Hope all you dads had a Happy Father’s Day. I’ve got a question. How do “they” decide the actually holiday dates? Is there a town hall meeting? An internet poll? Is this why we cage monkeys so one can be selected to throw darts at a board? Is there any rhyme or reason to it all? Do chaos and disorder reign supreme? The only thing I could come up with was that Father’s Day marks the day when baseball is the only sport left to fill the consciousness of dads in the USA. I don’t count soccer yet. No more basketball. No more hockey. Gives those lovers of pucks and hoops a day to drink and BBQ their sorrows away. Father’s Day means the dog days of summer are upon us. The weather in LA went from 70 to 90 degrees this weekend. Amazing how that works. Anyways, this is the time when complacency starts to set in for some owners. Some start preparing for football, while others…I don’t know…start doing other stuff for whatever reason. For those folk, here is an inspirational song to lift your spirits, which segues perfectly to the title of this week’s piece: Too Legit to Whit.
Whit Merrifield is a 27 year old player that’s been stuck in the Royals farm system for six years. With the Royals deciding to part ways with Omar Infante, Merrifield has assumed the starting second base position, as well as the leadoff role. He’s a career .274/.334/.399 hitter in 6 1/3 minor league seasons. He’s never reached double digits in home runs but has a 32 stolen base season. So far, in 123 big league plate appearances, Merrifield has been great, but there are some red flags. He’s only walking 2.4% of the time and his BABIP is an insane .400. As long as he bats leadoff and plays every day, he’s going to provide value. Just don’t expect his current heater to be the norm.
The red-haired Justin Turner has finally erupted in LA. Microfracture knee surgery in the offseason left him in the fantasy draft doldrums, but all seems to be right now. Manager Dave Roberts never wavered from Turner, expressing the notion that he was close to getting his timing down. His patience has been rewarded as Turner has been red hot. His average sits at .248 with a .262 BABIP. Turner’s career norms are .279 average and .314 BABIP, so the upward trajectory could continue. The Dodgers are an inconsistent, but deadly lineup, and Turner bats in the middle of it. I’ve never been a fan of red heads, but I’ll make an exception this one time.
Dusty Baker recently said that Michael Taylor had a chance to be the starting center fielder for the Nationals if he played well when Ben Revere was hurt. Sure Dusty. Taylor and Revere are going to be Bosom Buddies in centerfield, with Taylor being the ugly one. Taylor has the tantalizing power/speed combo, but…there’s always a but. He strikes out 30% of the time and only walks 5%. Plus, he’s not going to get consistent playing time. Baker won’t play Trea Turner. You think he’s going to play Taylor consistently?
Everytime I think of Didi Gregorius, this song always plays in my head. P Didi and Notorious Gregorius? Yay? Nay? Anyways, P Didi doesn’t walk (3.7%), but doesn’t strike out either (10.8%). What he does have is an elite contact rate (85.6%), good for 28th among all batters in MLB. His BABIP is .296 so his numbers seem to be legit. He probably won’t crack double-digits in stolen bases, but could get there in home runs. He bats toward the bottom of the Yankees lineup, but the ballpark is very friendly for left-handed batters. He’s not sexy and won’t carry your fantasy team, but he could be a nice band-aid if you need SS or MI help.
So, Tyler Wilson shut out the Boston Red Sox for eight innings with six strikeouts last week. Tyler who? Perry? Wilson is a 26-year-old right-handed pitcher. He spent five seasons in the Orioles system before getting a cup of coffee last year (36 innings). In 67 innings this season, Wilson is 3-5 with a 4.16 ERA and 1.18 WHIP. He has a 4.84 K/9 and .253 BABIP. If you haven’t scrolled to the end of the page yet, his fastball velocity is 89.7 mph. What’s that they say? A broken clock is right twice a day? A blind squirrel runs into an acorn occasionally? That’s Wilson in a…nut shell. Thank you. Thank you. Please leave your donations in the tip jar when you exit.
Good luck this week. You can reach SON on the Twitter @Stan_Son.
