My baller has a first name, it’s W-I-L.My baller has a second name, it’s M-Y-E-R-S.Oh I love to watch him everyday, and if you ask me why say,
This week’s No Whammies! is dedicated to Wil Myers. Is it due to the good looks, sweet swing, and old school, no batting gloves thing? Hope he doesn’t pee on his hands like Moises Alou. Or maybe it’s because he looks like a certain Game of Thrones character…
Naw, it’s due to the fact that he’s scored nine runs, collected 12 hits (five home runs), driven in 10, and stolen two bases in 25 at-bats over the past week. Imagine if he played on a real team. His ownership would, for sure, be over 84%. On the season, he’s hitting .292 with 40 R, 13 HR, 37 RBI, and 8 SB. He did win the AL Rookie of the Year (2013) hitting .293 with 13 home runs and five stolen bases in only 88 games. Then, the sophomore and junior slumps happened, eradicating all the non-believers from the Wil Myers train. Hello…helloo…hellooo..helloooo…So, what to make of Myers going forward. While his strikeout rate is at a decent 20.8%, his walk rate is at a career-low 6.2%. A .322 BABIP is not too crazy. What stood out to me were his contact rates. His 81% contact rate is a career-high and the outside the zone contact rate is 68.8% vs a career average of 58.6%. He’s pulling the ball at a career-low rate and going up the middle at a career-high rate. I love seeing that change, as it shows that he’s not selling out for power and letting the game come to him. The one obvious red flag is the injury concern. He has not played over 90 games in a big league season. If you’ve read any of my stuff, you know I’m a believer in C.R.E.A.M. What is Myer’s contract situation looking like? What do you know!!! He’s signed for 1 year/$523,900. Things that make you go hmmmmm.
So, Eduardo Nunez has nine home runs and 12 stolen bases in 52 games in 2016. He never hit more than five home runs in a season, but did steal 22 bases back in 2011. He never received consistent playing time with the Yankees due to some guys named Derek Jeter and Robinson Cano. Now with Minnesota, Nunez is playing everyday at shortstop and batting leadoff. I like that he’s going to the opposite field more, but the 2.8% walk rate just isn’t going to cut it. Couple that with a .349 BABIP, expect some lean times ahead. I think Nunez will remain valuable, due to his multi-position eligibility and order in the batting lineup, but he gets a whammy because he won’t stay on this heater.
The Phillies finally put down their non-hitting, non-fielding, non-running first baseman Ryan Howard .
Then Phillies fans realize that Howard is owed $25,000,000 this year and $23,000,000 next year.
Yo Tommy Boy!!! Tommy Joseph has now replaced Howard at first base. He kind of looks like Dan Aykroyd…
But he’s got a .319 average with 10 R, 7 HR, 12 RBI, and 1 SB in 73 plate appearances so far. He does strike out a lot (26%) and is allergic to the walk (2.7%). He doesn’t profile as a huge power/speed/average guy, but he’s batting in the middle of the order for the Phillies. In a limited sample size, he’s mashing lefties (.421 avg with two home runs) and holding his own against righties (.280 avg with five home runs). He’s probably more a cheap DFS play, so….
So, CC Sabathia is channeling LL Cool J these days. On the season, he’s posting a 2.28 ERA, 1.21 WHIP with 49 strikeouts in 59 1/3 innings. He has shut out the opposition in four of his past six games. Earlier this spring, he went to the G.O.A.T. and asked him for help on throwing the cutter. CC is a smart man. Now, the advanced metrics, particularly xFIP, show that Sabathia is due for a huge correction: 4.61 xFIP vs 2.28 ERA. The LOB % is high at 80.6% and BABIP is .275. With that said, Sabathia has altered his repertoire, ditching the curveball and four-seam fastball and throwing more cutters and changeups. As a result, hard and soft hit % are at career-best levels. Home run-to-fly ball rate is at a ridiculously low 3.2%. Is Sabathia going to be a sub-3 ERA pitcher? Probably not and he’s not a big strikeout guy anymore, but he can help your fantasy team with the change in arsenal and approach.
Good luck this week. You can reach SON on the Twitter @Stan_Son.
