Astros in Fantasy: Fantasy Players of the Week- Week 19

A Look at Fantasy Baseball Through the Lens’ of an Astros Fan

Here is how I did in Week 18:

Week 18 Hitter:

George Springer– 4/30 H/AB, 2 R, 0 HR, 0 RBI, 1 SB, .133 BA

With Springer at the top of the lineup, he sets the tone for the rest of the offense. He is a big part of the reason why the Astros struggled offensively this week.

Springer had four hits in 30 at bats this week against the Toronto Blue Jays and the Texas Rangers and watched his average fall from .261 to .252. He also walked only three times and struck out 30% of the time with nine strikeouts.

To make matters worse, when he made contact, there was not much power to it. Of his four hits, Springer had only one extra-base hit, a double, on August 3rd against the Blue Jays.

Even though he is not a prototypical leadoff hitter, Springer is the table setter that the Astros need to get their offense going as he has shown in the past. If he struggles, the entire offense is going to struggle. If the Astros want to make up any ground in the AL West, Springer is going to have to step up and provide that game changing offense that fans have expected to see from him leading off.

Week 18 Pitcher:

Lance McCullers– 4.2 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, 0 W, 3.86 ERA, 1.71 WHIP

Going into his August 2nd start against the Blue Jays, McCullers was on a roll. In his previous three starts, he threw 19.1 innings and gave up only three earned runs on 13 hits and ten walks. He also struck out 28 in that span. In those three starts, his ERA fell from 3.79 to 3.18 with a 2.08 ERA in July.

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McCullers looked to continue that success in his first start of August. However, the injury bug caught up to McCullers yet again. He had to be pulled after 4.2 innings of work and was later diagnosed with a mild elbow sprain. He is now on the 15-day disabled list and, according to ESPN.com, is not likely to come back until the later end of August.

In his 4.2 innings of work, he was not as dominant, but it seemed like a normal McCullers start. He gave up two earned runs on seven hits and one walk in the eventual 2-1 Blue Jays win. He also struck out six.

What the Astros and fantasy owners are going to miss about McCullers in August is his spectacular strikeout numbers. In his 81 innings pitched this season, he has struck out 106 batters. This equals out his not so good season WHIP of 1.54.

The unfortunate thing for McCullers is the timing of this injury. Each month’s stats were improved from the last, and he was looking at taking over the “ace” role in 2016 as Dallas Keuchel continues to struggle. Look for McCullers to come back with a vengeance in 2017 with the rest of 2016 up in the air.

Next: Now on to Week 19

Week 19 Hitter:

Alex Bregman– (Owned in 26.1% of ESPN Fantasy leagues)

To say Bregman’s major league debut was a bit of a let down for fantasy owners may be an understatement. The highly touted prospect started his career with a 0-18 skid that had many fantasy owners worried.

That skid continued. Going into the series against the Texas Rangers this past weekend, Bregman had only two hits in his 35 major leagues at-bats. With the impressive minor league bat not translating to the major league game, Bregman has had a rough transition into the major leagues.

This weekend, something clicked for Bregman. In his 13 at bats against the Rangers, Bregman had four hits, including two doubles, and scored his first two career runs and RBIs.

With Marwin Gonzalez not playing much because of a hand injury, Bregman has been playing despite his struggles. Even though he may not be providing the fantasy owners the numbers to give them a reason why they stashed him on their bench from draft day to now, this is the best thing that could have happened for Bregman. Although it rarely happens on a playoff team, as the Astros have figured out, they have allowed Bregman to figure out major league pitching despite it hurting the entire offense. This is what A.J. Reed needed during his struggles, but instead he was sent down to Triple-A Fresno.

These next two series, as is every series for the next couple of weeks for the Astros, is a make or break series for their playoff hopes. If A.J. Hinch continues to put Bregman near the top of the lineup, he has the faith to be a complement table-setter to the struggling Springer.

Hopefully, this is not the best the Astros will see out of Bregman. He did show the bat they have expected of him in short spurts during the Rangers series. Although Bregman may not be a fantasy start every day, especially during the weekend series in Toronto, with the momentum of the Rangers series, hopefully, he has turned into a viable offensive option for the Astros and fantasy owners this week.

Next: Week 19 Pitcher