Points Leagues, Party On Dudes!

Greetings, my excellent friends. I think it’s time we face the music. This year of fantasy baseball has not been an excellent adventure. Not by any means. As one wise dude once said “strange things are afoot at the Circle K”. Honestly if it’s not COVID-19, it’s a blister, paternity leave, explosive diarrhea, in-climate weather or protest that has derailed my weekly lineups. I pled with my league to switch from weekly lineups to daily for this year, but they huffed and they puffed and they blew the league up. I think I said it last week, the teams that win the championships in their respective leagues this year are not going to be the best teams, they are going to be the ones that got the luckiest when it came to navigating players not playing. I’m glad we got a season in, but this season is in danger of flunking most heinously.

What do Trevor Story, Kyle Seager, David Fletcher, Yuli Gurriel all have in common? I’m guess they probably have a handful of stuff in common, but the thing to which I am referring is the fact they have all scored double digit points every week this season.

Are you Kuhl man? Are you willing to drink the Kuhl-Aid? In four starts Chad Kuhl has averaged 5 innings pitched, just under 2.75 hits, 2 earned runs, 2.6 walks and 3.75 strikeouts. The number I am most interested there is the 5 innings pitched. Why? Because that is how many innings you need to pitch to be eligible for the win. Let’s ignore the fact that Chad pitches for the Pirates which radically decreases his chances for a win in the first place. As a general rule of thumb, if a starting pitcher isn’t averaging at least 5 IP, I steer clear of putting him in my starting lineup. There are exceptions, but if I’m eliminating the win right off the bat, I’m severely limiting my point potential. Especially in leagues that award 7 or even 10 points for a win.

Kuhl faces the Cubs and Reds this week. Not a pair of easy opponents. He started against the the Reds, in Cincinnati, on 8/14 and he ended up taking the loss, giving up 3 earned in 5 innings while striking out 6. The got a total of 8 points. This matchup is in Pittsburgh. I took the liberty of consulting with Streamonator and it says Chad should be cool enough for about 20 points. I realize that doesn’t exactly blow the barn doors of their hinges, but it might be worth considering based on your other options. I have a strong feeling I will be sneaking him into my lineups.

In each his last two starts, Kwang Hyun Kim pitched 6 innings, giving up 3 hits, 0 earned run and struck out 3 for a combined 42 (or so) points. Twenty-five of those points came against the Reds at home. This week he gets the Reds (at hoe again) and the Cubs (in Chicago). His first start this year as a starter was against the Cubs. He went only 3.2 innings (57 pitches) which I’m guessing is because he wasn’t stretched out. I have a feeling he will be in my lineup this week too. And before you ask, I’m leaning Kim over Kuhl, even if Chad thinks that’s not cool.

Michael Pineda is set to return on Tuesday. I think that might make him a two-start pitcher. I have no idea what to expect from him, but it might be worth keeping an eye on that situation considering the Twins have been pretty ok this year.

Here are the top 30 hitters based on average points over the last two weeks. There might be a few names in this list that are available in your league. Remember, it’s the year where the best strategy just might be playing the players that are hot.

I leave you with this… Be excellent to each other!

Follow malamoney on Twitter at @malamoney