Welcome back to Cup of Coffee, your often funny, fairly thorough, and occasionally thoughtful recap of the week that was. We’ll be presenting some fantasy baseball takeaways that cover everything from promotions to demotions, trades, trends, injuries, and everything in between.
More great fantasy baseball advice and analysis: Waiver Wire & FAAB Recommendations | Daily MLB Injury Report | MLB DFS Picks | Line-up Analysis | Dynasty Rankings and Strategy | MLB Bullpen Updates | MLB Player Props | Prospect Rankings & Analysis | Fantasy Baseball Risers and Fallers
ELLYDELAPALOOZA
Welp, last week was the week. It happened. Elly de la Cruz is now a starting infielder for the surging Cincinnati Reds. We’re assuming you all have seen the highlights. And if you haven’t, you should go watch some. The dude is ELECTRIC. He is simply one of those guys your eyes are instantly drawn to when he is on the field. It may be demolishing 458-ft home runs with an exit velocity of 114 mph. Or doing his best Usain Bolt impersonation while sliding into a triple. He already has three stolen bases. OH, AND HE’S A SWITCH-HITTER.
Obviously, there will be some rough spells. He almost certainly will not carry a 1.117 OPS for the rest of the season. But as fans of the game, players of this talent level are to be celebrated and Cup Of Coffee is here for it.
THE REDS HAVE OTHER TALENTED ROOKIES!
Reds prospect Andrew Abbott, who flew under the radar in most prospect circles until dominating AA and AAA this season, was promoted on Monday. Abbott instantly endeared himself to the Great American Ballpark faithful by defeating NL Central rivals, the Milwaukee Brewers, 2-0.
The 24-year-old out of Virginia was Cincinnati’s second-round pick in 2021 and had flown a bit under the radar in prospect circles until this season. Abbott put up bonkers numbers in the minors; 53 IP with a 16.0 k/9. I mean, how is that even possible?? The southpaw continued delivering excellent results in his first two MLB starts with 11.2 IP, a 0.00 ERA butttttt a kinda-scary 10:7 K:BB. He’s definitely worth a look in fantasy baseball for anything deeper than a 10-team league if he is available.
THAT’S MONSIEUR JULIEN TO YOU
The Twins recalled Edouard Julien to take the spot of thrice-injured Jorge Polanco. Julien is a zero at defense but the dude hits. If he is on the wire in leagues where you need MI help. give him a look.
HHHHEEEEEEEE’S BAAAAAACK
While in previous posts, we’ve focused on return from injuries in this space, this week we are taking a more metaphorical approach to our headline. Three third basemen, two of which were in the top 100 picks in NFBC this past preseason, are possibly starting to turn things around.
The Part Where I Reference a Toy From The 80s: Jose Ramirez, an absolute Teddy Ruxpin of a player and a favorite in these parts of the internet (this was our fall-in-love moment) has been scuffling to start the season. Owners who had drafted the Guardians mainstay in the top 10 were feeling disappointed in the production they were receiving. JRam sat at .261/.332/.436 on the year with only 5 SBs. Not great, Bob, as they say.
Intrepid players may have looked under the hood and noticed that there was no cause for alarm. Many of his Statcast numbers were just as good, if not better than last year. Barrel%, Average Exit Velocity, SweetSpot%, and Hard Hit rate are all up ( yes yes SMALL SAMPLE SIZE, we know, just using this as a bit of context) so it felt like it was just a matter of time until Ramirez got his groove back. And that is what happened this past week, with our man having himself a three-homer game on his way to a scorching line of .435/.500/1.043. Remains to be seen if this signifies a revert back to his old form or just a blip, but it was a step in the right direction for #11.
LETTUCE FLOW: It has been a rough start to the season for Gunnar Henderson. The former #1 prospect in baseball came into the season riding high, after a fairly successful Cup Of Coffee (shameless plug!) at the end of 2022 and a preseason ADP of 89. Clearly, owners were excited to see what the new 3B in a third baseman town could do with a full year of PAs. Unfortunately, up until June, the results were more Phil Nevin than Chipper Jones. Henderson mustered a paltry 101 wRC+ (100 is the average) marred by strikeout and walk rates of 31% and 15%, respectively. The fantasy world took notice as he’s become available in shallower leagues and his average ADP in NFBC Second Chance Leagues is in the 180s. But this week he of the Majestic Mane had quite a stretch, hitting.500/.533/.929. If this is the start of a Henderson Heater ™ then it could be something to behold.
Clearly, This Isn’t California Penal: Longtime Statcast darling Ke’Bryan Hayes is giving his owners reasons to do a happy dance right about now
Hayes has a 1.342 OPS in the month of June while knocking in 11 runs and scoring 10 himself. A couple of things to note, though. That OPS is supported by a .586 BABIP and little-to-no power (max EV was 101.6). Hayes is a quality player but don’t be afraid to try and use this hot streak as trade bait if he starts to cool down.
Not too many of the players returning from the IL this past week were bonafide headliners, but a couple of them are surely being welcomed with open arms by fanbases and teammates alike.
- Alec Bohm and Jose Alvarado returned to the (mostly) friendly confines of Citizen’s Bank Park.
- Luis Urias is back in Milwaukee.
- Fireballer Andres Munoz is ready to take some save shares from Paul Sewald.
- Dylan Carlson is off the IL and prepared to be mismanaged by Oli Marmol.
- Joey Bart was optioned to triple-A as soon as he was reinstated. If this season has proven nothing else, it has proven that it is really hard to replace generational talents at the catcher position.
THE SAD SECTION, OR: THE CRUSHING INEVITABILITY OF INJURIES COMES FOR US ALL
No one really needs to hear this in a fantasy baseball recap but damn, the injuries are not so few and far between this season.
This week had some doozies! Alonso, Judge, and Yordan were the headliners but the list contains some 2023 fantasy baseball mainstays. Such a bummer for noted good guy Hendriks, hope he gets back shortly.
- 6/5 Brandon Lowe (10 day, lower back inflammation)
- 6/6 Joc Pederson (10 day)
- 6/6 Byron Buxton (10 day, ya don’t say) retroactive to June 3rd, left rib contusion
- 6/6 Nick Senzel (10 day, right knee) ->corresponding move for ELLY
- 6/7 Aaron Judge (10 day, right great toe sprain) retroactive to June 4
- 6/8 Nestor Cortes (15 day, left rotator cuff strain) retroactive to 6/5
- 6/8 Syndergaard (15 day, right index finger blister)
- 6/9 Yordan (10 day, oblique discomfort)
- 6/9 Alonso (10 day, retroactive to June 8, left wrist contusion and sprain)
- 6/10 Jorge Polanco (10 day, retroactive to June 9, left hamstring strain)
- 6/10 Jake Fraley (10 day, retroactive to June 8, right wrist contusion)
- 6/10 Vinnie Pasquantino (10 day, right shoulder instability)
- 6/10 Akil Baddoo (10 day, right quad strain)
- 6/11 Charlie Blackmon (10 day, right hand fracture)
- 6/11 Liam Hendriks (10 day, retroactive to June 10, right elbow inflammation)
Thanks as always for stopping by, we’ll be back next week! If you have any thoughts, suggestions, ideas or just want to drop a virtual high-five, leave us a note: [email protected]