Daily Slivers of the Fantasy Soapbox (6/14/19)

Welcome to the Friday, June 14th edition of Daily Slivers of the Fantasy Soapbox.

Discussing baseball is as fun as the game itself. It has a way of bringing people together to share different opinions about the sport we all love. A similar action can be done with fantasy baseball where we not only discuss topics but also look to improve our teams as well as the teams of our fellow fantasy baseball enthusiasts. Everyone has their own perspectives which are not to be cast off as frivolous. They should be used as a method of expanding our own knowledge.

In this article, I review the previous day's boxscores and provide my opinion on a variety of topics. Some will be random, some will be fun, and some will be stat-driven. It's a soapbox so I may rant from time to time as well. So without any further delay, below are my thoughts on June 14th. Enjoy them. You can even respond with your own thoughts on Twitter @EllisCan2.

Daily Musings

• 89% Owned?! A guy has more power than anyone in the league. He definitely has the best avg exit velo (96.3mph). It’s true he strikes out a lot but there are plenty worse batting averages in the league (.276). He hits in a homer-friendly home park. All of this goodness and 11% of leagues are like “Nah, I’ll pass.” Check your waivers to see if Joey Gallo is on your wire. It's an insult if you see him there. Rectify that quickly.
• I felt like I had some caution when recommending to go All In on Yordan Alvarez because of the unknown future playing time for him. Evidently, he is here to stay. Double down. A couple of key points, he isn’t swinging that often (35%), but he does have a 16.7% swinging strike rate. If that continues across a larger scale, it won’t be pretty.
• Ozzie Albies is on a TEAR! Thus far in June (.316AVG, three HR). May was terrible (.239AVG, one HR). Has he fixed everything? Not on the road (.233AVG). Also, he would rather avoid righties (.252) and he’s chasing pitches too much (38.7%).
• Rafael Devers, you make me so proud. 10HR, eight SB. Get this 22-year-old on your roster.
• Jarrod Dyson has tied his career-high w/fifth HR. Of course, you aren’t suffering w/sporadic playing time for his HR power.
• Time to workout. Cycle time. Shohei Ohtani making it look easy. And his ownership raised a mere 3% from two days ago to 59%. I would laugh so hard if it wasn't Cycle time. Fix it, People.
• Nelson Cruz w/five HR in his last seven games. Added three more RBI. Twins offense will generate plenty of R+RBI opportunities. That’s why you don’t give up on some aging players. Cruz is worth well more than his sixth-round ADP.
• Youngsters take advantage of inept Orioles pitching. Lourdes Gurriel & Cavan Biggio took advantage of Camden w/three total homers between them. Chance Sisco hit one out as well, his second in 27PA. He’s been a solid addition to lineups, particularly in two-catcher leagues. On Gurriel & Biggio, I’m indifferent.
• Mama said there would be days like this:
  • DESTRUCTION! David Price w/6ER, 1.1IP. Twins next. Hmmm.
  • Matt Boyd (4ER, 4IP, 7K)
  • Ryan Yarbrough (5ER, 6IP, 4K)
• Don’t get too excited but Jackie Bradley Jr. has two HR and two SB in his last five games. The schedule against the Rangers was why we recommended him in the OF waiver wire article. The week isn’t over. He still has juicy matchup in Camden. If there were ever a time to use him, now is that time.
• Brett Gardner is one HR shy of eclipsing his 2018 mark (12). A 13.2-degree launch angle hasn’t affected his career-best 14.1%K rate. The batting average is still terribly low (.229), likely affected by .223BABIP. Counting stats should increase once the lineup is fully healthy.
• Tim Anderson w/10HR, 15SB, .317AVG! Ooh-La-La. 19.4%K rate? I’m swooning over here. Seven total walks in 237PA? I guess I can’t be too picky. 43.7% chase rate?!?! If it weren’t for Kevin Pillar you’d be king of the category……..No, I don’t care that Yadier Molina has the same chase rate. He’s making contact on them 12% better than you. You, sir, are no Yadi. I guess we should just be thankful for what we have.
• Riddle me this Batboy, if Ryan McMahon is a career .301 hitter against lefties, but only .209 against righties, why do you start him against both when you have Brendan Rodgers available? (The theme song of this tweet and the only music I hear when anyone mentions the Rockies, rookies, McMahon, or Rodgers is Bang Your Head by Quiet Riot).
• The power of twos. Manny Machado hit two bombs with three RBI; however, hometown guy Charlie Blackmon hit two moonshots w/four RBI. Money can’t buy me love or a better bat, evidently. Even Cody Bellinger did what Machado accomplished for tremendously less.
• TGFBI’s Deep Thoughts. Every time I watch Kris Bryant homer (14), I collapse with my head in my hands and wonder why, oh why, I chose Andrew Benintendi in the second round over Bryant. Dreamy Bryant shares a name w/Kris Kristofferson and he even had an Ex-Con Martha Stewart wedding. But, deep down I knew that Bryant has his rock in life. He’s found his roots and is no longer a runner. Benintendi, on the other hand, still has that lively spirit and provides a warm embrace of power and speed, albeit a less cozy embrace than I prefer. If you're gonna give me a power/speed hug, bring it in for the real thing, not some weak-ass body lean w/three taps on each other's shoulder.
• Have a great day of Friday baseball.

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