Hey reader. Yeah, you. Yes, I am actually talking directly to you. Quick question. When you were a kid, did you ever blow Bubbles? I know you did. I just thought I’d let you know that he was asking about you. Giovanny Gallegos blows saves. He gets right down on his knees and gets to business. He should come out of the bullpen wearing knee pads. Here’s what gets me, if a pitcher comes out to start the 8th inning, he’s not out there to get the save. That’s going to be the guy coming out in the 9th. The guy pitching the 8th is there for a hold. I think it’s total bullshit that when he gives up a run or two, erasing the lead, he is charged with a blown save. How can you get a blown save when you were never going to get the save in the first place. Closers don’t come out to start the 8th. I don’t have the stats in front of me, but I think we would all agree on that. There needs to be a new category called blown holds, and unless a points league gives points for holds, it should ignore blown holds. This needs to happen people. Who’s with me?
You know what else doesn’t sit well with me? The 7-inning complete game shutout. A lot of points leagues award bonuses for complete games and shutouts. I don’t think the 7-inning version should qualify.
Joc Pederson is on pace for 40 home runs and a .271 batting average. The 40 homers is possible. I think he falls short, but possible. The .271 average is very unlikely considering he hasn’t batted above .249 in a season and is a career .234 hitter. I’d trade him for whatever reasonable offer you can get.
Alejandro Kirk has skyrocketed up the catcher rankings. With 114 points, the only catcher with more points is Willson Contreras (133). Contreras has about 30 additional plate appearances, but they both have about a 0.68 points per plate appearance. In the last two weeks, Kirk has scored 58 points. Not too shabby for a 20th round catcher. I’m buying, but I’d be selling if I could somehow wrangle J.T. Realmuto.
You can’t spell Schwindel without “win”. Frank has averaged a little bit over 25 points a week over the last three weeks. Personally, I’m leaning more towards hot schwomato, but he did hit 14 home runs and bat .326 in 64 games last season.
Nothing like a 47-point week from Yordan Alvarez. At 24 years of age, Alvarez’s stock is on the rise. He’s a keeper for sure. Very happy to own him in my keep forever league. I feel like he’s a bit underrated and doesn’t quite get the attention he deserves.
I wonder if in Kyle Farmer‘s house they ever say “We are farmers, bum-ba-dum, bum-bum-bum-bum”. Just curious. Farmer is currently outproducing Bo Bichette and is on par with Wander Franco and Dansby Swanson. Not that I’m advocating for Farmer, but I did want to point that out.
I guess I should mention Christopher Morel. If he’s going to be in the Cubs lineup, then he should be considered in points leagues. For the record, I don’t love him. But I don’t hate him.
One fantasy point separates Mike Trout and Kyle Tucker with the edge going to Trout. However, he also has ten more plate appearances. So the slight edge might actually go to Tucker. For discussion’s sake, let’s call it a draw. I am a big Mike Trout fan, who isn’t, but I would give up Trout if I could get Tucker in return in a keeper league. At 25, Tucker is five years younger than Trout and Trout’s been a bit dinged up the last year. Tell me in the comments which one you’d rather have.
Aaron Ashby got off to a rocky start this season, but I sure am glad I held onto him. He now has 60 strikeouts in 46 innings pitched. His ERA is sitting a 3.13. He only has about 12 points per start, but if we ignore his awful -8 point start back in May against the Braves, his PPS jumps to 15.8 points. I know I can’t just ignore the bad ones, but he is trending in the right direction, and he has dual SP/RP eligibility.
I’m going to leave you with this picture.
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