The Astros called up an outfielder last week, and it wasn’t Alvarez or Tucker. The Orioles have brought up Chance Sisco. Here it comes… should you take a chance on him? Who is this David Fletcher fella? Who is this Cooper kid with the Marlins? Renfroe and Frazier, two slugging outfielders with holes in their games. Nelson Cruz continues to mash, and he’s now healthy.
BREWERS MOVE COMING
Keston Hiura has been great, but it is possible he’s sent to the minors Tuesday. Tom Hadricourt broke it all down.
CRUZ ACTIVATED BY TWINS
Nelson Cruz is ready to return from the IL (left wrist strain). He’s old, 38 years of age, but he can still crush it as he currently has elite exit velocity, hard-hit, and expected slugging marks. Hell, he also has an elite barrel rate. The dude is a monster. He currently has a .862 OPS, two points above his career mark. He just keeps on hitting.
CUBS CALL UP CARGO
Carlos Gonzalez has been brought up to the big-league level by the Cubbies. He’s just not hit this season, the .210/.282/.276 slash line is terrible, and it sounds like he’s really just gonna be a bench option for the Cubs. He’s an NL-only option, that is all, at the moment.
FLETCHER IS A THING, REALLY
David Fletcher was a nobody two months ago.
As of today, he qualifies at second based and third base in all leagues. In many others he might qualify at shortstop (13 games) and outfield (16 games). That alone brings value. But look what he’s doing with the bat.
Fletcher is batting .323 which is fifth best in the American League.
Fletcher also has a .379 OBP which is better than Tim Anderson, Rafael Devers and Whit Merrifield just to name a few.
Fletcher is also making excellent contact with just 13 punchouts in 201 at-bats, and his 1.38 GB/FB ratio is outstanding.
He’s the new Marwin Gonzalez.
THE RANKINGS HAVE BEEN UPDATED.
ORIOLES CALL UP SISCO
Is Chance Sisco a must pick up? Already got the question about ten minutes after the news broke that the Orioles were calling up the backstop.
In 206 big league plate appearances the last two seasons, Sisco has been awful. He’s hit .197 with a .626 OPS showing the futility. He’s also struck out 35 percent of the time. That’s hideous work. He was hitting well at Triple-A with a .289/.383/.530 slash line over 44 games, but this is really the first time since 2016 that he’s hit. He’s likely to garner a good deal of playing time with Pedro Severino sharing time (Austin Wynns has been sent back to Triple-A). For his part, Severino has hit pretty well in May with a .273/.359/.400 line.
Sisco is a must add if he’s available in an AL-only setup.
In mixed leagues, with the dearth of production at the catcher’s spot, Sisco could be an add. I’d slot him in as a second catcher in deep mixed leagues that are starting those two catchers.
Speaking of the Orioles, keep an eye on Ryan Mountcastle. He’s dealt with some issues of late with a wrist issue, but he blasted three homers Sunday to boost his OPS to .930. He will be up at some point in the near future.
YANKEES OUTFIELD
The Yankees have Aaron Judge, Aaron Hicks, Giancarlo Stanton, Brett Gardner and Clint Frazier to fill the outfield and the DH spot. Astute readers will note that there are five players, not four, listed there. With all the injuries it’s never been an issue in 2019, and the injuries have allowed Frazier to see a whole lotta time in the lineup. Frazier keeps dealing with health issues of his own, he recently had x-rays on an injured elbow (Saturday), but he rebounded Sunday with two hits. Frazier boosted his average to .272 and his SLG (.517) and OPS (.836) up. He continues to be a solid force with the bat in his hands. Alas, his defense continues to be a concern, he’s losing late game at-bats as he’s been removed for defensively replacements, and it’s hard to ignore his struggles on that side of the game. When Stanton/Judge are back, Frazier seems likely to fall into bench territory in mixed leagues, so start planning for that now if you own Frazier.
PADRES OUTFIELD
The Padres also have like 18 outfielders, much like the Yankees, and interestingly they have a very similar hitter out there to Frazier in Hunter Renfroe.
Renfroe has hit three homers the last two games and six the last eight outings causing a stampede to the waiver-wire. The power is legit. He posted a .504 SLG and .256 ISO mark last season, levels he can sustain. This season, because of the last week plus, the numbers are stupid high at .636 and .376. The bottom line is that he mashes.
Interestingly, despite all the homers of late, Renfroe has seen his launch angle drop from 18.5 last season down to 17.7 percent this season. He’s also seen his hard-hit ball rate drop by two percent. So why has homer rate picked up this season? First, sample size. Second, his impressive 20.3 percent HR/FB ratio last season is in the stratosphere this season at 33.3 percent. He’s just not gonna sustain that level. It’s also a bit o’ concerning that Renfroe has pushed his 50 percent pull rate all the way up to 59 percent this season. That’s good for the power department, but it’s also concerning for his batting average. He’s also the owner of a .298 career OBP, the mark is just .309 this season, and that’s also gonna drag down the batting average – the lack of patience and willingness to take a walk.
Renfroe is what he is. He blasts, he has holes, and there are lean times around the salad days of homers. Be careful of trying to jump on the train after it’s pulled away from the station.
MARLINS OUTFIELD
Garrett Cooper is 28 years old. He’s big (6’6”, 230 lbs.) and he’s dealt with a lot of health issues of late. On the year, he’s the owner of a .256-4-13-14-0 line over 23 outings. So, who cares, right? Well… over his last 73 plate appearances Cooper has a .313/.384/.516 slash line. Yeah, all-star level stuff. He also has four homers, 13 RBI and 14 runs scored in the 17 games. The Marlins have no reason not to play him, and don’t forget that the late developing hitter went .366-17-82 in 75 games at Triple-A in 2017 before injuries knocked him off course. At the very least, he’s a put on the watchlist kinda guy.
ASTROS CALL UP
Not Kyle Tucker, not Yordan Alvarez, but Myles Shaw was the one called up by the Astros. Yet another example of why counting on minor league callups is… futile.
The Astros are without George Springer, Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa, both of whom are on the IL right now. They have called up Myles Straw to fill in at shortstop in the short term. At least we thought that would be the case when he was called up. Sunday though he played his other position, the outfield, and went 3-for-4 with three steals and three runs scored. Not a misprint, three steals. In this day and age of arid conditions on the base paths, anyone that can run is worth a look.
When Springer returns Straw seems likely to return to the minors since Jake Marisnick is playing his solid defense and the bat has been pretty impressive at .853 in the OPS column.
Straw is a nice short-term add for that speed component, but be cautious with the investment as it might only be a short-term one.
Ray Flowers can be heard Monday-Friday, 8-10 PM EDT on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). Follow Ray’s work on Twitter (@baseballguys) and be sure to listen to his podcast work too.
