WHO IS THIS GUY?
A reader asked about Nick Burdi. It turns out he made the Yankees, but he didn’t make the cut for the Guide, or even the spreadsheets, which include many more players.
When I put together the lists for inclusion I start with the hitters and pitchers who played the year before, then I go through the players who did not play the year before to see if they might playing. Guys coming back from surgery, returning from Asia, unretiring, all get evaluated and some are added to the list.
Then, I go through the guys who played and eliminate those who are retiring or retired, and those who are headed off to Asia or Mexico. I don’t always get them alls. Robinson Cano is in the spreadsheet this year, because he said he wanted to play. And he is, in the Mexican Baseball League.
I also take a skeptical look at older middle relievers with limited and ineffective playing time the year before. That’s Burdi. Bingo!
Nick Burdi signed as a 21-year-old out of Louisville in 2014, a second-round pick, and threw 63 innings in 2015 for the Twins minor league system. Since then he’s pitched 3, 17, 13, 10, 2, 0, 0, and 24 innings at all levels, along the way undergoing two TJs and one thoracic outlet surgery. Going into this year he’d pitched 15.3 career innings while earning three years of service time.
In 2019, pitching for the Pirates, he struck out 17 in 8.7 innings, walked three, and ended up with a 9.35 ERA. That season ended early with the TOS. He then had a second TJ in 2020, missed all of 2021, was signed for 2022 but doesn’t seem to have played, and enjoyed his most active season ever in 2023. Now he’s a Yankee.
He throws a hard fastball and an epic slider, is very hard to hit, and hasn’t had much luck in the past throwing enough strikes to dominate. He’s got a win so far and has looked impressive for the Yankees. In AL-only leagues he may end up having some value, at least as a fill-in for injuries. It has been a long road and I hope he stays healthy.
CRY ME A RIVER FOR ESTEURY RUIZ
Perhaps the most stunning fantasy baseball event of the young season was the Athletics’ demotion of Esteury Ruiz. Ruiz hit .254 for the team last year, stole 67 bases, and had a 1.232 OPS when he was sent down. More importantly, he was hitting the ball harder, albeit in a very small sample.
GM David Forst said some stuff about the demotion:
Kleinschmidt later Xed that she made a typo. “Betting at-bats” should have been “better at-bats.”
A rumor, started by an Oakland apparel company that has made hay selling Sell The Team merch, suggested that Ruiz was wearing a wristband with their logo on it. Brent Rooker was purportedly benched for the same reason, though it became clear that the photos showing the logo on Ruiz and Rooker were doctored the same way they were when the company Xed others of Jesus, JFK, and Bigfoot.
Note the date.
So, what are the Athletics doing? Forst somehow tied the demotion to the signing of Tyler Nevin, indicating that Ruiz wouldn’t get to play every day. But why? Nevin is a year older than Ruiz, and last year had the same .309 OBP Ruiz did. Their isolated power has been the same, too. The main differences are Ruiz’s speed and the fact that he walks less but hits the ball more, while Nevin walks more.
Would Ruiz be better if he hit the ball harder? For sure.
He had the worst average exit velocity last year, and the worst of EV50, which averages the middle 50 percent of his batted balls. But he also had the highest Max exit velocity. Hitting the ball harder would mean more hits, a higher batting average, and more times on base. The idea is to be Juan Pierre, to slash the ball and run.
Maybe some work on the farm will help Ruiz do more of that. Or maybe it will help the Athletics save money by slowing his service clock. The last three stints Ruiz has had in Triple-A, with Oakland last year and with Oakland and the Padres in 2022, his OBP was better than .400. If he does that again, what will it prove?
In the meantime, fantasy owners should hold on. Chances are fairly good he’ll be back soon. And, in the future, stay away from players on bad teams, if you can help it.
FAST STARTS
Here are the Top 10 fantasy contributors so far, according to the ESPN Player Rater:
A lot of good hitters here, though Lourdes Gurriel, Michael Conforto, and Oswaldo Cabrera count as surprises. But Gurriel and Conforto have histories of success, so Cabrera is the topic here.
DJ LeMahieu has a fractured foot and is going to miss some time, so Cabrera will get a chance to establish himself. In 2021, in Double-A, he hit 24 homers and stole 20 bases, so there is some potential there. In 525 career major league plate appearances so far, however, he’s hit 13 homers and stolen 11 bases, so not the same juice. He’s going to cool down, but he could be productive if he can hold onto regular playing time. If you’re drafting this weekend he’s a better bet than last week, but I would push too far.
The other item of note from the Rater is the hot hand of Josh Jung, who was then stilled by a hit-by-pitch and a fractured wrist. The damage was worse than first thought and the prognosis is that he’ll be back in late May or early June. The worrisome issue is that Jung struggled after returning from a hand injury last summer. The math says give him a 33 percent cut, but I’d trim a little more.
HOUSEKEEPING
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I’ve posted the Historical Top Players by Position for 2021-2023 charts after the Paywall.
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