I really can’t believe that I let a mediocre Spring Training keep me from drafting Shohei Ohtani with a reasonable pick. I remember last year when the rumors were becoming clearer and it was looking very much like he’d be coming to the Majors in 2018. My first thought was that whoever had the first pick in my league was going to take him. Our league has ten teams and six keepers so the first pick is actually the 61st pick. There was no doubt in my mind that he’d be the first pick. Having won the league I would be stuck with the last pick. No chance I’d get a crack at Shohei. Ohtani wasn’t drafted until the sixth pick of the sixth round. That’s 126th overall. I made SIX picks and didn’t think once about grabbing him. You might want to think twice about taking advice from me.
Ohtani is making Spring Training look like a blip on the radar. With a bat in his hand he has scored 24 points in 20 plate appearances. His points per plate appearance (1.20) is currently fourth best among all hitters behind only Bryce Harper (1.39), Didi Gregorius (1.33) and Mookie Betts (1.23). Ohtani has three home runs in those twenty trips to the batters box. These numbers sound exactly like the hype we were all fed while he was still playing in Japan. The problem here is that as a batter, his opportunities are slightly limited. In the Angles first 12 games he has only been slotted as the DH in five games. While he’s making the most of those chances, it’s not exactly ideal in weekly leagues.
As a starting pitcher Shohei has been outstanding in his first two starts. In 13 innings, he has 18 strikeouts and just 4 hits against. He is averaging 29 points per start. That puts in him in the top five pitchers in points leagues. That group includes Jameson Taillon, Gerrit Cole, Max Scherzer and Zack Godley, with Corey Kluber and Jake Junis right behind. Again, this lives up to the hype we were all fed while he was still playing in Japan.
Clearly Ohtani is more valuable as a starting pitcher in weekly leagues, but where he really shines is in daily leagues. In fact, with a total of 84 points between his hitting and pitching stats, he is the highest scoring player in fantasy baseball points leagues. In daily lineup leagues he is the number one overall player. Not Mike Trout. Not Bryce Harper. And not Max Scherzer. Shohei Ohtani is number one and I let 125 other players be drafted ahead of him. I guess I can only be blamed for the six players I drafted, but either way, shame on me and everyone else who did the same. Damn you Spring Training, and damn you ADP.
Now that I’ve got that off my chest I can continue with the regularly scheduled programming. What else is going on in points leagues? Let’s take a quick look at the top players at each position.
Catcher: Yadier Molina leads all catchers in home runs (3), points (30) and suspensions (1). The interesting part is that he is currently hitting .256 but is a .284 career hitter.
1B: Morgan Freeman’s brother from another brother is leading the way at first base. Freddie Freeman is proving that 2017 was no fluke. With 50 points he sits atop a star studded list of players.
2B: Ozzie Albies is shocking second base nation with 42 points. He just hit his fourth home run and is rewarding his fantasy owners quite nicely. Jose who? I mean Jose Alt-who-ve? This post was written before Javier Baez had a big night last night which actually propelled him ahead of Albies.
3B: In leagues where Freeman qualifies for third base he takes the award here as well. In leagues where he doesn’t Matt Chapman owns the honors with 49 points.
SS: Didi Gregorius is second in most points for hitters with 60 points. He has a walk to strikeout ratio of 3:1 and is scoring 1.33 points every time he steps up to the plate.
OF: The best hitter to date in fantasy baseball is Bryce Harper. He leads in home runs (6), runs batted in (12), walks (16) and, most importantly, points (68). If he stays off the disabled list, watch out! Bryce also leads the league in amount of hair spray used.
DH: Shohei Ohtani (see above)
SP: Corey Kluber leads all starting pitchers with 76 points in 3 starts. However, he has one more start (and ball) than Jameson Taillon who has 58 points in his two starts. I’d rather have Kluber, but Taillon is certainly turning heads.
My two cents…
Why are some pitchers puts on an innings limit as opposed to a pitches limit?
For some time now I’ve wondered if Taylor Trammell was the son of Tiger’s “legend” Alan Trammell. The moment I saw his profile picture the mystery was solved.
Get yourself some Nick Senzel. There is a lot of speculation as to when he gets the call, but I can’t see how it’s not next week. If the Reds want to win, a Senzel call-up is the right play. He’s a guy I can see contributing in points leagues right away.
Zack Godley‘s last name is quite arrogant.
Billy Hamilton was seen in Haiti having a Tim Anderson voodoo doll made.
Does anyone actually subscribe to ESPN Insider?
Is Chris Davis friends with Khris Davis?
Can we change the quality start stat to be either 6IP and 2ER or 7IP and 3ER? Otherwise the stat is bullshit. Three earned runs in six innings is a 4.50 ERA. Does anyone consider that quality?
I think Perdomo’s heart is still racing!
Giancarlo Stanton leads the Majors in… wait for it… Strikeouts (23). That’s twenty more than his total of 3 home runs. Chris Davis just popped his head up. Here’s a list of players with 3 home runs, less strikeouts and more fantasy points than Giancarlo. Josh Reddick (3 HR, 8 SO, 33 FPTS), Justin Upton (3, 11, 47), Shin-Soo Choo (3, 9, 36), Max Kepler (3, 4, 31), Aaron Judge (3, 15, 42), Steve Pearce (3, 4, 27), Gregory Polanco (3, 9, 47) and Joey Gallo (3, 14, 27). Seriouslly, Joey Gallo!? Stanton has 25 points. Maybe he should change his name back to Mike.
Justin Smoak‘s front lawn is also known as Justin Smoak’s grass. When Tim Lincecum heard that he called up Justin to see if he wanted to hang.
The Gregorius D.I.D. put out a song that goes something like this “Andrelton Simmons has 19 hits but a triple ain’t one”. I wonder if he worked with Trevor Bauer on that one?
There are two types of mustaches that men should try to avoid. One was ruined by an angry German. The other is currently being fashioned by Hunter Harvey. Women should attempt to avoid all flavors of staches.
Follow me on Twitter at @malamoney
