Week 16 is here and upon us, and it is stacked with some intriguing inter-league play, as well as a couple teams fitting 8 games into 7 days. With Inter-League, if you happen to have Giancarlo Stanton, Nelson Cruz, or Yordan Alvarez, pay attention to their lineups. While I plan on laying out a couple special players this week to give you that competitive edge, there are also a few players returning the IL that could pay dividends down the stretch. Most likely he has been stashed on IL, but Chris Sale is inching closer to returning, and looking good! The White Sox are about to be whole again as both Luis Robert and Eloy are playing in rehab games. Cookie Carrasco is eyeing a return this upcoming week, as is Aaron Sanchez if you can need to stash some arms. If you have hung around this long, it’s a labor of love…We have made it 16 weeks, and if your league is the traditional 24 weeks….2 months left. Let’s go!!
Runs/SB
Jon Berti,2B/3B/SS/OF,MIA-12% rostered in Yahoo- The Marlins are set to do a little DH’ing this week with a 2 game series vs the Orioles before returning home to face the Yankees. This is a very challenging recommendation considering he has to get on base to steal bases, but with SB’s becoming so difficult to find, Berti has the speed to deliver a couple. Despite the .190 ave over the past 30 days, he does have 4 SB’s without being caught. Add in the fact that Jazz and Cooper aren’t expected back anytime soon, and there you go.
Garrrett Hampson, 2B,SS,OF,COL-46% rostered in Yahoo- How many times can I go back to the same empty well? As many times as the process leads me there. The Rockies have inter-league play against the Angels (11th most SB allowed) and then the Padres (7th most SB allowed). Hampson may have let me down last week, but I expect Hilliard to sit vs the lefties.
Honorable Mention: Brandon Nimmo, OF, NYM-32% rostered in Yahoo- Nimmo is back to doing what he does best. Get on base (.403 OBP since July 3rd). In that span he has scored 12 runs. If you find yourself constantly losing Runs, go and Find Nimmo as they play 8 this week with a heavy RHP series of games.
HR/RBI
Brandon Marsh, OF, LAA-21% rostered in Yahoo- Recently called up, and already hitting in the 5-hole, Marsh will be someone that should double roster % over the next couple weeks. Rare blend of speed and power should keep him in the lineup. The Angels get to play 7 this week against the Rockies without German and Gray.
Paul DeJong, SS, STL– 28% rostered in Yahoo- After, what felt like, a season long slump, DeJong has finally awoken from his slumber. Over the past 2 weeks he has 3 HR’s and is carrying a .417 average. Extend it out to the past month and he has a 11/5/11/1/.291 The fact that the Cardinals only play 5 isn’t ideal, but grab him while the Cardinals are finally hitting.
Honorable Mention(s): Tyler Naquin, OF, CIN- The Reds will a week longs worth of RHP and Naquin is starting to heat back up with 6RBI and a .364 average. Look for a couple of those balls to leave Wrigley.
Akil Baddoo, OF, DET- Glad to see that there was still some tinder left for Baddoo to heat back up. 10 RBI over the past 14 games and a nice 7 game set which concludes against the Orioles, who are always a hitters’ best friend.
Wins
Cole Irvin, SP, OAK-44% rostered in Yahoo- Irvin has now reeled off 9 straight starts with at least 5 IP. Over that span, he has gone 4-2/2.91ERA/1.10WHIP/39K’s. Irvin will face the Angels, who he just shutout for 7 innings on 7/19.
Jake Odorizzi, SP, HOU-49% rostered in Yahoo- Despite coming off of his most recent start, in which he allowed 4ER over 3 1/3, Odorizzi has looked solid over the past month. In that span, he has gone 2/2.49ERA/1.07WHIP/19K’s. The Astros will travel to Seattle, who have won 6 of 10, but send Kikuchi to the mound in what should be an Astros cakewalk.
Saves and Speculation
David Bednar, RP, PIT– 2% rostered in Yahoo- As the trade deadline looms, Richard Rodriguez is one step closer to being traded to a contender. It is highly assumed that RichRod is gone, so who is next up? With Kyle Crick out of the way, it appears that Bednar is who will step into the role. While there most likely won’t be many saves in Pitt, they have to come from somewhere.
Scott Barlow, RP, KC- 17% rostered in Yahoo- Why do I feel like it’s the same names each week? Because it is. The crazy committee in KC never seems to shake out. All I know is that if I have to choose between Barlow and Holland….#neverHolland
In H2H leagues that require RP, I have a hard time seeing as why the following are still under 50%….
Daniel Bard
Joakim Soria
Hansel Robles
