Oh what a season. Shohei Ohtani owners all have my sympathy, as do those with Stephen Strasburg shares in this insane season of prospect, injuries, and for sure surprises.
I’m not sure what to say other than I am grateful that at least I shied away from Ohtani — at one time nine of my LABR squad and my entire starting outfield in the XFL were on the DL, plus a few arms — making the season way challenging for me. On my Scoresheet team, in a format where pitching is at the core, Clayton Kershaw, Robbie Ray, and Joey Lucchesi are all down presently.
However, I am neither trying to complain nor gain sympathy: Rather, these are just things fantasy owners must contend with in this day and age, and, well, that is part of the function of the Hotpage. To help identify players who might fill in for those untimely roster holes.
So, let’s get started.
Jake Bauers (1B, Rays): Man oh man, Bauers, a seventh-round pick in 2013, has been on the cusp of the show for a few years now. He’s in his second season at Triple-A Durham after hitting .263-13-63 last year, nudging that to .275-5-24 prior to his promotion (and the sort of surprising dispatch of Brad Miller) and holds a nice career OBP in the minors of .361 (289 walks to 433 whiffs) and will probably get full time play — first and DH — at least till he gives the Rays a reason to change their minds.
Paulo Orlando (OF, Royals): What is the world coming to? In Tout Wars, six-time champ Larry Schechter dropped $114 of his $1,000 FAAB on a guy with a career .268-14-81 line over 841 at-bats, featuring a .296 OBP. Seriously, 10% of his budget went for a guy with that line simply because he will get at-bats in lieu of the departure of Jon Jay. And, certainly Larry knows what he is doing — in fact, I considered a similar move in a league where innings and at-bats are everything. Would I recommend your acquiring Orlando? Only in extreme circumstances, like a 12-team AL-only, should you consider rostering.
Jose Fernandez (1B, Angels): On the other hand, with Ohtani down and the Angels struggling to get runners on base, the Halos advanced their newest Cuban import, Fernandez, who is a great pick up in an AL-only league and in any deep format. Why, you ask? Fernandez, 30, went .306-16-65 last year, split between Double-A and Triple-A over 93 games with a solid .361 OBP and complemented that with a .345-10-39 line this year at Salt Lake with a .412 OBP (20 walks to 19 whiffs) and a .937 OPS. Need more? I don’t.
Jake Cave (OF, Twins): Originally drafted out of high school by the Yankees in 2011 (6th round), Cave was swapped to the Twins right in the middle of spring training for Luis Gil. Cave has since been kind of a yo-yo, being optioned and re-called twice. He was hitting .282-5-25 over 50 games at Rochester thus far and boasts a minor league line of .285-44-248 with 36 triples and 150 doubles over 649 games. Though he swiped 17 bases in 2015, speed is no longer part of his game. Cave’s right in line with the Twins, hitting .286-2-5 over five games, though with just a .286 OBP. His big issue might be wrestling for playing time amongst a cluster of good young flychasers.
Ben Zobrist (2B/OF, Cubs): The vet struggled through a rugged week but has hit .293-3-14 over his last 16 games, with a .373 OBP and a .907 OPS. It is indeed easy to overlook a vet when the shiny likes of Juan Sotos and Jake Bauers exist, but players like Zobrist — who qualifies at a pair of spots, and more are in sight — are essential when filling those injury voids. In deeper formats, he’s a starter.
Randal Grichuk (OF, Jays): Grichuk seems like such a disappointment. The Cards got weary of his streaks, but after a slow start with Toronto he has gone .357-2-4 over his last four games. Just note that Grichuk has a .223-34-102 line over the first half of seasons over 239 games, while hitting .269-39-92 over 197 second-half contests. Additionally, his OBP jumps from .279 to .312, so now is the time to grab.
Hector Rondon (P, Astros): Got saves? Well, note that 35 different names converted victories last week, and 32 different names did it the week before. It is open season on closers, and this week in the AL Rondon, who grabbed a pair of conversions this week, is the Astros closer. Rondon has a 1.57 ERA, and 1.12 WHIP to go with three total saves and 26 punchouts over 23 innings.
John Brebbia (P, Cardinals): In the spring I wrote about Brebbia being a long shot to the closer gig in St. Louis, after lodging five holds last year over 51.6 frames with a 2.44 ERA , 1.128 WHIP, and 51 strikeouts. Brebbia has been up and down this season, but he similarly has been effective, posting 21 strikeouts over 19.6 frames. Brebbia earned his second save this week and he has 10 minor league conversions to his credit.
