Chris Meaney tours the league and finds 30 things you might have missed in Week 12 fantasy baseball recap.
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Week 12 Fantasy Baseball
Arizona Diamondbacks
- Christian Walker ended Week 12 on an 8-game hit streak and started the week strong with a three-run bomb off Clayton Kershaw.
Atlanta Braves
- Mike Soroka was pulled from his last start after he was hit by a pitch on his right forearm. He’s expected to start Friday in New York.
- Mike Foltynewicz surrendered eight runs against Washington over the weekend which pushed his ERA to 6.37. He was later optioned to Triple-A Gwinnett. I’m sure we’ll see him again after the All-Star break, but there’s really no need to hang on unless you’re in the deepest of leagues.
- Dallas Keuchel allowed three runs on eight hits over five innings in his Atlanta debut. He threw 64 of his 99 pitches for strikes, but only came away with three punch-outs. Keuchel has never been a huge strikeout guy, but he should be able to help out your ratios in the right spots.
Baltimore Orioles
- John Means had his start skipped in Week 12, but was able to play catch Sunday without any issues.
Boston Red Sox
- Christian Vazquez hit two bombs in Boston’s weekend series against Toronto. 10 home runs and a .291 average is all you can ask for from the catcher position. He’s actually available in some leagues.
Chicago Cubs
- Adbert Alzolay will make his first major league start Tuesday against the Braves. He fanned five in four innings out of the pen in his debut last week. He should be owned everywhere, but Kyle Hendricks threw a light bullpen session Monday, so he could be back soon. There’s been talk of a six-man rotation, though.
- Craig Kimbrel is expected to return at some point this week. I don’t own any shares, but I’d sell high if I could, especially in H2H formats.
Chicago White Sox
- Lucas Giolito has allowed 11 walks and five homers in his past three starts. Not overly surprising given the tougher schedule. The sell-high window is closing.
Cincinnati Reds
- Yasiel Puig hit three homers in Week 12 and he enters this week on a five-game hit and run streak.
- Scooter Gennett is expected to return by the end of the week.
Cleveland Indians
- Jason Kipnis has a seven-game hit streak in which he has five multi-hit games with three homers and 11 RBI. He’s currently the Indians cleanup hitter.
- Bobby Bradley has two hits and two RBI through two MLB games. Bradley hit 24 bombs over 284 Triple-A plate appearances this season, but he struck out 32 percent of the time. There’s no questioning his power as he has 130 homers since 2015, but he had very high strikeout rates over that span.
- Zach Plesac has a 2.33 ERA over six starts.
Colorado Rockies
- I had to move on from Wade Davis in a H2H format, so I wouldn’t blame anybody if they were questioning him.
Detroit Tigers
- The sell-high Matthew Boyd window is closing with each start. He’s still racking up plenty of strikeouts and he will all year if you can deal with the homers. His high fly ball rate has been a problem for a couple of seasons now.
Houston Astros
- Yordan Alvarez hit his seventh home run in game number 12 of his young career. All this kid does is hit bombs and I know I said I’d see what I could get in a trade, but it better be a top pitcher. I’ll live with the Mookie Betts deal, but if you need pitching, you could get a couple of arms in return. When Houston returns to full health, Alvarez will get plenty of at-bats with runners on.
Kansas City Royals
- Hunter Dozier returned in Week 12 and hit a home run with five RBI through his first three games. It’s very possible he was dropped in your league.
- Adalberto Mondesi hit the IL due to a groin injury.
Los Angeles Angels
- Justin Upton hit three home runs in his first week of the season. I wouldn’t sell high as he could easily hit 20 homers from here on out. Also, he’s hitting behind Mike Trout and Shohei Ohtani.
- Albert Pujols hit a home run in his first series back in St. Louis since he left for Anaheim.
- David Fletcher leads the league with 93 percent contact rate. There’s value in that.
Los Angeles Dodgers
- Rich Hill landed on the IL due to a left forearm strain, which opens up a roster spot for Ross Stripling who will start Tuesday in Arizona. He needs to be owned everywhere.
- It seems to have opened up a spot for Tony Gonsolin as well. The Dodgers promoted the 25-year-old to start Wednesday in Arizona. Gonsolin has rock solid K/9 numbers in the minors, but he’s had issues with walks.
- Walker Buehler tossed a complete game against the Rockies and he finished with 16 punch-outs.
Miami Marlins
- Jordan Yamamoto has been just about perfect in his first three MLB starts, which have all been wins. Yamamoto has only allowed two runs on seven hits over 19 innings in which he’s racked up 19 strikeouts.
- Zac Gallen struck out six over five innings in his MLB debut as he limited the Cardinals to one run on five hits.
Milwaukee Brewers
- Jimmy Nelson has been demoted to the bullpen and therefore should be cut from your squad. I’m not adding Adrian Houser, but let’s check in on his start this week against Seattle.
- There’s been a lot of ‘should I hold Keston Hiura?’ and the answer is yes. If you don’t think you can afford to do it, offer him up to teams who can.
Minnesota Twins
- If you’re desperate for saves Taylor Rogers picked up his ninth in Week 12. Blake Parker also had a save as the Twins continue to use a committee. I would much rather own Rogers.
New York Mets
- Noah Syndergaard is expected to make a rehab start Tuesday and could return to the rotation by the end of the week.
- Pete Alonso has 27 home runs and is on pace for over 40 in his rookie season. Impressive.
New York Yankees
- DJ LeMahieu finished 4-for-4 Monday and is hitting .331 on the season. He’s riding a 10-game hit streak, which includes three home runs, 10 RBI and 13 runs. He’s had six multi-hit games over this streak and five multi-run games in his past six contests. LeMahieu is in for a huge second half with the Yankees at full health.
- The Yankees got Aaron Judge and Giancarlo Stanton back in Week 12 and they extended their HR streak to 27 games with a couple of bombs Monday.
Oakland Athletics
- Jesus Luzardo allowed two runs on five hits in his first Triple-A start. He struck out five, but only lasted 3.1 innings. I’m confident we’ll see him after the All-Star break.
- Ramon Laureano is showing some of that power/speed we talked about before the season started. He has 12 bombs and nine stolen bases.
- Liam Hendriks picked up his first save of the season in Week 13, and just the second of his career. Hendriks has 50 strikeouts in 42.1 innings and he’s only allowed seven runs (1.49 ERA). He’s worth an add with Blake Treinen on the IL.
- Frankie Montas was suspended 80 games for testing positive for PED’s, which explains why he’s been so much better this season compared to last.
- Mike Fiers hasn’t allowed more than three runs in a start since April. He’s been really solid at home and should be started when he plays in Oakland.
Philadelphia Phillies
- Bryce Harper notched four hits in four games as the Phillies’ leadoff man, before moving back to the three-hole Monday. He’s riding a five-game hit streak which is at least something.
- Philadelphia finally won Monday, ending a seven-game skid.
Pittsburgh Pirates
- Kevin Newman has a 14-game hit streak and hits in 37 of his 42 starts this season. Newman has no power, but enters Week 13 with a .314 average and he looks comfortable from the leadoff spot. It’s nice to know there’s still a place for a contact hitter with no power, in today’s game.
- Bryan Reynolds pushed his average to .362 with three more multi-hit games in Week 12.
San Diego Padres
- Logan Allen has been a hot pickup as his Week 12 start against Milwaukee was impressive. Allen fanned five over seven scoreless innings, on route to the win in his first MLB outing. In 57.2 Triple-A innings this season, Allen struck out 63, but walked 22 and registered a 5.15 ERA.
- Chris Paddack was back up and had a decent start against the Pirates. I would sell as an owner in redraft, especially in H2H leagues as you may not even get a start from him during fantasy baseball playoffs.
San Francisco Giants
- I still don’t want any part of the Giants. Kevin Pillar is nothing more than an OF5 in a deep league.
Seattle Mariners
- J.P. Crawford finished Week 12 by going 4-for-4 with a home run and four RBI. He only has two homers in 100 at-bats, but he’s hitting .300 and near the top of the Mariners lineup. He’s someone to keep an eye on for sure.
- Roenis Elias has three saves in Seattle’s last eight games.
St. Louis Cardinals
- Jordan Hicks has been diagnosed with a torn ulnar collateral ligament in his right elbow and will likely undergo Tommy John surgery.
- Many are running to grab John Gant, and they should, I just think Carlos Martinez will get first crack at the job. Gant was used Sunday night in the 9th against the Angels when the Cardinals were down two, and when he blew it, Martinez stopped warming up and he sat down. It seemed they were getting him ready in case the Cardinals had a big ninth. Which they did. Both should be rostered if you’re lacking saves.
- Jose Martinez likely earned himself a few more at bats in Week 13 after he picked up a homer and finished with two multi-hit games last week.
Tampa Bay Rays
- Tyler Glasnow will be shut down for the next three weeks due to flexor inflammation.
- Diego Castillo is expected to miss the next two weeks after he was diagnosed with a right shoulder impingement.
- Jose Alvarado can’t return soon enough. Maybe for TB, he’ll be back this weekend.
Texas Rangers
- Nomar Mazara hit three bombs over the weekend, including a 505 foot rocket. He’s been dropped in leagues and I’d grab him if available.
- Danny Santana had four homers last week. I’m not sure he’ll get everyday at bats moving forward, but he’s in a good spot this week as Texas plays Detroit.
Toronto Blue Jays
- Lourdes Gurriel is still hanging around on the wire despite four multi-hit games and two homers in his last five games. He has 10 on the season and five in his last 12 games.
- Eric Sogard is hitting .305 with eight homers and six stolen bases. As long as he continues to hit in the leadoff spot, he’ll have value in deep leagues.
Washington Nationals
- Max Scherzer broke his nose in batting practice and tossed seven scoreless against the Phillies en route to his fourth straight win. Scherzer fanned 10 and has 146 strikeouts in 106.1 innings to go along with a 2.62 ERA. He’s been one of a few top SP’s who haven’t been disappointing this season.
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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