One of my favorite moves is Top Secret. Is it because I’ve watched it while smoking trees and eating magic mushrooms? Perhaps. Regardless, it’s a great movie. Click HERE if you don’t believe me. C’mon! That was awesome. Anyways, I’ve been fluent in German Marquez (68.9% – increase of 18.6%), so it’s nice to see him get close to 70% owned in ESPN leagues. 184 strikeouts in 164.1 innings! 10.08 K/9 and 2.85 BB/9. Ground ball rate of 47.2% and xFIP of 3.31. Swinging strike rate of 11.4%. Now, we know the big elephant in the room: Coors Field. Here’s the thing, though. One could argue that he’s been better at home! The K/9 is 10.51 at home while it’s 9.71 on the road. While the batting average is higher at home, the BABIP is .373 vs .240. The xFIP is 3.41 at home vs 3.23 on the road. In his last five home starts, he’s allowed 2, 0, 3, 2, and 2 earned runs. TREASURE
Joey Wendle was one of the most added players over the past week (43.3% owned – increase of 19.8%). Makes sense, since he’s been en fuego since August 1st: .343/.383/.509 with 2 home runs, 10 doubles, 1 triple, and 5 stolen bases. Is he a wham bam thank you ma’am? Or is he a keeper? Wendle is 28 years old and bats from the left side of the plate. Don’t immediately dismiss him due to his age, though, as this will be his first full season in the big leagues. Prior to this season, he had accumulated 118 plate appearances with the Oakland Athletics. So far in 2018, Wendle has had 454 plate appearances, 5.9% walk rate, and 19.2% strikeout rate. Not bad. The ISO is .129, but that’s not his game. The BABIP is at .358, so some regression should be in the works. What if I focus in on the stats since August 1st? .343 average with a .380 BABIP, 6.6% walk rate, and 14% strikeout rate. Regression is definitely coming. While the swinging strike is sub-9% and the contact rates are very good (81.2% overall and 90.6% in the zone), the chase rate is over 38%. It helps that the contact rate outside the zone is very good (around 70%), but luck will even out eventually. Since you primarily want stolen bases from Wendle, I don’t like seeing the walk rate so low. What happens when the hits stop falling? In addition, since Mallex Smith has returned to the lineup, he has moved Wendle from the leadoff spot down to 5th spot in the batting order. TRASH
Stephen Piscotty (61.6% owned -increase of 14.4%) is….uh…..awesome. 22 home runs and 2 stolen bases in 522 plate appearances. But that’s not what makes him awesome. With great power comes great responsibility, and Piscotty has plenty of that. The strikeout rate is only 18.8%, while maintaining a .210 ISO and 41.6% hard hit rate. He often hits 5th or 6th in the batting order and plays everyday. You want more awesomeness? Of course you do. He’s better against righties than lefties (.271 average vs .250) and 16 of his 22 home runs have been off of righties. Now, Oakland Alameda Coliseum is a tough ball park for hitters, and Piscotty does have better numbers on the road, but he’s still batting .257 and hit 7 home runs at home. TREASURE
