As you look toward these final few weeks of the baseball regular season and continue to maneuver towards the top of your fanatsy standings, maintaining focus on what it will take to reach that brass ring is imperative.
You see the final points total you need to achieve. You see the categories in which you need to improve. But do you see all the best routes to get there? They tell you to see the forest through the trees, but sometimes, pinpointing the specifics and micromanagement is the best way to get through.
Pitching always is toughest to lock down at this time of year. There are too many youngsters getting their shot, and trusting in them and the match-ups they face can be as tough as rolling double nickels when you need them most. Hitting, on the other hand, can be a veritable gold mine here in September. You just need to know where to set up shop and dig.
It is all about who is swinging the hot bat and who is running rampant on the bases. Though individual performances are highlighted in the news, rarely do overall team performances get the attention they deserve, outside of the Indians and their “Major League”-esque hot streak.
Did you know the White Sox, sellers since the All-Star break, are the hottest hitting team over the last week? Stronger totals than that of the Tribe, too. Or how about the Twins, the A’s and the Phillies? Even the Mariners have posted better power numbers than Cleveland.
On the South Side of Chicago, while everyone stares at Jose Abreu and Yoan Moncada, few people have noticed that Yolmer Sanchez is batting .364 with three home runs, seven RBIs, 12 runs scored and three stolen bases over the past two weeks. Or that Tim Anderson has five steals in that span.
In Minnesota, it is Eduardo Escobar leading the way with six home runs and 14 RBIs over the past two weeks, and Jorge Polanco and Robbie Grossman also are on fire. Eddie Rosario, unowned all year, has three homers and four steals in his past 12 games.
Names like Chad Pinder and Guillermo Heredia aren’t sexy, but they’re getting the job done. Take a page out of “Major League” and see just how a hodge-podge of no-names can be the difference maker in your league. Marquee names don’t win fantasy championships. Stats do.
Howard Bender is the VP of operations and head of content at FantasyAlarm.com. Follow him on Twitter @rotobuzzguy and catch him on the “Fantasy Alarm Radio Show” on the SiriusXM fantasy sports channel weekdays from 4-6 p.m.