Howdy folks! I hope everyone has enjoyed the opening weekend festivities, and that your team has given you a glimmer of optimism after their first series—or second if you’re a fan of the Dodgers or Padres. After watching the Milwaukee Brewers sweep the Mets, the sting of Corbin Burnes’ departure has dulled, despite his Opening Day dominance. I find myself full of cautious, yet unwarranted, optimism. God, I hope it lasts.
With three-plus games under each team’s belt, we have a small taste of what to expect regarding lineup construction and playing time. Let’s cover some of the implications of that, along with some interesting performances so far, and glean what we can from our minuscule sample.
Corey Seager is working on his Night Moves
A few weeks back, there was a general unease about Corey Seager’s outlook post-sports hernia surgery, and we weren’t sure if he’d be ready for Opening Day. His ADP had lagged a tiiiiny bit in mid-March, and who can blame anyone hesitant to draft him? The injury bug had already started hitting early drafters in full force. That said, folks who took advantage of the discount nabbed themselves an excellent value. *leans in* This was me in TGFBI. *wink*
In his first two games, Seager was his usual self, attacking pitches early in the count and going 5-for-10. While Ezequiel Duran took his place at shortstop for the last game of the series against the Cubs (and hit pretty well himself), some early-season load management shouldn’t be a shock. The Rangers have the Rays next, and Seager should find himself right back in the lineup. Hopefully, as he keeps finding his groove, it looks less like he’s hitting Against the Wind, and he starts making some drive-in (runs) news.
Brice Turang is attempting to build the world’s biggest pillow fort
At least that’s what I assume he’s doing with all the pillows he’s been stealing. With four swiped in the three-game set against the Mets, I found myself staring at my stolen base column in all my deeper roto leagues wondering if I undervalued this type of player during draft season. I already feel it haunting me.
I can envision Brice Turang standing atop the parapet of a 500-thread-count castle of his creation. He stares down at me warily, weighing whether I am worthy of entry. His archers (Brewers teammates, armed with NERF blasters) have their sights trained on me. He asks me what the passcode is. I’m drawing a blank. Desperate for some sort of guidance, I frantically pray to a god who abandoned me long ago for divine intervention.
And then I wake up.
Anyway. Turang is a strong-side platoon bat whose defense will keep him in the lineup regularly. He puts up excellent contact numbers, and the aggressiveness on the basepaths looks like a team-wide philosophy based on what I saw watching the series against the Mets. Call it an overreaction to a small sample, or a classic case of homerism cope, but I think he could damn well steal 40 bags this year, and that’s valuable… depending on the depth of the league you’re in.
Jonathan India hitting leadoff
Please appreciate this meme that took me 30 seconds of research to make:
If memes aren’t your fancy, and this wasn’t enough to sell you on Jonathan India, lemme hit you with some cold hard facts.
- He hit leadoff in every game in the opening series; two against righties, and one against a lefty, making him seemingly platoon-proof; and
- He’s reached base safely in each game so far.
With Matt McLain’s shoulder pains ending his reign over the middle infield domain, TJ Friedl’s wrist more akin to crumbling schist after an awkward twist, and Noelvi Marte’s suspension putting a damper on his long-awaited ascension—India has plenty of runway to land this bird. The next 6-8 weeks are an audition for India, and there’s a good shot that even when some of these guys come back, he holds on to the job.
Anyone that I missed that you hoped I would cover? Hit me in the comments and we can chat about it.
You rolled me away with those Seger references. Nicely done!
I have no right to make those references considering the year listed on my driver’s license, but here we are. Thanks!
If SBs was a category that you weren’t in dire straits for, Westburg > EDLC? The K’s as advertised seem to be a real issue for him
Unless K’s are a hitter stat in your league, you still absolutely take Elly.
12 teamer, deep bench. Edman on my IL, who gets dropped whenever he comes back? Merrifield, McNeil, Berti.
Any salaries involved?
Berti and Merrifield are the ones that I’d bump here; Berti shouldn’t see the field as much outside of spelling guys for days off if Oswaldo Cabrera continues to look good, and Merrifield is *probably* just a platoon bat vs LHP, which will limit his opportunities.
Neto over any of these guys?? No salary…5×5 roto.
I’d lean toward keeping Neto since his playing time is more secure.
Thoughts on Jose Cabillaro…playing every day, think he holds the job? How many bags do you he steals? Thank you!
Like Caballero in deeper leagues for sure. The intent is there to steal plenty of bags despite only going 1 for 2 so far. He could join Turang in the pillow fort.