Week 9 Fantasy Baseball Recap: What you might have missed from 30 MLB teams

Chris Meaney tours the league and finds 30 things you might have missed in Week 9 fantasy baseball recap.

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Week 9 Fantasy Baseball

Arizona Diamondbacks

• Tim Locastro has hits in five of his last six games with four runs over that span. He also has three stolen bases in the past week as he picked up a few starts with David Peralta (shoulder) sidelined. Peralta should be back this week, however.
• Christian Walker has seven hits, including two home runs in his past four games. Maybe he’s turned the corner, but he’s only worthy of a hold in deep formats. Kevin Cron was sent down and then recalled with the injury to Blake Swihart. There still doesn’t seem to be a clear path to playing time, though.

Atlanta Braves

• Mike Foltynewicz had a disappointing start against Detroit after two decent showings in his two previous outings. Folty has 15 strikeouts in his past 11 innings and I believe he’s worth holding onto.
• Dansby Swanson finished Week 9 by hitting home runs in back-to-back games to give him 12 on the season. He has hits in 10 of his past 11 games, which includes six multi-hit games and five homers over that span. Swanson looks comfortable in the two spot and is still hanging around on some wires.

Baltimore Orioles

• Renato Nunez hit three home runs in Week 9 and enters Week 10 with 15 home runs and 35 RBI. Nunez has reached base safely in Baltimore’s last 11 games and he has five multi-hit games over that span. The corner infielder has three games in Texas this week and plays in a great hitters ball park.

Boston Red Sox

• Brandon Workman picked up the save Sunday in New York. He has a 38:18 K:BB ratio over 26.1 innings, and can be added into the mix of what is definitely a committee. He’s worth an add if you need saves in a roto league.

Chicago Cubs

• Kyle Schwarber is only hitting .212 on the season, but he continues to hit from the leadoff spot which gives him a bit more value. Schwarber had two home runs in Week 9 to give him 10 on the season, and he’s scored nine runs in his past 11 games.
• Addison Russell is hitting .288 with four home runs. I’m not completely buying it and the SS position is deep, but you could need some help at 2B.

Chicago White Sox

• Lucas Giolito did it again Sunday as he racked up nine K over 7.1 scoreless innings against Cleveland. He has six quality starts in his last seven outings and enters Week 10 with a 2.54 ERA and 78:20 K:BB over 67.1 innings. No walks in his last start. That’s huge news.

Cincinnati Reds

• Derek Dietrich had a three-homer game in Week 9 and enters this week with 17 bombs. They’ve all been against right-handed pitchers if you’re a DFS player. Otherwise, it looks like he could hit 30 playing in the park he does.

Cleveland Indians

A couple tweets regarding Zach Plesac because he’s been on my radar all week. Right from his very first outing of the season.

Grabbed Zach Plesac for $50 in @TGFBI. Definitely some risk with the Yankees this week, but he handled Boston in his debut.

Kluber and Clevinger also returning soon, but could be some longterm value if/when Cleveland sells.

86:13 K:BB last 91.2 innings https://t.co/75V9vDaaFc

— Chris Meaney (@chrismeaney) June 3, 2019

Not a bad showing for the kid. Plesac only allowed one run on four hits with two strikeouts and a walk over 5.1 innings. 57 of his 86 pitches were strikes, including 15 called strikes. https://t.co/9Q0mcEbF7o

— Chris Meaney (@chrismeaney) May 29, 2019

Colorado Rockies

• David Dahl is on a heck of a run and that’ll happen when you get 10 straight games in Colorado. Nonetheless, Dahl finished his home stand 18-for-40 with two home runs, five RBI and 11 runs. He had hits in nine of his 10 games with six multi-hit games over that span.
• Scott Oberg picked up two saves this week, but Wade Davis threw a successful bullpen session Friday without any issues.

Detroit Tigers

• We’re into Week 10 of the fantasy baseball season and I think I’ve written about Spencer Turnbull five times. There’s nothing more to say about him, besides the fact that there’s value in deep leagues. Turnbull won’t get many wins, but he picked up this third last week in Atlanta.
• We’ve been down this road with Niko Goodrum too. He’s on a hot run which saw him go 5-for-5 over in a game this weekend where he scored four runs and hit two homers. Deep league players have to love his dual eligibility.

Houston Astros

• Carlos Correa will miss 4-6 weeks due to cracked ribs which he suffered at home while getting a message, if you can believe it. Myles Straw is someone to keep an eye on. He went 3-for-4 with three runs and three stolen bases on Sunday.
• Derek Fisher is hitting .292 with his last four starts coming at the leadoff spot.

Kansas City Royals

• Jorge Soler hit home run numbers 13, 14 and 15 in Week 9. He has 40 RBI which are seven behind his career high.
• Hunter Dozier has missed the last three games due to a chest injury. Owners have to be pleased with his 11 homers and .314 average, though.

Los Angeles Angels

• Andrew Heaney racked up 10 punch-outs in his second start of the season against Seattle. That’s 18 strikeouts in 11 innings for Heaney. He looks great since returning from an elbow injury and he’s fresh off a career season which saw him register a 9 K/9 and 3.68 xFIP over 180 innings.
• Griffin Canning has a 3.06 ERA and a 34:9 K:BB ratio over 32.1 innings. He’s been impressive despite allowing six homers.
• David Fletcher doesn’t have a lot of pop but he enters Week 10 with a 12-game hit streak and .323 average. Fletcher has scored 11 runs over this streak and has seen a lot of time atop the order, so the runs may continue to come.
• The Angels racked up 47 hits and 31 runs in their four-game series in Seattle.
• What does Cesar Puello have in common with Bill Dickey, Randy Jackson and Adrian Gonzalez you ask? All four players registered eight hits, two homers, six RBI and five runs in their first three MLB games. Crazy start for the Angels’ outfielder, but Puello is more of a DFS player with Justin Upton set to return in three weeks.

Los Angeles Dodgers

• Will Smith came up to the plate in the bottom of the ninth to Fresh Prince walk-up music and hit a walk-off home run against Philadelphia. That doesn’t seem right.

Miami Marlins

• Harold Ramirez is becoming more than just a cheap DFS play as he pushed his average to .373 with three more hits Sunday. He’s had very high averages throughout his minor league career, and he’s also shown plenty of speed. The homers won’t be there and the .420 BABIP is high, but he’s worthy of an add in deep leagues where you need help with your ratios.

Milwaukee Brewers

• Just when you questioned Keston Huria, he goes out and finishes Week 9 with three home runs.
• Jimmy Nelson will make his 2019 debut this week at home against the Marlins. Finally, after two months of stashing him.

Minnesota Twins

• Devin Smeltzer was fantastic in his MLB debut as he fanned seven over six scoreless innings against the Brewers. Smeltzer had some high strikeout numbers in the minors, before his 24.2 Triple-A innings this season which saw him only strikeout 15. Even still, he has a great looking matchup this week in Cleveland. He should be owned everywhere as the upside is tremendous and the Twins play in a brutal division. Not to mention they are awesome offensively.

New York Mets

• Jacob deGrom was pulled from Saturday’s start due to a hip injury but it sounds like he’ll be good to go this week against the Rockies.

New York Yankees

• Tommy Kahnle picked up three holds last week and he enters this week with 11. He also has 34 strikeouts with a 1.52 ERA and 0.85 WHIP over 23.2 innings.

Oakland Athletics

• Matt Olson added two more home runs to his 2019 resume which has him at 7 for the season. For whatever reason, he’s not owned in 100 percent of leagues.

Philadelphia Phillies

• The Phillies acquired Jay Bruce from the Mariners for Jake Scheiner and cash. Bruce has 14 home runs on the season and will play mostly in left field and against RHP.
• It’s taken a while, but it looks like Nick Pivetta has finally arrived. He staggered through his first start, but tossed six scoreless against the Dodgers while striking out nine in start number two. He has 15 punch-outs in 11 innings since getting recalled.

Pittsburgh Pirates

• Josh Bell only had two home runs last week, but he brought his RBI total up to 52 to tie him with Cody Bellinger for the most in baseball.
• Mitch Keller’s first start didn’t go as planned as he allowed six runs on seven hits over four innings. His stuff was there as he struck out seven, but he was sent back to the minors immediately after his start. We’ll see Keller again and he’ll be better.

San Diego Padres

• Fernando Tatis Jr. is expected to begin a rehab assignment this week.
• Remember debating between Hunter Renfroe and Franmil Reyes? Well, they both have value if you can battle through the poor averages. Renfroe has 17 homers and Reyes has 16.

San Francisco Giants

• The Giants scored 22 runs in their last three games, but they played them in Baltimore.

Seattle Mariners

• The Mariners coughed up 47 hits and 31 runs in their four-game series against the Angels. They’ve allowed the second-most runs (322) and home runs (107) as they enter Week 10 with the second-highest ERA (5.30).  Seattle has surrendered a league-high 604 hits, which is 54 more than the second-place Orioles. Their bullpen…just as bad: 5.24 ERA (fourth-highest).

St. Louis Cardinals

• Yadier Molina may not need thumb surgery, but he’ll probably miss at least 2-3 weeks. I’ve added Matt Wieters in leagues where I have Molina.
• Alex Reyes could join the rotation by the end of the week. Walks are going to be a big-time concern but the ceiling is high and he’s worth a flyer.
• Jordan Hicks may lose his job to Carlos Martinez. That’s possible.

Tampa Bay Rays

• Tyler Glasnow played catch from 75 feet on Sunday but isn’t expected back until after the All-Star break.
• Diego Castillo and/or Emilio Pagan will grab saves this week with Jose Alvarado on the family medical emergency list.
• Nate Lowe returned to the minors while the Rays activated Yandy Diaz.

Texas Rangers

• Joey Gallo hit home run number 16 and 17 over the weekend before suffering a left oblique strain which has him on the IL.
• Willie Calhoun took part in some baseball activities last week, so we could see him again shortly.
• Shin-soo Choo is underrated and needs to be owned everywhere.

Toronto Blue Jays

• Not much to say here, besides being patient with Cavan Biggio, especially if you spent a lot of money on him.

Washington Nationals

• Gerardo Parra and Howie Kendrick are making noise for those who play in deep leagues or if you’re looking for a cheap DFS option.
• Max Scherzer racked up a season-high 15 strikeouts Sunday in Cincinnati. He’ll have a good shot to repeat his performance in SD this week.

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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