That is one of my favorite GIFs of all-time. And it just happens to be perfect for this piece. Ian Happ (29% owned – increase of 27%) was called up to the majors over the weekend. On a side note, that 2% difference in ownership has to be Prospector Ralph. Anyways, in three games Happ is 4-for-10 with three runs scored, two home runs, and four RBI. So, why am I so giddy? He’s a Cub, so you know he’s going to be an OBP monster. He’s a switch-hitter so there shouldn’t be any platoon issues. Happ has also been batting clean up. Either Mrs. Maddon is smitten with Happ or Ian has some pictures tucked away of Joe. Whatever the case may be, he’s got some semblance of trust from the manager. Javier Baez is sitting on the dugout steps pondering what he did wrong. While Happ is not known as a plus defender, I don’t think that’s going to be too much of an issue. Have you seen who’s decorating left field for the Cubs? The final piece to the puzzle is the depth chart for CF: Albert Almora Jr. and Jon Jay. Exactly. TREASURE: IT’S HAPPENING!
Aaron Altherr (67% owned – increase of 46%)
This one is dedicated to Tehol, as he’s been driving the Altherr bus for a while now. There’s a ton to like here. Altherr is 26 years old and entering the prime of his career. He also worked on his swing in the offseason to make it more compact. The results have been fantastic. .318 batting average, .455 wOBA, and a 39% hard contact rate. He’s been adept at hitting both righties and lefites. The approach has been solid as well. 13% walk rate and a chase rate of 22%. Now, for the bad. He’s striking out 25% of the time and the .370 BABIP portends some negative regression. With that said, he’s often hitting third in the lineup and has 20/15 upside. Plus, Tehol’s driving the bus. What could possibly go wrong? TREASURE
Trevor Story (86% owned – decrease of 8%)
I’ve never been a Story fan, I’m always leery of high-strikeout batters. Plus, I’m high on Brendan Rodgers, who just happens to be tearing it up in the minors and is probably the SS of the future in Colorado. With all of that said, people are seriously dropping Story? I don’t get it. Yeah, he’s hurt and been terrible, but you’re telling me no one in your league has any modicum of interest? Even if it’s .50 on the dollar? Ok, four pesos perhaps? I find it hard to believe that someone wouldn’t take a chance on Story. That just seems like lazy managing to me. On the most recent baseball podcast, it was mentioned that robots are dominating the RCLs, so maybe a bunch of bots are out there dropping Story. That actually makes a ton of sense. TRASH, but nice trash that one could maybe make artwork with.
Trevor Cahill (52% owned – increase of 12%)
Cahill has been a DFS favorite of mine all year. The stink from years past is still there for many. Thankfully, I grew up in a household with kim chee so there ain’t no thing called stink. Cahill has an 11.10 K/9 and a robust 13.7% swinging strike rate. He’s getting batters to chase out of the strike zone 34% of the time. Contact rate is under 70%. All of this while maintaining what he’s been bred to do, which is induce ground balls (60%). The xFIP is at 3.05, which is actually lower than the 3.27 ERA. What’s a brotha got to do to get some respect around these parts? TREASURE
You can reach SON on Twitter @Stan_Son.
