Koji Uehara has been removed from the closer role temporarily after surrendering two homers in a blown save on Thursday night. This was just the latest in the series of unfortunate innings. In his last six appearances he’s given up a total of 10 runs and 14 hits. Owners know Uehara has been very un-Koji like for a while now, posting a 5.09 ERA in 17.2 innings since the All-Star break, while opponents have batted .307 against him. Bad news for Koji owners, but for those desperate for saves in these final weeks, this news could be Mujica to your ears. Edward Mujica will reportedly take over as closer for the next few days. If you’re scrambling for saves, Edward could be one of the last of the Mujicas available as far as closers go. Is that enough Mujica puns for you? Because I made a whole list of them. Sorry, they’re all pretty bad. Mujica’s numbers aren’t quite as bad, but they’re not great either. He’s got a 4.13 ERA and a 1.36 WHIP on the season, but he’s been much better since the All-Star break posting a 1.53 ERA in 17.2 innings, with batters hitting just .242 off him. He should be able to net you a couple saves over the next week, but he’s no sure thing to lock up the job for the rest of the season. Manager John Farrell said the plan is for Uehara to regain the role, but its certainly possible Mujica could run away with the job. Just don’t drop your Koji Uehraras just yet. Regardless, if you’re as desperate for saves as I am for compliments and affection, Edward Mujica in the closer role could help save your fantasy season.
Here’s what else I saw in fantasy baseball Friday night:
Mookie Betts – 2-for-4, 3 runs, RBI. You think Sawx fans are hesitant to jump on the Mookie bandwagon because his name conjures up images of a certain 1986 world series game? Or is it just because he’s not named Rusney? Castillo by the by was 2-for-3 with a double, two runs and a SB last night with AA Portland. Looking good, he might be worth stashing now, but more importantly, what is that thing on his ear? Regardless, you need to grab Mookie while he’s still out there in half of fantasy leagues. Grey told you to BUY and who knows, players like him can get hot and carry you in your fantasy playoffs. If he can catch fire like he did in the minors earlier in the year, you have one hot little potato on your hands.
Yoenis Cespedes – 4-for-6, 2 RBI, SB (5). Jon Lester who? I love Yoenis. Cespedes drove in the game-winning run in the 10th inning, and as great as Lester is, was and will be, Bret Hart, I imagine Sawx fans are much happier watching Cespedes play every day then watching Lester pitch every fifth day. Dude’s got the power, the arm, the speed. No wonder the A’s can’t hit anymore. Yoenis even makes David Ortiz that much better. They are best friends forever now. For real, David’s son already calls Cespedes, Uncle Yoeney.
Xander Bogaerts – 3-for-5, run, 2 RBI. Oh, no you don’t! When the X-Man has three hits you know the Sawx must have had a good day, and possible mutant powers are at play. Bizarro Fenway! Even Mike Napoli (2-for-5) stole a base! David Ortiz, who has been mashing everything lately, was 0-for-4. Still trying to figure out if this game actually happened or I’m tripping out and this is all just a dream. Either way, I should lay off the psychedelic drugs at least until the holidays.
Casey Janssen – 0.1 IP, 5 hits, 3 ER, BS. Well, things can’t get much worse for Casey, I guess. He already lost the closer job, now he’s just starting to lose friends in the clubhouse. Only Colby Rasmus will talk to him, and everyone hates that guy anyway. Grey told you to BUY Aaron Sanchez and his 0.59 WHIP and 1.52 ERA. If you haven’t grabbed him already, he could be another great add if you need saves down the stretch.
Jose Bautista – 2-for-5, 2-run HR (30). Edwin Encarnacion was also 2-for-5 with 2-run HR (30). The bash brothers both hit two run home runs, and both hit the 30 homer plateau. When they have the same stats, no one gets jealous, and every plays happy. Not to be outdone, Adam Lind had 2 hits with 2 RBI, but no homer because he gave all his power to Colby Rasmus to use on short schedule days.
Melky Cabrera – 1-for-1, run. Broke his pinky finger caught stealing. Done for the season. Ho hum. The Melkman’s been very good, it’s been fun. But get over it. Pick up someone else.
Alex Cobb – 7.0 IP, 6 hits, 0 ER, BB, 6 K. How good has Corny been since the All-Star break? 1.27 ERA, 1.04 WHIP, and 66 Ks in 64.0 innings pitched good. If starting pitchers were closers, Cobb would be a $15 dollar salad, covered in egg, bacon, gruyere cheese AND avocado!
Wei-Yin Chen – 6.0 IP, 4 hits, 0 ER, 3 BB, 3 K. Everyone’s favorite streamer puts together yet another underwhelming start! He gets Boston next week and I suppose you could do worse.
Giancarlo Stanton – 2-for-5, 2 RBI, SB (11). Now that he’s hit Grey’s projections every thing else is bonus points! One month of bonus points! Like icing on the most deliciously moist cupcake, it just makes it that much sweeter. That’s why I love you, Giancarlo. You sweet, luscious, homer-hitting cupcake. That’s also why I’ve been stalking you and will someday kidnap you and you will be the centerpiece of my collection…err, I mean, TMI! Keep it up, homey!
Jarred Cosart – 7.2 IP, 5 hits, 3 ER, 6 K and his 4th win as a member of the Marlins. His fifth straight quality start, and his third game in a row where he’s pitched seven or more innings. He holds a 1.99 ERA with the Fish, and 0.98 WHIP. He just digs that South beach air I guess. You don’t have to be the Marlins GM to see that Cosart holds some value, he’s worth a stream next week in Milwaukee.
Marcell Ozuna – 4-for-5, 2 runs, 4 RBI. OZUNA HIT BASEBALL. OZUNA REMAIN VALUABLE. HELP FANTASY LEAGUES. WIN PENNANT. Whoops–sorry, caps lock.
Donovan Solano – 4-for-5, 3 runs, RBI. The Marlins scored 11 runs on 18 hits, and Donovan was no exception. He’s batting .340 with 8 runs and 7 RBI over the past two weeks. That’s kind of like Stanton’s stats without the power or the sex appeal.
Michael Pineda – 7.0 IP, 3 hits, 0 ER, 4 K. Whoa, 1.84 ERA an 0.84 WHIP on the season? Wait! What’s that thing on his neck!? Oh, that’s just his head.
James Shields – 8.1 IP, 3 hits, 0 ER, 6 K and his 13th win. His eighth straight season he has passed 200 innings pitched. Old reliable.
T.J. House – 7.0 IP, 7 hits, 1 ER, 7 K. After the game House took some painkillers, limped over to the window and then him and his team attempted a diagnosis of Michael Bourn’s nagging hamstring injury. Turns out it was Lupus all along.
David Wright – 4-for-5, 2 runs, RBI, SB (8). Old old reliable. Eh, I guess he just seems old.
Lucas Duda – 1-for-3, 2-run HR (27), 3 RBI. Duda-bides with one last Friday night jack on shomer shabbos, perhaps..for moi? We covered how little baby Tommy Jr. from Queens first word wasn’t “da-da” it was “du-da,” but I have an update. The first three letters he learned? M, V and P.
Travis d’Arnaud – 3-for-4, 3-run HR (13), 4 RBI. Oh come on, he’s got to be better than your catcher. You don’t have to lie to me, I own Wilin Rosario. I won’t judge you.
Curtis Granderson – 2-for-6, 3-run HR (17), 4 RBI. New York scored 14 runs on 18 hits so every Met had a day last night. The Mets are hotter than a Jennifer Lawrence iCloud leak, which we have all just learned is quite hot and quite probably the best thing to happen to most of us all summer.
Dilson Herrera – 3-for-5, HR (2). Grey told you to BUY and Herrera responded with the jack. The rookie’s got two homers in his first seven games and Ned Flanders projects him to be one dilly of a pickle. Wilmer Flores was 2-for-6 with a HR and Juan Lagares was 1-for-6 if you’re feel like you need to cash in on the Mets hot bats.
Alfredo Simon – 4.0 IP, 8 hits, 6 ER, 3 BB, 5 K. Well, it took five months but it seems like Simon is finally a pitcher you want to avoid. I’ve been saying this since May. I was wrong then, but maybe I’m right now. Maybe not?
Todd Frazier – 3-for-5, HR (24). And down-town goes Frazier! Down-town goes Frazier! Does anyone ever refer to hitting home runs as “going downtown” or am I really stretching it here? Downtown or not, Frazier keeps moving up in next years rankings.
Mike Fiers – 6.2 IP, 7 hits, 2 ER, BB, 5 K and his 5th win. You can’t have Michael Fiers unless you !@#$ing picked up Michael Fiers!! Since August, Fiers has been one of the few bright spots on a couple of my teams that have just decided they’d like to stop playing baseball now and rather focus on their fantasy football teams.
John Lackey – 6.0 IP, 9 hits, 6 ER, BB, 6 K. Don’t look at me, the Cardinals actually traded for this guy. And Justin Masterson, don’t forget him. Sorry to pile it on, Cards fans.
Adam Rosales – 2-for-4, 2-run HR (4), SB (2). The slam and legs! In Texas, the slam is served with a side of steak, BBQ sauce and tangy tex-mex spices!
Kendrys Morales – 2-for-4, 2 HR (5 & 6), 4 RBI. Mike Zunino (20) and Brad Miller (10) also homered in this one. I’m pretty sure this is he first time Kendrys has done anything all season. If this was June and I saw those stats, I’d be reasonably over-excited about this Mariners offense. But, it is not June.
Stephen Strasburg – 6.0 IP, 4 hits, 1 ER, 5 K. I’m not sure who Stephen is more upset with, Rafael Soriano (0.2 IP 3 hits, 3 ER, BS (7)), who gave up two home runs in the ninth, or Bryce Harper, who just can’t seem to stop bumping into things in the outfield (this time the center fielder). Regardless, the Nats blew Strassy’s 5 run lead so if you need him, he’ll be in his office. Of course he has his own office, Scott Boras is one heck of a negotiator.
Denard Span – 3-for-5, 2 runs, SB (28). The Spanimal is the only player right now that is allowed access to Strasburg’s private bathroom.
Ben Revere – 3-for-5, HR (2), SB (43). Revere hit just his second career home run off Soriano in the ninth inning to tie the game. It was also his first home run on the road…wait for it…EVER. How good has Revere been? Batting .314 with 43 SB? Someone is definitely drafting him way too high next year. That’s high praise!
Carlos Ruiz – 1-for-4, HR (6) 2 RBI. Has now homered in consecutive starts, and has three homers and six hits in his last seven games. That’s a lotta Chooch.
Ryan Howard – 2-for-5, HR (21), 2 RBI. I just dropped Anthony Rizzo for Howard in one of my leagues. I’ve never felt so dirty and so happy at the same time. Well, except for that one time…
Jake Peavy – 6.0 IP, 6 hits, 0 ER, 3 K and his 4th win. In his past five starts, Peavy has pitched 34.2 IP, surrendering just 3 ER, striking out 27 with 4 wins. That’s three more wins than he managed all season with Boston. Stream-O-Nator loves his next few starts so if he’s hanging out on waivers now you’re chance to snatch him up.
Rick Porcello – 3.0 IP, 10 hits, 5 ER, BB, K. I hate so much about the things that you choose to be.
Joe Panik – 2-for-5, run, RBI. Joe Panik at the Disco! keeps on cranking out the hits! He’s got a nine game hitting streak with four straight multi-hit games. Fever!
Buster Posey – 2-for-5, run. Did I mention how Buster always seems to get hot around this time of year? He’s hitting .448 in the past two weeks with 5 homers and 19 RBI. Yep. Just in time to win your fantasy league and boost his draft value for the next year.
Pablo Sandoval – 2-for-5, HR (16). Panda has performed well in his contract year. Keep it up and you’ll be a Yankee next season. I hear they need another past-his-prime, rapidly aging third baseman.
Gregor Blanco – 2-for-4, 2 runs, RBI. Blanco has a nine game hitting streak, with 9 runs, and 2 HR in that span. He’s also got three straight multiple hit games. Call me skeptical, but Gregor seems like one of those players who I’m going to pick up and he’ll proceed to go 1-for-20 next week. So I’ll let someone else pick him up.
Dan Haren – 6.0 IP, 4 hits, 1 ER, BB, 6 K and his 12th win. Haren is fighting an upstream battle to be the most popular fish in Los Angeles. Get it? Because Trout? Terrible jokes aside, Haren has pitched well his past three starts (19.0 IP, 2 ER, 15 K) and gets San Diego next week. As Christoph Waltz would say, that’s a bingo!
Matt Kemp 2-for-4, HR (18). Nice. But I kind of wish your name was Joc Pederson.
Everth Cabrera – Was arrested for a DUI, driving under the influence of marijuana. Hold up a second, you can get arrested for this? I thought this was America. If only he had traveled with the team to Colorado this never would have happened.
DJ LeMahieu – 2-for-3, run. Hey DJ, can you play that one song–it’s like dum, dum, dum, dum. Dum dum dum dum. Arrrrr boom. Dum dum dum dum dum. Do you know it? During Friday night games DJ hands out free glow sticks and ecstasy and plays dub step during BP. It’ trippy, man!
Tyler Matzek – 9.0 IP, 3 hits, 0 ER, BB, 6 K. Well, hello there! What did you say your name was again? You surrendered just 5 ER in your past four starts? You don’t say…you’ve gone six or more innings in your past five starts, with a total of 31 strikeouts in those games? I remain intrigued. Colorado, you say? Ooooh. Yeah, um…it was nice meeting you?
Nolan Arenado – 1-for-4, 15 (HR). Would you cut it out, Nolan! Arenado is is dead set on making sure everyone knows who he is in time for next years draft. Can’t you just be my little secret, ‘Nado? I swear I won’t even tell Giancarlo.
Kole Calhoun – 3-for-6, 4 runs, 2 RBI, SB (5). I’m pretty sure this is the first good game he’s had for my fantasy team in two weeks. He must know I’m out of playoff contention now.
Chris Carter – 2-for-4, 2-run HR (36), 3 RBI. 36 homers!? Sweet sassy molassy! He’s hit six in the past two weeks, just in time to win your fantasy season. Even with the low average, Carter will probably be too rich for my blood on draft day next year but I love what he’s doing right now. Fabulous stuff. After the game, a reporter asked him if Mulder and Scully will ever end up together and he responded, “I think you’ve got the wrong guy.”
Questions? Problems? Complaints to management? Advice, small gifts or large bribes? Please leave it in the comments below, or you can get at me on twitter @dandemanco. Join us next Saturday for another Friday recap as fantasy baseball continues next week, all week long!
