RADIO
Gaining Giancarlo
Marlins slugger Giancarlo Stanton is expected to be activated Monday for the series opener with the Brewers. Stanton has been on the shelf with a grade-two hamstring strain for over a month. He was not expected to be activated until Tuesday but with Casey Kotchman unavailable, the move will be made to start Fantasy Week 11. Stanton has been 0-for-12 on his rehab with 4 K but the Marlins could not care less. He’s obviously the best talent they have within the organization and he should be able to work out the kinks quickly. The 23-year-old was just starting to heat up with 3 HR in his last 3 games before blowing his hammy out. “Don’t Call Me Mike” will look to add some much-needed power to a putrid Marlins offense. Stanton will move into right field, pushing the surprisingly efficient Marcell Ozuna (.331/.371/.472) to center. The move will likely push Chris Coghlan from the outfield to third base most nights. Justin Ruggiano seems to be the biggest loser in this all-- he surely could help some team in the league every day, but it doesn't look to be the Marlins. Owners who have been stashing Stanton will be tempted to start him right away; I would advise a wait-and-see approach for a week if you have the options. As we've seen from Hanley Ramirez, Mitch Moreland, Carlos Ruiz, Wilson Ramos and a plethora of others with hammy issues, they are easy to re-aggravate.
How-to Hoarding
There have been a number of players who are either on long-term rehab or who have been demoted recently due to poor performance at the major league level. I’d like to take a glance at a few select players and let you know who could help your team in the near future, who you should avoid.
Michael Pineda – The Yankees have Pineda rehabbing at High-A Tampa, where he's been sitting consistently at 93-94 mph with his heater. Since being acquired for Jesus Montero and others in a four-player swap with the Mariners in 2012, Pineda has yet to appear for the Bombers, but that all could change soon. If he comes back and continues on the path he was on in Seattle, he could be the Yankees' ace by 2014.
Dustin Ackley – The strange case of post-sleeper hype strikes again. Ackley posted 12 HR, 13 SB and 50 RBI last year for the M’s, making him look like a nice option at second base for 2013. As luck would have it, Ackley fell flat on his face to start the season and was shipped to Tacoma after a .205/.266/.250 start with one homer and after striking out 31 times in 171 PA. Since his demotion, Ackley has been on an offensive tear, hitting over .400 with 2 HR and 8 RBI in 60 plate appearances. He could come back up soon and push recent call up Nick Franklin to full-time shortstop duty. Brendan Ryan likely would be the off man out coming off the bench.
Taijuan Walker/Erasmo Ramirez – The Mariners have an abundance of minor league talent. Walker has a 2.19 ERA in Double-A with 14 K through 12.1 innings so far in June. Over two levels this year, he has a .194 batting average against and 77 K over 71.1 innings. He could help the Mariners soon if Jeremy Bonderman, Aaron Harang or any of the other “filler starters” were to falter. Ramirez has pitched 17.2 innings since being reinstated from the DL for Double-A Jackson and Triple-A Tacoma. He has 14 K over that span with only 3 ER allowed and a 1.53 ERA and .209 BAA. Ramirez could also be able to help soon at the Major League level if injuries pop up in the rotation.
AL Hot Shots:
- Josh Reddick is hitting .286 with a homer and two doubles since returning from the DL.
- Matt Moore was very bad again and has allowed 14 earned runs over his last two starts.
- Greg Holland had a good week for the Royals and earned his 12th save on Sunday
- Jose Alvarez was pretty dominant in his major league debut on Sunday tossing six innings of one-run ball.
- Alexi Ogando was placed back on the 15-day DL with right shoulder inflammation.
- Peter Bourjos will return from the DL Monday; Mike Trout has been shifted back to the leadoff spot.
NL Hot Shots:
- Yasiel Puig capped off his historic and amazing week with a 3-for-5 performance Sunday. He took the league by storm this past week with 4 HR (one a grand slam), 10 RBI and two spectacular outfield assists. Two of his homers were game-tying shots. He’s something special.
- Jordan Zimmerman was dominant again with seven shutout innings with 8 K, pushing his scoreless streak to 15 innings.
- Anthony Rendon is hitting .417 with three doubles and three RBI since his recall.
- Logan Morrison was 2-for-4 in his return from the DL on Sunday.
- Ike Davis was finally demoted and the Mets called on the Devil... er, make that 1B Josh Satin. (suh-TEEN, I believe.)
- Pablo Sandoval will be out most of this week; make sure you have him out of your lineup as they will most likely end up just placing him on the DL. I never understood why teams do this. Just DL him and get him better!! How hard can this be to comprehend?
- Mike Minor got win number eight on Sunday as the Braves topped the Dodgers.
- Ryan Braun needs some PEDs for his hand. He was pulled from the game Sunday with thumb pain.
- Matt Kemp suffered a setback in his rehab and will now likely miss all of this week instead of returning Friday as the Dodgers had hoped. Honestly are they even missing Kemp right now??
- Trevor Rosenthal has pushed his scoreless innings streak to 19.1 consecutive.
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Follow Shawn Caswell on Twitter, or don’t: @CasKnowsRoto
