Like a bad week after watching a great horror flick, another nightmare has come and gone. The nightmare this time is in the form of Ryan Franklin, who has officially been stripped of his closing duties, and it seems that Mitchell Boggs is going to get the first crack at the job.
I know what you are all thinking right now, “Mitchell freaking Boggs? I picked up Jason Motte thinking he was going to be the next guy!” You and many others my friend, but unfortunately no one can get into the mind of Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa. The one thing we do know is that he will trust his veterans until the day he retires so this doesn’t come as a huge surprise.
Boggs is currently owned in 17.4 percent of leagues and should be picked up immediately in all formats. Anytime there’s a potential full-time closer on the waiver wire, he needs to be owned even if you don’t have an immediate need for saves. He picked up the save in his first chance last night, something Franklin failed to do four out of five times.
Boggs has been very effective this year with 13 strikeouts and just three walks in 10 innings. Unlike Franklin (3.5 swinging strike %), Boggs is missing bats 9.7 percent of the time, which is what you want in a closer. But say he fails as well, who’s next?
Sorry Motte fans.
I’d keep an eye on Eduardo Sanchez, a 22-year old rookie, who in his first five innings has struck out 10 batters without registering a walk. Pretty impressive start and if LaRussa’s hand is forced to go with a youngster he might just choose Sanchez over Motte. Of course, you only want to pick these two up in the deepest of leagues or if your league counts holds.
Here are some other players you should be picking up in mixed leagues:
1. Coco Crisp, OF, Oakland Athletics | 39% owned
From the beginning of last year to now Crisp has been a force on the base paths. In 396 plate appearances he has 39 steals which is one steal every 10.15 plate appearances. If you extrapolate that over a full season (650 PA) he would have a whopping 64 steals. Obviously, Crisp won’t keep up the pace over a full season, but with that kind of pace and an everyday job there is no way he should be on the waiver wire in any league unless it’s an eight-team league that starts three outfielders.
2. Ty Wigginton, 1B/2B/3B, Colorado Rockies | 17.6% owned
With Ian Stewart down in Triple-A to fix what’s been ailing him for the better of four years, Wigginton should see his playing time increase dramatically. He has hit 20-plus home runs four different times in his career despite the sporadic playing time so you can expect some decent power with a batting average that won’t kill you. Oh, and the position flexibility definitely doesn’t hurt.
3. Jed Lowrie, 2B/SS, Boston Red Sox | 46.7% owned
Chris talked about Lowrie’s hot start on Tuesday, but let’s reiterate why he should be owned in most mixed leagues. Lowrie isn’t seen as a power hitter, but he actually has some pop in his 6-foot-0, 180-pound frame. He hit nine home runs and 14 doubles in 197 plate appearances last year and this year he hasn’t slowed down. He actually hits lefties so well (1.400 OPS so far) that Terry Francona hit him fifth in the order, a spot normally manned by the 30-homer David Ortiz. You don’t find this kind of power in a middle infielder, which adds to his value, and as long as he’s starting regularly he should be owned.
4. Kyle Lohse, SP, St. Louis Cardinals | 27.9% owned
Another year, another Dave Duncan success story. Lohse has increased his ground ball rate to 50 percent. Check. He’s lowered his walk rate over 2.5 walks to 0.81 walks per nine. Check. Lohse has made a significant change in the way he pitches to let us know this isn’t a fluke (in this case it’s throwing his breaking stuff less and increasing the use of his changeup). Check. Seriously, when is Duncan going to get his own reality TV show where he turns a truck driver into major-league caliber starter? He needs to up his game.
5. Michael Cuddyer, 1B/OF, Minnesota Twins | 60% owned
After starting the year 3-for-28, Cuddyer has turned it on with hits in eight of his last nine games. He also mashed his first home run of the season last night and looks to be back on the right track. The Twins are currently without Joe Mauer and Justin Morneau has been out with the flu so Cuddyer will get the majority of the RBI opportunities. He is already eligible at three positions in some leagues and he could also sneak a fourth one in at second base, where he currently has four starts.
