Why the Boston Red Sox insist on starting Sandy Leon instead of Chrisitan Vazquez is beyond me at this point. Over the past month, Vazquez has been slashing .415/.466/.642 and continued that Monday night going 4-4, 1 HR, 1 R, 2 RBI. To compare, Leon’s slash line over the past month has been .206/.326/.294. If Vazquez played consistently, I’d advocate picking him up in deep leagues because he’s a skilled player. He’s not a big power hitter, but he can hit for a decent average with a little bit of pop, and in a position as desolate as catcher, you could do a lot worse. Vazquez is on a pretty great streak, whenever he’s playing he seems to produce decently, but he splits time with Leon which limits his value. That being said, if you’re in a deeper league where you can afford to mix and match two catchers on your roster, Vazquez isn’t a bad idea while he’s hot, and he’s available in around 97% of ESPN leagues.
Let’s take a look at some of the other performances from Monday:
Jose Ramirez (3B/2B/OF, CLE) – 2-3, 2 HR, 2 R, 2 RBI, 1 SB. Ramirez has been awesome this year and had a fantastic game on Monday. He’s had a difficult month, slashing just .230/.287/.390, but to be honest, that had to happen for his awesome first-half numbers to come back to earth. He’s still awesome and he’ll be fine.
Carlos Santana (1B, CLE) – 1-3, 1 HR, 2 R, 1 RBI. It’s been so nice to have the old Carlos Santana back. Over the past month, he’s got a .390 OBP and a .563 slugging. It was a tough first half, but it seems like the Carlos Santana we all drafted is back and hopefully here to stay.
Manny Machado (SS/3B, BAL) – 1-3, 1 HR, 1 R, 1 RBI. I hope you all didn’t sell low on Manny after his BABIP-fueled bad first half, because he’s slashing .358/.362/.699 over the past month. If you did SHAME ON YOU.
Logan Morrison (1B, TB) – 2-4, 1 HR, 2 R, 4 RBI. Morrison may only be hitting .222 over the past two weeks, but he’s still slugging .556. Morrison is a good home run hitter, that’s where he makes his money, and if you need power and he’s available (and somehow he’s available in around 44% of ESPN leagues), you should go grab him.
Chris Sale start usually means Sandy Leon catching. I don’t think Sale pitches too well with Vasquez.