*swirls a glass, takes a gulp. spits it back in a bucket*  “That’s vintage Justin Verlander,” said Kate Upton.  “Okay, this might sound gross, but can you spit into my mouth?”  That’s you getting up the nerve to say something to Kate Upton.  I just thought of a moneymaking idea for Shark Tank!  You stand outside of Comerica Park with a cardboard cutout of a naked Verlander and have people pay $10 to take a picture with him, pretending to be Kate Upton.  Oh, and no, this post isn’t an attempt to Bleacher Report up Google’s rankings by mentioning Verlander and Upton repeatedly, though it does seem that way…Verlander/Upton, Verlander/Upton and Verlander/Upten for the illiterates.  So, Verlander did look magnificent yesterday until the 8th inning when he began to tire, ending up with a one hitter –> 9 IP, 0 ER, 3 baserunners (1 Hit), 9 Ks with an ERA at 3.45.  Big Magoo captured Verlander’s upside about two weeks ago with this post.  Worth reading, but the key part (cause I know, y’all can only read so much), “Since the All-Star break, Verlander’s 7.25 K/BB ratio is the 5th highest among qualified starting pitchers, and his 1.1 BB/9 is the 6th lowest.  He shares the same swinging strike rate (12.1%) as Jake Arrieta and Gerrit Cole over that span as well.  Now, excuse me as I go drain the weasel on a picture of Grey.”  Hey, wait a minute!  I didn’t remember that last part.  So, if Verlander is out there in your league, the one-hitter yesterday doesn’t seem to be a hirame.  Sorry, I just had sushi.  It’s not a fluke. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Shane Greene – Season is over for Greene as he will undergo hand surgery. Â The surgery is to remove JB’s hand from him.
Anibal Sanchez – Set to throw next week. Â That gives you about three weeks to drop him. Â Maybe four if you’re lucky.
J.D. Martinez – 2-for-4, 2 RBIs and his 34th homer. Â Does Just Dong make his way into the 2nd round overall next year? Â Asking for a friend.
Miguel Cabrera – 1-for-3, 2 RBIs and his 17th homer. Â Do you know what Cousin Slowpants’ batting average is? Â Nope, try higher. Â .560? Â Oh, c’mon, is that a real guess? Â Why not just guess “avocado?” Â He’s batting .370. Â Not to sound all Tim McCarver, but Miggy’s a professional hitter.
Nick Castellanos – 1-for-4 and his 15th homer.  Yesterday, I named Domingo Santana my first 2016 sleeper that you will forget by December, so when I write a post about him you won’t be like, “Yeah, I know this shizz.”  Well, the 2nd 2016 sleeper, Castellanos.
Hector Santiago – 4 1/3 IP, 5 ER, ERA up to 3.13. Â I mentioned this about two months ago, and to reiterate on the aforementioned tip, Santiago feels like a guy that will slowly, but surely make his way up to a 3.50 ERA and kill you with a slow death. Â And that’s me paraphrasing me while calling you Shirley!
Jacoby Ellsbury – Didn’t start yesterday due to a sore hip. Â He should just officially change his name to D’Ellsbury.
Michael Pineda – 4 1/3 IP, 5 ER as he returned from the DL. Â Can we return him back to the DL? Â I don’t necessarily think this means Pineda will be useless the rest of the year, but I wouldn’t start him until he showed a decent start.
Didi Gregorius – 2-for-4, 2 RBIs and his 6th homer. Â Didi, Didi, Didi, can’t you see? Â Sometimes your one homer per month hypnotizes me.
George Springer – Hoping to start rehab this weekend, which puts him in line to get activated early next week. Â Usually hitters returning from broken wrists take a while to return to form, so Springer may not be himself until next year, but you’ll take what you can from him and like it!
Evan Gattis – 2-for-4 and his 21st and 22nd homers, and has three homers in the past two games in The Stadium They Built Across From The Parking Lot Which Was Once Where Ruth Built A House.  Gattis feels like a guy that could be playing in pinstripes at some point in his career.  Sure, not until he’s about 36 years old, but at some point.
Collin McHugh – 6 1/3 IP, 2 ER, 7 baserunners, 8 Ks, ERA at 3.92. Â McHugh now has five straight Quality Starts. Â Or as my Italian grandfather would walk around saying to everything, “Cheeng-oo-BETZ, kapeesh?” Â The Stream-o-Nator loves McHugh’s next start, and I see no reason why he’s not a start everywhere until he throws a bad one.
Carlos Gomez – 1-for-3, 1 run and his 6th steal. Â Hey, would ya know? Â He’s finally fogging up the mirror under his nose.
Chris Bassitt – 4 1/3 IP, 4 ER. Â Oh, no, Bassitt, not on National Dog Day!
Billy Burns – 1-for-4 and his 3rd homer, hitting near-.425Â in the last week. Â Burns is scalding hot. Â Pun noted because I was too lazy to avoid it.
Brett Lawrie – 2-for-4 and his 12th homer. Â Incredibly, he’s hitting near-.500 in the last week. Â It’s so incredible that Lawrie is actually doing something I feel like changing the word “Incredibly” to “Lawriely.”
Nelson Cruz – 3-for-4, 2 runs, 3 RBIs and his 39th homer.  You know if I get on board with Cruz next year he will have the worst year of his career.  You know this, right?
Felix Hernandez – 8 IP, 2 ER, 4 baserunners, 7 Ks.  This was a classic matchup of F-Her ‘n the A’s, and all that hurt him was a little bit of Burns.
Kyle Seager – 1-for-5 and his 18th homer. Â This was Seager’s first sign of life in about a month (hitting .196 in August). Â Maybe he was having a sit-in until his brother was promoted, though spelling “sit” like Jhonny Peralta would.
Tom Wilhelmsen – Lloyd McClendon said, “(Wilhelmsen) is the closer as we speak.” Â Actually, he said this around 9Â AM PST yesterday when absolutely no game was going on, so, of course, basic cliches elude him. Â Why wouldn’t they? Â Or he was saying that while watching a video playback of an inning where Wilhelmsen was closing as he spoke.
Logan Morrison – 2-for-3, 1 run, 1 RBI and his 7th steal; he also hit a home run on Tuesday.  Morrison’s starring in an adaptation of his own novel and schmotatoness:  Beloved.
Ketel Marte – 2-for-5, 2 runs.  He’s been leading off, and hitting around .450 in the last week.  This one Ketel is Effen black cherry-cinnamon schnapps hot.  This blurb was brought you by 20-something Grey who used to drink on the reg.
Billy Hamilton – Hasn’t even begun baseball activities. Â No scratching himself, no spitting, no nothing. Â He’s been sitting with a mouth full of Big League Chew in his mouth, dribble coming down his chin, as a fly lands on his crotch and he hasn’t done anything!
Yasmani Grandal – Expects to return on Thursday. Â Whatever, I’ve moved on to my new squeeze, The Beef.
Yasiel Puig – 1-for-4, 2 runs, 2 RBIs and his 11th homer. Â He could have a .440-hitting, 10-homer September or go 0-for-110. Â Only those in El Cubanati know for sure.
Brett Anderson – 6 2/3 IP, 0 ER (3 unearned runs for a small box scare), 6 baserunners, 4 Ks, ERA at 3.36. Â Somehow, he has a 3.36 ERA on the year, and I swear I’ve streamed him to something like a 17.00 ERA over four streams. Â No matter what the Stream-o-Nator says, I wouldn’t ever touch Anderson. Â Once bitten, twice shy, Great White.
Bartolo Colon – 7 IP, 0 ER, 7 baserunners, 8 Ks, vs. Jerad Eickhoff 6 IP, 3 ER, 7 baserunners, 6 Ks. Â Elias Sports Bureau said this game was significant because a drunk David Hasselhoff once bent over and mooned a passing tourist who exclaimed, “Eick! Â Hoff! Â Colon!”
Wilmer Flores – 2-for-5, hitting over .400 in the last week. Â Don’t cry for him, Argentina, he’ll do it for himself. Â Plus, he’s a hot schmotato.
Michael Cuddyer – 3-for-5, 2 runs, 3 RBIs and his 10th homer.  For what it’s Werth and likely nothing because watch him be randomly rested, but I’ve already picked him up as my batty call for today.
Rick Porcello – 7 IP, 0 ER, 5 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 5.47 as he was activated from the DL.  Written before the Red Sox game, “This will turn out great.”  Written after the game, “Yup.”  Written after ‘Yup,’ “I meant ‘This will turn out great’ sarcastically.”  Written after, ‘I meant ‘This will turn out great’ sarcastically,’ “Whatever, I still wouldn’t own him.”
Travis Shaw – 1-for-4, 2 RBIs and his 7th homer. Â Shaw’s schmotato has cooled off dramatically (hitting under .200 in the last week), but this might be a sign that he’s still got something left in him. Â Hard to say at this point without some more cyclops’ing.
Junichi Tazawa – 1 IP, 0 ER and his 3rd save. Â For those holding Machi, I’d be happy he didn’t get called on. Â In fact (Grey’s adding on!), this Red Sox closer shituation is the type of bullpen where you don’t want the guy you own to enter the game.
Brandon Crawford – Sat out again with his oblique injury. Â The Giants are hoping he can avoid the DL. Â In the meantime, the Giants turned to Ehire, who they got off of Craigslist.
Gregor Blanco – Scratched with a hip strain, which comes as Angel Pagan is about to return.  The Giants don’t have a center fielder or left fielder, they have a Frankenfielder that is made of many different players.
Matt Cain – Could lose his rotation spot. Â Sounds like Bochy also streamed him on Tuesday.
Nori Aoki – 1-for-4 and his 5th homer.  Really, it was just Nori’s ankle and wrist yesterday that was the Giants’ left Frankenfielder.
Chris Archer – 6 IP, 4 ER, 10 baserunners, 12 Ks, ERA at 2.88. Â The Ks are nice, obviously, but when the guy you rely on to stabilize your fantasy rotation gets hit by the Twins, it’s gonna be a long week.
Evan Longoria – 2-for-5 and his 14th homer.  I’m writing a note, rolling it up and putting it in a bottle and sending it afloat into the ocean because I think that when you find a note in a bottle, you take it more to heart than if someone just tells you.  On this note, I’m writing, “Longoria sucks.”  My future apologies if a Desperate Housewife fan finds it.
Eduardo Escobar – 2-for-4 and two solo homers (6, 7). Â Third homer this week and hitting near-.300 in that time. Â It’s not bizzonkers, but it seems like a light schmotato.
Kevin Jepsen – 1 IP, 0 ER and the save as Perkins now has lower back issues after dealing with a neck injury. Â Or, like a giraffe or Chris Young, he just has a really long neck.
Hector Olivera – Now the Braves are saying that it’s unlikely that Olivera will be called up before September 1st.  Is it possible that Olivera was traded to the Braves, but part of the deal included Mattingly continuing to manage him?
Shelby Miller – 6 2/3 IP, 4 ER, 11 baserunners, 7 Ks, ERA up to 2.62. Â At this point, I kinda hope his season ERA ends up around 2.50 on the year, so he’s completely overdrafted next year.
Jonny Gomes – 1-for-2, 2 runs and his 7th homer, and his 2nd homer in his 2nd start, but he platoons so you’d need to do the same.  On a related note, you think Jonny bothers to tell baristas there’s no H or just rolls with it?
Adonis Garcia – 3-for-5 and his 6th homer in only his 31st game.  Yo, Premier, hit that cut as Adonis gets nasty with the Maas appeal.
Gio Gonzalez – 4 2/3 IP, 4 ER vs. Padres. Â This is interesting (to me). Â Nationals feel like a team fighting for a playoff spot and the Padres don’t, even though the Padres went out and spent $300 million this past offseason. Â Okay, and one and a half games separates them in the Wild Card standings. Â What does this mean for fantasy? Â P. Diddly-squat.
Jimmy Nelson – 3 1/3 IP, 5 ER, 12 baserunners (8 BBs!), 4 Ks. Â The wheels came off yesterday for Nelson, then the side view mirror caught onto your underwear and dragged/wedgied you for about five blocks.
Khris Davis – 1-for-4 and his 17th homer, and his 11th homer in the last six weeks. Â Seriously, how is he only owned in 36% of leagues? Â I await your response.
Jason Kipnis – 2-for-5, 3 RBIs and his 7th homer. Â This was his 1st homer of the 2nd half and he has 1 steal. Â I’d now usually say I told you to sell him about six weeks ago, but that will spur him on to get hot, so I will just say nothing.
Francisco Lindor – 2-for-3, 1 run and 3 steals (4, 5, 6). Don’t look at me, I don’t know why you don’t pick him up.
Johnny Cueto – 5 IP, 6 ER, ERA at 3.95 on the Royals (2.94 overall). Â Real baseball trades are a lot like fantasy baseball ones. Â You swear to Mother Mary Margaret Magdalene that you got the better side of a trade, and this happens.
Mike Moustakas – 2-for-3, 2 RBIs and his 15th homer, and four homers in the last week. Â Moistasskissis is the hottest schmotato in the land and that’s the Land of Hot Schmotatoes so it’s significant.
Manny Machado – 2-for-5, 2 RBIs and his 26th homer, hitting .294. Â He’s cooled a bit in the 2nd half, but he’s securely in the top 20 overall next year, as I called in the preseason this past year. Â Sadly, I called it and didn’t act on it in any leagues. Â My problem: Â handsome, but hella dopey.
Chris Davis – 2-for-4, 2 RBIs and his 35th homer. Â Yes, I would like another ten homers in fourteen days streak. Â Thank you!
Jonathan Schoop – 2-for-4, 2 RBIs and his 10th homer. Â Definitely isn’t going to make me look brilliant for calling him a sleeper this past preseason, but that’s more due to injury. Â He has 10 HRs in only 53 games. Â Rudimentary math tells me he could’ve hit 25 homers this year.
Edwin Encarnacion – 1-for-5, 4 RBIs and his 26th homer. Â Why didn’t his Cortisone Bro. also hit a homer? Â Cause the Rangers walked him four times. Â Only explanation.
Kevin Pillar – 3-for-5 and his 8th homer, and multiple hit games in three of his last four games. Â Basically, whomever the 1927 Blue Jays start will hit.
Justin Smoak – 2-for-5, 3 RBIs and his 13th homer. Â Okay, if he hits 27 homers in September, you’re gonna owe our fantasy football chieftain, JayWrong, an apology.
Adrian Beltre – 1-for-4, 2 RBIs and his 12th homer. Â The saddest thing about owning Beltre in my NFBC league is there’s no waivers, so I can’t even drop him.
Wil Myers – Took batting practice yesterday and felt great. Â He likely feels great because he didn’t own himself in fantasy the past two years.
Justin Upton – 2-for-4, 3 RBIs and his 21st and 22nd homers.  If Upton follows seemingly every other year’s recipe for disappointment, he will hit five homers between now and October and go into the offseason with 27 homers and next March will look like he’s a safe bet for his usual numbers, only his usual numbers come with months of “Has he done anything at all this month?”
Tyson Ross – 6 1/3 IP, 4 ER, 8 baserunners, 9 Ks. Â Before the game vs. the Nats, Ross met with his brother, Joe, for dinner and their dad, Cody and mom, Betsy.
Paul Goldschmidt – 2-for-4 and his 25th homer. Â Au Shizz!
Patrick Corbin – 6 IP, 1 ER, 5 baserunners, 7 Ks. Â If you say his name real fast it sounds like he could be in El Cubanati, but he’s not. Â He is, however, unpredictable for this year.
John Lackey – 7 IP, 1 ER, 8 baserunners, 4 Ks, ERA at 2.92. Â Pretty much everyone the Cardinals start — hitter or pitcher — is good and completely underrated.
Trevor Rosenthal – 1 IP, 0 ER and his 40th save.  Siegrist is likely going to fill in as Rosenthal will miss a game or two for the birth of his child.  If the child is Asian, Kolten Wong will miss the next series.
Jeff Locke – 7 IP, 2 ER, 6 baserunners, 3 Ks.  If streaming is the key, then show me the Locke.
Andrew McCutchen – 2-for-5, 4 RBIs and his 20th homer. Â He only has six steals and I wouldn’t be surprised if he never gets back to where he was as recently as last year. Â Yeah, he had a knee problem this year, but steals are the first thing to go and, at 29 years old, it wouldn’t be unheard of.
Jose Fernandez – Marlins hope he can return mid-September. Â On one hand, he shouldn’t return this year. Â On the other hand, it’s the Marlins and I don’t think there’s one actual person in their front office that knows anything about baseball. Â On a third hand that is actually the Hamburger Helper, even if he returns mid-September, you’re not getting anything you wouldn’t be able to find off of waivers in most leagues.
Martin Prado – 1-for-4 and his 6th homer, has two homers in the last week, but not much else, so there’s that.  On a related note, why would a guy like Prado ever retire?  If someone’s willing to pay him to do nothing, you continue to play.
Chris Narveson – 3 2/3 IP, 7 ER. Â Doesn’t Chris Narveson sound like the real name of The Noid?
Chris Perez – Retired from baseball. Â More time for weed and making appearances at car dealerships dressed as Kenny Powers.
kipnis is the epitome of how OBP/OPS/total base leagues value players different from 5 X5. i’m guessing kipnis isn’t that good in 5X5’s, but i only own him in one league (OBP with total bases dynasty roto) where i love him, and this year is my first time ever drafting him, and i got him fairly cheap, even though the draft was on may 5th or so, and he was hot at that point, it was almost as if i got him cheaper than normal since everybody just assumed what he was doing wasn’t sustainable. He’s been completely awesome in my league.
Might be a too late, but would you rather have Reddick or Melky ROS?
d’Arnaud or Miggy Montero?
8 Team H2H – H, R, HR, RBI, SB, AVG, OBPS
Travis
Buxton or Revere ROS?
Wellington or Lucroy ROS?
Buxton, Welington
Grey, F.Guiterrez or Buxton?
Bux
@Grey: t hanks
No problem
New Carbonaro’s been on. Man, I want to be a magician!
I watched like five episodes in a row then never went back… I liked what I saw too, just forgot about it
@Grey: seems like it took forever in between seasons. I forgot about it too until it started taping the new ones. He’s so good
Yeah, I likely got the new ones taped tonight because I made a season pass… Season pass, baby! What us old folk have to look forward to!
hey Grey, time to drop V Mart in 10team h2h?
Thank you
Yup
NL-Only H2H
With Blanco sitting out because of his hip, which of the following would you go with? K. Johnson, Espinosa, Pham, or Santana? KJ and Espinosa have nice position flexibility.
Johnson
@Grey: Good call. Mets scoring lots of runs lately.
Yeah
anybody know why the boss joe ross came out early, he was killing them.
Probably because he’s thrown too many IP this year
@What’s a Drexl?: Innings watch is my guess.
@Pugs&Slugs: yeah, that makes sense, it’ll allow more starts later if pitches is cut now.
Good roundup…always entertaining.
I’m in a 16 team h2h keeper league. 7×7 with OBP,3B/QS,Holds
I was proposed the following:
I give CSeager (6 years), DeGrom (14.5/5 years), AGonz (9/2 years)
For
Schwarber (6 years), Lester (12/3 years), Reyes (12/4 years), Betances (3/2 years)
He is willing to pay 3$ the next 3 years. I can drop Reyes and the cap hit is 3$ over the next 3 years.
I like Schwarber, What do you think? I’m in 8th (last playoff spot) and leading my opponent by 5 points which would put me in 4th. 2 weeks left im the regular season after this year.
I don’t like it
Oh, and thanks!
SON loves J.A. Happ vs. COL with a $17.3 so my question is are you buying that, do you agree?
I’ve already grabbed him for that start
Really need to see the uniforms the White Sox are wearing tonight. They look like hungover sophomore sorority sisters still battling the freshmen 15.
Ha! I see… Oy
@Grey: Its like they borrowed their boy friends massive shirt and thought it would look cute with yoga pants, but then they looked in the mirror and realized they were Jose Abreu and they were never that into bikram to begin with.
It’s boyfriend shirt day at the park!
@Grey: In the immortal words of Hawk Harrelson, its a “He Gown”
Awesome!
Nice 11 K QS by Yordano
Last 4 starts = 25 IP – 32K – 12BB – 3 ER – apparently Cueto is taking Ventura under his wing
You think it’s time to get back on this roller-coaster?
Definitely
another sterling 8th by Wade Davis to be followed by a 2 ER 9th for Holland.
Wish Yost had the stones to make the right call here.
Yeah, I hear ya
Who would you want at MI in H2H playoffs,I’ve got a bye locked down,so it only be of consequence for the last 2 weeks of September.Categories not important,10 team H2h,13 active batting positions.
1-Flores-picked up yesterday because I nneded a guy to sit on the bench with Fowler(now gone for Burns) today on a short travel day.
2-Ketel
3- Javier Baez
I”ve also got Cano(who I stole in a trade),Zobrist(who I’m keeping for the flexibility plus he hasn’t been sucking) and Correa,so this is more of a UTIL/flexibilty thing I guess.
I could drop Puig(again) and keep 2 if it looks like he’s not going to get DL’ed since the rosters are expanding.
Flores
@Grey: Would you cut bait on Puig?
Yeah, in some mixed leagues
Another H2H playoff question. For the following 2 week schedule do you prefer Sale or Bumgarner. Relize that Sale, with 15 games has an 80% chance of starting twice during the period, whereas MadBum, with 12 games has only a 40% chance.
Sale (4vOAK,[email protected],[email protected]@NYY)
Bumgarner (3vCIN,3vARI,[email protected],[email protected])
Bum
Would you be selling high on Shelby Miller this year in a DYNASTY league? What kind of return should I be expecting?
Yeah, I’d try to get a top 50 hitter
DeShields has been on base 3 times today. why the F isn’t he stealing. It’s Marco Estrada!
Ha, I hear ya
Getting down to crunch time. I have a decent shot to get into second (securing a bye for the H2H playoffs) in a 6×6 league (OBP and SLG i/o AVG).
Do I cut bait with Hanley Ramirez. He’s SS eligible, but has been so awful for so long. I could add the following guys to play SS — Andrus, Alexei Ramirez, Eugenio Suarez, Kike Hernandez, Eduardo Escobar, Ketel Marte, Marcus Semien.
I also have ARod, who has been on my bench for a while (except when I plug him in for his 0-4 on M and Thursday). I suppose I could drop him, but I feel more confident that ARod will provide value at some point than Hanley.
I could see losing Hanley, depends on needs for his replacement
@Grey: Thanks, who would you add for some power? Suarez? Looks like he has games in hitter-friendly venues for a while (Miller Park this weekend, then Wrigley, then at home for a week).
For power? I’d actually hold, or Suarez if you’re totally fed up with Hanley
I asked Smokey this closer question & wanted to get your opinion too if you don’t mind…
Earned a first round bye so I really only have 2 weeks (9/14-9/27) I have to worry about ROS. I have 3 Nats SP’s which is good because they have Philly for 6 games and the Marlins for 4 games during my playoffs. But I also own Giles & Ramos which is bad for the same reason. There are 3 options on the waiver wire. Wade Davis is there but I also have 2 SP’s from on the Indians.
So….given my situation and the schedules shown below (remember, especially in Doolittle’s case, these games are 3 weeks away) for the following closers. Pick pick 2 out of 5 :
Doolittle 13 games ([email protected],[email protected],3vTEX,3vSF)
Wade Davis 13 games ([email protected],[email protected],3vSEA,3CLE)
Rondon 13 games ([email protected], 3vKC, 4vCHW, 3vMIN)
Ramos 13 games ([email protected], [email protected], 3vPHI, 3vATL)
Giles 12 games (3vWAS, [email protected], [email protected], [email protected])
Davis, Giles
12 team standard roto, 27 round draft. Kindly pick three keepers for next year:
Stanton (1st round keeper)
Altuve (3rd round keeper)
Marte (6th round keeper)
Arenado (9th round keeper)
Harvey (10th round keeper)
Harvey, Marte, Arenado
Your batty call : Cuddyer is not in the lineup tonight. I’m trying K. Marte and Thompson from the WhiteSox
Figures… Too late for me now, good luck
Thoughts on Robert Stephenson as a Sept callup to add in a deep league for a flier? BB/9 is concerning, but could get a few good starts under his belt with a K/9 of 9…
Nah, nothing there yet
You’re really bringin’ it this week Grey! Fantastic write-up, thanks again!
BTW, almost finished season 1 of Rectify – so effin good! You got any other recommendations I can add to the list?
Thanks! Happy Valley on Netflix is also good…
Nice! Added to the queue. Thanks Grey!
No problem…Not the documentary (which was okay), I mean the TV show Happy Valley
What goes ’round…
Cobbler doing it to DET.
Update: Ive had 35 saves over the past month and have caught up to the group (was back by 27) and am within 3 saves of the next guy. Can easily make up 5 pts if my closers keep it up! Thanks for the reassurance that it could be done!
No problem
Hey Grey, which two of these starts would you pick:
Leake at home versus STL
Lynn at SF
Severino at ATL
Thanks!
Severino, Leake
@Grey: Thanks! One more….stream on Sunday Chavez at Arizona or Robbie Ray against Oakland? Sunday is a bunch of junk man…
Neither are good… ray
@Grey: ugh, I know. Thanks!
No problem
Who is your pick for most useful Sept. 1 call-up? There’s no sense in me holding Carson Smith (I don’t think) anymore, but don’t really have someone on waivers in mind.
I’m thinking maybe Berrios, but my pitching is already pretty solid. Thoughts?
Berrios
Great work Grey!
14 team H2H points league…
Ozuna or Khris Davis ROS?
Thanks
Thanks! Davis
Man, this Crawford situation is pretty oblique.
Hehe
Gun to your nuts, which one gets dropped: Carlos Santana, Khris Davis, Buxton, Lindor
Bux
Nice username, btw
To stream in some high batting average guys ROS, would you dump any of these guys in an RCL (BA last 30 days):
K. Seager (.182), C. Gomez (.152), Hanley (.097), C. Hernandez (.154), K. Davis (.229)
Can’t see dropping Gomez ever, but sheesh.
I’d lose Cesar
I didn’t touch on this in the Verlander post, but he just got too predictable when carrying over his Upton arsenal onto the mound. Mostly splitters since the spitter is illegal. Didn’t have the same effect on MLB hitters.
I read that and I got, “Kate Upton did a photo shoot with Arsenal?”
@Grey: Kate Upton has an arsenal of bedroom moves she shows off in a new photo shoot
@J-FOH: You guys have seen the other photos of her and JV?
One has been titled “Million Man March”
Interwebs are awesome.
Ha!
Now we’re getting the good Google searches!
@Grey: yes we are….googles stuff and its nsfw
@J-FOH: My bad, i shoulda thrown that out there.
Def NSFW
Ooh… NsfhelloCougs
Hey man, been awhile, hope all is groovy with you..
Moose or Castellanos in a forever keeper..
cheers mate
Moose
@Grey: Greek over Italian, how dare you
Never!
@Grey: Id take 23 year old Castellanos over Moose all day. The floor is higher with Moose but that Italian ceiling of castellanos….che bella!
I don’t think Castellanos is Italian
@Grey: he sounds Italian
Nah sounds Greek
Castellano, maybe
Sit/start for this weekend?
Gausman @ TEX
Iglesias @ MIL
Harvey vs BOS
Erasmo vs KC
Karns vs KC
Zimmermann vs MIA
Thanks!
I’d start them all in some leagues, would start with the guys at home
I just quit my job. Gave two weeks notice. Its all your fault. Razzball leads to unemployment, kids.
Any names jump out from the wire that can help in batting average over the last month of the season? Stream against Boston pitching? Increasing BA is my easiest path to roto points.
@Great White North: what are the top available players for batting average look at the last month total and two weeks.
@J-FOH: Thanks for the idea. Looking at BVP is useless. Schoop, Chisenhall, Ketel Marte, Hechavaria,Ryan Howard, A. Jackson, Suzuki, an Kiermaier are names that pop up among FA using this search and getting regular at bats.
You quit your job but you can’t list a few names from waivers? C’mon, Great White!
@Grey: Jesus Harold Crimminey! I thought I would be riddinbg myself of this snarky behavior once I quit the cubicle.
@Great White North: Schoop, Chisenhall, Ketel Marte, Hechavaria,Ryan Howard, A. Jackson, Suzuki, an Kiermaier
I’d whirl with Ketel for now
HA…You can’t quit everything in life, only your job, family, etc. Not your fantasy sports
@Grey: I know, right. I did give up fantasy football this year though. Jameis Winston was the last straw for me as fan of football.
I’ve never heard of that person
You said the same thing about the Padres and Mets a month ago (how the mets are trying to contenders, and the Pads are sellers despite being close in the standings). That didn’t turn out too well. Maybe this means the Nats will go on a run…
enough with the bad Italian jokes even though my buddy has an italian joke book from the 70’s. Did you watch MC and if so….
I didn’t watch it yet…I’ll watch it tonight
@Grey: I want to say one word about one of the dishes that took me back to childhood and that I haven’t had in years….must resist
Yeah, til tomorrow…Sorry, I accidentally deleted it last night, I almost had a conniption
@Grey: you what? do I have to skype it to you
I deleted it by accident, and I couldn’t get it On Demand until tonight… I also sat on the phone with Time Warner for 30 minutes talking to someone named Bill, who didn’t sound like a Bill, to find out why I couldn’t recover a recently deleted program or why I could see I recently deleted it but wasn’t able to recover it…I still have no answers
@Grey: There are so many options to stream… use them!
Yup
@Grey: sorry you had to go through something so terrible, Giancarlo goes on the DL and now this. It’s okay Grey, we’ll get through this too. *calls cougs and sets up spa day for Grey tomorrow*
“These cucumber slices for my eyes are too thin, sunlight is getting in!”
“sorry mr albright, I will fix that right away”
*Jack slaps the attendant in the face as he runs out of the room*
“Wait a minute, these aren’t cucumbers, they’re zucchini!”
@J-FOH: here we go again. Now I have to schedule another spa day to fix the spa day blunder and beat the crap out of the absent minded attendant
Um, yeah!
Looks like they’re starting platooney toons with Coghlan. Flip him for Schoop?
@Scott: they have been platooning him all year. 37 AB’s on the year vs lefties. This is a tough stretch where the cubs face 6 lefties in 9 games
Sure
Please rank, rest of season (from September call up)
Coghlan, Tucker, Piscotty.
Piscotty, Cog
McCullers or Pineda ROS?
Impossible to say at this point, McCullers
Which two would you use to rotate at second base out of coghlan, deitricht, and asdrubal for ROS
Not Asdrubal
Couple nice pieces from my league:
I’m playing the second place team that is neck and neck with me. He drafted Jimmy Nelson, dropped him in May, I scooped him, got a bunch of decent starts from him, and got out before the mega-fade happened. He scooped him back up, and keeps taking it on the chin (as in balls, literally). Those 8 walks were splendid.
Last year, Verlander and Felix were available for the first pick in our keeper draft (both of their contracts ran out). The homer commish went with Verlander with the first overall pick. Then he KEPT Verlander… and kept him all year through the struggles and IR stint… now he’s talking him up again… kind of rootin’ for him to go back to crap.
Russell Martin is killing me, smalls. I’m considering getting some Beef in my diet tonight, if he starts. Drop Piscotty or Belt? (I start Crush, Cargo, Peralta/Piscotty/Belt depending on matchups). I can see an argument for both players… but Belt has been pretty good all around this year. Do you like Piscotty’s upside or Belt’s production going forward? (I get Stanton back soon hopefully, so that will push both of them to the bench eventually) The league settings are 15 categories for hitters, so if you can dream it, it’s a cat…
Ha…Piscotty
Nola vs. Padres tomorrow, or Heaney @ Cleveland?
@Vogt or Die: Nola
Nola
D’Ellsbury a classic!
Thanks!
I love when one of my creepers goes yard and even more so when they do it on back to back days. But I have to be honest, it feels a little dirty this week. Castellanos was grossly under owned and I took advantage of it. Now don’t get me wrong, its never easy to call anyones big week, but still it’s cheep in the feel department. I feel like one of those guys who seeks out “custom” fantasy leagues designed by some short sighted commish who leaves massive holes to exploit. Okay that was a bad analogy, how about, I feel like that 6 foot guy who plays in a Vietnamese basketball league because they will look like Shaq out there. Why all the lack of love for the paisan? I have a theory, for all the Sopranos did to build up the Italians to a respectable place, I believe the work of the Jersey shore undid it all and now Murica is back to not trusting the Italians.
We’re not trusting of the Itrailians? When did this happen?
@Grey: at the “not Italians”meetings us non Italians have. The donuts are great but the coffee sucks because we have no Italian roast coffee
Nothing is good without Italians, remember that
@Grey: Im just spying on them, some of my closest friends are italians……know the haters, change the game. It’s so bad that they use poorly designed Italian jokes to open the meeting. Such as “How do Italians lube a Ferrari?”
How?
@Grey: you run over an Italian
Ha
@J-FOH: lol
@Grey: Germania begged to differ.
Ha
@Grey: Sorry, am thrown off by you guys thinking hes Italian. His family is from Venezuela.
Maybe he likes Italian food a lot?
Who doesn’t?
@Grey: In that case, Im Chinese (really Mexican).
But Mexicans do all the cooking in Chinese restaurants!!
Am back baby!
Haha… Welcome back…
@Los Putos: good to see another Mexican around here
Keeper league… I own Starlin Marte (4th round) but I have a crowded outfield (Bautista/Heyward/Yelich/Fowler).
Do I ship him away for Salazar who I can keep in the 19th or will I regret it? I’m going to make the playoffs so I still need to compete.
You’ll regret it
@Grey: Heyward make it more palatable?
Huh?
@Grey: If it was Heyward for Salazar?
Then I’d take Salazar
Picked up JV off waivers a month ago in one of my leagues. Funny thing I all most benched him for this start against the Angels. But The Angels have been so-so lately and JV has been rocking it and motor boating it and sorry, I slipped into my Kate Upton fanasty….I wonder what she’d do to him after a no -hitter ??? Going back into my Kate Upton fanasty now. Later…
Ha!
Hey again . In my H2H playoffs bye weeks until Sept. 7 (then it’s two 2-week matchups through the end of the season). We have a very lax 14 move/match up cap, where I can basically stream a pitcher every single day, and there’s a nice pool of guys available.
With Springer coming off my DL, I’m thinking of trying to snag JoFern as a DL stash for the 1-2 favorable impact starts he may have down the line against, most likely, the Mets, Phillies, Braves, or Rays.
He wants my Hishashi in exchange (who faces a combo of Rangers, Rockies in SEA, Angels, Royals, Astros during my matchups). In light of my plans to stream like crazy anyway, I’m inclined to accept trading away Hisashi for JoFern, even knowing that it’s probably a bit of an overpay. Having Fern on my DL might also allow me to add a 4th closer.
Trade makes sense or not really?
I’d take J-Fer, worth a gamble
@Grey: Thanks!
No problem
In a close race with an innings cap, trust either of Gausman @ TEX or Henry Owens @ NYM tomorrow, or hold out for better options? Thanks!
Don’t trust either, would go Owens
Hey grey, great stuff all year long. Thanks for all the help. Looks like I am going to finish in the top 2 in both of my leagues because of ur help. I’m gonna buy you a delicious daiquiri at the end of the season.
15-team, 6×6 OBP, roto
Who would you want ROS, Tomas or Khris Davis? I have a strong avg and OBP, and could use Hrs.
Thanks in advance
Thanks! Davis
I own the tiebreakers in my 10 team 5×5 H2H playoffs (6 teams qualify) so I just need to win 5 cats each round. I have the 2nd best pitching staff, so I’m guessing I can count on them for at LEAST 2.5 category wins throughout. Our trading deadline isn’t until 8/31. I might be able to get Pollock for my C. Davis. Obviously, it sounds like I would be losing this trade but I was thinking I might try to dominate R’s, SB’s & OBP to win those 3 categories along with my 2.5 from pitching. My hitting roster is already heavy with top of the lineup speed guys so I was thinking about going all in with them. Do you think this is smart? Here’s my current roster:
Lucroy
Votto
Rendon
C. Davis
Tulo
Dozier
Fielder
Ellsbury
Marte
DeSheilds
Eaton
Abreu
Burns
Springer- Bench until he’s healthy
Bumgarner
Strasburg
Kluber
Zimmermann
Lynn
Gio Gonzalez
Carrasco
Chapman
Osuna
Ramos
Giles
Trade sounds good for you
Need HR’s, RBI & OBP in my current H2H match. Which is the better pick for next 4 days:
Vmart vLAA(Shoemaker), @TOR (Dickey, Hutchinson, Buehrle) – he’s been very cold lately especially vs RHP (3 out of 4 on the schedule) but he hit’s 4th in a lineup with a lot of OBP in front of him.
Choo vTOR (Estrada), vBAL (Gausman, Jimenez, Gonzlez) – he’s been hot lately & faces all RHP but he bats 2nd in lineup which would hurt RBI’s.
Choo
@Grey: bless you
Pope Don Trump, is that you?
@Grey: Yes, please cover your mouth while sneezing. We can’t have an outbreak in the white house!
Paint the White House gold and purple, Trump!
Which side: Lorenzo Cain or Jon Lester?
OF right now is Adam Jones, Cain, & Burns with Crush Davis at IF position and Hosmer/Revere in the Util.
OF afterwards would be Jonesy, Crush and Burns. Hosmer would be IF and then would have to pick up a player off the waiver wire for the 2nd utility spot. (Myers and Dickerson both on DL)
It’s fair, depends on needs… Sounds like you can afford to lose Cain
Hamburger Helper line made me smile.
Sock puppet smiles are the best
In one pts league I’m In contention to win my division and most total points overall reg season if I win this week (our playoffs start Monday). I get 4 more SP starts for this week, so these starts are KEY. :)
Arrieta @LAD and Salazar vs LAA make up two of the starts I’ll be using, thanks to SON.
For the other two I can choose from:
CMart @ Ari, Fiers @ Min, Kazmir @ Min, and Teheran vs NYY.
Of these what would be your suggestion? SON likes CMart tonight, loves Fiers’ start (biased due to CG? I’m wary of the ‘post all time high pitch count’ games), and is missing Kazmir. In fact the Kazmir and Fiers starts are incorrect in SON, so I don’t know how it feels about Kazmir against the Twins. SON is meh on Teheran but he has been good at home and yankees hitting bad this week (vs astros anyhow!).
Thanks, it’s been a great season in part due to good research from this website!
C-Mart, Kazmir…No problem
@Grey: thanks – my opponent has Kershaw/Kluber/Cole (Kole?) as his last three, so I’m up against tough opposition!
No problem
Does anyone know where I can find team batting averages that are stadium specific. All I can find is home/away. Many sites have individual player BAs per stadium but so far I can’t find one for teams.
I think this would be a helpful stat when trying to decide which SPs to stream.
Thanks for any help you can offer.
Not sure, use SON
How do we feel about Yordana tonight against the Orioles?
On a side note, I completely agree with you on Cutch. As a Bucs fan, I have watched at least half of their games this season. He has attempted a few steals recently and was caught on each. Despite solid numbers, he was never that great of a basestealer as he got caught surprisingly high despite unreal speed and athleticism.
The pirates are also being extremely cautious with his use. Before the season they announced that they were limiting games, even before the knee, and were literally tracking every step he made on the field. I doubt he even attempts 20 steals in a season ever again as they are more interested in using him efficiently, which means cutting down on steals.
Going into next season, we should be hoping for 25-10 with a solid 300+ average. Nice numbers, but not elite material.
Yordano start seems decent…. Yeah, 25/10 sounds about like what I’ll project him for
Perhaps Olivera isn’t getting the call just yet because he is rarely on the field and, when he has suited up for the Braves’ farm teams, he hasn’t exactly lit it up. Since coming off of his most recent DL stint, he’s hit 7-41 (.171) with nary an extra-base hit.
Although I have to admit that the Mattingly bit might be just as legit.
Yeah, I’m not sure…He’s 30 years old, I think he could be sent right to the majors
5×5 12-tm league
Stick with Russell Martin at C or should I go to the WW and get someone…there are bunch of names there: Gomes, Weiters, Cervelli, Swihart, etc?
None of these are great, can try Gomes
Khirs Davis isn’t owned in more leagues because people aren’t sure about that “K” being used in Chris. Because of this, he may be deported.
@Trump Y’all: Can’t you just build a wall around the K?
@Grey: HA! Sir, you speak like a great VP. I will be in touch!
I stand in your hair’s shadow, as we all do.
Jay Bruce or Domingo Santana ROS. H2H points, homers overvalued…
@claybo: Bruce
Hey Grey. Lindor’s swinging a HOT bat. I’ve been holding on to Addison Russell with my bench spot in a H2H keeper league, but I wonder if you think Lindor’s the better bet in the next few years. If the Cubs ever hit Russell somewhere other than the 9 hole…
@Crankin: Go with Lindor
Morning Grey… would you mind helping me pick the best 1 or 2 streaming options for each of next two days in my important H2H points league matchup where I’m already up by like 40?
Pitcher Scoring: WIN (+3), LOSS (-3), IP (+3), K (+1), BB (-1), SAVE (+3), ER (-2), HIT (-1), NH (+10) PF (+15)
8/28
J. Ross vs. MIA (?)
T. Walker @CHW (7.9)
Leake vs. STL (3.9)
E. Ramirez vs. KC (-1.5)
R. Iglesias @MIL (-1.6)
Gausman @TEX (-15.3)
8/29
Happ vs. COL (18.9)
Samardzija vs. SEA (4.5)
C. Anderson vs. OAK (2.1)
@ebudz: Raisel, Ross…Happ, Samardzija, these are all bad
@ebudz: BTW Ross is pitching tonight against SD, not tomorrow against MIA
My offense is offensive right now. Need to cut bait on some of these losers. Would you dump any of the following:
Pedro
B.Crawford
Joc
B.Phillips
for any of the following:
Castellanos
Burns
Wong
Colabello
Pillar
Howard
Assdribble
Michael Taylor
8 Team H2H – H, R, HR, RBI, SB, AVG, OBPS
For what it’s Wuertz, it is a keeper, so Joc has some value, but he won’t be kept over any of my other options.
@Wilsonian:Pedro and Joc for Burns, Pillar
Kershaw for Keuchel deal fell through yesterday. in the same 10 team h2h keeper league (my keuchel won’t be a keeper) would you trade him for gerrit cole and felix hernandez? not a humungous hernandez fan right now but he would be my SP 5 (if i traded keuchel my rotation would be sale, degrom, archer, cole, her