Tommy Edman continued his hot hitting Friday night going 2-for-4 with his sixth and seventh home runs and 3 RBI. Have a day, rook! He’s now batting .344 with 8 runs, 2 home runs, 4 RBI and two steals in the past week. *Pro tip* that will help your fantasy team! Tommy Boy struggled a bit to adjust after his initial call up but he hit .308 in August and seems to be have locked down the starting third baseman job in St. Louis. The Cardinals sit atop the NL Central with a 2.5 game lead and Edman could be a big reason why. Of the Cards starters, only Kolten Wong is hitting for a higher average and that could be the craziest sentence I’ve written all season. Did I mention that one of Edman’s shots pegged a Pittsburgh fan right in the groin? Lol! Take that you smug, yinzer! So pleased with yourselves regarding all this Antonio Brown drama. Smh. A home run ball right in the crotch should take you down a few pegs. So, are you convinced yet? Edman steals bases, he hits dingers, he’s eligible at multiple positions, he hits for average and he even knows how to stick it to Steelers nation. Did I mention he has a three game series at Coors starting on Tuesday? Yes, please! I’d add Edman everywhere I needed some speed with some pop and he could be a good addition to any team who’s in need of a solid bat for the rest of the season.
Here’s what else I saw Friday night in fantasy baseball:
Jhoulys Chacin – 2.0 IP, 0 hits, 0 ER, 4 K. Run the Jhoulys! Now THAT was unexpected. Maybe it’s just me, but when I heard “bullpen day” and “New York Yankees” I was a tad concerned. Maybe it’s Chacin’s 5.66 ERA and 1.52 that scared me off. Regardless the Crown Jhoulys excelled in a game that David Price was too afraid to start. Curious to see if Boston will try to stretch him out more going forward.
Mitch Moreland – 3-for-4, HR (15), 3 RBI. Birffdayyy. It’s yo birffday. When he dies bury him inside the Gucci store. Mitch was just feeling it at 34 and delivered his best game in over a month. Hopefully we don’t have to wait another year for his next good game.
Domingo German – 4.1 IP, 3 hits, 5 ER, 4 BB, 5 K. Yeeeaaah, well, kind of what we expected, right? German has been outstanding, but if he’s the Yankees Ace heading into October, they’re going to have to hit even more home runs to win, and they already hit 61 (!) in August. Houston’s SP trio is looking pretty scary compared to what NY has to offer.
Dallas Keuchel – 6.0 IP, 6 hits, 0 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, 7th win. ERA at 3.47, his 5th straight quality start in a row. And I mean quality, too. Six innings or more 2 ER or less. I wonder if sitting out the first half of the season made Keuchel even more effective. Everyone around him is tiring and he’s just hitting his groove.
Patrick Corbin – 5.0 IP, 3 hits, ER, 6 BB, 9 K. SIX WALKS!? I’m TRYNA MAKE THE PLAYOFFS UR KILLIN’ ME, BRO.
Shane Greene – 1.0 IP, 2 K, SV (1). His 13th straight scoreless appearance and first save as a Brave. How long before he steals the job from Mark Melancon (who got lit up on Thursday)? IDK!
Ozzie Albies – 2-for-4, HR (20). Slashing .290/.350/.490 with 20 HR, 74 RBI and 15 steals. I know! Pathetic.
Josh Donaldson – 1-for-2, HR (35). Now that’s more like it! Give me an aging slugger, one bad swing away from injuring himself for the season on his way to 40 bombs over Albies measly 20 dingers any day.
Hunter Dozier – 2-for-4, HR (25). See above. If you don’t have 35 home runs already this year, you’re not worth my time.
Brendan McKay – 3.2 IP, 1 hit, 0 ER, 7 K. I’ve streamed McKay so much this season, and overall it’s gone pretty poorly. He is my kryptonite. He looked like he was on a pretty strict pitch count Friday and I was hoping he’d get an opener for this one so he’d have a shot at a win. Sigh. Nope. He suuure looked dominant though. Better hold onto him a little longer. At least until he burns me again.
Steven Matz – 5.2 IP, 6 hits, 2 ER, 3 BB, 4 K versus Zach Eflin – 5.0 IP, 6 hits, 2 ER, 6 K. This game was billed as “Two Pitchers I’ve Been Streaming All Season but Aren’t Good Enough to Own.” I think Matz came out on top, but only because he injured Bryce Harper.
Bryce Harper – Matz got him on the hand. X-Rays were negative, but Harper is day to day. You didn’t need him to play this week or anything, did you?
J.T. Realmuto – 2-for-5, HR (23). His third straight game with a dinger! That’s what a home run from the number 1 catcher in fantasy baseball looks like everybody! Pretty impressive, right?
Willie Calhoun – 2-for-5, 2 HR (18), 4 RBI. He’s been brutal in the batting average department lately so this game was nice to see. Now that he’s playing every day Willie is showing us what he got, but he’s still just bad enough that we’ll all be able to draft him next year. Atta boy, Willie. You can hit as many home runs as you want as long as you continue to bat .230. Just ask Rougned Odor how he does it.
Anthony Santander – 1-for-5, HR (18). His fourth homer in the past week. Add Santander and cash that fantasy baseball check. You’ll be laughing all the way to the bank. Santander bank!
Jorge Lopez – 6.0 IP, 4 hits, 0 ER, 5 K, 3rd win. Lowered his ERA to 6.23 with the start. He gets the White Sox next. Pick him up if you hate yourself.
Cole Hamels – 3.1 IP, 9 hits, 5 ER, 2 BB, 3 K. Hamels looks like he’s fading a bit from where he was in June, but to be fair this start was at Miller Park. He gets a cushy start in PetCo next week, then you can decide whether you still like him or not.
Zach Davies – 5.0 IP, 3 hits, ER, BB, 4 K. The Brewers Ace! I feel like it’s a new pitcher every month! I guess the 3.69 ERA and 1.34 WHIP aren’t that bad. And he gets Miami next week.
Nick Castellanos – 2-for-4, HR (24). His 13th home run with the Cubs! He like-a the sauce! Seriously, I know the Tigers got a big park but I’m starting to think Nick was throwing. Please report.
Christian Yelich – 3-for-4, HR (44), 3 RBI. Batting .326/.421/.672 with 44 homers, 96 RBI and 27 stolen bases. Ya well, Trout’s got 45 homers. So whatever.
Lucas Giolito – 7.0 IP, 3 hits, 2 ER, BB, 6 K. I drafted Trevor Bauer as my Ace and yes while I am currently seeing someone to talk about my problem I have to credit Lucas Giolito for saving me and my season. Like for realsies, the 3.27 ERA, 1.07 WHIP are so sweet but the 216/56 K/BB. *swooons* He’s a top 10 starter next year who I’ll never be able to draft so I’ll just cherish the time we have together now. *cherishes time*
Tim Anderson – 2-for-4, HR (16). The home run total is quite yawnstipating considering what everyone else is doing but was just shocked by the .333/.354/.514 triple-slash line and the 16 steals. A possible 20-20 guy, this dude could win the batting title!
Justin Upton – 1-for-4, HR (12). Brian Goodwin and Luis Rengifo also homered. Mike Trout left this game because his toe hurt and the squad knew they had to step up. Three home runs by other players equals one Trout home run, if you’re going to win the game. And they did.
Framber Valdez – 4.0 IP, 2 hits, 3 ER, 6 BB, 6 K. I ALMOST streamed this joker. But I looked at his past starts and they are just not very good. He’s got some strikeout upside, but the best thing Valdez has going for him is his team. And that will remain the biggest plus going into his start versus Oakland next week.
Josh Reddick – 1-for-4, HR (12). Why aren’t you Kyle Tucker!?
Christin Stewart – 2-for-4, HR (8). His first home run since his return from the DL. I was pretty high on Christin going into the year, but I could have just been pretty high. Still, she’s really pretty and a decent actress and I think she should get a Marvel movie if she wants one.
Joe Jimenez – 1.0 IP, 1 hit, K, SV (6). Saves in back 2 back days! The elusive Detroit save opportunity, rarely seen but twice in a week?? That’s a gotta be a goocher! Joe’s rockin’ a solid 4.78 ERA but he’s the de facto closer in the ‘Roit so own if you must.
Dinelson Lamet – 6.0 IP, 6 hits, ER, BB, 4 K. Has now strung together two solid starts. One more and I might consider drafting you next year!
Jairo Diaz – 1.0 IP, K, SV (1). If you’re as desperate for saves as I am for positive feedback Diaz is about as close to a closer as you’re going to get on the deeper league waiver wires this late in the season. Grab him for some tasty SAGNOF and @me with compliments if you like!
Mauricio Dubon – 3-for-4, HR (2), 3 RBI. The rookie is batting .438 with two homers in the past week! Unfortunately, he’s not starting considering how crowded that San Francisco infield is with studs. *coughs* Just in case he does carve out a starting role for himself, I’ll be watching him closer than the final three episodes of Dark Crystal. This might be the nerdiest show I’ve ever been obsessed with, you guys. I tried to watch it with my girlfriend and she almost broke up with me. Don’t trust the Skeksis my Gelfing friends! They seem unnecessarily gross and suspiciously evil looking to be trusted with anything. I mean tbh, the Crystal is probably better off in podling hands. Lol! I kid!
Jeff Samardzija – 6.0 IP, 5 hits, 3 ER, 3 K, 10th win versus Clayton Kershaw 4.0 IP, 7 hits, 3 ER, 3 BB, 6 K. Samardzija has a 3.64 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and 131/43 K/BB while Kersh is sporting a slightly cleaner 3.06 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 171/36. One was drafted in like the 6th round, the other I picked up off waivers. Who would you rather have?
A.J. Pollock – 3-for-4, 3 HR (13). Yeah well, you need about 5 more of these games in the next two weeks if you’re going to catch up to the rest of your team.
Robbie Ray – 4.1 IP, 3 hits, 3 ER, 3 BB, 8 K. Left the game with blistahs on his finaghs!
Ketel Marte – 3-for-4, HR (31), 3 RBI. OK, Ketel Black has got to be the biggest surprise of the season for me. He’s slashing .331/.390/.598 with 31 bombs, 93 runs scored, 88 RBI and 9 steals. Who even are you anymore?
Michael Pineda – 6.0 IP, 4 hits, ER, 2 BB, 10 K. Fastball dead? Career over? Head to Minnesota for a full career rejuvenation. We did if for Odorizzi and Pineda and we can do it for you, too!
Eugenio Suarez – 3-for-5, HR (42), 4 RBI. Slashing .268/.346/.559 with the 42 homers and 92 RBI. His fourth in the past week and 8th in the past two weeks. That’sa lotta dingers. Just think, if you drafted Eugenio Suarez over Giancarlo Stanton you’d be winning your fantasy league right now. OK, maybe don’t think about that.
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!
