And Out of a Time Warp Comes…….

The news was out there for all to see and profit from. James Paxton would be making his return from injury on Friday night, May 12th in a Boston Red Sox uniform. Paxton after all had missed the entire 2022 season after making just 1 appearance in the 2021 season. During the COVID shortened season of 2020, Paxton had appeared just 5 appearances for the N.Y. Yankees. Paxton had dealt with a hamstring injury in 2023 after arm injuries had obliterated his several previous seasons. He had walked 16 batters in 23 innings of rehab starts leading up to his grand debut on Friday night. I think that if you privately spoke with Boston executives prior to his start, they would have been satisfied just to see him throw without restrictions and let loose without pain or limitations. But we got treated to something altogether different and encouraging.

We have seen this script far too many times. An athlete returns from a serious injury, and gets hurt on his first time returning to action. But Paxton flashed his old form on his return. The fastball was tracked an average of 96.3 mph on Friday night. Paxton went for 5 innings surrendering only 2 runs scored. He dominated in striking out 9 batters and only allowing 1 base on balls. The control was evident and the start was very encouraging. This was clearly unexpected and will throw FAAB bidding and waiver pick markets into a tizzy this next week. The hot waiver pick was expected to be Chicago Cub Christopher Morel after his return to the Cubs. Morel had murdered the ball down in the minor leagues since his demotion. It was looking like he would return with a fury. But as we know, fantasy baseball rosters are littered with pitching injuries here in 2023, and a number of pitchers are pitching poorly and surrendering hard contact.

James Paxton pitching a pre-season game when he was with the Seattle Mariners.

So I would expect Paxton to be a speculative grab in a good number of leagues this week, and if you were prescient enough to have already gambled on Paxton in the prior week when the world was not looking, congrats to you. But if you are grumbling that you missed out on Paxton let me point out another gamble worth speculating on. And this one could pay off very nicely for you. Mike Soroka is very close to returning to the Atlanta Braves coming off of 2 surgeries to repair a torn Achilles tendon. It has been a long and difficult rehab for Soroka for certain. And it has taken some time for him to get this close to a return. But there is Soroka knocking on the door. Do you open the door and let him in as Paul McCartney so famously sang? The cost is certainly less prohibitive to push the button this week than after he makes his debut. I am going to grab Soroka this week and I also have an interesting take on his Achilles injury.

I have listened to more than a handful of sports broadcasters talk about an Achilles tendon injury as career ending. They cite the number of athletes who never make it back from this injury and its related surgery. And I am sorry, but I prefer to label that as conventional wisdom. And if I have said it once, I have said it a thousand times, steer yourself clear of conventional wisdom. When Super Bowl 21 rolled around for the Giants and Broncos in early 1987, the conventional wisdom was the AFC’s best team defense vs. the NFC’s best team defense would produce a 21-17 final score for the winner if not lower. If everyone is betting on that outcome, there is no chance for you to win any money wagering since all of the placed bets will be so close in assumption. I confidently predicted that the Giants would defeat the Broncos 38-21. The final score was 39-20 and many of my wagers proved to be winners that day. Don’t bet against Mike Soroka if the herd is doing just that. Which leads me to David Hamilton!

Who is David Hamilton? Well, David Hamilton is a middle infielder not just returning from a ruptured Achilles tendon injury but he also entered the world of major league baseball at the very worst time. Pre-COVID with the 2020 season being reduced to only 9 weeks and 59 games played with the minor leagues shut down altogether. But what an opportunity to rehab an Achilles tendon injury. David Hamilton stole 70 bases last year at Double-AA for the Boston Red Sox. And here in 2023, he has stolen 20 bases already while hitting 7 home runs and compiling a .520 slugging percentage. He draws walks and controls the strike zone to boot. Best part? He is not on anybody’s Top 100 prospect lists. Grab him and thank me later. This is why you read my articles!