August is Here

Fantasy baseball is often a tale of two seasons at least, though it does feel in 2023 as if it's a season of eight different seasons, a lot of differences, a lot of changes. At the end of April in my dynasty league I had the highest team batting average and I had the highest team on base percentage. Here we are now in the last week of July and the tides have changed. I now have the 11th overall batting average and I have the worst on base percentage, and this has happened right before my very eyes. Into the season I would have categorized as a good bet to be strong contributors in batting average and on base names like Mike Trout Trea Turner Josh bell even Alejandro Kirk.

Good fantasy baseball owners adjust and adapt to a host of changing circumstances. But when a host of good players all go bad at the same time sometimes it's just best to pause, take a deep breath and regroup. It's never a bad idea to play the hot hands. Review the stats for the last 15 days across all batters and find out who's been on a hot streak. Edward Julian comes to mind. These type of players can help stem the tide, change your fortunes and get you back on track. In 2023 there has been a host of players at the middle infield positions that have been riding hot hands and there's a lot of turnover in this respect. Owners have given up on CJ Abrams, Ezequiel Tovar and yes, even Edward Julian. I didn't even realize until the other day that Willie Castro is actually only 26 years old but there he is sitting with 25 steals on July 30. It is not around every corner that you find 25 steals in late July that certainly has the potential to turn into a 40 steal season. I was surprised I had no competition on the waiver wire to obtain his services.

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Speculating on starting pitching is always a practice fraught with peril. In my dynasty league this season I have made trades for Carlos Rodon, Julio Urias and Yu Darvish. To say all three have been mixed would be quite an understatement. Going into his Wednesday start, Carlos Rodon had an ERA over 7, Yu Darvish has had an ERA over four and Julio Urias has had an ERA over 5. Coming into the 2023 season all three of those pictures would have been viewed as bets to make the top 25 list of starting pitchers. So what do you do now that they're in the middle of gigantic struggles? At various times in 2023 Logan Allen, Tanner Bibby and other starting pitchers have been a short term option. For me tanking is never an option, I will always compete until my last breath. This is why I found the news that Los Angeles had traded for starting pitcher Lucas Giolito to be such great news. There was a lot of common thoughts that they were going to trade their legitimate superstar starting pitcher hybrid designated hitter Ohtani. However, in the midst of being in the thick of the wild card playoff hunt they are going to give it a go. In my dynasty league we have a team very strongly entrenched in first place. Then we have three teams occupying spots 2,3 and four. After that it's been a rotation between 5th and 11th place separated by 10 points for those positions. Only one team has tanked for their season and traded players like Daulton Varsho. We'll wait for draft picks. We did cover it last week that Varsho would be losing his catcher's position status for 2024 so we understand why this move was made. Still prize fund and 4th place finish is there for the taking. We have our trade deadline set for week 22 of the season to occur sometime around August 21st. It sets the stage for an relevant run of meaningful September fantasy baseball games.

And of course the final third of the season would not be complete without a host of call ups from the minor leagues of players who are hot. One such player may be Milwaukee Brewers center fielder/right fielder. Sal Frelick. Frelick is an elite defensive outfielder, makes highlight reel plays and will energize the Brewers lineup. I would add him to my fantasy baseball team.