On Tuesday, the Gods befriended my plans, making the only effect of scattered thunderstorms in the New York area a simple hour rain delay in the Yanks-A’s game. After that, it was a beautiful night for baseball. What began as an unexciting, low-scoring affair, ended in a thrilling come-from-behind, extra-inning A’s victory. Before the game, I was most looking forward to groovin’ to Josh Reddick’s walkup song “Careless Whisper”, and embarrassingly, it wasn’t until I was sitting in my seat and saw the lineups posted on the scoreboard that I remembered he was on the DL. No slow-dancing for me tonight.
I highly encourage everyone to watch the full MLB video I linked to above about, what was at that time, Reddick’s new walk-up jam. For those of you who need the quick fix, here’s the payoff of the video.
From the professionalism of his attire, you get the sense he’s really letting loose in the moment. And then as soon as the music stops, his demeanor flashes instantly back to his normal stodgy self. This is purely speculation on my part, a modern version of the people-watch-and-invent-stories-of-their-lives game that can make any trip to a metropolitan area more interesting.
Anyhoo! Let’s get down to business with regards to Monday’s games…
Monday Game Stats
24 of 30 teams playing
First Game: Mariners @ Rays – 1:10 PM
Once again, not too many teams getting the day off but neither that, nor my current hangover, will stop me! Let’s see who we can reinforce our squads for Monday’s games.
#163 Kevin Kiermaier (L) – TBR – OF – vs Sea (Ramirez-R) – 1:10 PM – 0% owned
I didn’t know who Kiermaier was last week. You probably didn’t know who Kiermaier was last week. Don’t mean we can’t add him to our fantasy teams, at least while he’s hot schmotatoing and filling in for Wil Myers. Personally, I’d add him for Monday’s game only against the highly-hittable Erasmo. The Rays face Felix today, Wainwright on Tuesday and then Wacha on Wednesday–a fearsome group of pitchers neither you nor Kiermaier should want any part of. So yea, Monday only.
#200 Daniel Santana (S) – Min – 2B/SS/OF – @Tor (Dickey-R) – 7:07 PM – 0% owned
Another hot schmotato alert! Also another player who’s minor league numbers portended nothing of his current major league success (that’s what a .465 BABIP will do for ya). Santana’s .344/.382/.453 slash line in 70 PAs is far above anything he posted at any minor league stop, but the one thing he’s done well throughout his career is steal bases, which should continue. If it never occurred to you to pick up Santana till now, check your squad. If you’ve got, say an Andrelton starting at SS for you, I’d make the change.
#60 Michael Choice (R) – Tex – OF – vs Cle (House-L) – 8:05 PM – 1% owned
Here at Razzball we’re not just about dispensing quality fantasy advice, we’re building something. What’s that you ask? A brick hoooowwuuusse. I admit that has a seriously tenuous connection to Choice facing T.J. House tomorrow; I simply wanted an excuse to watch that video again. J.D.’s face is priceless, priceless I tell ya. Oh yea, I’m also telling you to pick up Choice tomorrow, who is coming off two two (stutterer!) RBI games with a homer. Also watch all the seasons of Scrubs. Except the last couple ones when sh!t gets serious.
#129 Chris Gimenez (R) – Tex – C/CI – vs Cle (House-L) – 8:05 PM – 0% owned
Yes I’m resisting the urge to link to the Scrubs clip a second time, even though I know it’ll cause some of you buffoons to watch it again. Gimenez has been hot fire flames the past… ermmm… nine games. He’s collecting a whole buncha hits, and yea, not much else. But he’s batting .417 with six RBI! In ESPN leagues Gimenez is C eligible only, but in Yahoo he’s got C and CI tags, which provides roster flexibility like you dream about. At least I dream about it.
#160 Josh Harrison (R) – Pit – 2B/3B/OF – vs CHC (Jackson-R) – 7:05 PM – 6% owned
Harrison is doing a great job of quieting the Gregory Polanco outrage, putting up an impressive 21 R, 4 HR, 14 RBI, 2 SB, .313 AVG fantasy line in 128 at-bats for the Pirates. Over the past 14 days he’s been fantasy’s 70th best player and the 27th best outfielder, which is hundo-P way less than the number of OFs owned in your league. That shouldn’t your only logic for picking up a player, but it’s all I’m gonna say here. Compared to the four guys listed above, Harrison is the one I’d want the most long-term.
Here are a few more options for your streaming pleasure:
#144 James Loney – TBR – 1B
#151 Don Kelly – Det – 3B/OF
#147 Derek Jeter – NYY – SS
#82 Chris Carter – Hou – 1B/OF
#88 Didi Gregorius – Ari – SS
Last Time & Season Results
Last Article: 16 AB, 1 R, 0 HR, 2 RBI, 2 SB, .313 AVG
Looks like we had another successful Maximizer, if can say so myself! None of my picks put up a dud, though Jeter’s emplty 1-for-4 evening else is as bland as it gets without being a dud. Gentry didn’t play but still got a steal as a pinch-runner. Hey, I’ll take that. Dickerson got a hit, RBI, and steal in another productive night. Valbuena went 2-for-4 with a run and Krispie had arguably the best night, going 1-for-3 with two walks and an RBI.
Overall that puts us at (per game): .25 R, .05 HR, .4 RBI, .1 SB, .294 AVG
