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Fake Teams Week 1 Fantasy Football Rankings
We recently added fantasy football to the Fake Teams list of sports covered. Our fantasy football writers will be publishing position rankings every week during the NFL season to help you win your league championship this season. Here are our Week 1 position rankings, start/sit. sleepers and some thoughts about what others are saying in Week 1:
Marcell Ozuna: The forgotten Marlin
Marlins stud outfielder Giancarlo Stanton gets all the love and praise from Marlins fans, but the Marlins have developed quite a productive outfield with Christian Yelich in left field and Marcel Ozuna in center. Ozuna probably gets the least amount of love from the fantasy community because he was never a top prospect, but this season he is showing he is productive at the plate.
Last night, Ozuna went 4-5 with 2 runs scored and 4 RBI in the Marlins 11=3 win over the Braves, raising his slash line to .264-.313-.441 with 19 home runs, 64 runs scored, and 78 RBI. He certainly strikes out a bit too much, striking out in more than 27% of his plate appearances this season. Fantasy owners would like for that to come down a few notches, and he needs to learn to walk a but more as well. With that said, power is down in baseball, and Ozuna is one home run away from becoming the 32nd MLB player to reach the 20 home run level this season. In 2013, 60 hitters reached the 20 home run level, and this season we have just a little more than half that level with about 3 weeks to go in the season.
Ozuna may not get much love in the offseason, but make sure you take a long look at him on draft day, as he is undervalued in my eyes.
For more on Ozuna and the Marlins, make sure you check out Fish Stripes, SB Nation's Marlins fan site.
Round'em Up
I probably won't recommend drafting any Rockies starter in 2015, as they are relegated to streaming options when pitching on the road for the most part. With that said, young Tyler Matzek is intriguing, especially after tossing a complete game shutout at Coors Field last night. Matzek was facing the Padres lineup, so that might explain part of the reason for the shutout. Matzek has pitched well over this last three starts, going 7 or more innings in each, and giving up a total of just three runs over those three starts, covering 25 innings. He is now 5-9 with a 4.32 ERA, 1.37 WHIP and a 70-36 strikeout to walk rate in 100 innings. He keeps the ball on the ground at a 50% clip, but could stand to increase the strikeout rate and limit the walks.
Blue Jays outfielder Melky Cabrera has taken his last at bat of the season, as he sustained a broken pinky finger and is out for the rest of the season. He finishes the season hitting .301-.351-.458 with 16 home runs, 81 runs scored and 73 RBI in 139 games, and is set to become a free agent in the offseason. Some team that needs a leadoff hitter, I am looking at you Ben Cherington, will sign him this offseason.
The Mets recently wondered whether they should move catcher Travis d'Arnaud to left field to save him from all the injuries he is dealing with this season. That may not be the best use for his bat, but we will see what they decide this offseason. Last night, d'Arnaud had a big night at the plate, going 3-4 with a home run, 2 runs scored and 4 RBI in the Mets 14-5 win over the slumping Reds. d'Arnaud is now hitting .243-.308-.412 with 13 home runs, 42 runs and 38 RBI in 95 games played this season. He could be a 20 home run hitting catcher as soon as 2015, but that will probably come with a .240ish batting average.
After blowing his seventh save of the season last night, Nationals closer Rafael Soriano could be replaced as soon as this weekend. Here is Tom Schad from the Washington Times:
Soriano faced five batters and surrendered two home
runs Friday night, blowing his second straight save as the Nationals dropped their series-opener against the Philadelphia Phillies, 9-8, in 11 innings.
He gave up a two-run shot to Carlos Ruiz that barely cleared the left-field fence, then a solo homer to Ben Revere, who had only hit one homer in his previous 1,933 major league plate appearances.
After the game, Williams was asked if he is considering making a change in the closer role.
"Well, we'll address it, yeah," Williams said. "We need to address it. The workload
I assume Tyler Clippard is the next in line in Washington's bullpen for save opportunities, but Drew Storen could see some pops as well.
Have to cut this one short today, as I have some errands to run this morning and have to get out the door shortly.
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