Ok, fantasy baseballers, the Phils have fallen into what may be a season ending slump - literally. Post-season feels more and more a like another Odubel Herrera at bat, an excruciatingly cruel joke, but you, you fantasy baseball god are at the top of your division, heck, League!
Time to bring home the bacon baby. The Phorum offers you 3 solid options to plug up those pesky lineup holes you may have heading down the stretch.
Billy McKinney (OF) Toronto Blue Jays - 2.2% ESPN Leagues
Last 7/Ave: 25/4.2
Last 7 AllPlayers Rank: 15th
Last 7/OF Rank: 8th
McKinney might be the player with the most upside on this list. A first round pick (24th overall) the scouts lauded as the best high school bat in the draft, and a kid with plus baseball instincts and then a long time "big-time" prospect, McKinney is still not a sure thing. He had an up and down minor league career and was prone to streaks. Still, a guy who Aaron Boone said puts great at bats together one after the other one, has at times flashed an intriguing combination of power, speed and plate discipline. Playing time may be an issue in an already crowded Jays outfield, but if McKinney keeps hitting the way he is (.333 with 4 dongs in his first 11), it's the Toronto Blue Jays, they're roster building for like 2022. Perform and playing time shouldn't be a problem.
Check this out, McKinney is 23 years old and has been traded 3 times. We think he plays like a guy who has something to prove and then proves it. In your face naysayers and people who say stuff that's dumb about baseball players even though they have no idea what they're talking about cause they're stupid. Ha-ha! In yo face, bee-yotch! Yeah. This guy plays like that.
Ji-Man Choi (1B, DH) Tampa Bay Rays - 0.3%
Last 7/Ave: 20/3.3
Last 7 AllPlayers Rank: 36th
Last 7 1B Rank: 7th
Choi is a bit like last month's Astudio pick - probably not going to put up the numbers we think he should (because of playing time issues not AWESOMENESS issues), but we love him and keep rooting for him because he's a bit of an outlier. Namely, his strikeout and walk rates as he made his way through the minors are indicative of an elite bat to ball skill-set.
That the power has never really materialized for a guy his size - 6'1 235, and that this 'prospect' is 27 do not, to us, indicate the usual negative prognostications about Choi maybe doing something else with his life, but rather these things to us, just mean this dude is due. The 15 homers over an 88 game stretch in 2017 with the Yankees Triple A team. Overdue.
Not to mention, this could also be another guy who might play with an edge. Been traded four times. 27 years old and all that noise, and now, finally, baseball justice. Right, because, c'mon, Tampa Bay is a Weird smallmarket Baseball bizzaro world. Some people think the "Shift" started there, I mean, its a place where catchers pitch and closers start games. This year the team is managed by a guy named Cash. Weird baseball ironies, right? Maybe not so weird after all, and maybe Choi finds some playing time, then, presto, told-ya-it-was-gonna-happen here-o, finds that power stroke too.
Phillp Ervin (OF) Cincinnati Reds - 4.6% ESPN Leagues
Last 7/Ave: 22/3.1
Last 7 AllPlayers Rank: 24th
Last 7 OF Rank: 14th
Ervin isn't quite as interesting as either Choi or McKinney, but he may be the one who is ultimately the most productive. A 26 year old semi-fringey prospect fighting for a roster spot on a really bad obviously rebuilding Reds team, you may be asking. Whoopdeefriggindoo! you might be whispering under your breath. Or saying out loud.
Well, heck, yeah, we say. And also, quit mumbling, we say, you look like a troll. We say, Ervin has the look of a guy in the middle of a career/break-out season. Prior to being called up he'd hit 4 home-runs in his last 10 games and was pushing an OPS north of .950. Plus there's like literally no one left to play outfield for the Reds other than Billy Hamilton and while Hamilton is really really fast, he probably can't actually cover the entire outfield, so here we have Phillip Ervin.
He's batting out of the 2-hole. Go Reds!
