Fresh off a laudatory mention in Monday's Batter's Box—in which I touted him as a way better option than Maikel Franco as a starting fantasy 3B—Nicholas Castellanos wasted no time by subsequently enjoying a banner night on Tuesday. In going 4-5, 2 R, 2 HR, 5 RBI, K, Castellanos helped secure the 9-3 victory for the Tigers in Kansas City. At worst, Detroit could still split the four-game series if they go on to lose tonight and Thursday, but they're playing lights-out with plenty of offense right now. After trading J.D. Martinez to the Diamondbacks for three prospects yesterday, it would appear that the Detroit brass are trying to make moves to rebuild and invest in the future. This is probably frustrating for Tigers fans who don't want to see the team dismantled by a surrendering front office, given that they're is only five games back in the AL Wild Card race. The players aren't packing it in at all, however, and now that Castellanos seems even more likely to hang on to the 2-spot in the lineup, his fantasy stock rises as does his value to the team in real life. The RHB is slashing .255/.321/.470 on the season, and with 14 homers already Castellanos needs just five more jacks to set a career-high in a campaign. He's correspondingly on track to establish personal records for runs and RBI in a season too. He currently has 48 and 54, respectively, more than adequate for you to feel good about starting him as those totals rank in the top 10 among all players with 3B eligibility (double-checked in both Yahoo and ESPN). Castellanos is especially hot right now, having homered four times since the start of the second half this past Friday. The recent production has come on the shoulders of him hitting .340 in July. The 48.6% hard contact and the 7.8% soft contact he's getting are the stuff fantasy dreams are made of. Own and start Castellanos if you have a need.
Let's take a look at what other notable hitting performances happened around the league:
Picked up jabari blash and Nick Williams. Dropped Matt Holliday and Altherr (had to put Correa on the DL). I want to get Logan Morrison even tho I have Hanley, who should I drop for him? Have Avisail or Josh Bell that could go too. Or did I just be things completely out the water? And I need to drop Jose Reyes for Hernan Perez right? Thanks, my hitting has been”hit or miss” all year. Just trying to get it right before it’s too late.
Blow*
Drop Jackie Bradley or Ryon Healy for Nick Williams (Mancini is on the wire too)? Both? Stay put?
Souza, Thames, or Desmond rest of season?
H2H yahoo
Logan Morrison or Edwin Encarnacion ROS?
H2H yahoo