Washington rookie outfielder Brian Goodwin played the unsung hero Friday night on a team with many heroes going 3-for-4 and mashing two home runs, including a game-tying solo shot in the seventh inning. If there’s one thing Brian Goodwin’s good for it’s winning. Obvious and bad pun is obvious and bad. Regardless, Brian also set the stage for the…good win, with a single in the 10th that moved a runner to third and let Bryce Harper do what he does. I’m trying to tell you this doode is clutch, and if he continues to be clutch batting second between Trea Turner and Bryce Harper, he should definitely be on your radar and in Dusty Baker’s daily lineup. Can you imagine being sandwiched between Trea and Bryce? Mmm. Oh, I’m all flustered now. I need a few minutes. Goodwin is slashing .265/.326/.578 with six homers and 15 RBI in 32 games this year, and has been stuck in a platoon for the majority of the season. With Jayson Werth hobbled, Goodwin has been given more opportunity lately to shine and he’s done that with a monster month, slashing .288/.358/.678 with three doubles, six homers and 12 RBI in June. Yes, please! That .678 SLG% is especially powerful. See what I did there? Do you want a nerdy stat–how about his .313 ISO. Does that blow your mind? Because considering the sample size it probably shouldn’t, but sure is fun to look at. The risk with Goodwin is he could be a batting average killer (he hit just .208 in May), but he certainly seems to be seeing the ball well lately hitting .289 with 5 homers in the past week. Goodwin is available everywhere, is batting second in one of the best line ups in baseball, and is one of the hottest little potatoes around. If you need an outfielder with some pop and some upside Brian could be a good add and a good win for your team.
Here’s what else I saw in fantasy baseball Friday night:
Luis Castillo – 5.0 IP, 5 hits, 2 ER, 5 BB, 5 K. In his first career start the former Marlins second baseman looked a little shaky, allowing 10 base runners and two home runs over five innings, but to be fair, the Nationals are a bit of a rough first assignment. He was 4-4 with a 2.58 ERA, 1.01 WHIP and 81/13 K/BB ratio before being called up, but the real draw here is that this kid throw high 90s cheeeese and with a match up with the swing-happy Brewers next week he could fair a bit better than he did Friday night. TL;DR Did you say high-risk rookie pitcher? *adds immediately*
Trea Turner – 2-for-5, run, SB (28). He’s not just an infielder. He’s Trea [expletive deleted] Turner. Everyone else is [expletive deleted] treash.
Dansby Swanson – 2-for-4, RBI. He was a BUY! Dan’s be good like that! Click the link so I can make the big bucks! And by big bucks I mean, barely a liveable wage in even the thirdest of world countries.
Jose Urena – 6.0 IP, 5 hits, 0 ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 6th win. That’s four straight quality starts for Urena and this was against the Cubs, and they hit everything! He’s got a 1.50 ERA and 0.94 WHIP over his past three starts and gets the Mets next week. That’s a stream worthy streamer if you are into that kind of thing.
Giancarlo Stanton – 2-for-3, HR (19). More like GONE-carlo Stanton, amirite? His home runs make me smile. The good news is he has four homers in the past two weeks, the bad news is my girlfriend found the secret folder of Giancarlo Stanton photos on my computer labeled “Work Stuff.”
Ian Happ – 2-for-4. What’s the happs with Happ!? Grey told you to BUY and he’s hitting .385 with 3 homers and steal in the past week! That happens to be three good reasons why you should pick him up.
Rick Porcello – 6.1 IP, 8 hits, 3 ER, BB, 8 K, 4th win. After losing four in a row this was likely Slick Rick’s best start of the season, and he looked pretty solid up until the 7th. The 1.53 WHIP still scares me, I’m sorry you drafted him so high.
Hanley Ramirez – 1-for-4, HR (10), 2 RBI. Naturally, the DH goes yard on David Ortiz night, as the Red Sawx retire Big Papi’s number. Watching Hanley serves as a bitter reminder to how badly I’m missing Ortiz right now. But now that the number is up, there’s officially no coming back. Speaking of which, why wasn’t Manny there last night? The two were synonymous in this lineup for 10 years, where ya at, Manny!?
Sandy Leon – 3-for-4, HR (5), 4 RBI. Lil Papi! Big hit!
Trevor Bauer – 6.2 IP, 8 hits, 4 ER, BB, 4 K. Well, we all knew it was coming. The Regression Fairies finally paid Trevor an overdue visit. The fairy told him, “Hey Listen! You can use the C arrows to change your view and Z to target!” But Bauer was playing a hacked emulation of the game and his controls were all messed up. Oh well, he gets the Rangers to bounce back.
Logan Morrison – 2-for-5, 3 runs, HR (22), 3 RBI. Still available in little less than half of leagues. Why don’t you add him? Is it because he didn’t follow you back on twitter? He’s slashing .250/.356/.582 with 22 homers and 54 RBI, including 3 bombs in the past week. Batting average scaring you? He’s hitting .306 in the past two weeks. It’s the adamantium bat isn’t it? Add him before Logan goes Berserker on you.
Derek Norris – 3-for-3, HR (9), 2 RBI. Rays scored 15 runs on 11 hits including this gem from Norris who was promptly cut from the roster post game to make room for Wilson Ramos. See kids, that’s what you getting for trying hard. Buncha tryhards.
Ubaldo Jiminez – 2.1 IP, 7 hits, 9 ER, 4 BB, K. He’s got a 7.26 ERA and 1.61 WHIP. Lol. Oh, oh, Orioles. How is this guy still in the major leagues?
Trey Mancini -2-for-4, 2 RBI. Hey! I told you to pick him up last week and he’s hitting .407 since. That was good advice from me that one time!
Brandon Phillips – 2-for-5, HR (6). OK, okay. I don’t like him, you don’t like him. Overall, he is just a crummy human being. But they don’t give fantasy points for niceities. BP is hitting .308 with 3 homers in the past week. That can help your fantasy team!
Mike Foltynewicz – 5.0 IP, 4 hits, ER, 3 BB, 9 K, 5th win. I told you to grab Folty last week for his start this week and this week I’m urging you to buy again twofold. If we throw out an ugly start in Washington, Mike has been superb in June. He gets a cushy start in San Diego next week and you–you already picked him up didn’t you. Okay, I’ll stop.
Khris Davis – 2-for-3, HR (19), SB (3), 2 RBI. Kish Davish hits homers for breakfish! It’s all part of a well balanced slam & legs.
Jameson Taillon – 6.0 IP, 4 hits, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K. Take that, cancer! You crusty old, sorry-faced joker!
Adam Wainwright – 7.0 IP, 2 hits, ER, 2 BB, 5 K. Hey, Adam. Are you ownable yet or nah? Still probably nah, huh?
Jose Martinez – 2-for-4, HR (5), 2 RBI. J-Mart has four homers in the past 10 games hitting .303 in that stretch. Paul DeJong also homered. Basically the Cardinals oufielders are hitting everything right now.
Jake Junis – 6.1 IP, 6 hits, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K. Whenever I say his name I think of the Jonas Brothers, then I bing Jake Jonas and it says, “Did you mean, Joe?” And then I think, “Oh.” and I decide against picking up the Royals rookie.
JA Happ – 6.2 IP, 4 hits, ER, 5 K. He’s got 0.90 WHIP, 14/0 K/BB in past two starts. Just pick up all the Happs this week. It’s easier that way.
Felix Hernandez – 6.0 IP, 8 hits, 3 ER, BB, 6 K, 3rd W. He’s back! And looking more mediocre than ever! Rotoworld advised F-Her is a streamer going forward, but at 80%+ owned, I think most would have a hard time with that. He’s just so popular! Unless of course you play in expert leagues, in which case, you really shouldn’t be reading my blog for advice. Which is the best advice I can give!
Ben Gamel – 2-for-5, HR (4). BUY before he’s all gone! This guy is hitting everything! .444 AVG with 2 homers, 2 steals and 17 runs in the past two weeks! Someone’s putting in extra auditing sessions! It’s strange how the Mariner’s got healthy again all at once. Are they going to start winning now? I feel like they are. My Quantum E-Meter is off the charts!
Mike Zunino – 2-for-4, HR (10), 3 RBI. Another Mariner! Another BUY! Six homers in the past two weeks. Yeah, that’s probably better than whatever is your catcher. Waiit–I didn’t ask who!
Alex Wood – 6.0 IP, 3 hits, ER, 2 BB, 7 K, 8-0. Oh hello, 1.86 ERA. Are you an Ace yet?
Yoenis Cespedes – 3-for-5, 2 runs, HR (9), 3 RBI. His name is Yoenisssss! Batting over .400 in the past week! It’s a Cespedes for the rest of us! It’s a celebration! Gather around the Pole and let Yoenis demonstrate his great feats of strength! Mets scored 11 runs on 20 hits. Yes, you read that correctly. The New York Mets had 20 hits and Michael Conforto was only responsible for three of them. It’s a Festivus miracle!
Lucas Duda – 3-for-5, HR (13). Duda bides–every Friday! Shomer Shabbos! L’Shana tova!
Yu Darvish – 7.0 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, 10 K. Move over Colin McGregor and Floyd Mayweather because the real match up everyone wanted to see is Yu Darvish and Masahiro Tanka (8.0 IP, 3 hits, 0 ER, 2 BB, 9 K), and honestly, it did not disappoint. If I owned these two I probably wouldn’t be so sad all the time. Well, a little xanax will put out that fire. Ahh, now excuse me while I spend the next three hours sighing calmly.
Brett Gardner – 2-for-4, HR (14), SB (10). Ronald Torreyes hit a walk-off single in the 10th but Gardner was the real hero last night. Y Yu Mad? Oh, because of Brett Gardner. Yeah, I can see that.
Matt Bush – 1.2 IP, 5 hits, 2 ER, 2 K. Has now blown back to back save opportunities. Keone Kela and Jose LeClerc are your speculative adds here, in that order. But Bush might not be done destroying your teams ratios just yet.
Tyler Austin – Chris Carter former home run king and X-Files guru was sent down, womp womp, giving a chance for youngster Austin to show me what he’s got. He was slashing .300/.366/.560 in AAA, and was in the midst of a mini-tear with 3 homers in the past four games. Oh lez break it derrrn! He should see plenty of time at first for now if he hits and the way the Yankees prospects have overshined this season, he’s worth a shot. Seriously, I just want a little piece of this Baby Bombers action this year. I like home runs. This could be my chance. He could be the next Greg Bird!
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!
