Don’t be judging my title. I’m always late to the topical title party. I’m lazy! I haven’t seen Straight Outta Compton because I refuse to pay for overpriced tickets to movies that have nothing visually cool to offer. Seeing the clips and Grey talking it up and being in the same room as Cube has made me reflect… When that album broke, I was in the 8th grade and it was the biggest game changer for us since the Beastie Boys and RUN DMC (I group them together because it felt like it was around the same time). I wasn’t a huge hip-hop head, but I had friends that listened to nothing but street poets. Then came NWA and Eazy-E (I say them separately because Eazy’s album dropped a month after Straight Outta Compton and was treated like a companion piece). It was impossible to own one and not the other. Now, I bring this up because this movie reminds me of the first time I heard Eazy Duz It. I was coming back from Carpenteria (its just south of Santa Barbara) with my good buddy and his mom. He asked her if we could play his new tape on the way home. She, being the very open minded lady she was, obliged and sat through that whole album. Damn, I don’t miss my buddy since he turned into a bitch ass when we got older, but his mom was the baddest mom I knew. From Boyz N’ Tha Hood to Eazy-er Said Than Dunn, we would bump this almost as much as SOC. Hey, we were from L.A., it was great to get someone changing the game from our backyard. Now, you might be asking yourself what this has to do with this weeks creeper. Nothing, I just felt like waxing about NWA.
Last week I got the honor of writing the Trash/Treasure post while Magoo went on his sandwich themed vacation. Could we call it a Sandcation? Vacawich? Yeaaaah, those don’t work. Hey, Portmanteauin’ Ain’t Eazy! From that post I’m inspired to switch it up this week as I’ll be going over some of the sexier looking/brand name players under 15% owned and determining if they are worth the add… or not. This partially inspired by all the H2H players chillin around as they try to navigate their playoffs and me trying to give them the most relevant advice I can.
- Greg Bird, 1B (14.9%) – With Tex out this might look like a good option… but it’s not with all his games on the road in pitcher friendly parks. He gets two lefties out of his 6 games, and even though his splits good against they are too small a sample size to invest in. The right-handers he faces are Odorizzi, Archer, and Thor. Let’s wait ’til next week when he goes to Toronto to seriously consider him as a play. [email protected].
- Ben Paulsen, 1B, OF (11.1%) – with three right handers on the hill for the Colorado at home between 9/18-9/20 you have to consider him. I wouldn’t be doing my job if I didn’t mention him. Since Morneau’s return from the DL, they have played in 4 games together and this situation is worth monitoring when they open the home series. 1/2 WEEK CREEP.
- Aaron Hicks, OF (10.7%) – The switch hitting Hicks gets 4 of his 7 games are against lefties this week. In 77 AB’s against southpaws this year he’s hit .338 with 6 dongs. The Hitter-Tron likes him as a $5.5 play and I concur with H to the T-eazy. He should be more universally owned with his speed power combo that has produced a 10/10 season in only 275 AB’s. If this is him turning the corner in his career, he could be a 15/15 play next year. CREEP.
- Domingo Santana, OF (9.5%) – Grey wrote him about this past Friday, I wrote about him a few weeks ago and if this is news to you then welcome to the site. He’s a donkey with no name who gets a full slate at home. Let’s take a stab at that Donkey name for second. Domingo is Sunday which is the Lord’s Day who gave us Jesus. I can work with this. Lordonky? Jesuskey? ROS CREEP.
- Anthony Gose, OF (9.3%) – SAGNOF! SAGNOF! SAGNOF! He’s a lefty facing all righties and is usable for those in need of speed. Nothing too scientific here, just add and pray he gets the green light. ROS CREEP.
- Justin Bour, 1B (6.8%) – The Bour Hunter looks like he ate a Boar. He gets all right-handers this week which is sexy but the arms are not the ones you want to meet in a dark alley. Mad Max, deGrom, Zimm, Stressbird, and the super hot Colon are all passes for me. If you need power I would look elsewhere. [email protected].
- C.J. Cron, 1B (5.6%) – Hey, look, another Grey buy from this past Friday. His opening series against the Mariners are a no go by the Hitter-Tron and I agree. The three-headed animal WalkHerDashi made me go hhhmmmm. Looked at track record and it’s not good vs Felix and Iwakuma. He is better on the road this year and has hit well in Seattle but the matchups are not giving me any promise. If you own him I would play him against Walker and the entire Minnesota series. 1/2 WEEK CREEP.
- Ketel Marte, SS (4.1%) – Great Play, Less Filling, Great Play ,Less Filling….SAGNOF Lite! He gets three at home vs. the Angels (all against righties) to open the week and closes with three at Texas. The Tron really likes the Weaver matchup on Wednesday and Gallardo on Friday. If you need some middle infidel SAGNOF then be the pot and call this Ketel black or don’t be calling the Ketel. Oh, nevermind, I’m not editing that out. CREEP.
- Scooter Gennett, 2B (3.2%) – Any time I get this lefty at hitter friendly home against a slew of right-handers I perk my ears up like a dog. The Lackey, DeScalifini, and Sampson start are loved by HT and with as much data as that bot has to crunch I’m not going to argue. I get it, Scoot is so blah, but if you are dying for a pulse he might be worth the play with very very very limited upside. [email protected] CREEP.
Top 40 Hitters – Week 24
| Rank | Player | POS | Team |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Josh Donaldson | 3B | TOR |
| 2 | Bryce Harper | OF | WAS |
| 3 | Paul Goldschmidt | 1B | AZ |
| 4 | Nolan Arenado | 3B | COL |
| 5 | Yoenis Cespedes | OF | NYM |
| 6 | Mike Trout | OF | LAA |
| 7 | Chris Davis | 3B | BAL |
| 8 | Nelson Cruz | OF | SEA |
| 9 | Anthony Rizzo | 1B | CHC |
| 10 | Ryan Braun | OF | MIL |
| 11 | Miguel Cabrera | 1B | DET |
| 12 | Jose Bautista | OF | TOR |
| 13 | Edwin Encarnacion | 1B | TOR |
| 14 | A.J. Pollock | OF | AZ |
| 15 | Carlos Gonzalez | OF | COL |
| 16 | Jose Abreu | 1B | CHW |
| 17 | Andrew McCutchen | OF | PIT |
| 18 | David Ortiz | DH | BOS |
| 19 | Kris Bryant | 3B | CHC |
| 20 | J.D. Martinez | OF | DET |
| 21 | Michael Brantley | OF | CLE |
| 22 | Charlie Blackmon | OF | COL |
| 23 | Dee Gordon | 2B | MIA |
| 24 | Matt Kemp | OF | SD |
| 25 | Joey Votto | 1B | CIN |
| 26 | Lorenzo Cain | OF | KC |
| 27 | Mookie Betts | OF | BOS |
| 28 | Miguel Sano | 3B | MIN |
| 29 | Manny Machado | 3B | BAL |
| 30 | Troy Tulowitzki | SS | TOR |
| 31 | Jose Altuve | 2B | HOU |
| 32 | Kyle Seager | 3B | SEA |
| 33 | Todd Frazier | 3B | CIN |
| 34 | Carlos Correa | SS | HOU |
| 35 | Buster Posey | C | SF |
| 36 | Kyle Schwarber | C | CHC |
| 37 | Alex Rodriguez | 3B | NYY |
| 38 | Jackie Bradley Jr. | OF | BOS |
| 39 | Kole Calhoun | OF | LAA |
| 40 | Brandon Phillips | 2B | CIN |
Another week and another 10 spots shaved off. It seems really pointless to have that many guys be listed if they could be dumped in a week or less. With the playoffs (the real ones, not those awful H2H ones) MLB teams on the outside will start benching people and the teams who have locked it up may start resting guys. There are some brand name players I kept off the list including Albert Pujols, Adrian Gonzalez, Justin Upton and Adam Jones. Sometimes you have to do things a little crazy to win your league. Lets talk about what choices you have to make for the playoffs. Give me as much info about your team and the options available in your comments. We can zero in on what you need. I’m here for you yo’s!
Any word on getting the weekly pitcher chart to load? It’s been down all weekend. Need to set weekly lineups.
@Packers: I didn’t know it was down. I’m assuming Rudy is working on it
J-Foh, Grey & weekend creepers,
First off, thanks for all the great advice/columns this baseball season, the main reason I’m in first.
10-tm H2H Keeper (keep 12), max 4 moves a week (so I’ll do some movin today, so I’ll have a fresh 4 moves tmw)
Tweaking my squad for the next 2 weeks of playoffs, you see anybody worth swapping out ? I was going to swap Odor for Alexei Ramirez, but maybe I should just wait for Kendrick to come back (maybe mid week ?)
Waiver – Bradley Jr., B. Revere, A. Eaton, A. Ramirez, M. Trumbo, K. Johnson, Y. Escobar, J. Segura, K. Davis, C. Coghlan, M. Canha, M. Byrd, J.P. Arencibia, M. Montero, w. Castillo
My team:
C- C. Santana
1B- Goldy
2B – Dozier
3B- K. Seager
SS – Desmond
CI – Torenado
MI – R. Odor
LF – C. Granderson
CF – McCutch
RF – Braun
Util – Moustakas
BN – G. Polanco
DL – HanRam
DL – H. Kendrick
thanks again everyone ! Good luck in your playoffs (bad luck if in my league)
@John: thanks…I’d want bradley over polanco
Thanks for your help with the hitters all year. I’m hoping you can give me some help with pitchers.
In next week’s H2H match I have pitchers that will keep my ERA & WHIP down but my opponent has more 2 start pitchers than me so I’m looking for streamers who will give me just 2-4 K’s & a chance at a W while keeping their ERA around 3.50 or lower and their WHIP 1.20 or lower. I can only stream 1 pitcher a day. Give me your top 4 streamers from the following:
Monday:
Verrett vMIA (Nicolino)
E. Rodriguez @BAL (Gausman)
Gausman vBOS (E. Rodriguez)
Tuesday:
B. Anderson vCOL (Rusin)
Happ vCHN (Lester)
Lamb @SF (Heston)
Tomlin vKC (Medlin)
Wednesday
Peavy vCIN(Lorenzen)
Chavez vOAK (Smaardja)
Thursday
Moore vBAL (Tillman)
Quintana @CLE (Nolin)
K. Hendricks @PIT (Morton)
McCullers @TEX (Lewis)
Friday
Smyly vBAL (Chen)
Matz vNYY (Pineda)
Chen @TB (Smyly)
Bolsinger vPIT (Locke)
Saturday
Iglesias @MIL(Jumgman)
Corbin @SF (Leake)
Gausman @TB (Ramirez)
Stroman vBOS (Porcello)
Ramirez vBAL (Gausman)
Sunday
Medlin @DET (Lobstein)
Corbin could be here instead if Godley still in rotation @SF (Hudson)
@Tim: List the 4 in order from best to worst.
@Tim: Corbin, Anderson, Smyly, Stroman
I have Kipnis, A. Gordon, Dickerson as my bottom 3 hitters (util spots) – would you pick up any one of your creepers for this week’s playoff run for an OPS league? I was thinking Hicks for Kipnis
Also would you stream Hudson or Duffey tomorrow?
Thanks!
@Rich: Hicks for Kip, Hudson
Drop inciarte, conforto, yelich, cesar hernandez, domingo for hicks, deshields. need some speed
@db: drop Cesar for Hicks. Id rather have Ketel Marte over deShields
Hey I’m in a 12 team H2H Standard Points league. Our rosters are 35 deep, so sometimes we’re scraping the bottom of the barrel.
Which 3 outfielders would you play? W. Myers, Piscotty, Yelich, Cabrera, Reddick, and Marte (I know Marte should be a no-brainer but he’s been hurt/sick this last week and our rosters lock in on Mondays for week one of the playoffs.
One more if you can: Catcher: I had Hundley, had Jaso as my backup, also have Rosario. Hold my nose and play one of them or pick up Caleb Joseph, Kurt Suzuki, James McCann, or Hank Conger? Thanks for all your help!
@Georgiaboy1118:No prob…Myers, Piscotty, Reddick, McCann for catcher.
Start Jose Reyes this week? How bad is his achilles?
@Matthew: doesnt look promising, I’d go elsewhere
Nice write up!
Which outfield would you start for H2H points…Werth, JBJ (and his recent cold stretch), Byrd, K. Davis, Reihmold, D. Santana?
How about 2B? Wong, Gyorko, Coughlan, Prado, Gennet?
And CI? Paulson, Cahna, Bird, Lawrie, Cron, Shaw, Bour, ARam?
Thanks for your help, I appreciate it
@Noam: Reimold, Davis, JBJ
@J-FOH:
Thanks man, but I forgot to mention to pick only one. Which one would you start?
@Noam: Gyorko and Canha
Looking for some advice. For the past month I have not had an offensive bench player choosing to instead have lots of pitching. My h2h playoffs start next week and rosters lock after tonight with no more moves. Watching Harper’s near disaster at 2nd has me thinking that I should have a backup. My pitchers : hammels , Archer, Verlander, Matz, Carrasco, Salazar, McCullers, Zimmerman, Liriano, Tyson Ross. Who should I drop?
@Robert: Liriano, Id also go to our player pages and compare some of the matchups
@J-FOH: thanks
H2H semi finals points league
C – Gattis
1B – Goldy
2b – odor
3b – C Santana
Ss – y Escobar
MI – Baez
CI – fielder
Of – pollock
Of – Adam jones
Of – Carlos Gomez
Of – rusney Castillo
Looking to add 1 bat this week, debating on Seager (LAD), Bradley JR, Canha, which of the 3 would you look to add and who would you replace? Any other options you can think of instead?? Thanks for the help
Any word on how long Carlos Gomez will be out?
@M: no idea, he wont play tomorrow for sure and thats all I got
@J-FOH: yep mlbrumors confirmed that. With all his injuries this year I wonder if an offseason of rest will get him back to his All-Star level
@M: he’s at the regression years.
Semifinals this week, would you drop Reyes for canha or one of these creeps? I have lindor as my main ss
@Johnny Boy: I would drop him but it depends on needs for who to grab
One more : for my final roster spot, cron, Byrd, plouffe,moustakas , Josh Harrison. This is a bench player for the playoffs with no moves allowed once playoffs start.
Starting playoffs… I have Tulo. Safe to drop him (we only keep 1 guy and I have Giancarlo and Donaldson)
Would you pick up Seager, Castro, or Lindor?
Also, I have Belt and Bradley, Jr. – Would you drop either of them for Cahna, Trumbo, Eaton, or Pedro?
JFOH just pinged me, said he was incognito for a bit.
Tulo: can drop for Seager
Drop Belt for Eaton
Unless you have roster move restrictions or it’s a weekly/bi-weekly transaction league, it looks like you’re safe to play matchups. Don’t tether yourself.
my last util spot:
JBJ, Khris davis, corey seager, billy butler, canha or reimold? (6 cat league with OPS)
Thanks!
JBJ
I have Hanley (dl) and Crawford at ss
Weekly league playoff tmw 6×6 w obp
Drop Crawford for segura or marte?
Or didi
Still Segura
segura
Curious as to why you like Bradley jr so much this week. Outside of Monday 4 hit night , he only had 1 hit remainder of the week. I was going to for sure drop him for Myers , worth or hicks for next week until I read your write up. Seems like he has come crashing back down to earth.
Thanks for all you do
Thanks so much
I’m not JFOH but he’s busy at the moment so I’m standing in. Look at a larger sample size than 4 games. He’s hitting above .350 in both August and September and has the 5th highest wRC+ of any player in the last 14 days. Not all matchups are pristine for him but I wouldn’t turn down the larger sample size for the small amount of games you quoted.
Hi J-FOH! I saw a band called The Creepy Creeps last night. Some fabulous ghoul rock.
Royce! The hateful one had an emergency so I’m swinging through his comments for the night. Is this like Gwar?
You starting EE, Harper and Starling in the playoffs? Any idea of their status? Have the likes of Belt, Calhoun and Beltre available to fill in 1B/OF/DH.
Harper sounds like he’s fine, EE probably fine but coaches could be cautious down the road with him if their lead expands. Starling has a stomach flu…wouldn’t be worried about him. Given the players involved, I’d rather take the three best ones you’re worried about over the others.
Coghlan or Domingo Santana
What do you think
Without much else to go on in terms of needs, I’d rather have Coghlan. He won’t play every day but great lineup spot for overall production.
noland reimold vs boston in tampa, werth @philles vs miami, piscotty @mil @cubs
pick 1
Werth/Piscotty
Would you start Howard or Buxton this week? (Deep league)
@M: I’ll be pinch-hitting for J-FOH today. Depends on needs, but Howard has been playing better recently and is scheduled to face 5 RHPs this week. I’d give him the edge.
Points league playoffs I have 6 hitters for 5 spots at 1B,OF(3),DH (HitterTron scores in parens):
M Cabrera(27.3), Ortiz(28.6), Braun(23.6), Brantley(11.7), Blackmon(18.8), Pollock (8.4).
Hitter-Tron likes Pollock the least, but MCab has not hit well lately. I just hate benching a guy who can bust out with a 30+ point week. Leaning towards sitting Pollock.
Also same team – Kipnis(2.3) is slumping and Solarte (17.3 including 3 games at Coors) is a free agent. WOuld you drop Kipnis for him?
@FilthyRich: Tough call, but I’d consider benching Blackmon there. The Rockies start a series in LA today where they’re scheduled to face three straight lefties (Kershaw, Anderson, Wood). Pollock’s matchups are slightly better, and Brantley has been hot recently (and plays 7 games this week). I’d keep Miggy in the lineup too.
Sure, you can dump Kipnis for Solarte at this point. Nothing wrong with playing the hot hand there.
Points League decisions to make. Weekly lineups need to be set by start of games today…
2B – Duffy (6 gms – CIN, ARI) OR LeMahieu (6 gms – SD, @LAD)
OF – Choose Two
W Myers (6 – @ARI, @COL)
Hicks (7 – DET, LAA)
S Marte (6 – CHC, @LAD)
Byrd (6 – CIN, ARI)
R Castillo (6 – @BAL, @TOR)
Thanks brotha!
@Sports Benjamin: I’d give a slight edge to LeMahieu over Duffy. Not much separating those two, so the series in Coors is the tiebreaker for me.
Myers and Marte look like the best bets among the outfielders.
No problem!
Based on your rankings, you seem to predict that Ortiz with stay hot. With the Sawx out of the playoff hunt and Ortiz hitting his 500th, do you see him being sat 1 to 2 games a week?
@GFY250: Ortiz might sit occasionally against a tough lefty, but he should still play the vast majority of the remaining games. I’d leave him in your lineup.
Dilemma
Playoff week
Weekly lineup
6×6 w holds
I’m against 11-12 starts ( kluber?)
1 saves guy Castillo
1 holds oday
I have 8 starts
4 2-start pitchers
Martinez
Carrasco
Medlen
Shields
Got 3 holds and 3 closers in lineup
Wade Davis
Clippard
Soria
Allen
Boxberger
Osuna
Should I sub on out for Jimenez (2starts) or hammel chc (not sure if he’ll pitch two)
Ramos also on bench
Catagories ks wins era whip holds saves
Thanks
@Andy: As of now, Hammel isn’t scheduled to pitch until next Monday after tomorrow’s start, so it looks like he’s a one-starter this week. Jimenez is a ratio risk, but he should rack up a decent amount of Ks and has a decent shot at earning at least one W. I’d probably take a shot on him over one of the holds guys (Clippard or Soria).
Thx
I’ll bench soria for Jimenez
Giving me wade and Clippard against his oday for holds
Giving me 10 starts 4rps vs his 11-12 starts and 2rps
His sp
Kluber,Lester,teheren,Roark,archer,lackey,volquez and gray
Do I have enuf to compete for ks and wins
Or should I bench Boxberger for Jason hammel
Rolling w osuna and Allen against Castillo
I wouldn’t want to compromise saves or holds
Thanks
I could always bench Medlen and Jimenez for Ramos and Soria
Giving me for saves guys three holds guys
Trying to guarantee those two categories and have a good shot at era and whip??
Or never concede?
@Andy: That’s an option too, but the problem with that strategy is that you’d basically be conceding wins and Ks right off the bat. You’d get holds and saves, but the pitching would come down to ratios, which are always a crapshoot. Shields has a couple of tough matchups too, which could hurt you there.
If you went with the two-starters, you’d have an edge in holds and saves while still competing in wins and Ks. I think it would give you a better shot.
ARod makes #37 playing 3 games against TB pitching? He’ll sit the Mets series, and the way Girardi handles things, may not get a PH appearance.
@SabathiaWouldBeGoodAtTheEighthToo: You can bench A-Rod if you have a solid replacement option
Is it safe to start starling Marte and edwin Encarnacion in weekly leagues? Or should I sit Encarnacion for Coghlan?
H2H, points league in 1st week of playoffs making some minor tweaks…
As of now, hitting roster includes:
C-Brian McCann
1B-Paul Goldschmidt
2B-Anthony Rendon
3B- Alex Rodriguez
SS-Didi Gregorious*
OF- Adam Jones, McCutchen, Shin Soo Choo*
Util- Matt Carpenter & Freddie Freeman
Right now I feel like my weakest positions are SS and my last OF spot thats been a rotating door.
Last week I picked up Didi Gregorious to replace Jose Reyes but hes back today? Should I scoop him up again or grab the available Jung Ho Kang, Starlin Castro, or Baez?
Last OF spot right now is Shin Soo Choo (dealing with stiff neck and went 0-3 today) but should I swap for Alex Gordon, Curtis Granderson (on waivers), Mark Trumbo, Dexter Fowler, Joc Pederson, or Billy Burns (coming back wednesday).
Decisions, decisions…Really appreciate the opinions all season, good luck and lets make that final push! ;)