JLB Fantasy Notes (4.16.15)






What? You didn’t think Take Five was going to make it through the 183 days of the baseball season, did you?

I know some of you wondered after it made it to Saturday, but the last couple days have been a bit hectic and I didn’t have time to do it.

So, here’s another edition of Take Five, more the less what you should expect during the regular season.

1. HOMER AWARD
Choo was perusing the JLB site on ESPN Wednesday and delved into the trophy case. He forgot about how I used to hand out weekly trophies and asked — hell, he pleaded — for me to bring them back.

I told him “No,” and it will remain that way. Too much work to analyze every roster, every stat to pick a Batter and Pitcher of the Week, only to have Parker cry when you don’t pick Kershaw — hence, the reason Choo died laughing at the “Crybaby Award,” which was only handed out once, and yes, it went to Parker.

Still, Choo continued to plead, throwing out ideas for new awards, including the Homer Award, which he quickly handed to Butter. His love for the Pirates has led to some interesting draft picks and some interesting roster moves.

I'm sure I could trade Andrew McCutchen for a pair of his aces.

The one roster move he doesn’t have to worry about making daily is Nelson Cruz, who has belted six homers in five days. Of course, it’s against me, so he must be pissed that I dropped him to the draft.

2. CHAMPIONSHIP SERIES REMATCHES
It certainly wasn’t planned because I just noticed it, but this week, we have rematches of both the NLCS and the ALCS.

The Cheese Steaks and Vandelay are in a closely contested battle that looks eerily similar to the matchup I had with Otto last week — bad batting averages and great pitching. The Steaks got yet another great start from Shane Greene, who has now pitched eight scoreless in both of his starts this season.

In the AL, it’s the Choo vs. Bombers, and Choo has a solid 15-5-2 lead late Wednesday night. Still plenty of time left, of course, but this is the kind of output expected from the two-time defending American League champ. (Oh, and as usual, he’s out of free agent pickups already.)

3. PETCO DOESN’T SCARE UPTON
Justin Upton is taking care of business in San Diego. He was brought in to provide a spark in the offense, and he’s done just that. He hit the game-winning homer Wednesday — his third jack of 2015, second at Petco — and he’s leading the Gamblers, who have a commanding lead over Chalupa.

Right now, the Upton for Tanaka deal is looking like a gem for the Gamblers, one that he would make every day of the week.

4. OTTO-MATIC
David is on fire. His team is just clicking offensively and he currently leads his brother 16-1-5. That likely will not remain the score, but offensively, he’s winning 9-0-2, and in seven of the categories, he holds decent leads that will be challenging to come back on if his offense continues to hit at a .313 clip. The usual suspects lead the way — Miggy, Trout, Kemp, Cano — but he’s also getting production from Travis d’Arnaud, Lucas Duda and Manny Machado. Both d’Arnaud and Duda are hitting over .300 on the season, while Machado has bounced back from a very slow start (0-for-15) to go 5-for-12 in his last four games. Right now, Otto can’t go wrong with the lineup.

5. McHUGH UNDER THE RADAR
Many of you might not even know that Collin McHugh was a keeper for the Sex Panthers. He was often overlooked when Gina got offseason trade offers that came with the statement: “You need minor league eligible pitching.”

Trevor Bauer and Marcus Stroman were the known minor league keepers to all, but everyone forgot about McHugh.

After two starts, it may be hard to forget about him again. He is now 2-0 with a 1.54 ERA. He had 11 strikeouts Wednesday against a strong Oakland offense and he’s been a big part of the Sex Panthers rotation.

Bauer also has played a big role, and on Wednesday, he improved to 2-0 with a 1.50 ERA. He added eight strikeouts today after fanning 11 Astros in six hitless innings last week.

If only Stroman didn’t go down with the ACL tear, the Panthers could be looking at a great trio of young starters. She'll enjoy the duo until he returns.

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