Tyler Naquin. Is that an official sentence? Anyone? Typically I wouldn’t be buying into him, but allow me to explain why I have picked him up in two of my primary leagues. In one league I have Ketel Marte on the IL, but since I have David Fletcher on bench I was able to plug him into my 2B spot. By the way, you should all own Fletcher considering I insisted upon it prior to drafts. And this was exactly why. His draft day price tag was well below his actual value and to have him on your bench just in case made him a great draft day buy. Fletcher isn’t off to a great start by any means, but with 42 plate appearances, only Mark Canha, Marcus Semien and Jose Altuve have stepped into the batters box more often this season. The more plate appearances, the more opportunity for points. The Angels are in the top five teams for runs scored and being at the top of that lineup provides a promising outlook. But this opening paragraph was supposed to be about Naquin and why I’ve added him to my rosters. The simple answer is because I had the bench spot to see where this hot streak ends with Ketel to the IL in one league and Quintana to scrap heap in another. Tyler Naquin leads all hitters in fantasy points. That’s certainly not going to last for long, but I wasn’t going to let someone else benefit from another week or two of potential points. And if I get the chance, I will we include him into a trade to sweeten the deal. Worst case scenario is that I drop him in two weeks.
After drafting Jose Quintana due to his SP/RP eligibility, I am cutting ties. I was really hoping the change of scenery to Los Angeles of Anaheim would help, but so far no dice. I know it’s only been two starts, but they have both been less than promising. The dude has seven walks in five innings and a total of -9 points YTD. I can’t have that. Not even on my bench. A good sign of when to drop an SP/RP (or any SP) is when you won’t even start him in a two-start week. Although in his defense his opponents were the Astros and Blue Jays. With all of that said, I don’t ever see him cracking my starting roster. Besides, I’ve got Freddy Peralta as my big name SP/RP and the following closers to lock down some +7 saves, Raisel Iglesias, Julian Merryweather, Emmanuel Clase and Richard Rodriguez.
Eugenio Suarez will hit 30+ home runs. You can take it to the bank. Right now he has two. If there is someone in your league willing to sell low this early, try and make that deal.
For years I’ve been the guy that keeps going back to Byron Buxton. Call me a glutton for punishment. In the last year or so I’ve sworn him off. Go back and read my posts if you don’t believe me. I have repeatedly said that he will let you down. More specifically, he will get hurt. I’m changing my mind again. Get him if you can, but refuse to pay full price. Make it clear that he’s a habitual repeat offender when it comes to having hot streaks that are always halted with an IL stint. Offer 75 cents on the dollar. I’m just pissed that I took my own advice this draft season and only own him in one keeper league because he was a dollar or two.
Go Vlad go! Why does that make me think of the P.D. Eastman book Go, Dog. Go! Vladimir Guerrero Jr. is breaking out ladies and gentlemen and whatever else you might identify as.
Since I started writing this J.D. Martinez had a three homer game. That probably puts him ahead of Naquin for most points, but I’m not rewriting the intro. He had a quiet 2020 and from the look of things he’s back to his old self as he now has seven doubles and five home runs. My only knock against him is that he clogs up the DH/UT spot. But if anyone is going to do it, it might as well be him, Nelson Cruz or maybe Yordan Alvarez.
Here’s a surprise at each position that might be worth keeping an eye on.
C: Omar Narvaez
1B: Jared Walsh/Eric Hosmer
2B: Ryan McMahon
3B: Jonathan India
SS: Andrelton Simmons
OF: Tyler Naquin, Mark Canha, Cedric Mullins, Mitch Haniger
SP: Steven Matz, Johnny Cueto, Jon Gray
I’m not saying you should run out and grab these guys. Just put them in your scout team and keep a lookout.
As of Sunday morning, here are the top points per plate appearances hitters. It’s a nice mix of usual and unusual suspects.
Tyler Naquin – 1.46
J.D. Martinez – 1.21
Nick Castellanos – 1.2
Ryan McMahon – 1.14
Ronald Acuña – 1.11
Mike Moustakas – 1.06
Mike Trout – 1.0
Vladimir Guerrero – 0.97
Max Muncy – 0.95
Justin Turner – 0.94
With Dexter Folwer out for the season will we see Jo Adell soon? I kinda hope not. I’d like him to be beating down the door before his next call-up.
Follow malamoney on Twitter at @malamoney
