How much Karen could a Karinchak chuck—ahh never mind. That wasn’t going anywhere. And neither is baseball! Two more weeks of September prospect parade with The Itch! Feels like a flea saw his shadow! Or my shadow? Baseball’s shadow? I hope the latter. Fleas fear baseballs.
Called up:
Cleveland RHP James Karinchak strikes out everyone he doesn’t walk. Trouble is he walks everyone he doesn’t strike out. A must-add in holds and K-rate leagues, Karinchak might even find himself part of the ninth inning picture someday soon. Brad Hand is hurting, and Nick Wittgren leads an underwhelming support staff.
Joining James-K in Cleveland is OF Bradley Zimmer. If he’s feeling good, he’ll be running right away and should be an add in most formats. Here’s the rub: last we saw Zimmer, he was bailing out with his front foot and rolling over weak grounders to second base. We also saw a 6’5” stolen base threat and impressive defender in center who plays with reckless abandon. He’ll have to find a happy medium between that all-out approach that got him to the show and a more measured discretion that could keep him in health. Zimmer struck out 38.6 percent of the time during his last big-league stint, but he’s got the talent to thrive in 5×5 if he can get that K-rate closer to the 29.8 percent he posted in 2017.
Miami Marlins OF Magneuris Sierra is a good enough defender in center field to have been a starter on standard 1990’s rosters. And thanks to his baserunning chops, he might’ve been an All-Star in the 80’s, pounding grounders into those turf surfaces that were, in fact, carpeted cement. Whether or not mini Mags can do enough with the bat to be a regular in the current era is another question. The safe bet is no, but that’s irrelevant for our purposes today because he’s playing enough to snag a few steals before the curtain falls on 2019.
Cincinnati Reds OF Brian O’Grady was a beast in your AAA roto leagues thanks to 28 HR, 20 SB and a .280/.359/.550 triple slash—good for a 126 wRC+ in these crazy days. Nick Senzel is down for the count, and I was a little surprised to find O’Grady has been playing a little center field.
The Minnesota Twins just learned RHP Sam Dyson is out indefinitely and responded by calling up RHP Jorge Alcala, who joins recently promoted RHP Brusdar Graterol to give the Twinkies a couple kids who throw 100 miles per hour. If they’re effective, both could win early-season innings in 2020, and if they’re excellent, they’ll be called upon in key innings this October.
RHP Jose De Leon is back with Tampa Bay and brings some intrigue depending on usage. If he’s following an opener, he’s a flier worth adding. As a standard-issue reliever, he’s safe to ignore in a pen as deep as Tampa’s.
San Francisco Giants OF Mike Gerber is a 27-year-old who struck out 27.3 percent of the time in AAA but also tallied 26 homers in 119 games and earned a 123 wRC+. He’s looking at some opportunity now that Jaylin Davis is dinged up, but he’ll have to hit the ground running to stay in the lineup.
Giants infielder Cristhian Adames made some noise with the Cubs this Spring but lost out to Daniel Descalso’s contract. A couple good games wouldn’t surprise anyone, but Adames is a 28-year-old on his fourth organization who might not see the field in San Fran.
Now Showing:
Milwaukee Brewers RHP Ray Black might’ve gotten lost in the trade-deadline shuffle. The super spin-rate reliever has a streak of eight straight scoreless outings dating back to August 25th. What’s more, he hasn’t given up a baserunner since August 26th. Two more innings and he’s got not only a perfect game but also a perfect month. I suspect he’ll be heavily owned next year—might even pick up a dozen or so saves like we expected Jeremy Jefferies to do this season.
Top 100 and team rundowns are coming soon! Thanks for reading!
