The season is cruising along and just like every year before this, Giancarlo Stanton has hit the IL. Last week I touched on Mike Tauchman saying, “If Gardner continues to struggle at the dish, don’t be surprised if Tauchman gets extra at-bats in his stead.” Turns out it was a Stanton injury that opened to door to regular ABs for Mike Tauchman. In Saturday’s doubleheader, Tauchman played both games, batting 6th and 7th. Looking back to 2019, the lefty slugger was decent against both lefties and righties, posting a .247 ISO vs. righties and a .413 wOBA against lefties. The most impressive part of Tauchman’s abilities is his plate discipline as he put up double-digit walk rates against both lefties and righties. If you’re still searching for speed, grab Mike Tauchman now as he’s only owned in 8.5% of ESPN leagues and 40% in CBS Sports leagues. Let’s take a look at some other players to grab to give you a head start on your opponents.
Dylan Moore, SS/OF (19.8% ESPN; 16% CBS) – If you’re in the market for speed, the Mariners are your team. In addition to Shed Long, J.P. Crawford, and Tim Lopes – who have three steals apiece – Dylan Moore has a trio of steals. Hell, even old-man Kyle Seager has a pair of steals. Moore comes with multi-positional eligibility and has been hitting second for Seattle. With the team showing their willingness to be aggressive on the basepaths, I’d expect Moore to continue swiping bases.
Trevor Rosenthal, RP (22.1% ESPN; 28% CBS) – If you’re playing that SAGNOF game, Trevor Rosenthal is the newest arm in the closer carousel. On top of earning the last three saves for the Royals, Rosenthal has posted a 41.7% strikeout rate while issuing no free passes – something the hard-throwing righty struggled with a year ago. Saves have been such a dice roll this year, so grab Rosenthal while you can.
Anthony DeSclafani, SP (37.4% ESPN; 59% CBS) – When I started taking notes for this article, Tony Disco wasn’t as highly owned as he is now. Nonetheless, I wanted to make a quick note about him just in case he’s available in your leagues. DeSclafani has thrown 11 shutout innings in two starts and gets a lovely matchup against the Pirates on Friday. He makes for a nice streamer towards the end of the week and could earn a permanent spot on your roster if the success continues.
Zach Davies, SP (15.0% ESPN; 27% CBS) – Zach Davies is off to a nice start for the Padres, allowing 5 ERs over 15.2 innings. He’s upped his strikeout rate to a solid 22% and a big difference from his 15.2% just a year ago. Davies has changed up his pitch mix upping his cutter usage from 10% to 25% this year. Thus far, it’s kept batters off balance. This week Davies gets a matchup on Wednesday against the Dodgers. As good as he’s looked, that’s a pass for me. However, next Monday, Davies gets the Rangers in Glove Life Park. I’ll be targeting Davies as a stream that day.
Stadiums Taking Off the Top
We had a couple of surprising games recently where the Diamondbacks and Rangers decided to open the roof on random 100 degree days. August 5th was the day that Arizona opened their roof. Robbie Ray was on the mound for the Diamondbacks while Lance McCullers took the mound for the Astros. What ensued was a 21 run, 32 baserunner game that reminded us just what the roof/humidor did to calm Chase Field. This past Monday was the day they opened the roof on Globe Life Park. The stadium has favored pitchers up to this point in the season with games averaging just 6 runs total. I can only imagine that when Kyle Gibson heard that they were opening the roof he was like, “Why are you doing this to me??” The Mariners put up 10 runs last night and the game total of 12 was the highest-scoring game at the park this year. While you’ll have to stay vigilant to take advantage of this information, it’s quite useful in daily leagues for streaming hitters and knowing when to sit a pitcher. Here’s where you can find the roof information at Chase Field. Unfortunately, Globe Life Park’s roof doesn’t have it’s own page yet.
Coors Report
The Rockies are currently hosting the Diamondbacks but will host the Rangers later this week. The Rangers have been floundering some, but Coors should provide some relief. Some of the fringe players that I’ll be looking to add are Todd Frazier (20.9% ESPN; 16% CBS), Nick Solak (17.4% ESPN; 31% CBS), and maybe Robinson Chirinos (2.6% ESPN; 34% CBS) if you’re streaming catchers.
Good luck this week!
