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Mostly MLB Notes: Lance McCullers and a look around the league
Lance McCullers’ .382 BABIP is easily the highest in baseball (despite Houston fielding a strong defense), and his 25.7 Hard% ranks No. 135 (sandwiched between Johnny Cueto and Felix Hernandez and just behind Jake Arrieta). He’s admittedly been somewhat lucky with a 5.3 HR/FB% that ranks as the fifth lowest in MLB, but his 12.4 SwStr% ranks top-10. The top-four pitchers in this stat are Clayton Kershaw, Max Scherzer, Noah Syndergaard and Jose Fernandez, so it’s a fairly strong suggestion McCullers is due for a strong final couple of months to the season. He’s still available in nearly a quarter of Yahoo leagues.
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TV Talk: I recently binged all of “Peaky Blinders,” which is good not great but worth checking out if for no other reason than Tom Hardy…I’m definitely intrigued by “The Night Of.” I’m all in…Very fired up for the new season of “BoJack Horseman” despite not being a huge cartoon guy (although I loved “Brickleberry”)…“Kingdom” remains one of the most underrated shows on TV…I’ve yet to start “Stranger Things,” but I will soon…I don’t love arguing about awards, but how does Michael McKean not get an Emmy nomination? What a travesty.
Quick Hits: After a terrible slump, Giancarlo Stanton has hit .316/.389/.615 with nine homers and 26 RBI over his past 30 games (117 at bats). It sure looks like he’s back…Jose Fernandez is now 26-1 with a 1.47 ERA and a 0.91 WHIP at home during his career…It took longer than hoped recovering from offseason surgery, but Justin Turner has been one of the best hitters in baseball over the past 40 games, when he’s hit .329/.379/.684 with 15 homers and 41 RBI over 158 at bats. He’s been the No. 3 fantasy hitter over this span…Didi Gregorius is combining his best season ever at the plate with his worst in the field…According to Fangraphs, the third-most valuable fastball this season has been thrown by J.A. Happ, which is interesting considering his average velocity is 91.6 mph.
Headlines of the Week: My Rookie Year…Seattle Man Finds Stranger Living In His Attic…Humans Could Live 30 Years Longer…Family Argument In Wildlife Park Leaves Woman Dead After She Leaves Car And Gets Eaten By Tiger…Marine Vet, 81, Held Hostage In Motel Room For Four Years.
Quick Hits Part Deux: It’s pretty rare for a closer with a 1.95 ERA and a 0.73 WHIP to lose his job but so is the case for Hector Rondon. It’s been an unfair year for his fantasy owners all around, as he also had a modest 18 saves despite the Cubs leading baseball with 59 wins (20 relievers have recorded more). The Aroldis Chapman trade is a nice boost for Andrew Miller’s fantasy value, however. Here’s Chapman recently throwing 105.1 mph…Juerys Familia has converted each of his last 50 save opportunities…Brandon Crawford’s 4.1 WAR is top-10 in MLB. Prince Fielder’s -1.8 ranks dead last, and he’s now out for the season…Buster Posey leads the Giants with 12 homers, which is the lowest leading total by a player for any team in MLB. San Francisco is 1-7 since the All-Star break yet still has the second-most wins in baseball…Todd Frazier owns a .198 BABIP this season (37 points lower than any other hitter) but part of that problem is hitting 28 homers (the second most in baseball)…Carlos Carrasco somehow has a .242 BABIP despite an MLB-low 1.3 IFFB%.
Police Blotter: Man Who Stole Drill From Store Returned Seeking Job…Bank Robbery Suspect Hails Uber As Getaway Car…Cops Bust Three N.J. Drivers Who Fail To Pay E-ZPass, Racking Up $170G In Toll Fees…Driver Leads High-Speed Chase Through Two Counties Because He Was ‘Bored.’
Meet The Man Who Beat ‘Pac-Man.’
Longread of the Week: The Man Who Created Bigfoot.
Quick Hits Part Tres: The Rangers are in first place despite having two starters who rank in the bottom six in baseball in K-BB% (Martin Perez and Derek Holland, with the former being the worst in MLB)…We aren’t 100 games into the season, and the Red Sox have scored more than 210 runs than the Braves…Jacoby Ellsbury has already set the MLB record for most catcher interferences (nine) in a season…Here’s Coco Crisp getting easily thrown out after he mistakenly thought he hit a walk-off homer…Xander Bogaerts is 23 years old, plays shortstop and is on pace to finish with a .333-125-19-103-20 line…The Brewers had five stolen bases (their season high) over the first two innings against Jon Lester on Sunday…It’s an admittedly small sample, but we are approaching August, and Wrigley Field has played as the third-lowest run scoring environment this season (it had increased homers for RHB by 24 percent over the past three seasons entering 2016, which was more than Coors Field). Petco Park ranks in the top-10 in increasing runs so far this year.
