Cincinnati Reds corner infielder slash former Tiger slash former Cub slash former National (guy gets around) Jeimer Candelario continued his best Kyle Schwarber June mash-fest impression on Friday night going two for five with a two-run home run to extend the Reds lead en route to a win. Jeimer now leads all major leaguers with six homers in the month of June, slashing .346/.358/.750 with a 1.108 OPS, 2 steals and 13 RBI. After hitting two bombs on Wednesday, JC delivered a fine follow up Friday with another dinger and it’s safe to say this Candelario is lit. Or on fire? Whatever the kids are saying these days, dude is exhibiting skibidi sigma rizz for sure. Yes, that sweet molasses is getting sassier by the day. Hotter than a Joe Burrow headband, as they’d say in Cincy. The six homers in his last 10 games matches his total for the previous 50 games and he also holds an impressive 150+ wRC+ since the start of May. The Candy Man’s resurgence has coincided with the Red Hot Reds going 8-2 in their last 10 games. Are the Reds a wagon, you guys?? Not yet? Okay. I will hold off until at least the Noelvi Marte call up. But then all bets are off. I will fanboy hard. Grey told you to Jeimer BUY saying, “He could easily reach his previously season’s numbers: 22/8/.251. Oh, you thought his previous season was better?” I mean, if that’s not HYPE I don’t know what is. For the record, I never thought his previous season was better and was shocked when the Reds signed him. Regardless, after a slow start to the year Jeimer really hit his stride this past week, with four homers batting .333 over the past seven days. Whether this Reds hot potato is just hot schmotating or he’s awakened his inning Big Red Machine he needs to be owned right now while he’s hitting all the baseballs into the Great American orbit. He’s got the ballpark and the guys around him in this lineup to maintain solid value and he’s still available in most leagues. It’s about time to add him while this Candelario still burning hotter than a bowl of Skyline spaghetti chili!
Here’s what else I saw in fantasy baseball Friday night:
Hunter Greene – 5.0 IP, 3 hits, 2 ER, 5 BB, 5 K, 5th win. Sigh. This is about the type of line I hope for from Hunter at this point, and I’m okay with this. Will he ever get better? Will he ever learn to control the cheese? I don’t know but I’ll just take the win at this point, and I have come to terms with what he is and will continue to love him for it.
Freddy Peralta – 5.1 IP, 10 hits, 6 ER, BB, 6 K, 4th L, ERA at 4.38 ERA. The 10 hits allowed was a career high. Freddy has struggled since starting out hot in April even despite some really favorable matchups as of late. The Ks are there but he’s giving up way too many home runs to be reliable. This is all because I drafted him as my Ace, isn’t it? Are you happy now, God? I’m not completely down bad on Peralta just yet, but I have been crying at the gym a lot more lately.
Kyle Gibson – 7.0 IP, 2 hits, 0 ER, BB, 6 K, 5th win. As I apply my clown face makeup I admit to you I picked the Cardinals to win this division based solely on what I thought looked like one of the more reliable rotations in baseball at the time. Gibson was part of this. He’s had an easy go of it matchups wise as of late and it gets even easier next week in Miami. Yeah, I’d stream that!
Ryan Helsley – 1.0 IP, 2 BB, 2 K, SV (23). Leads the MLB in saves. Emmanual Clase is second with 21. It’s his fifth save in June, which is more than all four of my closers combined. If you’ll excuse me these pop tarts aren’t going to toast themselves in my bathtub.
MacKenzie Gore – 7.0 IP, 5 hits, ER, BB, 10 K, 6th win. The return of the MacK, Gore dominated the Mehlins in this one and has now won four of his last five starts. I had high hopes for Josiah Gray this year, so it only makes sense that Gore has the breakout. The 91/23 K/BB is top 15 in baseball and he’s shown he can deliver even against the tougher teams. He gets the DBags next week and Gore’s star has arrived. Ha-cha-cha!
Lane Thomas – 2-for-5, HR (5), 3 RBI. He’s got an eight game hitting streak with two homers and a steal in that stretch. Thomas is living life in the fast Lane!
Kyle Schwarber – 2-for-5, HR (14), 2 RBI. Just three measely home runs in June is a let down but Schwarbs has been doing everything else, starting to heat up lately batting .440 in the past week with three bombs and 8 RBI. He’s still got two weeks left to get to double digit dingers!
Ranger Suarez – 6.2 IP, 6 hits, ER, 2 BB, 6 K, ERA at 1.77. Ranger Danger met his first real match Friday night and handled it the way a Cy Young candidate should. Only Reynaldo Lopez has a better ERA, and Ranger’s got six wins and 20 more strikeouts than him. I’ll take Ranger. It’s looking like a Gil/Suarez All-Star game. Talk about star-studded!
Alec Bohm – 3-for-5, 2 RBI. Based on the box score, this appeared to be one of the more exciting games of the years, featuring two of the leagues best offenses trading runs and leads for 11 innings (ELEVEN). The game had everything, Seth, a Santander game tying home run, a rain delay, a Schwarbs go-ahead single in the 10th, a play at the plate, and Bohm ending it with a go-ahead double in the 11th inning. That was my Bill Hader Stefon impression. It’s hard to do without the voice and hand gestures. Anyway, the O’s actually intentionally walked Harper to face Bohm, who’s batting close to .400 over the past month, so hopefully they learned their lesson before their world series rematch, cause Bohm has been dynamite.
Anthony Santander – 2-for-5, HR (15). Game tying shot in the eight inning. He smoked this one, and the homer actually ended Matt Strahm’s scoreless streak, which is a nice bonus for Big Anthony. The slash ain’t pretty so I won’t even include it here but he’s hitting .288 with 6 homers and 9 RBI over the past two weeks. He’s a 35-100 hitter, folks!
Logan Allen – 5.0 IP, 3 hits, ER, 3 BB, 3 K, 7th win, ERA at 5.30. Yikes. I know the Jays are bad but how even do you have seven wins with a ERA like that. I’d say thank your bats, but Will Brennan? Really?
Kevin Gausman – 5.1 IP, 8 hits, 3 ER, 6 K, 5th L. Well, you’d be frustrated too if your team forgot how to offense.
Matt Waldron – 7.0 IP, 3 hits, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 6th, ERA at 3.66 ERA. Knuckleballers got me dancing! Waldy’s been on a tear over the past month, and now has four straight starts of six innings of more, allowing just four runs in 26.1 innings pitched. He gets a much tougher assignment in Philly next week and I’ll let someone else dance to that tune.
Sean Manaea – 5.0 IP, 4 hits, ER, BB, 7 K, 4th win. The most reliable five inning pitcher in the league!
Edwin Diaz – 1.0 IP, 1 hits, 2 K, SV (6). His first save in almost 40 days. He gave up saves for lent, perhaps? He also hit 100 mph in this one which is a promising sign for his trade value.
Jackson Merrill – 1-for-3, HR (6). Jackson Beat It into the seats for his third ding dong in two games! Don’t stop till you get enough, Jackson! Is Merrill arriving, or was he already here? He leads all rookie in hits with 65, and the nerds love his .297 xBA! He’s hitting close to .400 in the past week with the three bombs and a steal. He’s also hit safely in eight of his last nine games. The power numbers were a bit yawnstipating before this week but sure I’d add him, maybe something clicked and I’m sorry I wouldn’t want to miss Jackson.
Chris Sale – 7.0 IP, 5 hits, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, 9th win. Somehow the glass man Chris Sale is the only Brave not battling injuries this year. He’s got six quality starts in his last seven, he’s rocking a 2.98 ERA and that 99/13 K/BB makes Spencer Strider say, “How he do dat?” Sale continues his Cy Young trot to Yankee stadium next week in what should be a can’t miss match up for baseball fans, if there are any of those left.
Austin Riley – 3-for-4, HR (4), 3 RBI. Mashed this one! I think I read if we break his legs he will be easier to move? Maybe I didn’t actually read that, it was probably at TikTok I saw. Either way I’ve never broken anyone’s legs before, but here goes, on the count of three, 1….2…wait, Riley just moved! He’s alive!
Marcell Ozuna – 1-for-4, 2 runs, HR (19), 3 RBI. Only Judge and Gunnar have more dingers. And Marcell leads the NL in RBI, and is still a bigger POS than anyone else in the running.
Michael Harris II – 1-for-1. Left game in first with hamstring tightness and will head to IL. And the hits keep coming for the Braves, just not the hits they’re looking for. I fully expect my favorite Atlanta Brave, Alex Anthopoulos, to make some wunderkid move here and acquire an outfielder who will no doubt carry them to the postseason again.
Joc Pederson – 2-for-4, HR (9), SB (4). Oh, hey! Speaking of trade chips, I’m sure Roc and Joc would love nothing more than a change of scenery. I thinkAtlanta is nice in the summer? Nice and humid? Nice and sweltering? Nicer than Arizona at least? Listen, I know the slash is pretty .291/.387/.521, but if Joc Pederson is batting third you’ve failed your fans.
Ryne Nelson – 6.0 IP, 6 hits, ER, 8 K, 4th win, lowers his ERA to a sparkling 5.49. I honestly struggle with players to highlight every week lately since most of these teams are so, so bad. You know who’s worse than Ryne Nelson? The White Sox.
Hunter Brown – 7.0 IP, 5 hits, 0 ER, 9 K, 3rd win. I know the White Sox are historically bad and the Marlins look terrible and the DBacks can’t hit anything but lest we not forget how god awful this Tigers line up is. They made Hunter Brown look like Kevin Brown. They made me consider a Hunter Brown lede! Is this the start of a turn around for Brown town? Doubt. He does get the White Sox next week and I could see considering the prospect of maybe thinking about mulling over the possibility of contemplating whether or not I should review the option of potentially picking him up. I still don’t know for sure though! I remain skeptical.
Jose Abreu – Released by the Astros, who are still on the hook for his $50+ million salary. Joey Loperfido will likely be recalled to handle first base duties most nights. As for Abreu, why not sign with your Chicago White Sox? They can’t get any worse.
Tarik Skubal – 6.1 IP, 6 hits, 4 ER, BB, 2 K. This is the first underwhelming start from Skubal I think I’ve seen all season, and it wasn’t even all that bad. He’s sporting a 2.20 ERA, sub-1 WHIP and 98/16 K/BB, but most amazing is how he’s managed eight wins on this pathetic Tigers team.
Max Kepler – 3-for-4, HR (5), 4 RBI. The homer was an absolute tank, but he also played hero ball hitting the walk-off single to win it in the 10th. It’s gotta be the CityConnect unis, right? I know I hate most things, chiefly the majority of the CityConnect looks, but these ones are cool. I like the ripple, ya’ll! I’m a man of texture.
Shea Langeliers – 1-for-5, Grand Slam HR (13). First career grand salami! I want a swiiiiiiiing like Shane Langelierssss! Like Shane Langelierrrrsssssss!
Carlos Correa – 1-for-4, 2 runs. I’m only mentioning him because he’s batting .500 over the past week and I thought you should know that.
Charlie Blackmon – 3-for-4, 2 runs, HR (3). Has upped his average almost 40 points the past week. Dude had eight total bases yesterday leading off and they still lost by three. The ding dong was in garbage time but that describes most of the Rox innings this year.
Andrew McCutchen – 2-for-4, HR (9). Bryan Reynolds also homered (9). No one does Coors quite like the Cutch!
Gavin Stone – 7.0 IP, 4 hits, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K. Not someone I have a lot of confidence in but he hasn’t screwed me over yet? Regression fairies have been hovering Stone for weeks, they have no faith in the Mavs or the Oilers and prefer the season just be over with. With Bobby Miller set to return, Stone could be bumped before they have a chance to get to him regardless.
Cole Ragans – 7.0 IP, 6 hits, 3 ER, BB, 4 K. This weekend marks the return of House of Ragans. It features a 102/26 K/BB, a shaky bullpen that blows any chance you’ve got at a win, Dr. Who in a terrible blonde wig, and more CGI dragons than a Dreamworks movie. Heck yeah I’m excited!
Chris Taylor – 1-for-3, HR (1) batting .108. This is nice to see for me because I own his team shirt. The best is Ragans looks absolutely baffled he let this happen, and Taylor probably saves his job for another few weeks.
Wyatt Langford – 2-for-4, RBI, SB (5). Haven’t seen any of that touted power yet, but since returning from IL he’s hitting close to .300 and stealing bases. If he had done this at this at the beginning of the year I wouldn’t have to attend these meetings every week. It’s really cutting into my fantasy baseball management time.
Ryan Stanek – 1.0 IP, 1 hit, SV (6). If you’re as desperate for saves as I am for positive feedback, Stanek could be worth a grab, but Andres Munoz pitched a fairly dominant eighth inning and looks prime to take his gig back. Still, perhaps this a shared job situation and everyone is unhappy.
Heliot Ramos – 2-for-3, HR (7), 3 RBI. BUY! Bat out of Heliot! I told you to grab him last week! Wow, that was pretty okay advice I gave that one time!
Zack Neto – 1-for-4, 2 runs, HR (9), 2 RBI. Mickey Moniak was 3-for-5, run, 2 RBI. I keep thinking the Angels are terrible, and don’t get me wrong they are, but whenever I look at box scores I feel like they always have 7+ runs. Who is scoring all these runs? Is it Neto?
Carlos Estevez – 1.0 IP, SV (11). I mean, he’s better than all four of the closer’s I’m currently rostering.
Tyler Anderson – 5.1 IP, 5 hits, ER, 5 BB, 5 K, 6th win, ERA at 2.58. I’m mentioning him because the 2.58 ERA was shocking to me. This is where Grey would ask you to keep guessing what his ERA is because he knows you never could, but I don’t have the kind of readership to pull that off so I just told you. Seems primed for a reality check next week versus the Brewers but Angels could use a bright spot, why not Tyler Anderson?
Luis Gil – 5.0 IP, 4 hits, ER, 4 BB, 6 K, 9th win, ERA at 2.03. He gave up a double to Enmanuel Valdez in the fourth but that was his only blemish. The knock against Gil has been his wildness and that showed today with 4 BB, but he was able to escape trouble whenever he needed to. His 2.03 ERA leads the AL and 96/39 K/BB makes me want to make him a friendship bracelet. Hard to believe I added this dude off waivers and he’s blowing away the rest of my staff. If the Yankees are trying to limit his innings what’s that mean for an All-Star game start? He can face the first two batters but not Ohtani.
Brayan Bello – 4.2 IP, 6 hits, 4 ER, 3 BB, 5 K, 4th L. Despite the large contract he was gifted he continues to make the rest of Boston’s starters look better. Where’s Tanner Houck’s extension?
Alex Verdugo – 3-for-5, HR (9), 4 RBI. Dugie slashing .266/.319/.438 and on pace for career highs with nine dongs and 41 RBI and as solid as he’s been one thinks Jasson Dominguez could be even better, no? Ha, yes! Would it be cruel if the Yankees traded him to make room for Dominguez? Sure, but we fantasy baseballers would be all over it, right? JUST like Verdugo was on this baseball. We all saw this coming. Revenge game! Not sure I understand the boos as the Red Sox management literally traded him to their rival for nothing. Verdugo said he expected the fans to treat him like a Yankee, and they certainly did. That’s class, Boston. Let’s call Kyrie a new slur no one’s ever heard before on Monday night. You should be booing yourselves, or at least John Henry!
Thanks for reading! Questions? Problems? Complaints to management? Advice, small gifts or large bribes? Please leave it in the comments below. Join us next Saturday for another Friday recap as fantasy baseball continues next week, all week long!
