Hard to imagine we’re one week away from the All-Star break, but alas, time flies when you’re having fun. As we continue our never-ending search for upside guys on the fantasy scrap heap, we turn our attention to two players who can help owners, one a multi-position infield tool, the other a sleeper outfielder at season’s outset who, halfway into the season, might just be making good on his preseason promise.
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• On July 4th, Gerrit Cole was removed from his start with a sore lat. Here are his velocity readings from the game.

For his next start, look for a fastball velocity near 97 mph vs 93 mph which is where he ended the game at.

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I’ve been looking for an excuse to write about Mike Foltynewicz for awhile now, seeing as he’s an absolute flamethrower and everybody likes a prospect who can light up the radar gun. Unfortunately, that excuse has yet to surface, as Foltynewicz is having one of those seasons that is neither good nor bad enough to warrant a full-length write-up.

On the other hand, I didn’t come into the season with any plans to write about Foltynewicz’s Triple-A teammate Nick Tropeano. After occupying the No. 10 spot on Houston’s Top 15 Prospects list last year, Tropeano failed to make this year’s list. I suspect this has little to do with Tropeano’s own development and more to do with the addition of guys like Mark Appel and Josh Hader to the system, along with Vincent Velasquez’s return from Tommy John surgery, etc.

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The Cubs have new pitchers, yes, but do we care? They opted for the better prospect bat as they traded away their two best pitchers, and it doesn’t even look like the best arm they got back — Dan Straily — is going to be promoted to the big leagues right away. So what’s going on in the Cubbie rotation, and should mixed leaguers care?

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At the end of a long weekend that went by much too fast, as another absurd week of paper-pushing, traffic, and tension quickly closes in, I re-read The Stranger. In closing, Albert Camus writes, “I felt as if I understood why at the end of her life she had taken a ‘fiance,’ why she had played at beginning again. Even there, in that home where lives were fading out, evening was a kind of wistful respite. So close to death, Maman must have felt free then and ready to live it all again.”

Reading that, I was suddenly able to burst through my Sunday night anxiety. So here we are for another edition of Fantasy Baseball Existentialism. Last week, I read Joshua Ferris’ novel To Rise Again at a Decent Hour. The novel relates here because there are elements of existentialism and baseball. The main character is a Red Sox fan who is struggling to stay in love with the team after they’ve disappointed him by winning two championships, which creates nostalgia for a lifetime of the club’s familiar letdowns.

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Extremely brief notes in a pinch-hit effort this evening:

With the potential tying run in the on-deck circle for the Tigers in the bottom of the ninth, Joe Maddon pulled starter David Price in favor of flamethrowing Jake McGee to finish the game. And McGee did just that, fanning Austin Jackson on five pitches to notch his fifth save of the season. The 27-year-old southpaw now owns a 1.16 ERA to go along with a ~31% K% in just under 39 innings on the bump. We’ve discussed McGee and the possibility of the Rays wanting to keep him from notching too many saves to keep his arbitration numbers down — which could still be the case — but don’t let that keep you from adding him in your mixed leagues. Jake McGee is available in 64% of Yahoo! leagues at the time of this writing and will bring the heat in the ratio and strikeout categories while picking up the occasional scab win even if the Rays’ brass plays games with his role out of the bullpen.
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Episode 138

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is now live! Jason Collette and Nicholas Minnix discuss, among other things, the fallout of the Jeff Samardzija et al. trade; the Brandon McCarthy trade; the loss of players in mono leagues after crossover trades; the pending returns of Bud Norris, Dillon Gee, Jeremy Hellickson, and Francisco Liriano; more on the injury front, including the expected departure of Edwin Encarnacion; and the official naming of Santiago Casilla as closer.

As usual, don’t hesitate to tweet us or comment with fantasy questions so that we may answer them on our next episode.

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Just a few late notes from the bullpens on this holiday weekend:

-A Felix Hernandez/Jose Quintana pitching duel in Chicago this evening seemed like it would provide each club’s bullpen with some extra rest as we approach the All-Star Break. Well, that fact became clear once the game started to be honest, as both hurlers were firing on all cylinders. But, a couple of late runs from each club led to a 14-inning battle that featured 10 relievers combining for eleven-and-two-thirds innings on the hill. None of the five relievers for the Sox appeared impressive. Surkamp, Putnam and Belisario each surrendered earned runs while Javy Guerra gave up two free passes and a hit in his two frames of work. Everything about the White Sox bullpen is red right now. The Mariners, however, failed to allow an earned run on one hit, one walk and struck out seven in six innings. One of the seven strikeouts came from Fernando Rodney, who put forth a clean effort in the bottom of the 14th to earn his 25th save of the year and maintain his ~27% K%. Rodney’s 197 career saves are good enough for sixth among active closers and just 161 behind Joe Nathan’s 358 career saves.
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Happy Fourth of July Eve, my fellow bullpen bystanders. And with tomorrow being a holiday, yours truly will be out-and-about enjoying America’s finest libations and fireworks with the family. Therefore, we won’t be chatting again until late Saturday.

Now, here’s a look at tonight’s short slate:

Southpaw Zach Britton dished a scoreless ninth-inning, yielding just a leadoff double to Chris Gimenez, en route to his 12th save of the season in 14 opportunities. The Orioles’ closer needed just ten pitches to induce a strikeout and two groundouts to seal the 5-2 victory over the Rangers. Tonight’s trip to the hill made it three consecutive days the Orioles called on their closer, so if you’re looking for a reliever to stream tomorrow in search of a save in year-long or daily league, Tommy Hunter could be considered. Three in-a-row for Britton plus an inning and two-thirds tonight for Darren O’Day could mean rest for those two arms on Friday. Keep an eye on the weather though, apparently Hurricane Arthur may have different plans for the contest between the Orioles and Red Sox at Fenway Park tomorrow.
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Episode 137

The latest episode of “The Sleeper and the Bust” is now live! Jason Collette and Nicholas Minnix discuss Addison Reed; Joaquin Benoit, Huston Street and the Detroit Tigers; the Rays’ bullpen now that Brad Boxberger has entered the saves picture; T.J. House and Miles Mikolas; Hunter Pence to the leadoff spot; Allen Craig’s playing time now that Oscar Taveras is up; Steve Pearce, by request and of interest; how to leverage current and future performance for keeper leaguers, another topic by request; and what to make of Kevin Kiermaier, Brandon Guyer, and Logan Forsythe playing regularly for Tampa Bay.

As usual, don’t hesitate to tweet us or comment with fantasy questions so that we may answer them on our next episode.

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