Yesterday Francisco Lindor (0-for-4) was activated from IL in Game 2 of a doubleheader. I will not make a mountain out of this (me). He missed two months. If you are healthy enough to play in Game 2, then you are healthy enough to play in Game 1. This may not be anything but it sounds like a problem for the Mets. Their unquoted leaders are not there to die for the party. How do you miss two months (!) and come back only to stay in the 1st game hole? What kind of message is that sending? Get off my lawn! Baby, it’s astroturf, you can stand on it. Any hoo! Let’s get to the morning, night and midnight fireworks. Francisco Alvarez went 3-for-7 with his 7th and 8th homers and three games with three homers. Hot schmotato warning, if available. I don’t know if he is. I am not everywhere. OK? Next up, Jared Young went 1-for-3, 2 RBIs and his 5th homer. If I were Steve Cohen, I’d want somebody’s head on a spike for spending $300 million and having Jared Young as their cleanup hitter (in the first game). Then AJ Ewing (2-for-7, 2 RBIs) hit his 3rd homer. He should start dressing up the Ewing ranch and sell it to World Cup visitors, while wearing a cowboy hat. Next up, Bo Bichette (3-for-8, 2 runs, and 10th homer), and 2nd in two days. I misspelled his name as Bob Bichette and laughed. Moving on! Across the way, and the true star of the day, Dansby Swanson went 5-for-9, 6 runs, 11 RBIs and a double slam (10, 11) and walks (10), with three homers in two games and four homers in five games. The problem with me saying take down a struggling guy like I did with Dansby yesterday in the “Talk about them after they go home” format is that they’re just born, so now they’re hot, so, you know, don’t give up on a guy when he’s hot. Swanson hasn’t been hot for more than a week for a while, so I think it’s going to be temporary. Finally! Michael Busch went 1-for-8, 2 RBIs and his 9th homer, hitting .240. Before yesterday, he was the top 40 player on Player Rater. That’s behind veterans like Troy Johnston, Willi Castro and non-Rockies like Ezequiel Duran, Kody Clemens and Ildemaro Vargas, who I believe retire after April. Busch has been terrible and it’s the middle of the season. I still believe, and I just mentioned that you shouldn’t drop a guy after he has a homer, but, if he goes back and does nothing for a few days, and the available options are better, unlike the people who were there in the original Woodstock, I saw in the end to cut Busch. Anyway, here’s what I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Kodai Senga – Moved to the barn. It is because Siberia is currently off the table.
Nolan McLean – 6 IP, 6 ER, ERA at 4.03. Released by Javier Assad (5 IP, 3 ER, 7 baserunners, 5 Ks, ERA at 4.04) such a gut punch. McLean was very average. However, considering he plays for the Mets, he’s the best Pedro Martinez puts it. You need your best to beat the Mets’ing.
Ben Brown – Hit the IL with a strained neck. They will return Matthew Boyd today and lose Brown. Verrrrrry interesting (to me, a Boyd owner).
Tanner Bibee – 6 IP, 0 ER, 4 baserunners, 3 Ks, ERA at 3.78. Streamonator likes the next one, so I won’t put Hater Hex on him, but I don’t like him, in general.
Kade Smith – 2/3 IP, 2 ER, ERA at 3.22, and 3rd save. Now 4 ER in his last two appearances. There are so many closers like Mason Miller and, uh, hmm, Louis Varland was solid.
Braden Montgomery – 1-for-4, 2 RBIs and his second homer. In Braden’s battle with Carrigg, the K-cup came out on top, but Braden stepped up his game.
Ryan McMahon – Hit IL for ear and throat disease. Oswaldo Cabrera was reinstated to his position or to manage Robitussin, not sure which.
Paul Goldschmidt – 2-for-4 with his 13th and 14th homers, hitting .297. Oh Shizz x two! I imagine I accidentally wrote Au Shizz in the top 25 instead of Vlad Jr…[wavy lines]…Oh, wow, I meant to write Vlad Jr., but instead I took Goldschmidt. Hmm, well, that’s silly, guess I’m giving up my 2nd round pick before the season even starts. Goodbye, Au Shizz…[wavy lines] NOOOOO!!!
Jason Dominguez – 1-for-4, 2 RBIs and his 3rd homer, hitting third. I love it. The good thing is that he hits third. It’s crazy and batshizz to have a guy you usually hit at the bottom of the order just pop in the three hole. Did Boone suddenly think he was cute? I don’t see. Dominguez is hitting .229. Well, whatever, good for Dominguez.
Ryan Weathers – 6 IP, 1 ER, 8 baserunners, 6 Ks, ERA at 3.95. His ERA reached 4.36 in two starts, and I thought I might throw him away (in 15 innings), I’m glad he righted the ship a bit, but he’s not a circle of trust for me.
Tarik Skubal – 6 IP, 4 ER, 4 hits, zero walks, 9 Ks, 3.32 ERA, as he allowed three homers. Okay, but have a nice xFIP!
Gage Jump – 5 IP, 0 ER, 4 baserunners, 9 Ks, ERA at 2.04. What a wonderful van he was to me knowing he was going to suffer the worst breakdown known to man in one of his first homes. On the other hand, it’s funny how bad the A’s (and Nats) pens are. It cannot hold any lead.
Max Muncy – 1-for-3 with his 5th homer, and second homer in five games. Just wait until he goes home with her. Yum.
Tyler Mahle – 5 2/3 IP, 0 ER, 4 baserunners, 4 Ks, ERA at 5.49, as activated since IL. San Fran’s at work and found T. They are beautiful. There are puns there, I guess.
Rafael Devers – 1-for-4 with his 12th homer. Devers stood at first base and asked someone else to hit the home run trot, showing what a great team player he is.
Bryan Woo – 4 IP, 5 ER, ERA at 4.26. Buu!
Braxton Ashcraft – 6 IP, 1 ER, 5 hits, zero walks, 10 Ks, ERA at 3.07. If someone gives you an Ashcraft of Woo, you don’t? Are you crazy?
Griffin Jax – 5 IP, 0 ER, 7 baserunners, 7 Ks, ERA at 3.33. Because I was just watching Weathers, I have to say that I trust Jax more than Weathers now. A man has the right to change his mind, so he may change in the future, but those are my feelings right now.
Jorge Soler – 1-for-3, 2 RBIs and his 11th homer, and 2nd homer in two games. Someone is as hot as a Junebug after a rabbit filming an episode from Fatal Attraction.
Samuel Basallo – 2-for-5, 4 RBIs and his 11th and 12th homers, hitting .257. As if he scored a World Cup goal, Basaloooooooooooooooo!
Jose Soriano – 3 IP, 5 ER, ERA at 3.41. It would be nice if he announced that he is entering his flop season.
Roman Anthony – You still don’t swing a normal bat. A bat that says hello, how are you, that bat.
Guard Suarez – 6 IP, 2 ER, 8 baserunners, 9 Ks, ERA at 2.94. Since I have deGrom, and Suarez in most of my leagues, I can’t comment on both because I was able to combine them. I am only allowed a [butt pat] Good work.
Eury Perez – 4 2/3 IP, 1 ER, 3 hits, zero walks, 1 K, 4.41 ERA as activated from IL. Blink Grey, “Oh, this is good for people who roster him,” then I thought, “Wait, Blink Grey, he was pretty meh in the first two months.” I’m kinda agreeing with Momentarily Reflective Gray and not Blink Grey. Zero walks is encouraging, but one hit and only 68 pitches, as they say. I am them. I’ll be holding more leagues, but I can’t say I’m overly excited.
– 2-for-3, 2 runs, 2 RBIs and his 6th homer. He’s really gone down since April. PSYCHE! Got it, didn’t I? You can admit it. There is no shame. I did a psyche-a-roo and he found out. Lopez leads the way in batting average. He is hitting close to .360 in June with two homers and six steals. He’s having a great season. Near the top 25 on Player Rater.
– Summoned by the Rangers. Seems pretty excellent under the hood — 12.3 K/9, 4.5 BB/9, 7.44 ERA — hmm, that wasn’t meant to be sarcastic. He does seem solid, and he’s in Arlington, one of the best parks for a pitcher. He’s a work in progress, most likely, so he’s not worth anything other than AL-Only.
– 6 IP, 2 ER, 6 baserunners, 8 Ks, ERA at 3.55. It’s just cool that his team can’t get him any runs no matter what team he’s in. Bad Luck or Indecisive, Jacob deGrom.
Wyatt Langford – 2-for-4 with a slam (7) and a walk (5). Yes, I will still sell. Or you can ride out this hot streak until it ends in the quad series in July.
Joc Pederson – 1-for-4 with his 11th homer, and second homer in two games. Hot schmotato alert!
JP Sears
– Made for children. I wonder who I should pray to so that Reynaldo Lopez gets another shot in the rotation and hits well. I will pray to anyone, give me their links.
– 4 1/3 IP, 0 ER, 3.12 ERA. Finally, a Brewers pitcher who was just right!
Jake Bauers – 2-for-4, 2 runs and his 14th homer, hitting .271. Think you drafted Bauers and Goldschmidt as your 1B and CI? You’d be King Fantasy. I would be forced to load your dopey ass!
William Contreras – 3-for-3, 2 runs, 2 RBIs and his 8th homer, hitting .302. There are eight catchers in Player Rater’s top 50. Contreras is one.
Spencer Steer – 2-for-5, 2 RBIs and his 13th homer, 2nd homer in four games. Do you know what kind of season Steer is having? Waiver and out of the shallow leagues, but we get to the end of the season and realize that he was very important.
– 3-for-4 and his 9th homer, hitting .230. Mookie Best!
Shohei Ohtani – 6 IP, 2 ER, 7 baserunners, 8 Ks, ERA at 1.58, 2-for-5, 1 run, 1 RBI. Ah, Just the Beginning of Quality. What a peasant!
Joe Ryan – 6 IP, 4 ER, 9 baserunners, 9 Ks, ERA at 3.18. Ryan fought the Dodgers and the Dodgers won, but it wasn’t bad. However, it depends on the eye of the beholder.
Trey Yesavage – 5 2/3 IP, 1 ER, 7 baserunners (5 BBs), 5 Ks, ERA at 3.56. I mean this in all seriousness, Yesavage has the basic numbers of an injured guy or a bad mechanic. Something wrong.
Mike Burrows – 6 IP, 1 ER, 3 baserunners, 3 Ks, ERA at 5.48. That’s the exact opposite kinda start that Yesavage had. That’s the kinda start that has me monocle’ing in case Burrows is finally coming out of it. Being a hole, naturally. The pace is right; Burrows can click at certain times.
– 1-for-3, 2 runs, 2 RBIs and his first homer. Fun fact! Lujames Groover is the name of a serial killer who used to be a sax player in a funk band.
– 1-for-2, 2 RBIs and his 13th homer, 2nd homer in three games. Usually you can say slow hitting homers, which this was, but I want to say something that I think I’ve said before – you try to write 3,000 words a day and not repeat them! – but I have Mead in the same league and I don’t remove him from my list if he doesn’t play because he usually comes in and hits well and does well. Speaking of pinch-hits, Jorbit Vivas (1-for-2) hit his 3rd homer, and 2nd in as many games, and was the one Mead replaced. Hey, I just met Vivas, and this is crazy, but call him hot schmotato maybe.
– 1-for-3 with his 13th homer, 3rd homer in three games, 4th homer of the week. I march around my house in a grass skirt, singing, “LuGaJu! LuGaJu! LuGaJu!”
– 3 1/3 IP, 1 ER as mentioned above. Unnecessary update notice! He doesn’t matter for us, but I thought this was funny. The Nats’ beat writer said, “His prospect metrics are better than a 6 ERA (in the minors) suggests.” Hahahahahahahaha–breathe, Grey, breathe!–hahahahahaha…he gasps, trying to keep going. He had a 6 ERA with a 91 MPH fastball, and a 7.5 K/9, 5.5 BB/9 in the minors. Oh, yeah, that’ll fix the Nats’ bounce.
