WHO IS TOMMY JOSEPH?
Here is what MLB.com said about the situation at first base with the Phillies. “Tommy Joseph not only has become the Phillies' first baseman recently, he has also become the Scorpion.” Since Ryan Howard was benched six games ago, Joseph has hit .375 with a double, two homers, and three RBI and folks hearts are a flutter with excitement in the fantasy game. "The whole thing is delicate," Phillies manager Pete Mackanin said. "A lot of it concerns me. I'm sure [Howard is] not happy with the position he's in. I'm not happy about it. We've got to do something at some point, see what happens. It's not a lot of fun." So Joseph is the new first baseman for the Phillies. Who is Tommy Joseph who has seemingly replaced a legend in Philly?
A second round draft pick by the Giants in 2009, Joseph has a mere 19 games of big league work under his belt despite being just under a month from his 25th birthday. Swinging right-handed, standing 6’1” and weighing in at about 250 lbs, he’s no small fella. In 19 games this season with the Phillies he’s hit .311 with a .903 OPS as he’s powered five balls into the seats to get everyone excited. Well…
Joseph has 16 strikeouts in 61 at-bats, a passable number in this day and age. However, it’s not the strikeouts that concern me. What has my attention is the walk total of – one. In 19 games Joseph has walked once. That’s flat out pathetic. Is that something he also displayed in the minors, and inability to take a walk? Over the course of 500 minor league games Joseph walked 116 times. Certainly a much better pace than what we’ve seen in the majors but that still equates to a 35 walks over the course of 150 games. Yikes. That lack of patience likely signals doom for his batting average outlook. Just look at his minor league work which shows 500 games with a .255 mark. That’s simply terrible. If you’re a .255 hitter in the minors you aren’t likely to hit even .255 at the big league level.
Per 150 games in the minors Joseph averaged 21 homers. Yippee.
Here are Joseph’s games played totals by the way, and they are a bit scary.
2010: 117 games
2011: 127 games
2012: 108 games
2013: 36 games
2014: 27 games
2015: 58 games
2016: 46 games
Look at that list again. Each of the past three seasons Joseph has failed to reach 60 games played. In 2013 he dealt with concussion related symptoms. In 2014 dealt with a wrist issue that eventually required surgery. In 2015 he deal with concussion related symptoms yet again. The concussions might be a thing of the past since he’s not catching, but there is still a history of issue here when it comes to his noggin’.
Do you know how many games Joseph has played at Triple-A? Try 93 out of 500 games. That’s a pretty small amount for a guy who was drafted in 2009, ain’t it? As for his work there, does anyone realize that Joseph’s slash line at Triple-A last season was awful at .193/.220/.301. He was locked in at Triple-A this season going .347/.370/.611 with six homers in 27 games, but he simply never, ever looked like that guy before.
Joseph just isn’t a very good hitter, he doesn’t have great power, and he never walks or steals a base. There are plenty of guys like that already on your waiver-wire. Think Mark Trumbo folks. Not the Trumbo we’re seeing this year, but the guy we saw the last two seasons who really struggled to produce when you’re thinking Joseph. He will run into the baseball and power the ball, but his game is not refined. His average will be lucky to be any better than the league average, and as we’ve seen his OBP likely will be worse than the league average.
So why does anyone care…? Ah, the magic question. If you’re using Joseph at first base things aren’t great. But, if he qualifies at catcher, then you’re in the money. He hasn’t played a game at catcher this season and only appeared at catcher 19 times last season so he shouldn’t qualifier there, but we know that not all providers follow the 20-game rule. He has played catcher more than any other position in the minors, but he still shouldn’t qualify there based upon his usage last year and this one. IF he does qualify as a backstop he’s a catcher two option in a mixed league just for the power and his spot in the daily lineup, easy. He could even sneak into catcher one status if he does indeed play on a daily basis at first. If he’s only eligible at first base then I would suggest you don’t look his way unless (A) you’re in an NL-only league, (B) playing DFS or (C) you like to play the ‘I roll my lineup over every two weeks’ type.
DFS DIAMONDS
*The following list of players are guys that Ray recommends as daily plays.
CATCHER: Evan Gattis is opposed by Cole Hamels a man who he is batting .350 with three homers against. Gattis has three homers and seven RBI in four games and four homers and nine RBI his last six outings.
FIRST BASE: Eric Hosmer is batting .360 with a .989 OPS against righties. He’s facing Ubaldo Jimenez batting .345 with a 1.043 OPS, including two homers, in 29 at-bats. Hosmer has also walked four times in five games, and the walks are the Ubaldo special.
SECOND BASE: Daniel Murphy has five runs scored his last four games. He’s hit three homers with seven RBI over six games. He’s batting .366 with a 1.047 OPS on the road this season and he’s also batting .396/.429/.675 against righties. He’s hit .368 against Mat Latos over 18 at0-bats.
THIRD BASE: Yunel Escobar has a hit in 4-straight games. He’s also scored a run in each of those tames. He’s driven in four runs in those four games. He takes on Michael Pineda hitting .467 with two homers and six RBI in just 15 at-bats.
SHORTSTOP: Corey Seager has been about the best hitter in baseball the past week. In seven games he’s hit .385-6-11-7 with a 1.077 OPS and .594 wOBA. He faces Eddie Butler, he of the 5.65 ERA and .290 BAA.
OUTFIELD: Ryan Rua doesn’t get much hype, but he’s due it today. Rua has hit .385/.478/.538 against lefties this season, tremendous work, and he takes on the struggling Dallas Keuchel whom he has produced five hits in 10 previous at-bats against.
OUTFIELD: Lefties are crushing Adam Conley mercilessly with a .367/.404/.439 line this season. That means we’re taking a shot on uber cheap, shot in the dark Max Kepler who has a hit in three of his last four games (the one game without a hit he had two walks).
OUTFIELD: Conor Gillaspie is in a tailspin, but there is a chance he plays Tuesday. Here is why. (1) Hunter Pence left a whole in the outfield. (2) Conor has a 1.091 OPS in eight games against the Red Sox. (3) Conor has a .417 average, homer and six RBI in 24 at-bats against Rick Porcello. It’s a battle of logic vs. BvP!
Ray Flowers can be heard Monday through Friday, 7 PM EDT and Friday on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87). You can also hear Ray Sunday nights at 7 PM on the channel talking fantasy sports. Follow Ray’s work at Fantasy Alarm and on Twitter (@baseballguys).