The 10: August 21st, 2019

German’s Home Run Troubles Continue

Domingo Germán came out of the break with six scoreless against Toronto, but has struggled mightily to keep the ball in the yard in his other seven starts. He’s allowed 14 HR in 39.3 innings (3.2 HR/9), including four straight multi-homer outings. The schedule hasn’t been friendly with starts against TB, MIN, BOSx2, and TOR (the baby Jays are 7th in HRs v. righties since the break) not to mention a trip to face the Dodgers on the docket later this week. German could be hitting a wall coming down the stretch of his first full MLB season as a starter. If you need the strikeouts, keep him in the lineup, but if you’re protecting ratios, consider sitting him in these more difficult matchups.

Puk Called Up

A.J. Puk, the big time pitching prospect for the Oakland A’s, will be used out of the bullpen down the stretch, limiting his value to deeeep mixers and AL Only leagues where some strikeouts and potentially strong ratios an inning or two at a time could help.

Sanchez Hits the IL (Pectoral)

Aaron Sanchez’s transition into the next great Houston starter might have to wait until next year as he’s headed to the IL with a strained pectoral muscle and no timetable for his return. He allowed 9 ER in his last 7.7 IP after two big starts to open his Astros career. Jose Urquidy and Framber Valdez will be the top candidates to take Sanchez’s spot.

Valdez has been on fire with 46 Ks in his last 30.7 IP in Triple-A while Urquidy bounced back from a nightmare start at El Paso (11 ER) with a pair of solid starts including 13 K and 3 BB in 11 IP. Both would be available to start on Sunday when Sanchez’s spot comes up again so we’ll get an idea of who has the spot before the next waiver bid later that night.

Calhoun Hits His 12th

Willie Calhoun was recalled on July 26th after a quick demotion and he’s been fantastic since with a .306/.359/.624 line, 7 HR, 15 RBI, and 15 R in 92 PA. He’s been a mainstay in the middle of the lineup, too, batting 5th or higher in each of his 20 starts. He’s still available in plenty of shallow leagues (15% roster rate at ESPN; 14% at Y!) so check your wire.

Is Smith Already a Top 5 Catcher?

Will Smith smacked his 11th HR on Tuesday night and hasn’t even crossed 100 MLB PA yet. He’s hitting an absurd .321/.398/.810 and there’s already some chatter that he could be a top 5 catcher in 2020. Smith hit 20 homers the minors, giving him a total of 31 in just 368 PA. Bouncy ball or not, that’s remarkably impressive. I’m generally very cautious about young catchers, but this is something else. I can’t wait to see where Smith goes in early 2020 drafts. Could he be a top 100 pick? Or will he be closer to this year’s 5th-ranked catcher, Wilson Ramos, who went 140th in Main Event drafts.

Kipnis Stays Hot

In his last 35 games, Kipnis is hitting .293/.356/.519 with 7 HR, 26 RBI, and 18 R in 151 PA. The 32-year old second baseman was on waiver wires all over the place prior to this run, but he’s making a real impact of late. Tuesday’s homer was some lefty-on-lefty crime against Steven Matz so if you need a middle infielder or usable bench bat, Kipnis might be your guy.

Another Gem for Nola

Remember when Aaron Nola had a near-5.00 ERA? It was back on June 15th when 5 ER outing at Atlanta pushed his season mark to 4.89 through 15 starts. He’s been on fire for two months since then, posting a 2.13 ERA and 0.96 WHIP in 80.3 IP, including a 7 IP/2 ER gem at Boston on Tuesday. There haven’t been sweeping changes fueling Nola’s return to acedom, but he’s gained about a half tick of velo on the fastball and curveball while seeing his first-pitch strike, swinging strike, and chase rates all jump substantially.

Seager & Murphy Do it Again

I wrote about Kyle Seager yesterday in this piece and he stayed hot with another huge game going 2-for-3 with his 17th HR, 3 RBI, and 2 BB. Tom Murphy, meanwhile, is yet another out of nowhere catcher dominating this year. He hit a homer for the 4th straight game, totaling 6 thanks to two multi-homer games, and now he’s hitting .293/.325/.614 in 194 PA this year.

Where was this when he was playing half of his games in Coors Field?! Eno’s not sure if this guy is real (if you know, you know) and yet he’s obliterating the competition, giving the Mariners two catchers in the top 12 according to the Auction Calculator.

Naylor Nails Another

Josh Naylor has been on fire since the All-Star break, posting a 1.009 OPS with 5 HR in 70 PA including his 7th in Cincinnati on Tuesday night. He’s only started 15 of his 25 games over that time, but that’s changing with him making the starting lineup in 13 of his last 17 appearances. The 22-year old lefty-hitting outfielder seems to sit against southpaws making him a tough pickup in shallower leagues, but there’s some deep league interest and I like using him in DFS lineups against righties.

Heaney Tames Texas

Andrew Heaney made a big statement in game 1 of Tuesday’s doubleheader, going eight innings of 1-run ball with 14 strikeouts in Texas. The oft-injured lefty has looked strong since his return, posting a 2.41 ERA and 0.64 WHIP in 18.7 IP with 24 strikeouts and just 1 walk. Justin and I discuss him further in today’s upcoming pod (out later), so check that out when it’s live.