RADIO
Last week, we took a deep dive in our first edition of Ball Street. This week, we’re going to cover a few more players with a bit less detail as we head into the second week of the season.
It’s still waaayyy too early to draw conclusions, but we’re going to identify some guys to monitor going forward. As always, send me a message on Twitter @Silent_Investor if you’d like a player covered.
Fantasy Baseball Player Updates
George Springer
When I had tempered expectations for Springer this preseason, people treated me like I had leprosy. Heading through the second week, Springer has been downright awful, batting .147 with no home runs. He’ll pick it up, but expect slumps exactly like this the rest of the way.
Jon Lester
If you haven’t heard, there’s a rumor that Jon Lester is incapable of attempting a successful pickoff move. In fact, he attempted his first pickoff in his last start in over a season – and promptly sailed it into foul territory. I’m not worried yet, but clearly teams with base running prowess will cause problems for Lester if he can’t fix things quickly. Fortunately, Lester has the ability to keep many people off the bases.
Billy missed his game vs. Lester, which is unfortunate because it would have been an awesome sight to see given Lester’s troubles. Regardless, Hamilton is quietly on a record-setting stolen base pace and hit his first home run of the season off Carlos Martinez on Sunday. Things are looking up in his sophomore season as he's already tallied 8 stolen bases in just 8 games.
Iglesias has slightly cooled from his blazing hot start and has found himself back on many waiver wires. PSA: Leave him there; he’s a glove-only shortstop.
Soler showed off the power stroke on Monday, going 3-for-5 with two jacks. The power potential is there; continue to start him with confidence every day. This is just the beginning, and with Kris Bryant adding even more protection to the lineup, expect big things.
McCarthy missed quite a few bats on Monday, but when he didn’t, the ball went pretty far. He gave up five earned runs over seven innings. The damage was mostly the result of four home runs, making six total for the season. While he’s sporting a 6.75 ERA, I’m not worried about McCarthy. His HR/FB rate is at an outlandish pace; that will eventually normalize and you’ll end up with a solid pitcher on a great team. Buy low if you can.
Bryce Harper
Bryce Harper had an encouraging 0-for-4 with two strikeouts earlier in the week vs. the Red Sox. It’s only encouraging because he was robbed of a home run by an incredibly athletic Mookie Betts to one of the deeper parts of Fenway Park. This is the year that Harper puts together a full season and excellent baseball.
Zimmermann was unable to get through the third inning against the Red Sox. He had one walk and two hit batsmen, but he has no history with serious control issues. Consider this an anomaly and continue to start Zimmermann with confidence going forward.
Jonathan Lucroy
Arguably the consensus number two catcher in all of fantasy is batting .133 for the year. The sample size here is too small, but I wouldn’t worry about Lucroy. His one saving grace is that he’s walking at an 14.3% rate, so it shouldn’t be long before he turns things around at the plate.
Miller pitched an effective five innings on Monday, allowing only one earned run while getting the win against Miami. That said, I don't trust Miller as far as I can throw him (not very far). He's a former highly touted prospect, but I can't get excited about a pitcher that: can't strike people out, walks too many batters, and doesn't go deep into games. Avoid Miller unless he's at the back-end of your rotation.
Filed in the “Way Too Early to Tell” cabinet is the success Matt Holliday has had so far. He’s batting a robust .333, but with an unsustainable .435 BABIP. He’s arguably been the largest recipient of luck so far, as he’s pounded the ball into the ground (60.9% GB %) and shot it straight into the sky (25.0% IFFB%), yet has lived to tell about it. I still like Holliday for 2015, but don’t let the first week’s results fool you.
Kris Bryant? Kris Bryant. Kris Bryant Kris Bryant Kris Bryant Kris Bryant. Kris. Bryant. Sorry, I couldn't hold my excitement. The last time there was such a buzz about a prospect call up was (arguably) Stephen Strasburg a few years ago. I'll never forget my excitement when he was on my fantasy team that first year, dominating through 12 starts, only to promptly get injured. Strasburg's value was never higher than the first few days after he got called up, and there's a reasonable chance the same thing will occur for Bryant (not the injury, but the impossible expectations). If you own him, shop him to see if someone is wiling to overpay.
