Congratulations to Roto-Wan on the birth of his child! Playing a little catch up on the baseball world myself as I was out at a bachelor party all weekend. July is coming to a close, and every week matters as you chase down every point that you can for a title run.
- He’s not going to be available in your leagues, but Ronald Acuna Jr. is running wild with 8 steals in his last 8 games.
- Roenis Elias has not had a good July sporting a 15.43 ERA with a 2.14 WHIP for the month. Anthony Bass is worth a pickup if you’re chasing saves. They CAN’T let Elias take the ball in the 9th again, right?
- Keep an eye on Oliver Drake in Tampa as another guy that may join the closer rotation for the Rays.
- Aaron Bummer moving up the pecking order for saves is Colome gets traded for the South side Sox.
- I can’t tell you which catchers will play when, but some of the teams with the best catcher duos to run against include: Atlanta, Cincinnati, Texas, and San Francisco.
- If you’re looking at DFS, or just utilizing daily lineups to the fullest, specific catchers to target runners against include: Wilson Ramos, Stephen Vogt, Yasmani Grandal, and Brian McCann.
- Niko Goodrum (63% ownership on Fantrax) has 3 stolen bases in his last 5 games and quadruple position eligibility.
- Willy Adames has hit .278 since the break with 1 steal over that time. While his season steals totals aren’t overly impressive, he is top 100 in sprint speed, so, a bump in production in the stolen bases department isn’t out of the question.
- Could Manuel Margot finally be capitalizing on all that athletic ability? I think it’s possible. At the least, it seems as though he has a role as a platoon bat, but hitting. 385 with 2 stolen bases and a home run since the break, and he’s been hitting out of the 2 spot the last few games.
Bottom 20 Catchers in Stolen Bases Allowed By Innings Pitched
| # | Name | Team | G | Inn | SB | CS | SB-CS | SB/Inn |
| 1 | Chance Sisco | BAL | 23 | 186 | 20 | 3 | 17 | 10.75% |
| 2 | Wilson Ramos | NYM | 75 | 609 | 62 | 10 | 52 | 10.18% |
| 3 | Bobby Wilson | DET | 12 | 100.2 | 10 | 1 | 9 | 9.98% |
| 4 | Nick Hundley | OAK | 30 | 195.1 | 18 | 5 | 13 | 9.23% |
| 5 | Michael Perez | TBR | 15 | 112 | 10 | 3 | 7 | 8.93% |
| 6 | Welington Castillo | CHW | 30 | 247 | 22 | 5 | 17 | 8.91% |
| 7 | Max Stassi | HOU | 23 | 192 | 17 | 3 | 14 | 8.85% |
| 8 | Jeff Mathis | TEX | 56 | 445.1 | 39 | 4 | 35 | 8.76% |
| 9 | Tomas Nido | NYM | 28 | 222.1 | 18 | 2 | 16 | 8.10% |
| 10 | Jonathan Lucroy | LAA | 66 | 533 | 41 | 15 | 26 | 7.69% |
| 11 | Blake Swihart | BOS | 8 | 54 | 4 | 1 | 3 | 7.41% |
| 12 | John Hicks | DET | 44 | 356 | 26 | 13 | 13 | 7.30% |
| 13 | Willians Astudillo | MIN | 16 | 124 | 9 | 2 | 7 | 7.26% |
| 14 | Buster Posey | SFG | 63 | 520 | 37 | 15 | 22 | 7.12% |
| 15 | Grayson Greiner | DET | 43 | 381.2 | 27 | 11 | 16 | 7.08% |
| 16 | Brian McCann | ATL | 55 | 454 | 32 | 4 | 28 | 7.05% |
| 17 | Omar Narvaez | SEA | 69 | 568.2 | 40 | 9 | 31 | 7.04% |
| 18 | Josh Phegley | OAK | 76 | 587.1 | 41 | 18 | 23 | 6.98% |
| 19 | Curt Casali | CIN | 51 | 377.1 | 25 | 7 | 18 | 6.63% |
| 20 | Kurt Suzuki | WSN | 48 | 394.2 | 26 | 3 | 23 | 6.60% |
Bottom 20 Pitcher in Stolen Bases Allowed By Innings Pitched
| # | Name | Team | GS | Inn | SB | SB/Inn |
| 1 | Noah Syndergaard | NYM | 19 | 119.2 | 20 | 16.78% |
| 2 | Yu Darvish | CHC | 20 | 109 | 18 | 16.51% |
| 3 | Spencer Turnbull | DET | 19 | 98.2 | 13 | 13.24% |
| 4 | Jacob deGrom | NYM | 20 | 122 | 16 | 13.11% |
| 5 | Jeff Samardzija | SFG | 20 | 110.1 | 11 | 9.99% |
| 6 | Daniel Norris | DET | 17 | 100.1 | 10 | 9.99% |
| 7 | Jake Arrieta | PHI | 20 | 118.2 | 11 | 9.31% |
| 8 | Reynaldo Lopez | CHW | 20 | 111 | 10 | 9.01% |
| 9 | Julio Teheran | ATL | 21 | 112.1 | 10 | 8.92% |
| 10 | Aaron Sanchez | TOR | 21 | 102 | 9 | 8.82% |
| 11 | Sonny Gray | CIN | 19 | 103.1 | 9 | 8.73% |
| 12 | Mike Fiers | OAK | 21 | 121 | 10 | 8.26% |
| 13 | Sandy Alcantara | MIA | 19 | 112.1 | 9 | 8.03% |
| 14 | Jose Berrios | MIN | 20 | 127.2 | 10 | 7.86% |
| 15 | Zach Eflin | PHI | 19 | 110 | 8 | 7.27% |
| 16 | Ivan Nova | CHW | 20 | 110.2 | 8 | 7.26% |
| 17 | Madison Bumgarner | SFG | 21 | 125.2 | 9 | 7.19% |
| 18 | Stephen Strasburg | WSN | 20 | 127.2 | 9 | 7.08% |
| 19 | Brandon Woodruff | MIL | 19 | 114.2 | 8 | 7.01% |
| 20 | Brett Anderson | OAK | 20 | 115.1 | 8 | 6.95% |
Recycling my post from Grey’s article.
Bummer is my favorite potential closer stash.
Boston is interested in Giles and Yates according to reports yesterday. If Toronto moves Giles, I would think they move Daniel Hudson too and Biagini gets a shot. If the Padres actually move Yates, which is possible but less likely than Giles being moved, then I would love to see the Padres give Munoz a shot at closing by the end of the year. Could be Stammen getting a shot for a few weeks first though.
I’m also rostering Joe Jimenez, though he is terrible (though I would look to flip him in a trade if he gets the job).
Nick Anderson in Miami.
I added Chris Martin where I could today. Shawn Kelley left the game hurt yesterday (I think?)
Hunter Strickland should already be rostered everywhere.
And the Giants have too many bullpen arms to roster them all at once, so I have a few of each here and there… but I’ll rank them Dyson, Watson, Melancon, Moronta. Keeping in mind that both Dyson and Watson could easily be moved out of SF next week too. Melancon has a bloated contract, so I could see them seeing what they can get out of him in August. He’ll blow a few and it could be Moronta after that until the end of sept.
Also watching the Pittsburg situation. Don’t expect them to move Felipe, but if they do, its prob Kela before Crick. Kela is expected to be activated today.
I dropped Diego Castillo today in a few leagues. Done trying to figure out the Rays after drafting an Alvarado/Diego tandem across most of my roto leagues. That just didn’t work out.
Should have added. It could end up being David Phelps instead of Biagini in Toronto, so add him to your watch lists too.
So, I just get leftovers from Grey’s posts? Damn… haha
I like Bummer as well. Could be a shared job with Evan Marshall and Jace Fry. I do wonder with the White Sox going nowhere, if they’d potentially give it to Marshall strictly to avoid the arb case of Bummer or Fry getting saves if Colome gets traded.
I like Hudson the most in Toronto as well.
I can’t take the ratio blow ups from Joe Jimenez. A point in saves doesn’t matter if you lose 4 in ERA/WHIP.
Probably right with Anderson, Tayron has been the closer of the future for it feels like forever as well.
Also looked to grab LeClerc in Texas, although, I’m with you that I think Martin gets first shot.
If you have the space and saves are hard to come by in your league, yeah on Hunter Strickland.
I’d probably go with a different order for the Giants, but who knows… The one contract they’d probably love to move would be Melancon’s $14 mill for next year.
Felipe has been rumored, but I’m also a bit hesitant to believe they send him anywhere. Hard to say with Kela coming back from injury. The first few outings will be key.
Rays/Giants are both a mess to figure out.
Garrett, Goody, and Britton would be my top 3. Garrett and Goody have performed well and get the Ks that are lacking from the rest. Every strikeout counts!
Good day B_Don, in a holds league, having plenty for saves and will likely be dropping Shawn Kelley of the Rangers due in injury. Who do you favor for holds:
1) Zach Britton
2) Will Harris
3) Adam Cimber
4) Nick Goody
5) Scott Barlow
6) Amir Garrett
7) Jake Diekman
Thanks.
Could you rank the following for stash-for-saves?
Bummer, Dyson, Melancon, Strickland, Hudson, Bignani, Kela, Crick, Anderson, Munoz, Stammen, Bass
Currently rostering Hudson and Dyson (both pitching well with a limited history of closing on teams that might trade their closer), but who knows? Thoughts?
Temporarily, I like Bass to get opps with Elias getting blown up constantly, but with Strickland out only a week-ish, it may not be a long run at the role.
It’s hard to predict trades at the closer position. I think I’m moving away from the Giants as a seller. If the Giants don’t move anyone, it’s still going to be a messy situation as it seems to be a shared gig w/ up to 5 people being part of the mix.
Hudson is as good a bet as any, so, I’d use the Dyson spot to stream the spot more from these types of guys after a closer has gone back to back or 3/4 days.