I am Son. Son I am. I like green eggs and Tommy Pham (20.6% owned – increase of 9.7%). I do! I like them, Son I am. When I think of Tommy I crave for Pho (pronounced “fuh”), probably due to the fact that he’s half-Vietnamese. Duh!!! He’s hit ten home runs and stolen nine bases. Those numbers are real. You didn’t drink too many cases. The walk rate is good (11.5%) while the strikeout rate is high (25.7%). Not anything too obscene to crucify. The average is solid (.289) while the OBP is great (.381). I’m feeling the same vibe from when I listen to Warren G’s Regulate. The BABIP is high (.358) so some negative regression should take place. But not so low that I’d link The Sign by Ace of Base. The swinging strike rate is 8.8% and he only chases 20% of pitches outside the strike zone. I hear the moans. How can we clone? Mike Matheny bats him in the two-hole against both righties and lefties. That’s more valuable to me than snatching the panties. Now, he’s much better on the road than at home (.234 vs .344). Yo, Google Chrome! Shalom! Enough PaRappa the Rapper. Pham won’t be a season winner and he’s streaky, but he could be a viable fill-in. If you do pick him up and have the urge to drop him, just watch this over and over again. On a side note, Pham has a rare eye disorder called keratoconus, which thins the cornea. He started wearing contact lenses back in 2009 to be able to track the pitches better. I’m just excited for the inevitable moment when Pham is used as a guinea pig for a Terminator-like eye transplant. TREASURE
Here’s what else I saw in the most added/dropped list:
Josh Reddick (56.8% owned – increase of 30.7%)
I mention Reddick here because he was the most added player this past week. I wanted to do a whole Chronicles of Reddick thing, but I was scurred of what would be thrown my way from the peanut gallery. Plus, Phil B did a great job breaking him down in his OPS Leaguers Unite! column last week. I’m assuming the increase in ownership was due to him. That’s how we do it here at Razzball. TREASURE
Mitch Haniger (56.2% owned – decrease of 13.2%)
Haniger was a preseason darling who did not disappoint when the action started for real. For the month of April, he batted .342/.447/.608 with four home runs, 16 RBI, and two stolen bases. The walk rate was 13.7% while the strikeout rate was 21.1%. Then he went down with an oblique injury, which cost him over a month of games. Since returning from the DL, Haniger is batting .205/.326/.308 with two home runs, six RBI, and one stolen base. The walk rate is 10.9% while the strikeout rate has increased to 29.3%. Prior to this season, Haniger had played in a total of 34 big league games, so it’s not like there is a track record in which to rely on. With that said, he probably just needs some time to get his timing back. TREASURE
Mallex Smith (16.9% owned – decrease of 10.3%)
Smith has 10 stolen bases in 108 at-bats, good for 25th in all of baseball. If you take out AJ Pollock’s 11 steals in 158 at-bats and Delino DeShields’ 18 steals in 191 at-bats, the rest of the players in the top 25 have around 300 at-bats. SAGNOF!!! It’s fitting that Mallex’s last name is Smith. Anyways, Smith has the 80-grade speed and bats lead off against right-handed pitching. He’s sitting against lefties for Peter Bourjous, who I thought retired years ago. So, Bourjous is batting .255 against lefties in 51 at-bats. Smith is batting .381 against lefties. Granted, in only 21 at-bats, but still. The .308 batting average is buoyed by an elevated .403 BABIP, but the walk rate is a nice 11%. If you need steals. SAGNOF biatches!!! TREASURE
