting park in the league.
Derek Dietrich, 3B/OF: $2,800 – Love the sub 3K power Dietrich brings against RHP pitching, in Philly. Do it.
Andres Blanco, 3B/SS: $2,600 – Blanco doesn’t have the great vs. LHP matchup tonight, but he’s worth calling out one more time.
Carlos Correa, SS: $5,000 – The Astros are driving and Correa is the main cog. He’s super expensive, and I can’t remember calling out a 5K dude this season, but with the value I’m tossing here, you can probably wedge him in and he’ll be worth it.
Colby Rasmus, OF: $3,600 – As I wrote this, Rasmus crushed one Friday night, so it looks like a chase, but he’s a play vs. RHP anytime and especially in a park like Arizona.
Justin Ruggiano, OF: $2,700 – Rugs is just the kind of guy you want to play tonight. Great handedness matchup against Robbie Erlin in Los Angeles and possibly batting near the top.
Logan Schafer, OF: $2,000 – Schafer has been turning out double-digit games, five in the last 11 games, and he gets a vs. RHP matchup at home in Miller Park. At minimum salary.
Bryce Harper, OF: $4,600 – The last two are the usual suspects. Harper, if he plays, has the look of a dude that would cash out a lost season, team-wise, with a 3 HR bang…..
Nelson Cruz, OF: $4,900 – ….and Cruz is the same in Seattle against LHP Sean Nolin.
I’m Only Happy When It Rains
The East Coast has been getting a lot of rain and there have been many rainouts, but there are no Thunderstorms in the forecast, but a lot of clouds in the East so check the weather for sure.
Doing Lines In Vegas
The early lines have the Astros and Diamondbacks as well as the A’s and Mariners at 8.5 while Zack Greinke enjoys a -250 odds to win against the Padres.
