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Opening Time: Kendall Graveman's sinker is on the rise

Opening Time: Kendall Graveman's sinker is on the rise

A lot of pundits have picked on the A’s for the Josh Donaldson trade, and you can count me in that group. But any transaction where you acquire Kendall Graveman can’t be so bad.

Graveman’s first go-round in Oakland was rocky - he had an 8.27 ERA at the end of April. But Oakland stuck with the rookie right-hander and rewards have followed: a 4-2 record over eight starts, with a 2.01 ERA and 1.19 WHIP. Graveman threw seven bagels at the Rockies on Monday, then watched the bullpen finish off the 7-1 laugher.

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Pitching to contact is a major chunk of the Graveman story. He has a modest 37 strikeouts (against 14 walks) over the 53.2 quality innings he’s given us the last two months, something that could be a deal breaker in some leagues that cap your starts or innings. He throws his sinker about half the time and induces a ground ball on 47 percent of his batted balls, obviously a good thing.

Although Graveman’s home record wasn’t very good before Monday, the roomy Oakland park should be a good fit. And Oakland’s often-spotty defense hasn’t held Graveman back yet - he’s only allowed two unearned runs for the year. His OPS-allowed moves a modest 32 points against lefties, so that hasn’t been a problem, either.

To be fair, the ERA estimators call for something over four, and it's hard to trust any pitcher who doesn't even crack six strikeotus per nine innings. But Graveman is throwing the right pitch in the right park in an ordinary division, which means I'll follow the story for a while. You also have to love his giveaway price in most daily formats.

If you feel like kicking some tires, the schedule lines up favorably. Graveman draws the Mariners on the weekend - the lowest-scoring team in the majors - though he also has to deal with Felix Hernandez on the other side. The following week, it’s a date with the Indians, currently 21st in scoring. Good work if you can get it. Graveman’s sinker is ready to go in 86 percent of Yahoo leagues.

• Sometimes I get pushback on the scoring themes of the AL East and NL East, but let’s note that those divisions are what we thought they’d be.

The AL East is far and away the highest scoring division in baseball, and has three of the top five offenses (Jays, runaway leaders, along with the Yanks and Orioles). The NL East has three bottom-five offenses (Marlins, Mets, Phillies), and things could get a lot worse with Miami now that Giancarlo Stanton is hurt. The Braves are 19th in runs (and currently without Freddie Freeman), while the Nats are eighth.

Why run uphill when you don’t have to? The Stream Police know where to go.

All right, Hamilton (William Miller)
All right, Hamilton (William Miller)

• Billy Hamilton

is one of baseball’s most frustrating players. His speed is a blast to watch (so is his defense), but that .224/.273/.295 slash makes you wonder if he should be playing in the first place. Ah, but he does that one thing so well, we have to take him seriously for fantasy purposes.

Lately, that thing he does has been going a little haywire. Hamilton started his current stolen-base run with a two-bagger on June 8; since then, he’s swiped an absurd 17 bases in 19 attempts. First base is the hardest find, but after that, the going is easy.

Hamilton collected four bags in Monday’s 11-7 win over Minnesota, en route to three runs. It was also his second leadoff assignment of the month. Perhaps the Reds will leave him there for a while, and that certainly gives Hamilton a bump in the scheme of things, crummy average or no crummy average. He’s also a mere 3K for Fan Duel players on Tuesday.

• Cesar Hernandez has a modest minor-league profile, and he didn’t hit much for the Phillies in limited time the last two years (.624 OPS). But he’ll always have June 2015 to remember, apparently.

Hernandez is working on a .328/.394/.406 month, with six steals and 12 runs over 64 at-bats. He’s picked up eight hits and four steals over the last three games. The Phillies have used him as the No. 2 hitter for a week now.

Eventually Chase Utley will come off the DL and the Phillies surely will play him over Hernandez. But in the meantime, rabbit run. Hernandez qualifies at three different infield positions for the Yahooligans, and he’s an instant download in 92 percent of the Y.