Baltimore’s shiny new outfielder, Alejandro de Aza, was 4-for-9 with two triples and 2 RBI in yesterday’s double header. Welcome to Plaza de Aza, where we help win fantasy baseball leagues for you. Perhaps you hadn’t noticed in the past five days Alejando de Aza has been doing work for his new team, gathering in a hit in his sixth straight start. He’s also got two stolen bases, two homers, five runs and six RBI in that stretch and he’s doing every thing he can to contribute to the O’s postseason run and your fantasy team right now. Buck Showalter is clearly feeling what Alejandro’s putting out there, as de Aza is steadily moving his way up to the top of the lineup. If he gets hot, he’s a guy that could help you in a lot of categories in the two final weeks. Grey told you to BUY him and don’t worry, I won’t tell anyone who you’re dropping or selling to pick up this hot little crab cake, be it Giancarlo Stanton, Chris Davis, Josh Hamilton, Anthony Rizzo, your soul, etc. Just don’t think about it. Forget about it. Just do the deed, close your eyes and click add/drop. You’re trying to win this thing and Alejandro can help.
Here’s what else happened Friday night in fantasy baseball:
Nathan Karns – 7.0 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, 2 BB, 8 K and his first major league win. Because the Rays just don’t have enough awesome young pitching prospects we now have Nathan Karns. Turn that Smyly upside down, friend. This is Nathan For You. After a shaky 25-pitch first inning, Karns did his best David Price impression punching out eight and showed good command of the zone, an issue he struggled with in the minors. Karns has a mid-90s fastball and a deceptively fast breaking ball. You can’t go really wrong with a Rays pitcher not named Odorizzi these days, and I’d give him a stream next week versus the Yankees. Sure his minor league number aren’t pretty, but the strikeouts were there and this is fantasy baseball, we don’t care about stats, right?
Juan Lagares – 3-for-3, run, RBI, SB (13). Juan Legs R’ Us with another steal! Juan is all about that base, ’bout that base. Stolen base? No trouble.
Denard Span – 2-for-4, SB (30). I feel like I’m mentioning him every week now. Really folks, don’t forget to tip your lead off hitter. They are unappreciated. Yes, even you, LeSean McCoy.
Anthony Rendon – 3-for-5, HR (20). Rendon is top 20 on the Razzball player rater, and the highest ranked infielder not named Miguel Cabrera. Oh, and Jose Altuve. Sorry Altuve, I didn’t see you there!
J.D. Martinez – 2-for-4, 2-run HR (21), 4 RBI. The J.D. stands for Jim Dandy, as in, how do you feel since picking him up in May? Just jim dandy! *Dodges tomato* I will see myself out.
Carlos Carrasco – 6.1 IP, 7 hits, 4 ER, 2 BB, 5 K. Carlos, how could you!? We were becoming so close over these past few weeks, you and I. Remember the movie nights? The popcorn fights? The laughter? Carrasco likely just ran into a tough offense last night and should still be a good bet next week in Houston.
Kevin Gausman – 7.0 IP, 7 hits, 2 BB, 7 K. Wouldn’t surprise me to see K-Gaus step up big in the postseason. The hype will inevitably raise his ranking next year and then I’ll never get to draft him where I want to.
Brandon McCarthy – 7.0 IP, 4 hits, 0 ER, 6 K. B-Mac, on the other hand, I’m not going near next year, but that doesn’t mean I can’t continue to enjoy what he’s doing right now. As long as he’s got the special sauce going, ride the lightning!
Bud Norris – 7.0 IP, 3 hits, 2 BB, 10 K and his 13th win. Bud Norris will be the Orioles postseason Ace. Let that sink in.
Javier Baez – 1-for-4, HR (8) and Arismendy Alcantara – 2-for-4, HR (9). They’re going to hit 70 home runs combined next year! They’ll bat .210 and strike out 500 times, but who cares! Dingers, ya’ll! If you add the possible power numbers of Rizzo, Soler and Bryant to that figure you will start to get real dizzy, and then black out. I like to think Javier and Arismendy are best friends forever now and they won’t go anywhere without each other. They also have a ton of weird inside jokes and talk to each other in this creepy twin language that no one else in the clubhouse understands. Get a room, you two!
Jordy Mercer – 3-for-5, 3 RBI. Jordy has five multi hit games in the past week with four runs, nine RBI and two homers. Grey told you to BUY him. Uncle Jesse told you to “Have Mercer!” Do it or Dave Coulier will show up at your house. Dude needs work.
Josh Harrison – 3-for-4, 2 runs. Months ago, I called upon Grey’s Fantasy Baseball Overlord, Tehol’s Elder Gods, even MIA Guru’s spirit master, for help. I asked them to send me a third baseman. I asked them and then I asked myself: do I really need a third baseman? No! I finally realized. “Higher powers, I understand now! I already have everything I need, right here, right now!” I yelled to the heavens. And then, Josh Harrison suddenly appeared on waivers. Thank you, spirits!
Cody Asche – 2-for-5, 2-run HR (10). Grey is clearly a man ahead of his time. He’s an Einstein you know. And it looks like he may have been a year early on Asche. I’ll have my eye on him next spring. Or not. It’s all relative.
Adeiny Hechavarria – 2-for-4, RBI. He’s not filling the Giancarlo sized hole in your line up or your heart but as far as MIs go Adeiny has hit safely in every game this month except one. Won’t do much besides hit for average, but he’s worth a look in deeper leagues if you need an infielder.
Henderson Alvarez – 7.0 IP, 7 hits, 1 ER, 4 K. He has struggled a bit recently so it was good to see him get back on track, even if it was versus a below average Phillies squad. He could be worth using the final weeks if he’s still out there and he should definitely be on your radar for 2015 drafts.
Mookie Betts – 2-for-4, run, RBI. How much do I love the Mookster? Let me first just send my well wishes to my previous obsession, Giancarlo Stanton. I hope you got the Edible Arrangement I sent along with the care package. Why yes I did those sketches of you myself, do you really like them? Those CD-Rs contain over 100 hours of my techno music. You’re going to hate it. What I’m saying is, with Stanton out I’ve got a lot of free time on my hands and Mookie can now expect some late night visits. Remember, I’m only following you to protect you from psycho stalkers. See you in the bushes!
Jemile Weeks – 2-for-3, 2 runs. Started at second for the fourth straight game. Not sure why the Sawx aren’t playing Mookie there. What happens when Rusney Castillo arrives? Boston has six outfielders (seven if you count Shane Victorino) and if any of them start taking time away from Mookie, I don’t care if they’re Liam Neeson, I will find them, and I will kill them. Anyway, Weeks has a hit in three of the four games he’s started at second the past week, and even stole a base. Pick him up if you hate yourself.
Eric Hosmer – 1-for-4, 2-run HR (7). A home run. Now that was unexpected.
Edward Mujica – 1.0 IP, SV (6). Koji Uehara pitched a clean eighth inning in this one, but Edward is still the closer for now. I told you to grab him last week (#shamelessSelfPromotion) and this week Grey told you to BUY Mujica, the native from the island of Mokkiki. Mujica did the sloppy swish last night. That means he got the save in Mokkikan.
Adam Wainwright – 8.0 IP, 6 hits, 1 ER, 8 K, and his 18th win. What!? I’m supposed to praise you for doing your job? Do it again next week and maybe we’ll talk.
Matt Holliday – 2-for-4, 3-run HR (17). Hard to believe he had just six homers in the first half. At least he knows when to step it up for fantasy owners.
Kristopher Negron – 2-for-4, HR (5). THAT’S RACIST! I better tread carefully, Adrian Peterson might take a switch to me. I’m sure there’s plenty of things a FOUR YEAR OLD could have done to warrant a beating with a tree branch. Riiiight. I’m going to lose week two because of you, AP! Because you don’t know what a time out is?! Talk about being got in the nuts. Bah humbug! This is why I usually stick to fantasy baseball.
Alex Wood – 7.0 IP, 4 hits, 1 ER, 2 BB, 9 K. I am trying to stream pitchers in the final days of the season but I just can’t bring myself to drop Alex Wood. He’s got a 2.21 ERA and 74 K in 11 starts since the all star break and opponents are hitting just .221 off him. I’m waking up every morning with Wood and I can’t seem to get rid of it, err…him.
Derek Holland – 7.0 IP, 8 hits, 1 ER, 6 K. And his mustache grew three sizes that day. How is he just 30% owned? Holland is looking like he has the potential to just show up in the last month and become the brightest spot of the Rangers 2014 season. He’s got a 0.86 ERA and a WHIP under one, no one told him Texas was out of contention. Maybe he’s the comatose Rangers fan!? Regardless, he’s gone seven innings in each of his three starts, with 17 Ks and has yet to walk a batter. No one shall pass! He gets the A’s next week and should continue to impress as he strokes his middle school ‘stache.
A.J. Pollock – 3-for-4, 3-run HR (7). I had to highlight someone from the Padres/D-Backs game, so who better than A.J. He’s hit safely in six of his past seven games since returning from the DL, with three SB in that stretch. I grabbed him in one league. While at a Paint Nite Thursday I told a lovely lady I just picked up a Pollock. Needless to say, she was impressed yadda yadda yadda, I played Xbox all night.
James Paxton – 6.0 IP, 4 hits, 1 ER, 3 BB, 8 K. I am going to be crazy about Pax the Destroyer going into next years draft, so be warned. Even if the tree monster and raccoon technically stole the show I still love this guy, and you will too. Hopefully he doesn’t increase his own stock too much in the postseason. Oh did I just say, PLAYOFFS, Jim Mora!? Yes, the Seattle Mariners are back in the wild card lead for now and Grey’s Vegas dreams are still alive.
Hyun-Jin Ryu – 1.0 IP, 5 hits, 4 ER. Left with shoulder irritation. Oh, Dodgers. Sigh. Is it September again?
Gregor Blanco – 1-for-2, 2 runs. Continues to do his thing and has hit safely in all but one game this month with 12 runs scored. Grey told you to BUY him. I know if I pick him up he’ll go 1-for-20, so I’ll stay away just for you guys’ benefit.
Madison Bumgarner – 7.0 IP, 3 hits, 0 ER, 9 K and his 18th win. I haven’t seen a bum that mad since Evan Gattis got strep throat after drinking all those unfinished beers fans left in the bleachers.
Kole Calhoun – 3-for-4, 3 runs, 2 RBI. Apparently, all he needed was Grey to light a fire under him. I’ll show you a SELL candidate! Big Red is batting close to .400 with 3 homers, 10 runs and 7 RBI in the past week and his freckles grow strong and greater in number by the day. That’s why you never call out a ginger, they have ancient shaman magic and they will use it when provoked.
Howie Kendrick – 2-for-4, run, 2 RBI, SB (14). All of a sudden, you decide to be the second baseman I thought I’d be drafting for the past five years? Howard’s got a nine game hitting streak with seven multi-hit games, two homers, 11 runs and 13 RBI in that time. Naturally, this is the first year I don’t own him anywhere.
Mike Trout – 2-for-4, 2 runs, 2 RBI. Remember when the A’s had an offense before they traded their best hitter? Is fat Jonah Hill or Brad Pitt to blame here? Let’s blame the Angels for being so good. They hold an 11 game lead in the AL West and won their ninth straight game last night, and can you guess why? Just as the Catatafish prophesied it has come to pass. His Troutness leads the AL in RBI (105) and runs (104), he’s got 32 homers and 14 steals. Megan Trainor is already working on a remix, All About That Trout. You may be just number three on the Razzball player rater, Mike, but you’ll always be number one in our hearts.
Questions? Problems? Complaints to management? Advice, small gifts or large bribes? Please leave it in the comments below, or you can get at me on twitter @dandemanco. Join us next Saturday for another Friday recap as fantasy baseball continues next week, all week long!
