I was really excited for this season back in March — just ask Crox as we sat at Funk Brewery for our last beer date before the quarantine.
Nick Gonzales was coming off a five-HR doubleheader — which even prompted JV to message me a statement on the kid — and I was feeling great about this lineup.
Then boom! Postponement.
At first, it was denial.
We'll get going by the end of May, I'm sure of it.
That fell apart quickly and before I knew it, fantasy baseball was an afterthought for the first time in nearly 13 years.
I opened Fantrax a few times after the lockdown started, but then, I went months without looking. I had never gone so long without opening the roster up.
Like many, when I opened up Fantrax at the end of June, I was surprised to see a few names that I had forgotten all about.
Now, don’t get me wrong, I’m still excited as I look at this lineup. Realmuto, Olson, Segura, Bryant, Polanco, Schwarber, Laureano, Harper and Goldschmidt combine to make a really nice core on offense, and I do believe I can survive a week against the NL teams loaded with bats.
For me, the biggest keys will be getting one or two of my hopefuls to realize their potential this year. Nick Senzel was a .285 hitter before suffering an injury and watching his batting average drop faster than a Parker stock suggestion (I wrote this on Monday so it's funnier today after my stock suggestion just made him $1,000 today). Senzel is locked into playing center field, something that wasn’t going to happen with an Opening Day in March.
I, like many in the League, had my eyes on Senzel for a while, and at the cost of Frankie Montas, I think it's a pretty good deal. Senzel's upside to be a mainstay is much higher.
Still, because he fell off last year, he's easy to pick on — just like Austin Riley.
We’ll see Riley make some noise this year, I’m sure of it. In true Parker fashion, I’m telling you to mark it down.
I also think Mauricio Dubon could be an impact player here based on the information coming out of Giants camp, but I’ll wait before telling everyone write it down. Still, the second baseman is moving to CF and apparently impressing the Giants organization.
Lastly, I'll throw Cole Tucker and Tyler O'Neill in there as wild cards.
I’ll tell you one thing, though. I will be waiting very anxiously for 10 games to pass by with Schwarber at DH. Once he accomplishes that, I will have some roster flexibility and a chance to get Riley and Senzel into the lineup daily.
On the pitching side, there is no one who is going to stand out. I know how it looks on paper. I was going for innings-eaters to be able to avoid blowouts on the pitching side. The goal was to win on offense and skate by on pitching. That strategy remains the same, but the reliable innings eater over the pitcher who could be stronger over 60 games backfired.
That said, in a 60-game sprint — drink! — this crew isn’t all that bad.
I’ll let you all be the judge of that in the JLB Slack channel.
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