It’s nice to get help from any source this time of year. Depending upon the depth of your league and the interest level of the managers, two potential impact players were and will be activated during the middle of August.
Back on Aug. 14, Robinson Cano finished his 80 game suspension and returned to the Mariners. Cano, who prior to being suspended looked to be a first ballot hall of famer, is 6-for-21 since returning. He’s scored just one run and hasn’t knocked in any yet, but we all know that he will. Cano still qualifies only at second base, but has played a pair of games at first since his activation. Cano is eligible for the remainder of the season, but is ineligible for the playoffs. There is certainly some concern as to how much Cano will play for the Mariners, and the rust is quite evident, but getting a player with Cano’s talent, even at the age of 35, is certainly worth consideration.
The White Sox need not concern themselves with postseason rosters, so there should be no reason to worry about Welington Castillo’s playing time. Castillo hit 13 home runs for the Cubs in 2014 and followed that up with 19 round trippers in 2015 as a member of the Diamondbacks. He hit 14 more in 2016, and had a career year, retiring 20 baseballs last year for the Orioles. Castillo also hit .282 with a .813 OPS last year. The White Sox presently roster Omar Narvaez and Kevan Smith, so there is absolutely no reason for them to hold Castillo back.
Castillo was the 10th most popular catcher in NFBC Main Event drafts, going on average in the 13th round. While many other catchers are dinged up and likely to have challenging second halves — see three-year historic first and second half splits for Salvador Perez (batting average .278 v. .230), Buster Posey (home runs 35 v. 10), and Yasmani Grandal (OPS .825 v. .724) — Castillo is certainly well rested and ready to go. Castillo is set to be activated Thursday, and if he’s available in your league, then the time to pounce is now. Castillo was selected this week in 20 NFBC Main Event leagues, putting his ownership at just over 75%.
There’s been a Jonathan Villar sighting! Villar, paroled from Milwaukee and sent to the Orioles on July 31, has found a home in Baltimore. At first thought, Villar looked to be wasted in Baltimore, as the Orioles ranked last in stolen bases in 2017 and 25th in steals in 2018. That was all BV. Upon obtaining Villar, Orioles manager Buck Showalter explained, when asked if Villar would have the green light on the base paths, ”Is there a color greener than green?”
In the 20 days since being acquired, Villar has four steals, three home runs and has scored eight runs while driving in nine. Yes, prorating isn’t really fair, but at this pace if Villar played 160 games as an Oriole, he’d hit .270 with 40 steals, 30 home runs, 80 runs and 90 runs batted in. You could do worse in the middle infield.
Finally, in a non-fantasy related note, I visited my 23rd major league stadium this past weekend, taking my boys to Fenway. I wanted the boys to be old enough to remember Fenway, so we waited a number of years. There only recollection of Old Yankees’ Stadium was really bad Chinese food. They recall Coors Field leaking in a rainstorm, and they still talk about poor sightlines in Wrigley.
Our experience at Fenway could not have been any better. We sat atop the Green Monster (expensive, but worth every penny). The organist was fantastic, the canned music was great, the crowd was into the game, and everyone in the crowd truly seemed to pay attention to the game and cheer. Plus, we were able to sing along to Sweet Caroline. Who could ask for more?
Best of luck. Don’t blink.
Buster
