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Week 13 Fantasy Baseball Recap: What you might have missed from 30 MLB teams

By Chris Meaney
Shohei Ohtani MLB Injury report

Chris Meaney tours the league and finds 30 things you might have missed in Week 13 fantasy baseball recap.

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Week 13 Fantasy Baseball

Arizona Diamondbacks

  • Big Week 13 from Carson Kelly who picked up hits in four of his five games. He hit his ninth homer of the season and had two multi-hit games. Kelly is ranked as the 11th-best catcher in the last 30 days.
  • Zack Greinke was roughed up by the Dodgers earlier in the week, but he bounced back nicely against SF as his seven scoreless innings lowered his ERA to 2.90.

Atlanta Braves

  • Nick Markakis is floating around on the waiver wire in some leagues, which is a bit puzzling to me. I know he only has eight homers, but he’s hitting .275 and has 48 RBI. You should love the fact he’s been hitting in the five spot on a very good Atlanta team.
  • Mike Soroka picked up his ninth win of the season against the Mets, after he left his previous start early due a forearm injury. Luckily, the tightness from getting hit by a ball went away in time for him to make his next outing. Soroka is rocking a 2.13 ERA and 0.98 WHIP over 84.2 innings.

Baltimore Orioles

  • John Means tossed five scoreless innings against Cleveland lowering his ERA to 2.50. I worry a little bit about his 47 FB%, but he’s been consistent all season as he’s allowed three or fewer runs in 12 of his 13 starts, and two or fewer in 10 starts.

Boston Red Sox

  • Brandon Workman grabbed a save for the Red Sox in Week 13, which was his third of the season. He’s been the only consistently bullpen arm for Boston this season as he enters the week with a 1.70 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and 53:11 K:BB over 37 innings. The Red Sox’s are not getting much from their bullpen, so Workman could be in line for more saves. He should be rostered regardless as he has more value than a borderline SP steam.
  • It’s hard to own Rick Porcello these days. Well, I know I wouldn’t own him.

Chicago Cubs

  • Jason Heyward finished Week 13 as a top-five player thanks to four homers and 11 RBI. He finished the week with homers in three straight games and is up to 14 on the season. He should stay on the wire in 12 team leagues, though.
  • Adbert Alzolay will get the ball Monday after a decent showing against the Braves in his first MLB start. Alzolay allowed a solo shot to Ronald Acuna Jr. to start the game, but it was the only hit he allowed over 4.2 innings of work. He struggled with command (four walks), but he struck out four. He’s in a good spot this week in Pittsburgh.

Chicago White Sox

  • Dylan Cease will make his major league debut Wednesday against the Detroit Tigers and he’s expected to stick inside the rotation. Cease has tremendous strikeout upside, but he’s struggled with his command. The 23-year-old has walked 32 batters in 68.1 Triple-A innings, but he’s fanned 73 and he punched-out 78 over 52.1 Double-A innings last season. He’s definitely worth the add and you couldn’t ask for a better first matchup for those who’ve been stashing since Opening Day.

Cincinnati Reds

  • Anthony DeSclafani tossed six scoreless innings against the Cubs and he struck out seven. It was the third time in his last four starts in which he’s allowed one or zero runs. I’m not buying in, but I’m a fan of his 77 punch-outs in 74.2 innings.
  • Raisel Iglesias allowed three runs Sunday, but he managed to earn his 14th save of the season. He’s coughed up seven runs in his last three innings, while Amir Garrett continues to shine: 1.78 ERA, 51K in 35.1 innings. Michael Lorenzen picked up this fifth save of the season in Week 13, so keep an eye on this bullpen.

Cleveland Indians

  • Corey Kluber has been cleared to play catch, so now is the time to grab him if he’s available.
  • Bobby Bradley was added by many this past week, but he has no business being on a 12-team league. He has a 42 K% over 26 plate appearances and he struck out a ton in the minors, despite showing tremendous power.

Colorado Rockies

  • David Dahl continues to impress and has had a remarkable run over his last seven starts, with hits in every game, five homers and 15 RBI. He’s hitting .341 against lefties this season.

Detroit Tigers

  • Spencer Turnbull is hurt, leaving Matthew Boyd and Shane Greene as the only Detroit players to roster. I suppose Joe Jimenez could be something, should the Tigers deal Greene. We should see Casey Mize this season.

Houston Astros

  • Brad Peacock hit the IL in Week 13 due to right shoulder discomfort. He’s reportedly expected to return after the All-Star break if you can afford to hang on.
  • No home runs for Yordan Alvarez this week, but a big bases-clearing double in Sunday’s game. He’ll be in a great spot to drive in runs during the second half.

Kansas City Royals

  • Jorge Soler hit his 22nd home run of the season Sunday, but there were a chunk of past owners who missed out. Soler has been dropped in leagues, but he may just finish with 35 bombs this season.
  • Hunter Dozier smashed two bombs and 11 RBI in his first nine games back from injury.

Los Angeles Angels

  • Another three home runs and three multi-hit games for Shohei Ohtani this week. Ohtani is slashing .299/.356/.552 with 12 homers, 35 RBI and four stolen bases. Oh, and he’s cleared to ramp up his throwing. It’s easy to forget he’s doing all this while rehabbing from Tommy John.
  • It’s 2019 and Tommy La Stella is an All-Star. I don’t think any of us could have imagined a 16 homers, 49 runs and .304/.356/500 line.
  • Andrelton Simmonds returned to the lineup Friday and it was the first time all season the Angels had their full lineup in tact. Zack Cozart doesn’t count as David Fletcher is better.

Los Angeles Dodgers

  • In case you missed out on Ross Stripling last week, he’s scheduled to make two starts in Week 14. The first coming at home against Arizona and the second at home against San Diego.
  • Hyun-jin Ryu finally had a start in which he allowed more than two runs. Colorado will do that to a guy. Nonetheless, Ryu will start the All-Star Game thanks to a 1.83 ERA and 0.90 WHIP.

Miami Marlins

  • Zac Gallen only lasted five innings in his second start, but he struck out eight Nationals. Gallen allowed three runs on four hits and walked two, but looked very sharp at times. He’ll get Washington again this week and a true test in Atlanta.

Milwaukee Brewers

  • Keston Hiura is back and Travis Shaw is back in Triple-A. Finally.

Minnesota Twins

  • Lewis Thorpe racked up seven strikeouts in his MLB debut and may have gone a bit longer if not for a rain delay. Thorpe allowed five hits through five innings and the two runs he gave up came on a homer from Yoan Moncada.

    I streamed Thorpe looking for some strikeouts and he provided that. He’s headed back to the minors, but he’s someone to keep a close eye on. Thorpe has a 114:27 K:BB ratio over 91.1 Triple-A innings dating back to last season.

New York Mets

  • Dominic Smith had hits in all six of his games in Week 13, including four homers. He’s hitting .328 on the season and may have earned himself a few more at-bats.
  • Jason Vargas struck out 10 Phillies in his last start and he lowered he ERA to 3.66. I have no idea what’s going on with him, but I’m not buying it.

New York Yankees

  • The Yankees scored 29 runs in their two games against the Red Sox in London. They have 57 homers during their 31-game home run streak, which are six less than the Marlins have all year, and 10 less than the Tigers.
  • DJ LeMahieu is trying to become the first player to win a batting title in the National League and American League. LeMahieu is on some kind of run as he enters Week 14 with a league-high 108 hits and AL-high .345 average. He also has a league-high 35 games with at least two hits.

  • Giancarlo Stanton is expected to be sidelined until August due to a knee injury and Luke Voit is considered day-to-day due to an abdomen issue. It doesn’t seem to matter as they keep mashing baseballs.

Oakland Athletics

  • Four more home runs this week for Matt Olson to bring his total to 16 on the season.
  • Stephen Piscotty could miss a few weeks after suffering a sprain in his right knee.
  • Liam Hendriks tossed another three scoreless innings and finished with six strikeouts and a save.

Philadelphia Phillies

  • I waited for what seemed like forever, for Maikel Franco to turn things around…but I couldn’t do it anymore and I dropped him. Of course, he hit .423 with three homers in my first week without him. It’s all good, that’s baseball and he’s on a run right now; hits in seven straight games with eight RBI and seven runs over that span.
  • David Robertson threw a bullpen session for the first time since mid-April.

Pittsburgh Pirates

  • A second straight shoutout for Kevin Newman, as he’s your 12th ranked fantasy baseball player from Week 13. Everything I said about Newman last week remains the same this week. He now has hits in 42 of his 48 starts this season and is showing power.

San Diego Padres

  • Fernando Tatis Jr. can’t be stopped as he picked up another three homers and three stolen bases this week. He finished as the second-best fantasy player in standard 5×5 leagues. He hit .450 for the week and enters Week 14 with a .337/.405/.613 triple-slash and 1.018 OPS. Tatis has 11 bombs, 12 stolen bases and 40 runs in 48 games. He’s real good.

San Francisco Giants

  • Drew Pomeranz shut out the strong left-handed hitting Diamondbacks in his latest outing. He’s allowed two or fewer runs in four of his past five games. Over that span, he’s faced the Dodgers twice, the Brewers, Rockies, and D-backs. I’d roll him out this week against the visiting Cardinals.

Seattle Mariners

  • J.P. Crawford has been one of the most added players on Fantrax during Week 13 and we told you last week to keep an eye on him. He’s definitely worth your consideration in 12 team leagues, and if you’re shooting for upside or looking to the future, he’s worth it in 10-team leagues. He’s hitting .358 with two homers and 22 combined RBI/R over the last two weeks.

St. Louis Cardinals

  • As expected, Carlos Martinez was named closer and he was strong Sunday in San Diego. Martinez cleaned up a mess in the eighth and pitched until the 10th inning on route to a win. He struck out four over 2.2 innings.
  • John Gant still has value, especially in leagues with holds.
  • Despite another poor performance from Jack Flaherty, I’d still roster him.

Tampa Bay Rays

  • Brendan McKay was just about perfect in his MLB debut against the Rangers as he only allowed one hit over six scoreless innings. McKay only struck out three, but he’s had high strikeout rates throughout the minors. He’s expected to have the same pitching and hitting plan as the one he had in the minors. Similar to Shohei Ohtani last season, as McKay will start every six games while resting the day before and after he pitches. He’ll serve as DH a couple of times a week. He doesn’t offer nearly the same hitting upside as Ohtani, so it’s the pitcher McKay you should be after.
  • Jose Alvarado returned from the restricted list and allowed a run in his first inning, but he should be just fine moving forward.

Texas Rangers

  • Jesse Chavez had two great starts in Week 13 and lowered his ERA to 2.97. He tossed 6.1 scoreless innings against the Tigers and allowed three runs Sunday in Tampa Bay. He racked up 16 strikeouts over those two games and had a .48 ERA in May and June before yesterday’s outing.
  • Joey Gallo returned in Week 13 and he finished with seven hits, three homers, five RBI and four runs.

Toronto Blue Jays

  • My goodness, Lourdes Gurriel Jr. has been unreal since the call-up and we benefited from it Friday.

  • Since his return, on May 24th – a span of 34 games and 142 plate appearances, Gurriel has a league-high 14 home runs and .457 wOBA. He has 26 RBI, 28 runs and a .348/.387/.742 slash line over that span. Overall, Gurriel’s .457 wOBA and 192 wRC+ vs LHP are top eight marks in the game.

Washington Nationals

  • Max Scherzer won his sixth straight start and provided owners with 24 strikeouts in Week 13. Scherzer has a league-high 170 strikeouts.

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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