Roto Riteup May 14, 2017

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May 14, 2017

Jose Berrios‘ 2017 debut couldn’t have gone any better Saturday. He allowed just one run on two hits over 7.2 innings and struck out four in the win over Cleveland.

And he needed it. Last year he struggled at the beginning of his major league debut but managed to dominate in Triple-A. Looks like the transition for him went well. So far.

On the Agenda

  1. News and Notes
  2. We out here, Pham
  3. Bour power

News and Notes

–J.D. Martinez is back, and he’s making sure everyone knows it. He hit two home runs Saturday night in the defeat over the Angels.

–Jeurys Familia update: The original timetable for Familia to be out with a shoulder injury is looking a bit shortened. Turns out, he will be able to throw in six weeks, but back in 3-4 months as opposed to the original seven months. That’s somewhat good news.

–Ian Happ hit a home run in his major league debut off of Carlos Martinez Saturday. Happ was slashing a .298/.362/.615 line with nine home runs and 25 RBI in 26 games in Triple-A. This was in the PCL of course, but he so far seems to have a smooth transition. How long will he be with the big league club? According to Joe Maddon, it could be a short stint or a long stint. So hopefully that answers your questions.

We out here, Pham

Tommy Pham is having a season. It’s a small sample size, but in seven games he’s slashing .357/.455/.786 line with three home runs so far. He’s also holding on to a .429 ISO and it doesn’t stop there. He’s working on improving his defense and working on swiping some bags as well.

He struggles with consistency which he has addressed recently, but beyond that, there is little to no hesitation to snagging him in any league. He’s ridiculously cheap right now in the daily game too.

Bour power

Let’s continue with the power theme here.

Justin Bour hit another home run Saturday night and was already coming off a home run night from Friday’s outing. In his last seven games, he’s holding on to a .333 ISO and has the fourth highest average exit velocity (95.8 mph) in the league. He’s striking out a bit more since last season (23.5%), but is evening himself out in the box.

Bour has a tendency to struggle against lefties, but the team was willing to open him up to southpaws this season. His power drops significantly, but he still manages to get on base against those pitchers.





 

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feslenraster
6 years ago

If Happ hits like Bellinger, there’s no way they can justify keeping him or Cody in the minors…is there? At least with the Cubs, Happ is ‘blocked’ at a lot of positions and he’d be wasted on the bench.

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Matt
6 years ago
Reply to  feslenraster

I can’t imagine Bellinger goes back down, even when (if) the Dodgers are fully healthy. It isn’t a stretch to say Bellinger is the best 1B and LF in that organization when everyone is healthy anyway so I’m sure he sticks.

As for Happ, I think it will depend entirely on his defense not his offense. If he shows he can play CF competently, I could see the Cubs letting him take it and run with it with Baez, Zobrist, Heyward, Schwarber and Bryant being mixed and matched between 2B, 3B, LF and RF. Between injuries (Heyward), old age (Zobrist) and struggles (everyone but Bryant), I could see it working out with everyone getting plenty of PAs.

Keep an eye on the Cubs lineups this week. I think Maddon might give Happ a few starts in CF to see if he can handle it. Happ did finish today’s game in CF after starting in RF with Baez moving from 2B to RF. I imagine if Bryant were healthy he’d be the one in RF with Baez at 3B. There is definitely a path to a permanent spot for Happ even with all the other guys on the roster, he just has to take it.

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