Look, if I had all the answers, I wouldn't be stuck third in my NL-only league watching Braxton Garrett beat every five days. It's a struggle here. Still, perhaps I can provide you with some nuggets to help you find your way. Here's a six pack of stats to help us navigate the MLB landscape, starting with a dominant pitching prospect with a total of ridiculous…
60 – red prospect Andrew Abbott In his 30.2 innings, he has dismissed 60 batsmen in six overs in the high minors, which is definitely outrageous. Some of you may remember doing this kind of thing at the collegiate level at Virginia, where he struck out 327 in 215 career innings. Abbott is an artist:
He is not a fire thrower by the standards of this era, although 20 years ago we would all have been quite impressed with his velocity. Abbott has a four-pitch arsenal with disgusting breaking stuff and seems to have made gains in control. Whenever he reaches Cincinnati, he will be a mandatory add starter (currently rostered in 3% of the Yahoo League).
19 Collectively, cleveland patron Has hit just 19 home runs in 35 games, the lowest total in MLB (and already 11 behind the team that's next-to-last in the American League). He ranks last in team slugging (.329) and OPS (.629) by a wide margin. Eighteen different teams have at least doubled Cleveland's home run total and three have tripled it. So it's not ideal. organization's top hitting prospect, George ValeraHas been sidelined with a wrist injury since the spring, so there are some easy fixes for the team's power issues.
4 , carlos santanaWho is it not verifiable fast, has swiped four bags over 33 games so far this year. More than any other team, the Pirates have taken advantage of rule changes that favor stolen bases, leading MLB with 48. Six different books have already had at least four swipes. Santana finds himself on pace for 19 on the year, which would shatter his previous single season high of 11.
1.156 , Christopher Morrell, who should have been with the Cubs since Opening Day, is crushing the ball in Triple-A, producing a 1.156 OPS with 11 homers in 134 plate appearances. He had four steals, 22 extra-base hits, and a .330 average. Eventually, he was recalled to Chicago. Morell comes in with 2B/3B/SS/OF eligibility, so he's an extremely useful piece for your fantasy bench. He's not a lock to hit average, but his power/speed potential is well established. He is currently available in 74% of Yahoo Leagues.
1 , bryce miller Has thrown 117 four-seam fastballs so far in two starts for Seattle and attempts to hit those heaters have resulted in one base-hit, single. Miller has been simply exceptional.
You may have been skeptical after his 10-K outing against Oakland, but his scoreless two-hit innings of 6.0 against Houston on Sunday should have convinced you. He would face the Tigers, the team with the lowest team OBP (.298) in the game, in his next outing.
.208 , Kyle Schwarber Entered the week with a BABIP of .208, the lowest in the game and well below his career rate of .265. Of course, he's going to put pressure on the batting averages of your fantasy roster, but we just wanted to point out that His average exit velocity (92.3) remains near the top of the leaderboard And his other batted-ball rates are in line with expectations, too. He has cleared the fence eight times this season as well. Power is definitely not an issue:
Basically, all the usual Schwarbering is happening this year, but there's only a touch of bad luck on the balls in play. .188/.307.406 Despite the slash there is no obvious cause for concern.