Everyone too awestruck to comment?

Thought you were dreaming and waiting to wake and get the actual results?

this review is based on fantasy value but it also says something about real world player ability

Tyler Freeman, SS Guardians

League Type: 16+ Team Redraft Leagues

Before I ever consider recommending a prospect as a redraft add, I ask myself two questions. First, is he on the 40-man roster? Second, is he producing at an above-average rate in the upper minors? When it comes to Freeman the answer to the first question is yes, the answer to the second depends on how you view his production.

Overall entering play on Saturday Freeman was hitting .275/.375/.367 on the season with Triple-A Columbus. Good numbers, but not great, right? Freeman was somewhat of a slow starter this season, hitting .227 over the first month after getting a late start to his season and playing his first game on April 29. However, from June 1 to July 1 Freeman hit .327/.417/.404. This is more in-line with the plus hit tool often associated with Freeman. This also shows the potential limitations to his game as he had just four extra-base hits over that span of time.

This makes Freeman somewhat of a need-based add, as he really only provides a boost in batting average and on-base percentage. There’s also the infield depth for Cleveland at the major league level to worry about. All this makes Freeman a tricky stash. He’s best for a manager who’s struggling to make up points in batting average and has a replacement level player at their middle infield or utility spot. You’ll have to see how things shake out over the next month, but Freeman could find some playing time in the latter half of July.

and ditto here:

Will Benson, OF Guardians

League Type: 14+ Team Redraft Leagues and all Dynasty Leagues with 150+ prospects rostered.

When digging into players for my most improved minor league hitters article, Benson was a name that just missed my cutoff. He has, however, shown one of the most drastic skill transformations in recent memory. Benson entered 2022 as a notoriously poor contact hitter whose game was predicated on his plus on-base skills and plus raw power. His .244 batting average may not explain it, but Benson’s bat-to-ball skills have transformed into at minimum an average skill in 2022.

His strikeout rate is down over 30% year over year as his contact rate has jumped from below 63% in 2021 to above 70% in 2022. Benson has traded some power as his slugging percentage sits at .461 but his ability to impact the ball is still present as his max exit velocity this season is 114-plus mph. If Benson gets to an average hit tool he's an everyday player. He has elite on-base ability as he’s walked in 15.4% of his nearly 1,800 minor league plate appearances, shows plus power in games and is a good outfielder with an excellent throwing arm.

At 24 years old, Benson is ready for his first taste of the major leagues. With the crowded 40-man roster in Cleveland Benson might be a potential trade candidate in the coming weeks. He’s also a candidate to be added to the Guardians 40-man should an injury open an opportunity in the major league outfield. It’s hard to predict when or where Benson makes his major league debut but there’s been rapid development worth taking notice of.

The Guardians play Boston, Twins, Yankees. 3 good to very
good teams. Go to Detroit. Take Detroit for granted or an emotional bottoming
out? At least Sandy Leon gave us a 1, 2, 3 7th inning on 7 pitches.

All those doubleheaders really can be tough on the players. I'll accept that a partial answer. Gonzalez out of the lineup and recently Naylor doesn't help And then there's just dumb luck.

Now even Bieber can't stop the Detroit slide.

Oh well, at least no one can say we are beating up on weakling Detroit.

The bottom has fallen out.

Pretty decent results in the stretch of games against top teams; and now this... I guess unpredictability is predictable with a young team.

No Gonzalez; no Naylor; possibly still injured Ramirez; Reyes is now hitting as anticipated but the other bigger bats are all missing.

Yes the problem all along really has been lack of depth due to that 40 man fiasco. Lack of veteran depth.

So hopefully we can trade some of that young organizational depth for a couple veteran bats. Or maybe the Arias's and Brennans and Nolan Jones of the world can help out.

I'm disappointed with the starting pitching. We thought it would be the team strength; it has been rather indifferent; haven't seen most recent stats but last I saw starters' ERA was in the lower half of the league.

Wonder what this dynamite team is doing on its day off.

Back to 500

Lost 4 straight to a team they ALWAYS beat.

Creamed by a team that was 17 games under 500 until they played the G's.

They need a rest.

civ ollilavad wrote:I'm disappointed with the starting pitching. We thought it would be the team strength; it has been rather indifferent; haven't seen most recent stats but last I saw starters' ERA was in the lower half of the league.

Bieber is showing his 2020 was the outlier. He is a really good pitcher but not the ace he was.

Glad they didn't extend him - at least yet. I don't mind extending him but not at ACE dollars. Or years.

Plesac is steady #4 type. Quantrill too. Triston a nice #2 or #3.

Civale...c'mon we always knew he was a #5.

Let's get some of our upside kids up for a look.

In reality, in today's game, our rotation is pretty darn good. That said, NOT good enough to offset the lack of overall scoring punch.

I like the contact hitting approach but you need a couple more power types to drive home some of those baserunners.

Kids to join the rotation?

1. Espino is clearly top rated; he's No. 11 on a recent Top 100 prospect list and one of the top few pitchers. But he's been out of action since April
2. Gavin Williams is coming along fast; his first 2 AA starts have been as effective as his High A debut. Drafted just last year, he's still 2 levels away
3. Logan Allen II has had a quick rise from A to AA where he was overpowering. But his first 2 AAA starts have been awful. Clearly not ready
4. Tanner Burns has been really good in Akron this year but his innings have been limited by a not major injury
5. Xzavion Curry just followed Allen to Columbus and has been pretty good there, although last night he allowed 2 homers which is his weak point; a sub-6 foot RH he's unlikely to be more than another back of the rotation guy at best
6. Tanner Bibee incredibly fast mover, has dramatically increased his velocity and his prospect rating, just debuted in AA yesterday with 5 shutout innings.
7. Peyton Battenfield lacks overwhelming stuff but has been far more effective in AAA then Pilkington and has a much higher prospect rating. I don't see any reason why he shouldn't be added to the 40 man roster and be a 2nd game of Doubleheader starter
8. Ethan Hankins was rated about equally with Espino but has not returned to game action after TJ surgery.
9. Cody Morris fast riser made it to AAA last year; been out of action all of 2022.
10/11. Doug Nikhazy no. 2 pick last year and Tommy Mace No. 3 last year have been underwhelming in pro debuts at Lake County
12/13/14 Rodney Boone Will Dion and Jack Leftwich lower picks last year started in Lynchburg and have been very successul. Boone has moved up to LC with mixed results. not a hard thrower. Leftwich just moved up too; Dion remains in Lynchburg. I don't know enough about their stuff. Like nearly all of our pitchers except for Nikhazy/Mace they have excellent K/BB ratios

Scored a week's worth on Saturday; shutout looming today