Points Leagues: Miggy Mouse Clubhouse

Perhaps the title to this week’s post was influenced by the fact that I just watched Miguel Cabrera smack a 432-foot home run for his second of the day, bringing his season total to 5 home runs and 83 fantasy points. Don’t look now, but Miggy is batting .370 and is quietly climbing his way to the top. Or perhaps today’s title has been influenced by the fact that, as I write this, I am also in the process of packing my bags to get ready to take my family to Disney World. Actually, I am certain it’s a combination of both.

For those of you with little ones, I’m sure Mickey Mouse is likely a fan favorite in your household. When I was preparing for this year’s drafts, I asked my two year old daughter who she thought I should draft. Her answer surprised me as she said “Dickey”. I responded with, “I’m not really interested in having R.A. Dickey on my team”. But that’s not the “Dickey” she was referring to. “Dickey” is her way of saying “Mickey”. Fortunately for me, Mickey Mouse is not a draftable player in any of my leagues otherwise I would have had to waste a bench spot on everyone’s favorite mouse.

Speaking of two home run efforts, Ryan Braun had one of his own today (Wednesday), giving him three in the last two days. Did someone spike his Manischewitz? I certainly hope so. I have to admit, I have a soft spot of Braun. In my main league, I’ve owned him since his days in the minor leagues. His 37 points, however, currently put him alongside the likes of Justin Maxwell, Kevin Kiermaier and Brandon Moss. Here’s hoping Braun can keep things kosher and start racking up some points.

In one of my preseason rants I was praising the value of Denard Span in points leagues. I hope many of you listened to that advice and I hope some of you were even able to take advantage of his early season injury to buy low on him. In his ten games back since coming off the disabled list, The Nard Dog has delivered 38 points in 44 plate appearances (0.86 PPPA). While Michael Taylor was a decent fill-in, he couldn’t quite span the gap left by Denard.

I’d like to take a moment to point out a key concept in points leagues. Which woud you rather have? A player that goes 2 for 4 with a solo homer, a double and two strikeouts, or a player that goes 4 for 4 with four singles, two runs scored, a run batted in and two stolen bases? You’d be surprised by the number of people that jump at the home run and double. Well let’s analyze the points. The first batter (Giancarlo Stanton) scored a total of 6 points, while the second player (Dee Gordon) scored 9. In modern math 9 is greater than 7. I think that comes from the pythagorean theorem or some other breakthrough by the great Archimedes. Yes I know Archimedes is not responsible for Pythagoras’ work. Now I’m not trying to tell you that you should trade Stanton for Gordon, but I just want to point out (pun intended) that points are points and it doesn’t matter how you get them.

Using points per plate appearance I decided to look for players that are under performing as compared to their 2014 actual and 2015 projected values. Here are the players I uncovered.

Carlos Gonzalez, Current PPPA (0.35), 2014 (0.51), Projected (0.76)
Danny Santana, Current PPPA (0.03), 2014 (0.60), Projected (0.44)
Jayson Werth, Current PPPA (0.23), 2014 (0.66), Projected (0.61)
Evan Gattis, Current PPPA (0.17), 2014 (0.52), Projected (0.55)
Edwin Encarnacion, Current PPPA (0.41), 2014 (0.78), Projected (0.77)
Erick Aybar, Current PPPA (0.20), 2014 (0.59), Projected (0.53)
Chris Carter, Current PPPA (0.16), 2014 (0.53), Projected (0.48)
Adam Eaton, Current PPPA (0.23), 2014 (0.55), Projected (0.51)
Brett Lawrie, Current PPPA (0.25), 2014 (0.52), Projected (0.53)
Adrian Beltre, Current PPPA (0.43), 2014 (0.69), Projected (0.68)
Robinson Cano, Current PPPA (0.45), 2014 (0.70), Projected (0.67)
Josh Harrison, Current PPPA (0.35), 2014 (0.65), Projected (0.56)

I’m not saying to run out and grab these players, but based on the numbers it seems to me as if they have some room to improve and will likely to do so.

Has Wil Myers finally arrived? With four home runs, three stolen bases, a .286 batting average and 67 points, he finds himself in the top 10 outfielders. I really like this kid and would love for him to keep at it. And I think he can. I wonder in Jay has a Wil Myers fathead in his bedroom, and if so, what is its placement with respect to his Matt Kemp, Justin Upton, Tony Gwynn (RIP), Philip Rivers and Antonio Gates fatheads?

Here are some players, besides the super obvious, that have a chance (according to Hitter-Tron) to score more than their fair share of fantasy points over the next week or so. George Springer, Mookie Betts, Ike Davis and Steven Souza. If anyone asks, be sure and tell ’em Large Marge sent ya!

I promise more pitchers in the coming weeks, but in the meantime, Space Mountain here I come!