Fantasy baseball 2017

Looking for advice: I have Brandon McCarthy in a points league and he's got one start against the Cubs this week. After that, he gets MIL, CIN, CLE, NYM and possibly COL, if they stay on the current schedule. He strikes out a little less than 9/9IP, he's got three wins in six starts for a good team (we get 10 points per victory) and his FIP is 3.75, while his ERA is around 4.15.

Wondering if I should drop him (or maybe trade him if there are any takers) and pick up someone such as Miami's Jose Urena, (who has a sparkling 1.90 ERA and faces faces OAK, PHI and ARI in his next three starts, but has a FIP around 4+). Other pitchers available with two starts next week include Alex Cobb (vs. LAA, @MIN), Eickoff (vs. COL, CIN), or even someone like Glasnow, who faces ATL and NYM next week.

None of the two-start options are overwhelming, but I see a tough road ahead for McCarthy, so I'm struggling with keeping him or just streaming pitchers in his spot for a few weeks.

 

I don't have much faith in Urena. Cobb's K-rate isn't very good. Honestly, I don't like any of those other pitching options.McCarthy is a risk,too, but I don't see anything in those options that makes me think you have to make a move.

 

Debating if it's time to cut Danny Salazar loose. Guy has an insane 12.3 k/9, but an ERA well above 5. The strikeouts make me hopeful he's capable of pulling things together because his stuff obviously is not an issue, but holy hell, he can't get through five innings without giving up at least three runs.

 

It is always tough to know when to cut bait on a player like that. He has ability and a track record of success. The high K-rate makes me think you should hold a bit longer.

I'm going through it with some hitters. Finally cut Odubel Herrera this week, but with guys like Jonathan Villar, I feel like I have no choice but to hold.

 

This could be a season-killer of a week. My team opened the day in first place, but I lost three starting pitchers to the DL in the last 24 hours or so (Morton, Wood and Duffy). Duffy is out 6-to-8 weeks. Morton's prognosis isn't much better. Oh, and the Mariners are pushing back Haniger's rehab AGAIN.

Don't you just love fantasy baseball?

 

Quick poll: who has the greater upside the rest of the season, Judge or Donaldson?

 

Tough call. If it is only for this one season, I tend to go with the better track record, but Judge has shown no signs of slowing down. His strikeout rate is still a bit of a red flag, but he just hits the ball so damn hard that I'd have to stick with Judge.

 

Admittedly, I'm biased as a Yankees fan, but I agree with OOP, I'd stick with Judge. Donaldson is older, so it may be tougher for him to bounce back from the injury to his previous levels.

Anybody have thoughts on Salazar? He's been at least temporarily moved the bullpen because of his high ERA. The strikeouts are tantalizing, but I'm wondering if I should look at picking up a reliever like Brad Hand, or someone like Brad Peacock and hope they can at least be positive contributors.

 

I guess it depends on your ability to go with a dead roster spot for a while. I know plenty of owners panicked when the Mariners removed Edwin Diaz from closing, but he already has the job back and he has been dominant the last couple of weeks. I don't think Peacock is that thrilling of an option, either.

I finally took the plunge on Marwin Gonzalez a few minutes ago. I know playing time is an issue, but the guy just keeps hitting. I like players who show improvement after some type of change. In Gonzalez's case, he closed his stance, lowered his hands and added more of a leg kick and the results have been great so far. The only problem he has is that he sits once or twice a week because Houston has too many good hitters. At some point, assuming he keeps hitting, I would hope they will stop sitting him so often.

It also helps that he is eligible everywhere but catcher in my league.

 

Yeah, I picked up Marwin a couple weeks ago, largely for his versatility, and he's been a perfect backup pretty much everywhere.

I'm holding onto Salazar for now (although after the way Quintana and Sonny Gray both got slaughtered tonight, I may need to make a late-week roster move for additional pitching), mostly because - as you noted - nobody on waivers has the upside he's got. They're more streaming options, whereas, if he can sort things out in the bullpen, Salazar can be a weapon.

 

Someone in my dynasty league just dropped Wacha, who has had two consecutive bad starts. He's not been great so far, but he's been better (and cheaper) than four of my starters. So, salary aside, who would you drop (if anyone) to pick him up:
Salazar
Quintana
Sonny Gray
Tanaka

I can talk myself into dropping or keeping just about any of these guys, though Salazar and Quintana feel like they're closest to the chopping block.

My other starters are basically the Dodgers rotation, with Kershaw, McCarthy and Wood. Unless Wood's injury issues turn out to be terrible, those guys are all racking up points for me and are pretty safe to move forward with.

 

On a separate note, Gleyber Torres is available in this league and I'm tempted to stash him, though I'm not really sure who I would drop. Until this week, I was the highest scoring team over the past month to get back to 4-4, so I'm not inclined to make too many changes right now.