Closing Time: Last call on Jung Ho Kang
It takes a while to get familiar with new players from overseas, but we know one thing about Pittsburgh infielder Jung Ho Kang.
Man, can he punish a hanging slider.
San Diego’s Ian Kennedy made a first-inning mistake to Kang on Thursday night, and the Pirates rookie didn’t miss it. Here’s the delicious video. I think the ball ended up in Balboa Park somewhere.
Perhaps the viral video will help Kang get more respect in Yahoo leagues. Although he’s stepped into a regular shortstop gig in May, rotoheads have been slow to add him. Kang has a tasty .341-10-3-13-3 line over the last 30 days, making him the No. 4 shortstop in 5x5 value, and yet he’s currently unowned in 75 percent of the Y.
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The Pirates were intrigued by Kang into this season, but they didn’t view him as a sure thing, either. A four-year, $11 million contract is a flyer by major-league terms. Although he was a steady All-Star in the Korean Baseball Organization, he didn’t post true monster numbers until 2014 (.356/.459/.739, 40 homers in 117 games). Jody Mercer opened the season as Pittsburgh’s starting shortstop.
Mercer is known more for his glove than his bat, but his offense has been so bad this year (.189/248/.221), the Bucs had no choice but to bench him. And while Kang’s calling card is offense, he’s been a pleasant surprise in the field, too. He's started 16 of the last 18 games, most of them at shortstop.
There are some caveats to Kang, of course. No one expects him to keep his current .308 average, especially when you consider a fortunate .367 BABIP and a pesky strikeout rate (19.8 percent). Surely teams are going to adjust to him as they get more familiar with him. Maybe Kang will be able to adjust back and keep it going, maybe not.
Nonetheless, the shortstop position has been a bucket of snakes in fantasy this year, and we shouldn't ignore someone who’s producing. Even if the average comes down significantly, Kang should be able to keep up the power and throw in the occasional stolen base. He also qualifies at third base if you need some flexibility.
Let’s fix that ownership tag, amigos.
• Billy Burns, fast. Billy Burns on the waiver wire, slow.
Oakland’s new hotshot leadoff hitter has been far better than expected through his first month of relevance, posting a .302-13-2-3-7 line. If you grade all the roto outfielders over the past 30 days, Burns checks in at No. 27 - and that’s despite a handful of days on the bench.
Outfield playing time isn’t an issue now, with Coco Crisp out indefinitely. And even if Crisp returns at some point in 2015, the A’s aren’t opposed to using Crisp and Burns together, at least some of the time. Also note Oakland is 13 games out in the AL West, off to a dreadful 18-32 start. This season could turn into a sellathon and a lab experiment, which does even more to protect Burns’s spot in the order. He turns 26 at the end of August, and the team should figure out what it has.
The homers are a surprise, of course; Burns only hit two in his entire minor-league career, covering 406 games. Thursday’s shot against CC Sabathia, while a well-struck ball, barely cleared the wall in left. Burns might go homerless the rest of the year. But the .356 OBP marks the leadoff spot nicely, and he’s running pretty much whenever he feels like (seven swipes in nine attempts).
The 12-percent ownership tag doesn’t make sense to me. Burns is a bargain in most DFS platforms as well.
•
I’ve taken some shots for my Chris Heston interest, but he keeps himself in the middle of the conversation. He had his good stuff in Thursday’s win over Atlanta, working into the eighth and posting all zeroes (4 H, 1 BB, 6 K). He’s now 5-3 on the year, with a 3.82 ERA and 1.27 WHIP.
Heston’s inconsistency has driven fantasy owners batty - he’s allowed five or more earned runs in four turns, and zero or one earned run in the other six. But let’s be fair about this: Coors Field was in play for two of the messy starts, and that’s worth eliminating from the ledger. If you take thin air off Heston’s resume, you’re left with a 2.45 ERA and 1.09 WHIP.
Heston still needs a regular path to getting lefties out - they’re slashing .318/.365/.523 against him. But I still see a pitcher worth holding, or at least someone with preferred streamer status. He draws the Pirates and Mets in his next two turns; neither team is crushing right-handed pitching thus far. Heston waits for work in 75 percent of Yahoo leagues.
• Not much has gone right for the Red Sox this year, but maybe rookie lefthander Eduardo Rodriguez can help take a sad song and make it better.
Rodriguez made his big-league debut Thursday at Texas and kept the Rangers at bay (7.2 IP, 3 H, 0 R, 2 BB, 7 K), surpassing anyone’s realistic expectations. The club didn’t promise Rodriguez an extended trial upon his recall, but I can't see how it will demote him now.
Video killed the Internet star.
Rodriguez was considered a good-not-great prospect into the year, and he was in the midst of a solid Triple-A season, though I would’t call the numbers dominant for minor-league stats (2.98 ERA, 1.10 WHIP, just under a strikeout per inning). There’s a chance he could hold mixed-league relevance, sure. If he hangs around, he’ll probably face the Twins and Orioles in his next two turns. Minnesota has been capable against southpaws this year, Baltimore has not.
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