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Fantasy Baseball Takeaways From the Week That Was
Well, That Was Fun
With the All-Star break here, let’s do some reminiscing on what was a WILD first half, shall we? There is no shortage of surprises, disappointments, and breakthroughs to discuss, so let’s get to it.
The “We Thought It Was Going to Be Good, But Didn’t Know It Was Going To Be *This* Good” Award: Elly de La Cruz
Coming into the season, De La Cruz was one of MLB’s most talked about prospects, and for good reason. He hits the ball hard and far, he is a switch hitter, he runs lightning-fast, and has a cannon arm. He’s like a character pulled straight from a video game. There were just two questions at the time. Will he get called up after just under 400 PAs between AA and AAA? And will he keep his K rate in check?
The call to the majors came on July 8 and he has been the talk of the league ever since. He’s still striking out at a higher rate than one would hope for and that .444 BABIP is surely due some regression. But, damn, the dude is just so fun to watch. When is the last time that baseball had a guy who transformed non-fans into fans? That kind of player that made people pause and watch a plate appearance if it pops on a screen nearby? Barry Bonds comes to mind.
The “We Can’t Have Nice Things” Award: Jacob DeGrom & Mike Trout
Watching two future HOFers get injured in a way that makes you wonder if it will have a lasting effect on the length of their careers absolutely sucks. These guys, like Ohtani, deserve to have time to shine on baseball’s biggest stage, in October when the games mean A LOT. All of our fingers are crossed and all of the good vibes are sent to them for a quick and speedy recovery.
The “All Of Our Best-Case Scenarios Are Going to Work Out, Right?!” Award: St. Louis Cardinals
Currently dead last in the bad NL Central and 14 games below under.500, it’s been nothing short of a nightmare for the Cardinals this year. Their defense has fallen apart. Their bullpen is in shambles. The hitting, while doing most of the heavy lifting here, remains maddeningly inconsistent. And the starting pitching is atrocious, which just about everyone in baseball saw before the season. Everyone that is, except John Mozeliak and company.
And now they are in a tough situation, trying to do the dreaded soft-sell, eye to the future move at the deadline. It’s not all bad at Busch these days though. Their 2020 draft class remains a bright spot in the organization. Jordan Walker has performed admirably with the Cardinals, Tink Hence showed out at the Future Stars game, and Masyn Winn continues to impress in Memphis. And, lest we forget, they still have Paul Goldschmidt and Nolan Arenado starting at first and third, respectively.
The “We Definitely Didn’t See That One Coming!” Award: Ketel Marte
The Arizona Diamondback’s 2B had been mostly an afterthought but has had a career resurgence in the first half, slashing .286/.365/.494 through Sunday. We’ll keep it brief as we highlighted Marte here about a month ago. He could be a worthwhile trade target in the second half.
The “We Knew It Was Good, But Didn’t Know That It Could Get Better” Award: Shohei Ohtani
Much like the aforementioned De La Cruz, Shohei Ohtani has somehow managed to top what he has already accomplished at the major league level with even more absurd numbers. He leads the league in home runs AND triples, as well as slugging and OPS. It’s absurd honestly, and I regularly remind myself that we are living in a very very fun time and place to be a baseball fan. There is no point entering into any discussion regarding whether or not the Angels will trade him or not, we just hope that Ohtani ends up somewhere that can get him to the playoffs, at least.
Bulletin Board Material
We’ll be the first to take credit for prodding De La Cruz out of the tiniest of mini-slumps last week. As we noted in last week’s column, the exciting Reds third baseman had only put up a .338 OPS after hitting for the cycle on June 23.
He must be a regular reader because he went off this week, hitting .500/.500/.731 with a +222 wRC, scoring seven runs, and swiping SEVEN bags (with three coming off of one hit!).
One Last Thing
What an amazing time to be a baseball fan! Between De La Cruz’s running amok or Ohtani leading his in every category on both the hitting and pitching sides, to Acuna on pace to hit 30 home runs and have 70 steals, the talent level in MLB is astounding right now. As we transition from the era of Trout and Pujols, as fans we are flush with superstars to watch.
For daily injury updates, look no further than Fantrax and our own Dave Funnell!
Thanks as always for stopping by, we’ll be back next week! If you have any thoughts, suggestions, or ideas, or just want to drop a virtual high-five, send a note to [email protected] and give us a follow on Twitter @LDeePee