I Mustache Why You Don’t Own Danny Espinosa?… And The Top 100 Hitters, Week 14

Now, to be fair, the player profile pictures for Danny Espinosa are dated and not fully current. But I’ll be damned if he doesn’t own the belt for the best profile picture in recent history. Outside of sleepy Adam Jones, you just can’t beat what awaits you when you click on the Creeper of the Week’s profile picture on any single site you choose to play fantasy baseball on. Go ‘head. Pause reading this. I give permission (but come back!!!). Check out Espinosa’s profile. But WAIT! Before you do…when you’re there, go ahead and pick him up, too. Why you ask? Well, I mustache you the question of why he isn’t already on your roster? Have you freaking seen what he’s done lately?!? Let’s highlight this creeper (who in any other context with that facial hair would overwhelmingly be a massive creeper. Cust sayin’)…

• Danny Espinosa, 2B/SS (28.5% owned) – .291/22/9/22/2 was his line over the past 30 days heading into his 4-5, 2R/2HR/6RBI performance on Sunday for 10 total bases. Listen, when you look at his total stats, the AVG may turn you away, but it’s time to stop being turned away and just jump on board for the, to quote Super Troopers, mustache ride as fast as you can. Espinosa has essentially carried the Nationals lineup and my fantasy team over the pas few weeks, all to the chagrin of Trea Turner. With MI being the barren wasteland that it can be after the top tiers of top names, Espinosa has more than earned himself the honor of locking into your team’s MI or, for many an owner, SS positions. He’s always had great pop, and has some wheels to burn; it’s just been the AVG that’s the crutch (a .230 career mark). In 2016, though, his power is up (.216 ISO), his BB% doubled from 2014, and his AVG sits at his career line of .230 despite a BABIP 40 points under his career line (.251 to .294). In other words, this could actually maintain and continue to improve. The key here is ‘could’ since Turner is waiting in the wings of the minors, and Espinosa has a history of cooling off faster than someone taking the ‘Ice Bucket Challenge,’ but he’s more than worth a roster addition after blasting 11 HR in the past 30 days and finishing third among all SS in total bases behind just Corey Seager and Ian Desmond, and ahead of guys like Manny Machado and Francisco Lindor. Mustache, beard, or currently clean shaven, go and get ’em.

Enough creepin’…Here are those Top 100 Hitters for Week 14!

RED = Falling
GREEN = Rising
BLUE = New to the 100

Dropped from Rankings: Lorenzo Cain (52), Dexter Fowler (70), A.J. Reed (88), Jurickson Profar (96), Jayson Werth (97)

• Not a ton of notes, but the injuries top bigger names continue to fall. This week Fowler and Cain, both whom were dropping, hit the shelf. Maybe this is the reason why they were dropping?!? Either way, Kansas City has emerged from Cain’s absence with Kendrys Morales (new to this list) remembering what it looks like to carry the team as a DH. And in Minnesota, another DH returns, this time from the DL in Miguel Sano.
• I’ve has some serious bad luck with my recent highlights, both here and in the Two-Start Pitchers Rankings. Last week’s touting of Brandon Nimmo has paid dividends so far, but the A.J. Reed, Jayson Werth, and Jurickson Profar spotlights look really bad after I drop all three from this week’s rankings. While Werth and Profar have been good, they’ve been outplayed and not getting enough playing time, respectively, to stay in the mix. Reed? Haha, I dropped him just 5 days into the experiment.
• Lastly, there’s a crop through the middle from Dozier to Schoop that I love. I seriously try to own those guys trending up on every team. I don’t see them slowing down, but they’re about to reach that tier where they’re ceiling comes into play.

So…what are YOUR thoughts? DROP A COMMENT, let’s dialogue about this. And since it’s asked every week…THESE RANKINGS ARE ROS VALUE. Think of it like a trade value primer.

Good luck in Week 14! Check back at the beginning of next week for the 15th edition!