That’s What I Like: Willi Castro, Josh Rojas, Josh Smith

It’s mega May! I mean, I wish it was Mega Man, but in lieu of everybody’s favorite pelleter, we’ll talk about some other mega men. May’s about the time when better hitters start showing up — the weather’s warmer, and players have stretched out a bit. There’s still a fair amount of mess for pitchers, especially those fringe innings eaters that will have their roster spots taken by various rookie call ups. I know we’re all excited about rookies, but often the initial call ups just don’t work that well. Wyatt Langford, Jackson Holliday, Jordan Beck — I mean, all the guys I list in this article have crushed their numbers and are available on the wire right now. Let’s see if we can diversify your team a bit!

That’s What I Like

Willi Castro (MIN, SS/3B/OF, 86% Rostered): You ever take a sip of your favorite beverage and suddenly feel like a brand new human? Like the you that existed before, never existed? I swear I’m not watching The Matrix for the 100th time (because I’m actually watching it for the 1,000th time), but Willi Castro is clearly somebody else entirely right now. Alec Bohm/Riley Greene/Shohei Ohtani/Willi Castro. Those are the top 4 batters in wOBA over the past few weeks. Over the last seven days, Castro has been batting nearly .500 with a 1.260 OPS and apparently, the Minnesota Twins are on a hot streak. How would I know they’re on a hot streak if I can’t watch them thanks to Bally Sports? Thanks to Bally Sports, an entire generation of midwesterners will grow up being completely unable to recognize their favorite baseball players. That’s OK if I can’t recognize Willi Castro — I’ll live with that. But your team right now? Could use a recognition of the Bold North, if I do say so myself. Add in all formats.

Josh Rojas (SEA, 2B/3B, 16% Rostered): After that Murder’s Row that I listed in the Castro blurb, who is #5 below Castro? Josh Rojas. Does Josh Rojas even have a job? He better by the time this article comes out, or else my 12 readers will all flip their lids saying, Rojas is Runemployed. Would runemployed be a good thing or a bad thing? Like, you’re employed for runs, or you can’t get any runs because you don’t have a job. Myself, I don’t want to find out. All Rojas has done over the past week is slug .900 and he’s batting .400 over the past few weeks. Rojas is a pretty well known quantity — he’s usually a guy you use in deeper leagues to snag some steals. But this year…maybe this year…is the year that he finally realizes how to swing a bat as well. Or it couldn’t. But the dude is already up to last year’s homer count (which isn’t saying much) and if he finally turns on the running shoes, we could have a (puts hand to mouth) Doubliner. Because he has power and speed, right? Come on, you guys love it when Grey makes up words. Add Rojas to your bench in deeper leagues and see if this trend holds steady.

Josh H. Smith (TEX, SS/3B/OF, 72% Rostered): With Josh Jung injured, another Josh has been taking his position and crushing. Isn’t that the real terror of the modern economy — we get hurt on the job and then a second round draft pick comes in and figures it out to the tune of a .900 slugging percentage over the past 30 ABs? Like these other guys, there’s risk, but that risk is somewhat mitigated when you’re on such a good team. Clearly, this week was all about awesome multi-position hitters — what more could you want?

I’m the Problem – It’s Me

Joe Musgrove (SD, SP, 100% Rostered): Pitchers can be pretty finicky so I’m not really complaining about the stats — and that xFIP is pretty league average despite his performance. What I’m more concerned about is: velocity down, elbow inflammation, and a year where more pitchers than ever have been visiting the chop shop (sorry for using technical terminology there). I mean, the “velo down / elbow inflammation” plot line is basically the clip show of pitching injuries. They’ll come back for a stint in June and either get shut down for the year or go under the knife. I’m not saying I know this for sure, but I am saying that I wrote exclusively about pitchers for three years and occasionally learned some things, like, how to say, “Sunken cost fallacy.” I’d do my best to trade off Musgrove if you can, before we hear any other news.

Spencer Torkelson (DET, 1B, 100% Rostered): 35% K rate to go with that .100 batting average over the past few weeks. No homers and 2 barrels on the season. And wait for it — he’s got the best BABIP of his career. He’s been slightly lucky! Obviously, Tork’s not toast and dynasty players are stuck with him for a while. But you redraft managers — you’re lucky enough to send him packing. You do you if you want to see if he’ll turn around, but just know that there are currently nearly 50 1B better than him. Do you play in a 50 team league? No? How about a 25 team league with corner infielders. Also no? Alright, a 12-team league with 3 1B starters and Corner Infielders? How many relievers do you have in that league? ENYWHEY. If you’re in that ridiculous league, then you can keep Tork. Everybody else, move on.