RADIO
Miggy Smalls is the illest
The 2012 Triple Crown winner, Miguel Cabrera must have pitchers singing; “Miggy-Miggy-Miggy, can’t you see, sometimes your swings just hypnotize me, and I just love your smashing ways, guess I'll throw another fastball your way” Am I right?? Why else would they pitch to him in the zone???
In all seriousness, the “Big Cat” is showing his stripes once again. Cabrera capped off a three home run evening with a shot over the left-centerfield wall on a pitch that would have jammed 99% of hitters. Instead, he muscled the ball over the wall for his eleventh on the season. Miggy has a ridiculous .387 batting average and 47 RBI in 42 games. Of Cabrera’s 67 hits, 24 have gone either for extra bases or over the fence.
Historically, Miguel Cabrera is right on pace with Hammerin’ Hank Aaron and as long as he can stay healthy we may be watching history in the making. Cabrera is the best hitter in the game, there’s no doubt about it. If you have children who you want to play ball, they need to observe Mr. Cabrera as much as possible.
Number One Prospect Arrives
The Texas Rangers placed 2B Ian Kinsler on the disabled-list on Sunday with bruised ribs. The corresponding move has waiver wires and FAABs buzzing all around fantasy baseball today as they called up baseball’s number one prospect, 20-year-old Jurickson Profar. Profar should see most of the starts at 2B in Kinsler’s absence; I doubt they would have called him up otherwise. Profar was hitting .278 with four home runs and six stolen bases in Triple-A Round Rock, so he could potentially be of use over the next 13 games. Will Profar stay once Kinsler returns? I highly doubt it. The 20-year old is road blocked by Kinsler and Andrus who are both playing at a high enough level on the team with the best record in baseball to this point. Andrus also just got a new deal this year so unless they trade Kinsler, Profar has nowhere to play. Maybe, just maybe, this could be an audition for Profar or a showcase of sorts? He is obviously worth the add for the time being and in keeper leagues he is likely already owned.
Phillies walk-off and limp home
Ryan Howard (knee) and Carlos Ruiz (hamstring) missed Sunday’s game and are scheduled for MRIs. Erik Kratz, who tied the game off with a homer off of Aroldis Chapman Sunday, will assume catching duties. Ryan Howard will most likely be replaced by some combination of Lance Nix and John Mayberry. The Phillies do have Darin Ruf in Triple-A with 5 homers and 22 RBI but his hot bat has cooled recently. Digging deeper, the Double-A Reading Fightin’ Phils have a 27-year-old first baseman by the name of Jim Murphy who has 9 HR and 31 RBI with a .314 AVG. If Howard is forced to miss time either could be in the realm of possibility.
My hunch is that Mayberry will split time between OF and 1B and get spelled by Nix occasionally. The bonus to this theory is that Freddy Galvis could get some more starts and that could be a good thing. The 23 year old utility infielder has played all over for the Phillies. He also has 3 HR, 7 RBI with a .298 average in just 57 AB. I think they need to find time for this kid, he could be a Martin Prado type of player if given the opportunity to play every day.
NL Hot Shots:
Aroldis Chapman gave up back-to-back homers by Erik Kratz and Freddy Galvis in a loss to Philly Sunday.
Bobby Parnell earned save number six while striking out two of the 3 he faced. He’s been excellent this year and his value is growing weekly.
Tyler Lyons was called up to take the roster spot of Jaime Garcia much to the dismay of “Wacha awaiters”
Carlos Villanueva was hammered for 7 earned and he will be sent to the bullpen with Matt Garza returning from the DL to make his season debut on Tuesday against the Pirates
Ike Davis got the vote of confidence again from the Mets, but it cant be long now before he’s sitting or in Triple-A to work on things. Lucas Duda would probably assume 1B duties with Jordany Valdespin getting an uptick in PT. Valdespin would be a worthy ad in NL Only and deeper mixed formats.
Ricky Nolasco had the bender working Sunday as he threw 8 innings while punching out 11 DBacks. Marcell Ozuna came up clutch for the Marlins driving in 2 runs on a deep double which in any other park would have been out.
Dan Haren was shelled, giving up seven runs Sunday to the Padres. He’s been a mixed bag and shouldn’t be trusted in anything but NL Only leagues right now. Ryan Zimmerman did homer in the game.
John Gast held the Brewers to two runs over 5 1/3 innings Sunday in the Cardinals' 4-2 victory.
AL Hot Shots:
Justin Masterson was once again masterful on Sunday. He struck out 11 over seven scoreless in defeat of Seattle. That’s 20 Ks in his last two starts with zero earned runs. He’s now the owner of a 2.83 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 71 K over 70 IP.
Matt Moore moved to 8-0 on the season with seven innings of one run ball over the O’s
Yoenis Cespedes went 2-for-4 with a homer Sunday. FINALLY!! He had been mired in a 7-for-49 slump.
Ryan Cook earned a save with Grant Balfour unavailable. He should be next in line if Balfour were to be traded or injured. Balfour though has been solid. Cook and Sean Doolittle are a Holds leaguer’s dream.
David Lough hit leadoff for the Royals Sunday and it looks as though he has supplanted Jeff Franceour on the depth chart. He had a .340/.393/.477 slash line with 3 HR and 5 SB in Triple-A.
Mitch Moreland continued to dominate as he drove in multiple homers for the fourth time in eleven games on Sunday. He’s now hitting .328 with a 3B, four 2B, seven homers, 13 runs scored and has 18 RBI in May.
Alex Gordon went 4-for-5 Sunday and is now batting .382 in May with 3 homers, 5 doubles, 11 runs and 12 RBI this month. Since moving down to the 3 spot on May 9, Gordon is batting .450 (18 for 40) with one home run, five doubles and six RBI in 10 games. Last week I heard an “expert” from another fantasy site say it’s time to sell high on Gordon and I nearly threw my computer screen. For the best expert advice, keep it locked on Rotoballer.com is all I will say about that.
Lance Berkman is driving in runs lately for the Rangers. The Big Puma still can get it done and is batting .351 (13-for-37) with one triple, one homer, two doubles, five walks, five runs and 10 RBI in his last nine games
Kelly Johnson’s name is popping up all across fantasy sites lately. He must have #twtw. Or, he is just not striking out as often resulting in more balls in play which are landing in the seats and in the grass. Johnson is hitting .274/.348/.492 in 124 at-bats with 7 bombs, 24 RBI and 4 SB.
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Follow Shawn Caswell on Twitter: @CasKnowsRoto
