For a week bereft of call-ups to make roto owners swoon, the Show still showed us some interesting players to try and plug injury and ineffectiveness holes this past week, in what was otherwise a somewhat quiet cycle of play.
Well, quiet if you did not roster Clayton Kershaw, Mookie Betts, Rhys Hoskins, Dustin Pedroia, Ronald Acuna, Jr. or any other players who went on the DL. As for me, at one point all five of my outfielders in the XFL were injured, and in a league where FAAB moves only take place once a month, that is slow torture on the path to slow fantasy death.
Is there hope for any of us in sight? Let’s take a look.
Randal Grichuk (OF, Jays): The Jays outfielder was hitting .099-2-7 before hitting the DL, and that featured a .191 OBP (eat your heart out Kole Calhoun!), but Grichuk might indeed be a guy to grab ahead of the curve. That is because first half he is a career .219-29-97 hitter, but over the second half those numbers jump to .269-39-92 while Grichuk’s OBP skips from .275 to .311. If you can grab and stash in a deeper league, the way things are going you will need him later, if not sooner. And, that could well work out all around.
Ronny Rodriguez (SS, Tigers): The 26-year-old offers a nice package of hitting (.318-8-35) and speed (eight swipes) and with Jose Iglesias hitting .255 with a .308 OBP, Rodriguez could sneak his way into the starting lineup. If there is an issue with Rodriguez, it’s that he too has trouble with the zone, posting just six walks to 36 strikeouts this year (.341 OBP). But his 134:615 career minor league totals equate to a .298 OBP over 811 games, and that might not prove to be an improvement over Iglesias. Look, but tread carefully.
Harrison Bader (OF, Cardinals): The Cards are one of those baffling teams that is playing pretty well despite half their roster being injured, underperforming, or both. Bader, a third-round pick in 2015 out of Florida, has slipped into a sort of Jose Martinez role with the team, quietly hitting .270-5-9 with six swipes. And, while that might not sound like much, #3 outfielder Dexter Fowler checks in batting .179-5-20 while Bader has 68 fewer at-bats. I know who I would rather have playing on my team.
Greg Allen (OF, Indians): Allen offers much to the AL-only owner — .263-3-5 with three swipes over 76 at-bats — and poses a better on-base gamble than does Bader with a .380 minor league career OBP (192 walks to 237 strikeouts). But with Bradley Zimmer, Michael Brantley, Rajai Davis, and Melky Cabrera all on the active roster, and Tyler Naquin off on rehab, space may dictate more than our rosters desire.
Curt Casali (C, Reds): Catcher alert! That means a new backstop is up for our taking, abuse, and eventual rejection. Casali, acquired just a week ago in exchange for cash with the Rays, is a 29-year-old journeyman backstop who has a .202-20-50 line over exactly 162 games. Casali homered Saturday and has posted decent minor league numbers (,267-41-236) but is still second fiddler to Tucker Barnhardt. But the trick these days is a backstop who won’t hurt you, and in that sense, Casali could be just fine. Monitor appropriately.
Sam Travis (1B, Red Sox): Travis has long been a favorite of mine: kind of the quintessential .285-14-80 first sacker who has a .379 OBP in the minors and when he gets a chance delivers — even improving the power numbers a little but basically delivering solid everyday play, just not necessarily the pop we often seek in a first sacker. The Red Sox have been deep in hitters, but the jettison of Hanley Ramirez and re-injury to Dustin Pedroia makes for some room, and I like Travis (.288-32-190 minor league line) as long as he gets a chance. If he does eventually, it might not be at Fenway, but again I do like the guy and his resume.
Dan Straily (P, Miami): If you are scuffling for arms like the rest of us, Straily, coming off a couple of good starts, might be of help. He’s 2-2, 2.57 over his last five starts with 24 strikeouts over 28 innings, and though he is on a struggling team and would be a roster fill in for your team, streaming the guy is not the worst move you could make.
Brock Stewart (P, Dodgers): One final pitcher to “toss” out would be Stewart, who is on the Dodgers who are indeed solid at developing arms. Stewart, 26, was a sixth-round pick of the Bums in 2014, who managed a 17-14, 3.04 line in the minors and has been up and down now fewer than five times this season. With Kershaw’s back and future uncertain, the Dodgers will have to get innings from someone, and Stewart, at present, is as good a gamble as we will find. Additionally, Kershaw or not, the team is getting hot and has too much hitting to fall by the pennant race wayside in an up-in-the-air division.
