Mostly MLB Notes: Max Scherzer and a look around the league
Max Scherzer was almost unanimously the second pitcher off the board in drafts this spring, often in the mid-second round. So far he’s produced a 4.60 ERA and a 1.28 WHIP, and owners have been saddled with the No. 145 overall player. Scherzer has 48 strikeouts over 46.0 innings, so his K rate remains strong (albeit not as strong as usual), but home runs have been a major problem, a theme ever since he joined the Nationals. In fact, he’s allowed 36 homers over 271.2 innings since joining Washington. He served up that same total over his final two years in Detroit, which spanned 434.2 innings. Not only is that unusual going from the A.L. to the N.L., but Nationals Park has also decreased home runs by 16 percent over the last three seasons, which is the fifth lowest in major league baseball. Scherzer’s nine homers served up are tied for the most in MLB this season.
[Yahoo Fantasy Football is open for the 2016 season. Sign up now]
Scherzer can remain plenty effective giving up the long ball, as he posted a 2.79 ERA and a 0.92 WHIP last season despite yielding 27 (tied for 14th most in MLB), and his current 19.1 HR/FB% should probably be considered a fluke. Scherzer’s average fastball velocity remains as strong as ever (94.0 mph), and his 12.6 SwStr% ranks No. 11 in baseball. Washington has one of the better defenses combined with a bullpen and offense that both rank in the top-10 in MLB, so Scherzer has a lot working for him. I’m betting his home run rate regresses to somewhere around his career norm of 10.5% moving forward, so he’s a pretty obvious buy-low if you can pull it off.
Headlines of the Week: Brother And Sister Inherit Disease That Will Stop Them Ever Sleeping Again…Burglar Sues Indiana Homeowner Who Shot Him During Attempted Break-In…Kim Jong-un: Leader Bans Weddings, Funerals And Freedom Of Movement In North Korea…KFC: Now Serving Chicken-Flavored Nail Polish.
Quick Hits: Since the All-Star break last season, Robinson Cano has a .323-66-27-82 line over just 406 at bats. He’s been the No. 2 fantasy hitter in 2016…Danny Salazar has been terrific so far, and while some of his peripherals suggest he’s been lucky (.205 BABIP, 3.0 HR/FB%), that will always be the case for someone with a sub-2.00 ERA. His 29.9 K% is tied for fifth-best while his 12.9 SwStr% ranks ninth in MLB. He could still improve his control, but Salazar should be treated as a true SP1 moving forward…“This is one of the great moments in the history of baseball!” Bartolo Colon now has more extra-base hits this year than Chase Headley (h/t Jared Diamond)…Jung Ho Kang posted a .913 OPS after the All-Star break in 197 at-bats before suffering a season-ending knee injury last year. He’s healthy now, even hitting two homers during his first game back. Still shortstop eligible (while playing the less demanding 3B) and available in nearly 30% of Yahoo leagues, Kang has the upside to be a top-five SS from here on out (although he’ll sit more than usual in the short term).
Police Blotter: Cops Easily Find Suspect, Thanks To Monkey On His Back…Suspect Arrested After 5 Million Bees Stolen In Quebec; Bees Remain Missing…Florida Man Calls 911 After Hearing Wife Kidnapped On Bluetooth Device.
Quick Hits Part Deux: Make sure Tyler Glasnow is owned in your league. After another dominant outing Saturday, the top prospect’s ERA now sits at 1.64, and he’s fanned 48 batters over 33.0 innings. He’ll be joining Pittsburgh’s staff soon enough and is worth the wait…Bryce Harper walked 13 times in 18 plate appearances during the recent four-game sweep against the Cubs, including six on Sunday (the same game Ryan Zimmerman set an MLB-record by leaving 14 runners on base)…The catcher position is always considered thin, but this year it’s especially been a mess, with injuries to Kyle Schwarber, Devin Mesoraco, Travis d’Arnaud and Nick Hundley. Meanwhile, Russell Martin, Matt Wieters, Derek Norris and Yan Gomes all have an OPS below .564, with three of those batting .176 or worse. Just brutal.
Song of the Week: Radiohead – “Burn The Witch”
This updated version of Alanis Morissette’s “Ironic” is actually pretty legit.
Longread of the Week: The End Of Prison Visitation
Quick Hits Part Tres: Yasiel Puig “leads” major league baseball with a 25.7 IFFB%. Hitting pop ups is not good. As usual, Joey Votto has yet to hit one…Miguel Sano may not make contact much, but when he does, he leads MLB with a 33.8 LD%…Here’s Giancarlo Stanton hitting a 475-foot bomb that’s the longest of the year so far. He did so against Hector Neris, who owns a 1.80 ERA and a 0.80 WHIP with 28 strikeouts over 20.0 innings on the season… This play by Joe Panik might be the best of the year so far…J.J. Hoover had a truly epic run before getting sent to the minors. He entered the year as the Reds closer and proceeded to allow 17 earned runs (six homers) and 25 base runners over 10.2 innings. He had a -.05 WAR, which isn’t easy to do in 10 innings…Clayton Kershaw has a 64:3 K:BB ratio. That’s just silly.
Follow Dalton Del Don on Twitter.
