Archie Bradley pitched six innings of four hit ball Friday night against the Cubs, allowing one run, walking three and striking out ten. Archie has been a highly touted prospect for a while, but hasn’t really been able to put it all together, until now, dot dot dot, question mark? But the real question mark here–Betty or Veronica? I was always a Ronnie guy, because I am a masochist and I prefer a woman who hates my guts. Regardless, after struggling in spot starts in April and early May (2 GS, 10.1 IP, 14 hits, 9 ER, 7 BB, 6 K), and holding a plus-6 ERA in 10 career major league starts, Archie has returned to the bigs in a big way. In two starts since being recalled, Bradley holds a 2.70 ERA and 0.90 WHIP in 13.1 innings, with a 19/4 K/BB ratio that will make your fantasy team real happy happy. Slightly more impressive when you consider yesterday’s start was on the road against a fearsome Chicago line up. I was gonna stream him, but then I was like, “nah.” That was a mistake. I won’t doubt you again, Archie. Bradley was rocking a 1.99 ERA, 1.08 WHIP with 47 strikeouts in 7 starts at AAA Reno this season, so it’s clear he’s ready for the next level. I would grab Bradley in all leagues where he’s available. Grey told you to BUY and he gets a cushy match up with the Rays next week. Don’t be a Jughead, grab Archie!
Here’s what else I saw in fantasy baseball Friday night:
Trea Turner – 3-for-4, BB. OMG! MVP! ROY! BUY! Cy Young! Is it too early to give him all the trophies!? Something tells me it’s going to be a big weekend for Trea Turner. And by “something” I mean the ghost of Danny Espinosa’s career as a starting infielder.
Devon Travis – 1-for-4, 2 runs, HR (1), 2 RBI. Since returning from the DL, Travis has hit safely in all but one game and notched his first dinger of the season Friday night. Devon bat .300 with 8 homers in 62 games last year as a rookie and was one of the hottest little potatoes in the land last April. Grey told you to BUY, I don’t have to tell you to pick him up. Or maybe I do? You respond to a strong alpha presence, huh? Well, pick him up, pleb!
Jose Ramirez – 2-for-4, run. He’s got 11 runs, 2 homers, 6 RBI, 3 SB and is hitting .367 in the past two weeks. Oh hey, Jose. Have you met my fantasy team? I think you two should meet.
Danny Salazar – 8.0 IP, 3 hits, ER, 5 BB, 9 L, W. So my strategy to wait on pitching and draft young pitchers in hopes one will break through as my ace has back fired a bit. Actually, it’s been a complete disaster to totally honest. Marcus Stroman is no ace, yet. If I had only drafted K-Zar, he and his 2.24 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 81/33 K/BB ratio, I would look like a genius right now.
Hyun Soo Kim – 3-for-4, run. Another BUY! The Korean outfielder is batting .360 in the past week with a home run and is looking tastier than a steamy pile of bulgogi. The trick with Korean food is to order one small thing of meat and stuff yourself with the condiments. Life hack!
Chris Davis – 1-for-3, HR (11). CHRIS THE DISH! NOBODY CALLS HIM THAT! Probably because he’s batting .210!
Tommy Joseph – 2-for-4. Grey told you to BUY if you need a first baseman, although you may have some even nicer options to choose from this week. It’s the emergence of the sub-par first baseman! Someone find out what James Loney’s doing right now! What? He homered? It’s really happening, you guys. Lock your doors.
Jonathan Villar – 1-for-3, HR (4), 2 RBI. Johnny V. is batting .365 with 3 homers, 13 runs and 6 steals in the past two weeks. He is still not owned in about 25% of leagues but I am hoping he will be by the time I finish typing thiiiiiis….sandwich! Got ya!
Kole Calhoun – 2-for-4, HR (5). After hitting 26 homers last year, Calhoun has disappointed a bit so far this year but–two homers in the past week!? Kole, is that really you? You back, buddy? Homer twice for yes, once for no.
Cameron Maybin – 1-for-4, 2 runs. Still better than Justin Upton!
Victor Martinez – 3-for-5, HR (9), 2 RBI and J.D. Martinez – 2-for-4, run, RBI, SB. When the Martinez’s are lit.
Zack Cozart – 2-for-4, HR (8), 2 RBI. He’s batting .385 with 3 homers in the past week! When you a red hot Red.
Adam Duvall – 2-for-4, HR (15). So many BUYs this week. When Grey’s BUY/SELL is on point. That’s five homers in the past week, folks. He’s under 60% owned. When you can’t stop hitting home runs. When you can’t understand why a guy isn’t owned.
Eduardo Suarez – 3-for-4, 2 runs, HR (13), 2 RBI. Well, hello Cincinnati! Suarez has four homers in the past week and is batting over .400. When the Reds have the hottest offense in beisbol. When you can’t stop talking in memes and people are starting to get annoyed, but then they start talking in memes.
Noah Syndergaard – 7.0 IP, 6 hits, 2 ER, BB, 9 K, W. By the hammer of Thor, something tells me this guy should have stayed in his set up role. He could have been one of the greats.
Jurickson Profar – 2-for-5, HR (2). I want to recommend a casual approach to Jurickson since he could be sent down as soon as Odor returns, but I’d “Profar” to overreact and tell you to pick him up everywhere, because he’s hit safely in every game he’s played and he’s hitting close to .400 with two homers and 9 runs in 7 days. The Profarcy is coming true! Drop everything and pick up everyone!
Dae-Ho Lee – 2-for-4, run. Lee is batting .526 in the past week with two ding dongs! In Korea, we call homers bi bim baps!
Yu Darvish – 5.2 IP, 6 hits, 3 ER, BB, 5 K, W. Fridays, I’m in Love with Yu. OK, so not as good as his first start back but what did Yu expect? Did yu expect me NOT to use the criminally overused “yu” joke? Well yu were wrong.
Ian Desmond – 4-for-5, 2 runs, SB (11). Doode is hitting .350 since May 1! Aren’t you glad you dropped him in April.
Nomar Mazara – 2-for-3, 2 runs, RBI. As a New Englander, I am required to have blind unrequited love for all players and persons named Nomar.
Adrian Beltre – 2-for-3, HR (10), 5 RBI. Yo Adrian! You did it! You’re fantasy relevant again!
Corey Seager – 3-for-4, 3 HR (12). Batting close to .400 with 5 homers in the past week! That’s like…calculating…calculating…calculating…seven days!
Drew Pomeranz – 7.0 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, 2 BB, 8 K, W. Pomeranz is the bomberanz! Drew is rocking a 2.22 ERA, 1.05 WHIP and 10.3 K/9. Few pitchers have been as good as D-Pom this season, yet he’s available in about a quarter of fantasy leagues. I might be inclined to trade for Drew before owners realize what they got! This kid’s gonna be a star, ha-cha-cha!
Matt Kemp – 1-for-4, HR (14), 3 RBI. Matt has been attending auditing sessions at the church of Scientology with me, and I think we can attribute these sessions to his success this year. Unfortunately, he started to get a bit skeptical when we mentioned the clam people. I mean, come on, it’s not totally far fetched that we evolved from the clams, and these clam people won the first rebellion against the neanderthals. You’re welcome, humanity! Also, keep in mind this was over 75 trillion years ago so it kind of makes sense…right? I shouldn’t have mentioned the clam people. I always lose them on the clam people. I knew you weren’t ready.
Logan Morrison – 2-for-4, HR (4). So many BUYs…If you follow LoMo on Twitter he’ll hit a home run for you, but he won’t follow you back so don’t keep asking. (He really doesn’t like that).
Byron Buxton – 2-for-4, run. Another BUY! I know, I know, there is really no reason to buy Lord Byron other than his massive upside we’ve been talking about for two years now. But he’s hit safely in all four games since returning to the majors, so this is me telling you that everything is different now and he’ll be a top 20 player by the end of the decade.
Evan Gattis – 4-for-5, HR (7), 4 RBI. When the Vagabond is lit! Now with added catcher eligibility! Yeah, you should probably BUY this hobo drifter. He could really use the spare change. They tried to reach Gattis post game for comment but he was off searching the stands for half eaten hot dogs. A guy’s gotta eat!
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!
