Gerrit Cole was the first round pick in the 2011 MLB Amateur Draft. Here are just a few players he was chosen ahead of that season. Anthony Rendon, Francisco Lindor, Javier Baez, George Springer, Jackie Bradley, Trevor Story and Jose Fernandez. As much as I love Cole, I’m sure the Pirates wish they had drafted Fernandez. And that’s not taking anything away from Gerrit, Fernandez is just awesome. Cole is pitching well this season. If I had to complain about something it would have to be the fact that his strikeout rate is down. In 2014 his K/9 was 9.0 and in 2015 it was 8.7. This year he has 73 in 87.3, which is just 7.5 per nine. Cole is only 25 and is knocking on the elite pitching door. Some might say he is banging, but he’s not quite there. He’s only averaging 13 points per start, but he’s only going to improve. I think this might be an excellent opportunity to buy low on him in keeper leagues.
Nyquin – The game time, sniffling, sneezing, tripling, homering, run scoring, so you can get fantasy points medicine. In 212 plate appearances Tyler Nyquin has 12 home runs, 32 RBIs, 5 triples, 33 runs scored, a .330 batting average and 144 fantasy points. His points per plates appearance is 0.685. Let’s put that into perspective by comparing him to a much more respected hitter. Miguel Cabrera has a 0.693 PPPA. Even though Cabrera has had about twice as many plate appearances (434), he does not have twice as many counting stats. Nyquin is scoring runs, tripling, homering and even doubling at a quicker rate than Miggy. While I realize it’s harder to maintain a rate over longer (double) period, these are the stats we have. Here’s what I gather from said stats. In the time Nyquin has been in Cleveland he has been just a valuable in points leagues as Miguel Cabrera. And in leagues that do not penalize for strikeouts he has been better. However, if you play in a league that does not penalize for strikeouts, you should find another league.
In points leagues Alex Dickerson intrigues me. Granted 89 plate appearances is a small sample size, his 0.8853 PPPA is fifth best in the Majors behind only David Ortiz (0.957), Daniel Murphy (0.885), Jose Altuve (0.881) and Josh Donaldson (0.854). That’s elite company. In those 89 attempts Dickerson has 6 home runs and 2 stolen bases and is on a pace to hit 30 homers and steal 10 bases if he were to play 150 games. He does not have this kind of power. At least I don’t think he does, but it will be interesting to see what he can do with a regular gig in San Diego.
Ignoring Mike Zunino, Sandy Leon has the best PPPA (0.726) of any catcher. Once again sample size muddies the results, but he seems to be settling in well in Boston. If only I were in a two-catcher league and was one catcher short of a catcher’s nest.
Don’t look now but Justin Turner is fantasy relevant again. He’s been relatively strong in points leagues since week 11.
With 3 home runs in 26 plate appearances, Mike Zunino is hitting more home runs per plate appearance than any other hitter. However, with just 26 plate appearances that’s hardly enough to qualify. If we use 200 as the minimum, then Mark Trumbo is the rightful leader with 30 bombs in 431 plate appearances. After Trumbo is Tommy Joseph with 14 in 204. Then we have Todd Frazier, Brandon Moss and Adam Duvall.
How about doubles, or as I like to call them “half home runs”? Sticking with a minimum of 200 plate appearances David Ortiz is our winner with 35 doubles in 396 trips to the plate. Second is Jon Jay who has 24 in 290. Gerardo Parra, Daniel Murphy and Matt Carpenter follow.
Points League Rankings
The following rankings are based solely on year-to-date performances.
Catcher
Buster Posey
Wilson Ramos
Jonathan Lucroy
Brian McCann
Salvador Perez
Stephen Vogt
Tommy Joseph
Yadier Molina
J.T. Realmuto
Kurt Suzuki
First Base
Anthony Rizzo
Edwin Encarnacion
Paul Goldschmidt
Miguel Cabrera
Albert Pujols
Joey Votto
Carlos Santana
Freddie Freeman
Brandon Belt
Eric Hosmer
Joe Mauer
Jose Abreu
Second Base
Jose Altuve
Daniel Murphy
Robinson Cano
Ben Zobrist
Ian Kinsler
Dustin Pedroia
Brian Dozier
DJ LeMahieu
Jason Kipnis
Jonathan Schoop
Joe Panik
Roughned Odor
Third Base
Josh Donaldson
Nolan Arenado
Kris Bryant
Manny Machado
Kyle Seager
Chris Carpenter
Adrian Beltre
Justin Turner
Jake Lamb
Evan Longoria
Todd Frazier
Maikel Franco
Shortstop
Xander Bogaerts
Aledmys Diaz
Manny Machado
Francisco Lindor
Ian Desmond
Corey Seager
Carlos Correa
Trevor Story
Eduardo Nunez
Brandon Crawford
Jose Ramirez
Zack Cosart
Outfield
Mike Trout
Mookie Betts
Bryce Harper
Jay Bruce
Jackie Bradley Jr.
Carlos Gonzalez
Wil Myers
Nelson Cruz
Gregory Polanco
Yoenis Cespedes
Carlos Beltran
Mark Trumbo
Ryan Braun
George Springer
Adam Jones
Stephen Piscotty
Charlie Blackmon
Melky Cabrera
Hanley Ramirez
Christian Yelich
DH
David Ortiz
Note: Some players with multi-position eligibility probably belong in multiple lists like Daniel Murphy and Buster Posey
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0OP5EnaaYjQ
