Chris Meaney tours the league and finds 30 things you might have missed in Week 11 fantasy baseball recap.
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Week 11 Fantasy Baseball
Arizona Diamondbacks
- Ketel Marte hit five home runs in Week 11 and he has six in his past eight games. Marte has 20 home runs and an impressive .286/.341/.566 slash line.
- Merrill Kelly has only allowed two runs in his last three starts – all wins. He has an 18:2 K:BB ratio over that span (22.1 IP). Not fully buying in but he makes for a decent spot start.
Atlanta Braves
- Just when Josh Donaldson was starting to get counted out and dropped, he goes off for four homers in Week 11. JD hit a bomb in three straight games to end the week. He finished 3-for-4 Saturday and Sunday.
- Ozzie Albies had three home runs and five multi-hit games in what was an encouraging week for owners.
- Sean Newcomb started on Saturday for the first time in over two months and had to leave the game after taking a line drive off the back of his head. He’s reportedly not experiencing concussion symptoms.
- In his second minor league start – first with the Braves’ Double-A affiliate in Mississippi – Dallas Keuchel allowed three runs on 11 hits over seven innings. He threw 77 pitches in his first outing and 106 pitches in his second. His first start with Atlanta is expected to come this Friday in Washington.
Baltimore Orioles
- Another two strong outings for John Means as he seems to be the only bright spot for the Orioles. He has a 2.67 ERA, 1.15 WHIP and 59:21 K:BB ratio over 70.2 innings.
Boston Red Sox
- Chris Sale racked up 20 strikeouts in his two games (13 IP) in Week 11 and he now has 130 in 90.1 innings. He also lowered his ERA to 3.49.
- Mookie Betts is hitting .180 over the last two weeks and .260 on the season. He only has 11 homers and six stolen bases. Betts is one of the better buy-low candidates out there.
Chicago Cubs
- Yu Darvish is coming off his best start of the season where he only allowed one run on two hits while striking out 10. He tossed seven innings against the Dodgers, which was his longest outing of the season. He also only walked one and has only surrendered two walks in his past two starts, to bring his BB/9 down to 5.11. Overall, Darvish has allowed two or fewer runs in five of his past eight starts.
Chicago White Sox
- Eloy Jimenez checks in for the second straight week after three homers in Week 11. The buy low window is likely closed.
- Yoan Moncada returned Sunday after missing four straight games, only to leave after re-aggravating his upper back injury.
Cincinnati Reds
- Yasiel Puig finished Week 11 with home runs in back-to-back games. He picked up a hit in all five of his games and came away with at least two hits in three of those contests.
- Scooter Gennett is scheduled to begin a rehab assignment Monday and should return to the Reds before the end of the month.
Cleveland Indians
- Trevor Bauer tossed a complete game shutout against the Tigers on Sunday. He only allowed four hits while striking out eight and most importantly…zero walks. He’ll get Detroit again in his next start.
- Jake Bauers hit for the cycle Friday, but enters Week 12 with a .223 average.
- That’s still better than Jose Ramirez who enters the week with a three-game hit streak and a poor .203 average.
Colorado Rockies
- Charlie Blackmon’s 15 hits against San Diego were the most ever during a four-game series. What a week he had: 21-for-37 with six home runs, 15 RBI and 12 runs.
- The Rockies outscored the Padres 48-44 this weekend. The 92 runs were the most ever for a four-game series. They combined for 131 hits.
- Ian Desmond has hits in 10 straight appearances and he hit three homers last week. Maybe he’ll get going now.
Detroit Tigers
- I’m pretty sure I wouldn’t own a single Detroit player in a 10- or 12-team league. That includes my guy, Spencer Turnbull who was roughed up Sunday.
Houston Astros
- Yordan Alvarez hit a home run in four of his first five games making him the biggest sell-high candidate in fantasy baseball at the moment. He failed to reach base Sunday for the first time in six games, but he has two three-hit games already on his MLB resume. I wonder about consistent playing time once the Astros get at full health and pitchers adjust. Even still, if he’s going to get four or five games a week with George Springer, Jose Altuve, Alex Bregman, Michael Brantley, and Carlos Correa hitting in front of him… you take that. I flipped him for Mookie Betts in a redraft Roto league, and I’ll live with it. That just goes to show his value as Mookie was the second player taken off the board on average, just three months ago.
Kansas City Royals
- Ian Kennedy picked up three saves in Week 11 to bring his total to seven on the season.
Los Angeles Angels
- Justin Upton is set to return Monday. Make sure he’s owned and start thinking about this Angels offense in DFS.
- I was on the road a lot this weekend and the Rays broadcasts were really pumping David Fletcher’s tires. Wondering why nobody was talking about him, but you already know by checking in here each week. Fletcher is hitting .308 which ranks 15th in the bigs and he has a 6 K%. He’s a good deep league ratio guy who sometimes hits in the leadoff spot.
Los Angeles Dodgers
- Dave Roberts says Julio Urias could get a spot start with the Dodgers having a game for 18 straight days.
- If you missed Hyun-Jin Ryu’s start you missed seven more scoreless innings, but I’m sure you already expected that. 1.36 ERA now for Ryu.
Miami Marlins
- Jordan Yamamoto tossed seven scoreless innings against the Cardinals in his MLB debut. He struck out five and will get St. Louis in start number two. Facing that STL team a second straight time will tell us a lot, but he has potential regardless.
- Jose Urena was transferred to the 60-day injured list, which could open up a spot for Yamamoto or Zac Gallen down the road.
Milwaukee Brewers
- Jeremy Jeffress has tossed 6.1 straight scoreless innings with seven strikeouts. I don’t know if he’ll ever get the closer role again, but he has value in deep leagues. I’d rather roster him than stream a garbage spot start.
- Jesus Aguilar hit a pinch-hit home run Sunday, but he only started two games in Week 11. It’s getting really difficult to hold him.
Minnesota Twins
- Marwin Gonzalez has been the quietest Twin this season, but he’s starting to generate a buzz. He has two homers and three multi-hit games in his last five contests. You have to love the dual eligibility.
New York Mets
- Robinson Cano returned to the lineup Sunday and he finished with a double and a run. I really don’t have any interest in Cano.
New York Yankees
- The Yankees acquired American League home run leader Edwin Encarnacion; as if they needed him. Oh, and they are getting Giancarlo Stanton back this week. Edwin makes this offense just about impossible to pitch against.
- The addition of both Edwin and Stanton means the end of Clint Frazier for now. He’s been shipped to the minors and Brett Gardner will lose some at-bats. Aaron Hicks may lose some too if he doesn’t get going.
Oakland Athletics
- Jesus Luzardo is scheduled to make his first Triple-A start this weekend. This coming after a nine punch-out performance in four innings in High-A
Philadelphia Phillies
- Jerad Eickhoff is off to the bullpen so it’ll be a bit harder to win cash in DFS every five days. Vince Velasquez didn’t do a good job filling in Sunday.
- Scott Kingery smashed four homers in Week 11 and had three games with three hits. He moved up to the three spot with injuries to J.T. Realmuto and Jay Bruce. Keep an eye on those two, but Kingery is definitely worth an add. He’s hitting .344 on the season with eight homers over 130 PAs.
Pittsburgh Pirates
From last week…
- Bryan Reynolds picked up a hit in all six of his games last week and he had three multi-hit games. He’s now hitting in the two spot thanks to a .352/.405/.552 slash line.
Reynolds has nine hits in his past four games to push his average to .361.
San Diego Padres
- Hunter Renfroe had one heck of a weekend as he hit five homers with eight RBI. Renfroe had a game with three bombs and a game with two bombs. Coors will bring out the best in anybody, but you can’t take away the fact Renfroe has 25 home runs.
- The Padres scored 44 runs over a four-game series in Colorado and lost two games.
San Francisco Giants
- Buster Posey is back, but does it matter?
Seattle Mariners
- Dan Vogelbach should get regular at-bats with Edwin out of town, but he still doesn’t hit lefties well.
St. Louis Cardinals
- Daniel Ponce de Leon was decent over four innings against the Mets and he’ll get another chance this week against Miami.
Tampa Bay Rays
- Jose Alvarado has returned to the U.S. and is expected back before the end of the month and maybe by the weekend.
Texas Rangers
- Willie Calhoun is expected back this week and maybe as early as Monday. It was about to be a crowded outfield with Delino DeShields playing well since his call-up, but Hunter Pence and Nomar Mazara are dealing with minor injuries.
- Rougned Odor hit a home run Friday and hit in the cleanup spot Sunday.
Toronto Blue Jays
- Lourdes Gurriel has four multi-hit games and three homers in his past seven contests. He’s hitting .277 and has value in 14 team leagues.
Washington Nationals
- Howie Kendrick is still balling out despite only playing 4-5 times a week. Kendrick has 12 homers and his three hits Sunday, pushed his average to .333.
Chris Meaney is a contributor for FantraxHQ, covering fantasy football, baseball, and hockey. Chris covered NHL, NBA, NFL and MLB as a producer, writer, and host at FNTSY Sports Network. He was the lead host of the daily live shows, “Home Ice Advantage” and “Fantasy Sports Today.” Meaney has several years of radio and television experience both in the sports world and music industry. He’s written for The Athletic, Associated Press, New York Daily News, Fantasy Footballers, NBA Fantasy, Play Picks, NewCap Radio and more. You can follow him @chrismeaney.
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