Phillip Hughes - 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (2). That's much better. Hughes bounced back from his terrible first start after spending a few months on the DL with a bigtime performance against a good Cleveland offense. He'll be slightly inconsistent as with most rookies, but his arm is fresh for the stretch run and he'll be a valuable asset in mixed leagues for the rest of the year.
Fausto Carmona - 7 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 2 K. Not a bad start versus the Yankees. This was the first time he's allowed more than 3 ER over his past 8 starts as his surprising season continues. Still, with the 1.27 WHIP and only 89 K in 151 2/3 IP, his 3.26 ERA stands to rise.
Joba Chamberlain - 2 IP, 4 K. Another bigtime Yankees pitching prospect has been promoted, although he's being limited to the bullpen for now and probably won't have fantasy value. I post this because with Clemens serving his suspension over a 5 day stretch in which the Yankees play 5 games, they'll need an extra starter. If they call on Chamberlain to start one of those games, give him strong consideration for a spot start.
Joe Blanton - 4 IP, 7 H, 9 ER, 1 BB, 2 K. Enough is enough. He had a strong April, mediocre May, an amazing June, but he's working on turning in his 2nd straight horrendous month. There's probably a lack of mixed league rotation candidates on your waiver wire, so the best bet here is probably to keep him on the bench versus strong offenses.
Jack Cust - 2/5, 2 R, 7 RBI, HR (18). He's still only hitting .265, and he's on a 75 R pace over an entire season, but he's providing very good value in HR and RBI. You could do worse for a 3rd OF, so continue using him there if you have. Just keep in mind you have to balance out the fact he's really only contributing to two catagories.
Daisuke Matsuzaka - 7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 7 K. Another strong performance, although he yet against displayed command problems. He was able to work around those, but the bullpen blew up and relinquished the lead. His stuff and K rate allows him to combat the random control issues.
Erik Bedard - 7 2/3 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 7 K. Another great outing from Bedard, especially against the Red Sox. He's really taken a big step forward this year and has elevated himself into the role as a fantasy ace. He's been able to battle through a mediocre offense and a shaky bullpen to post a solid win total.
Eric Gagne - 1/3 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 1 BB. He has been horrible since being traded to the Red Sox, allowing 9 H, 2 BB, 6 ER in only 3 1/3 IP. Given he's not closing, he's well worth benching until he gets himself straigthened out.
Billy Wagner - 1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, BS (2). 2's galore. He hadn't allowed a run since June 13th, almost 2 months prior. Wagner continues to be an elite closer who just had an offnight last evening.
Carlos Beltran - 1/3, 1 R, 3 RBI, HR (20). Beltran belted his 20th HR in his return last night, but it appears that he'll only play in games where he can bat left-handed. The strained oblique that landed him on the DL still causes him pain when batting right-handed, so he'll be platooned for now. Make sure to have an extra OF on hand so that you can take him out in games where he doesn't start.
Hanley Ramirez - 2/4, 1 R, 2 RBI, 3 SB (36). This included 2 steals of 3rd base. Han-Ram is continuing his assault on major league pitching and is working his way into a early-middle 1st round pick in redraft leagues next year. He's among the top 4-5 keepers in all of fantasy baseball.
David Weathers - 2/3 IP, 1 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 1 K. He's actually pitched very well in closing situations this year, but his owners will have to put up with outings like this in non-save situations. It's blowups like these that separate closers into different tiers as Weathers will be more vulnerable to outings like these.
Ken Griffey Jr. - 2/4, 2 R, 1 RBI, HR (27). 10 HR away from 600. He's really regressed in the 2nd half so far as his AVG has dropped down to .273 on the season. He should get hot again, but it's possible that he's just not a .290 hitter anymore. He should have been dealt a while ago due to injury concerns, but if you've hung onto him, he'll maintain solid power numbers while healthy, but AVG could be a problem.
Chuck James - 6 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 5 K. One bad inning. A pitcher like James probably shouldn't be used against Philly on the road, but he actually pitched pretty well. He's not a mixed league starter that can be plugged in regardless of opponent.
Cole Hamels - 7 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, W (13). Solid run support added another win to Hamels' total, who wasn't on his A game judging from the K total, but he still limited the baserunners and ended up with a solid start.
Tom Gordon - 1 IP, 1 BB, SV (6). Don't read too much into this...Myers just needed a night off. He might pick up a couple more saves this season, and thanks to both that and Myers' fragile health, he's well worth owning.
David Bush - 6 IP, 11 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 3 K. Against Houston? I'm off the bandwagon again. If he can't consistently pitch well against softer offenses, he's not worth playing matchups with.
J.J. Hardy - 1/5, 1 R, 1 RBI, HR (19). His first HR since June. He's turned into trash, so I hope he's still not on your team. It's a bit confusing as he came up through the Milwaukee system as a solid power prospect, and while he was definitely playing over his head the first two months, his complete collapse has lasted longer than anticipated.
Brad Penny - 7 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 6 K. He's still been a quality start machine in the 2nd half, but this was the first outing in 5 starts that he hadn't allowed 3 ER. His 2.54 ERA is due for a correction as his WHIP sits at 1.20, but the .241 BAA is very good and shows how well he's pitching.
Adam Wainwright - 9 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K. Another great start from Wainwright, but unfortunately he was outdueled by Brad Penny last night.
Shaun Marcum - 6 2/3 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, W (9). He's still rolling on an improbable hot streak, mowing down the Royals last night with ease. Continue riding out the hot streak.
Gil Meche - 5 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K. He pitched pretty well last night, but was incredibly inefficient, needing 101 pitches to complete 5 innings, preventing him from pitching deeper into the ballgame.
Vernon Wells - 2/4, 2 RBI, SB (8). Wells continues his modest improvement in the 2nd half, although some more power would be nice.
Javier Vazquez - 7 IP, 9 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, W (10). A little sloppy with the hits allowed, but he did a good job stranding baserunners and picked up his 10th win of the season. He's won 6 of his last 8 starts.
C.J. Wilson - 1 1/3 IP, 1 K, SV (4). 4/4 since Gagne left. These save situations are still involving key matchups against lefties, so Wilson is continuing to get save opportunities. We still haven't see Benoit in the 8th and Wilson in the 9th, so there's still not clear-cut pecking order despite the save chances saying otherwise.
Jacque Jones - 3/5, 1 R, 1 RBI, HR (3), SB (3). A great night for Jones, and considering how hot he is at the plate in August (.444, 10 RBI in 9 games), he's worth picking up for the short term.
Conor Jackson - 3/3, 2 R, 4 RBI, 2 HR (9), SB (2). Big night for Jackson, but he just hasn't become the hitter that he's been projected to be yet. He has 20-25 HR power, but should hit well over .300 once he matures. He'll be a lower tier 1B, but he's not there yet as his .272 AVG proves.
Scott Baker - 5 1/3 IP, 9 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 4 K. The Angels are not a good matchup for fringe mixed league starters as they've hit the ball well all year. Baker was on quite a roll, so a bad outing against a very good offense should not be held against him. If anything, it proves that Baker should not be used against elite offenses.
Kelvim Escobar - 6 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 5 BB, 4 K, W (12). 12 walks in his last two outings. That's a source of concern for the oft-injured pitcher, although he's done an incredible job of avoiding major damage by only allowing 3 ER in that span.
Saturday, August 11, 2007
Friday, August 10, 2007
Atlanta Braves Closing Situation (Dotel To The DL)
Bob Wickman - Wickman's MRI on his forearm came back clean, and he's returned to the bullpen tonight in the closer's role. It looks like he's fine for now.
Octavio Dotel - The Atlanta Braves will place 8th inning man Dotel on the DL with a sore shoulder. Given how badly he's pitched since the Braves acquired him, it makes sense that he was hurting given how good he is when healthy. At least it's not his elbow, but the severity of the injury probably won't be known for a while. He's droppable if you don't have a DL spot.
Rafael Soriano - Soriano has been very disappointing, posting a 3.83 ERA which is way out of line given his 0.97 WHIP, even if his K rate has gone down a bit with 44 K in 51 2/3 IP. He has given up 10 HR already, which is the likely culprit. He will return to the primary setup man in Atlanta with Dotel headed to the DL, and is worth owning given Wickman's advanced age, mediocre performance, and fragile health.
Octavio Dotel - The Atlanta Braves will place 8th inning man Dotel on the DL with a sore shoulder. Given how badly he's pitched since the Braves acquired him, it makes sense that he was hurting given how good he is when healthy. At least it's not his elbow, but the severity of the injury probably won't be known for a while. He's droppable if you don't have a DL spot.
Rafael Soriano - Soriano has been very disappointing, posting a 3.83 ERA which is way out of line given his 0.97 WHIP, even if his K rate has gone down a bit with 44 K in 51 2/3 IP. He has given up 10 HR already, which is the likely culprit. He will return to the primary setup man in Atlanta with Dotel headed to the DL, and is worth owning given Wickman's advanced age, mediocre performance, and fragile health.
Carlos Beltran Activated From The DL
The New York Mets activated CF Carlos Beltran from the DL this evening.
This was a surprise. It was expected that he'd be back sometime next week, but apparently he's feeling good enough to return tonight. He had been out with strained oblique, so we hope that he didn't rush back and end up back on the DL.
Fantasy Impact: He's starting in CF tonight, so throw him back in there if you have an open spot.
This was a surprise. It was expected that he'd be back sometime next week, but apparently he's feeling good enough to return tonight. He had been out with strained oblique, so we hope that he didn't rush back and end up back on the DL.
Fantasy Impact: He's starting in CF tonight, so throw him back in there if you have an open spot.
Bengals RB Kenny Irons Tears ACL
Cincinnati Bengals Kenny Irons tore his ACL in practice yesterday.
This is a devastating injury to the Bengals. Chris Perry was drafted to be a compliment to Rudi Johnson back in 2004, but despite his talent, he hasn't been able to stay on the field with a myriad of injuries. Perry is a very likely candidate to start the year on PUP with complications stemming from his broken leg/ankle that ended his 2006 season prematurely. Kenny Irons was drafted this year specifically to become the future at the RB position behind Rudi Johnson due to Chris Perry's injuries, but he'll have to wait a year.
Fantasy Impact: Irons can be dropped in all non-dynasty leagues. If you drafted him as Rudi's handcuff, replace him with Kenny Watson on your roster. Watson has been effective when he has been on the field, and he should become a decent alternative should Rudi get hurt this year. Watson is already accomplished in the passing game, currently being the 3rd down back in Cincinnati to compliment Rudi, so that will give him extra value in PPR leagues.
Look for Cincy to add a 3rd RB to their roster. That RB's skills might determine exactly what value Watson will have if Rudi gets hurt.
This is a devastating injury to the Bengals. Chris Perry was drafted to be a compliment to Rudi Johnson back in 2004, but despite his talent, he hasn't been able to stay on the field with a myriad of injuries. Perry is a very likely candidate to start the year on PUP with complications stemming from his broken leg/ankle that ended his 2006 season prematurely. Kenny Irons was drafted this year specifically to become the future at the RB position behind Rudi Johnson due to Chris Perry's injuries, but he'll have to wait a year.
Fantasy Impact: Irons can be dropped in all non-dynasty leagues. If you drafted him as Rudi's handcuff, replace him with Kenny Watson on your roster. Watson has been effective when he has been on the field, and he should become a decent alternative should Rudi get hurt this year. Watson is already accomplished in the passing game, currently being the 3rd down back in Cincinnati to compliment Rudi, so that will give him extra value in PPR leagues.
Look for Cincy to add a 3rd RB to their roster. That RB's skills might determine exactly what value Watson will have if Rudi gets hurt.
Thursday Recap: Bombderman
Tim Hudson - 6 IP, 9 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, W (13). Hudson was not at his best last night, but he pitched he pitched well enough to pick up the win thanks to solid offensive support. The bullpen tried their best to blow it last night, but Willie Harris made an amazing catch at the wall on Delgado's would-be game-tying HR to preserve the win.
Oscar Villarreal - 2/3 IP, SV (1). Thanks to Wickman heading in for an MRI on his sore forearm, Cox turned to Villarreal last night when Tyler Yates turned a 4 run lead into a 1 run lead. I'm not sure why Cox went to him over Soriano and Dotel, but I would have to consider Dotel the favorite for saves if Wickman misses time. Keep an eye on the next save opportunity in Atlanta if Wickman remains sidelined.
John Maine - 5 1/3 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 4 K. Things are evening out for Maine. He's given up 4 ER or more in 4 of his last 6 outings, and the walks he was getting away with earlier in the season are coming back to haunt him now. His current 3.53 ERA is a better match for his 1.19 WHIP, and he's going to have to regain his good control to return to form. He'll still remain a mixed league asset over the rest of the year.
David Wright - 3/5, 1 R, 3 RBI, HR (20). Wright needs 8 HR over the rest of the year to set a career high. He should come awfully close, and given his excellent SB rate this year, he's turning in his best fantasy season to date.
Mark Teixeira - 2/5, 2 R, 1 RBI, HR (17). Teixeira is up to .286 with 4 HR and 10 RBI in 8 games since joining the Braves, so he's really helping out fantasy teams despite the ballpark switch. Let's hope it continues.
Scott Kazmir - 6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, W (9). Kazmir is back. He shut down the powerful Tigers offense last night, and has turned in 6 straight solid performances. Consider him a great 2nd SP while he's pitching like this.
Jeremy Bonderman - 6 IP, 10 H, 7 ER, 3 BB, 4 K. Bonderman continues his horrible 2nd half by getting lit up by the Devil Rays. There's absolute no excuse for why this happens every single 2nd half, and he's now up to a 4.75 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP. He's allowed 28 ER over his last 22 1/3 IP. Bench him.
Gary Sheffield - He missed a few days with a shoulder problem, and he's only hitting .238 with 2 HR and 9 RBI in 21 games since the AS break. There's no doubt that he's struggling because of the injury, so owners can't do much other than hope he starts feeling better soon. If you're in a playoff race, you might think about dealing him and his injury concerns to get a more reliable stud OF in return, if possible.
Carl Crawford - 3/4, 3 R, 2 RBI, HR (10), SB (37). Monster game from Crawford who has been on fire since the AS break, hitting .433 with 4 HR, 11 RBI, 22 R, and 14 SB in 24 games. He's justifying the 1st round pricetag with his overall numbers as he's now hitting .316. He's often underrated on draft day given the fact that he's elite in SB, but still very solid in the other 4 major hitting catagories.
Matt Garza - 6 2/3 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K. Another dominant outing from Garza, this one coming against the Royals. Unfortunately the run he allowed was the only run scored all game, so he was denied a victory. Given the offensive struggles the Twins are having right now, Garza remains a weak bet in the W catagory. He has a 1.70 ERA, but is 1-3.
Joakim Soria - 1 1/3 IP, 1 K, SV (12). Soria again has been very good since moving back to the closer's role, so consider him a solid 2nd closer in fantasy leagues over the rest of the season.
Felipe Lopez - He's hitting .283 with 4 HR, 13 RBI, 14 R, and 6 SB since the AS break. It very well could just be a hot streak, or perhaps it's Lopez returning to form. He's worth putting on your bench as a backup to find out. He's eligible at both 2B and SS in Yahoo, giving him extra value there.
Corey Patterson - 1/5, 1 R, 1 RBI, SB (31). Patterson has really taken to the 2nd spot in the order, hitting .314 with 2 HR, 10 RBI, 16 R, and 14 SB in 24 games up there. He's a bigtime speed threat with solid power and decent run production as he's recaptured his 2006 form in the 2nd half so far. He's easily a top 30 OF while hitting like this.
Chris Young - 6 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 5 BB, 5 K. Young was understandably rusty after returning from a strained oblique last night. He didn't take long to return, so one has to wonder if he's truly 100%. Keep an eye on him over his next start or two.
Mark Buehrle - 4 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 2 K. Buehrle had a rough time against the Cleveland offense last night. His ERA currently sits at 3.34, which is a bit more reasonable for him. If I had to guess, he'll have another one of these type of outings again this year, but unfortunately it's anyone's guess as to when. His owners have definitely reaped the benefits of rebound season from him so far.
Ted Lilly - 6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 5 BB, 5 K, W (13). His curveball was all over the place last night, but he managed to limit the damage and was again given excellent run support to pick up his 13th win. Lilly is definitely enjoying his finest professional season to date, posting a 3.51 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP thus far. The league switch has been kind to him.
Ian Snell - 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 7 K. Much better. This is the first time Snell has allowed less than 3 ER over his past 7 starts. He holds questionable value moving forward as he might be wearing down.
Eric Byrnes - 1/3, 1 R, SB (30). Byrnes has joined the 30 SB club for the first time this season. He's really picked up the SB pace, swiping 13 of his 30 bases in 64 less games in the 2nd half so far. The green light on the basepaths only increases his already solid value.
Oscar Villarreal - 2/3 IP, SV (1). Thanks to Wickman heading in for an MRI on his sore forearm, Cox turned to Villarreal last night when Tyler Yates turned a 4 run lead into a 1 run lead. I'm not sure why Cox went to him over Soriano and Dotel, but I would have to consider Dotel the favorite for saves if Wickman misses time. Keep an eye on the next save opportunity in Atlanta if Wickman remains sidelined.
John Maine - 5 1/3 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 4 K. Things are evening out for Maine. He's given up 4 ER or more in 4 of his last 6 outings, and the walks he was getting away with earlier in the season are coming back to haunt him now. His current 3.53 ERA is a better match for his 1.19 WHIP, and he's going to have to regain his good control to return to form. He'll still remain a mixed league asset over the rest of the year.
David Wright - 3/5, 1 R, 3 RBI, HR (20). Wright needs 8 HR over the rest of the year to set a career high. He should come awfully close, and given his excellent SB rate this year, he's turning in his best fantasy season to date.
Mark Teixeira - 2/5, 2 R, 1 RBI, HR (17). Teixeira is up to .286 with 4 HR and 10 RBI in 8 games since joining the Braves, so he's really helping out fantasy teams despite the ballpark switch. Let's hope it continues.
Scott Kazmir - 6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K, W (9). Kazmir is back. He shut down the powerful Tigers offense last night, and has turned in 6 straight solid performances. Consider him a great 2nd SP while he's pitching like this.
Jeremy Bonderman - 6 IP, 10 H, 7 ER, 3 BB, 4 K. Bonderman continues his horrible 2nd half by getting lit up by the Devil Rays. There's absolute no excuse for why this happens every single 2nd half, and he's now up to a 4.75 ERA and a 1.32 WHIP. He's allowed 28 ER over his last 22 1/3 IP. Bench him.
Gary Sheffield - He missed a few days with a shoulder problem, and he's only hitting .238 with 2 HR and 9 RBI in 21 games since the AS break. There's no doubt that he's struggling because of the injury, so owners can't do much other than hope he starts feeling better soon. If you're in a playoff race, you might think about dealing him and his injury concerns to get a more reliable stud OF in return, if possible.
Carl Crawford - 3/4, 3 R, 2 RBI, HR (10), SB (37). Monster game from Crawford who has been on fire since the AS break, hitting .433 with 4 HR, 11 RBI, 22 R, and 14 SB in 24 games. He's justifying the 1st round pricetag with his overall numbers as he's now hitting .316. He's often underrated on draft day given the fact that he's elite in SB, but still very solid in the other 4 major hitting catagories.
Matt Garza - 6 2/3 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K. Another dominant outing from Garza, this one coming against the Royals. Unfortunately the run he allowed was the only run scored all game, so he was denied a victory. Given the offensive struggles the Twins are having right now, Garza remains a weak bet in the W catagory. He has a 1.70 ERA, but is 1-3.
Joakim Soria - 1 1/3 IP, 1 K, SV (12). Soria again has been very good since moving back to the closer's role, so consider him a solid 2nd closer in fantasy leagues over the rest of the season.
Felipe Lopez - He's hitting .283 with 4 HR, 13 RBI, 14 R, and 6 SB since the AS break. It very well could just be a hot streak, or perhaps it's Lopez returning to form. He's worth putting on your bench as a backup to find out. He's eligible at both 2B and SS in Yahoo, giving him extra value there.
Corey Patterson - 1/5, 1 R, 1 RBI, SB (31). Patterson has really taken to the 2nd spot in the order, hitting .314 with 2 HR, 10 RBI, 16 R, and 14 SB in 24 games up there. He's a bigtime speed threat with solid power and decent run production as he's recaptured his 2006 form in the 2nd half so far. He's easily a top 30 OF while hitting like this.
Chris Young - 6 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 5 BB, 5 K. Young was understandably rusty after returning from a strained oblique last night. He didn't take long to return, so one has to wonder if he's truly 100%. Keep an eye on him over his next start or two.
Mark Buehrle - 4 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 2 K. Buehrle had a rough time against the Cleveland offense last night. His ERA currently sits at 3.34, which is a bit more reasonable for him. If I had to guess, he'll have another one of these type of outings again this year, but unfortunately it's anyone's guess as to when. His owners have definitely reaped the benefits of rebound season from him so far.
Ted Lilly - 6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 5 BB, 5 K, W (13). His curveball was all over the place last night, but he managed to limit the damage and was again given excellent run support to pick up his 13th win. Lilly is definitely enjoying his finest professional season to date, posting a 3.51 ERA and a 1.14 WHIP thus far. The league switch has been kind to him.
Ian Snell - 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 7 K. Much better. This is the first time Snell has allowed less than 3 ER over his past 7 starts. He holds questionable value moving forward as he might be wearing down.
Eric Byrnes - 1/3, 1 R, SB (30). Byrnes has joined the 30 SB club for the first time this season. He's really picked up the SB pace, swiping 13 of his 30 bases in 64 less games in the 2nd half so far. The green light on the basepaths only increases his already solid value.
Thursday, August 9, 2007
Wednesday's Roundup: Tejada's 1000th (No, Not HR)
Yovani Gallardo - 2 2/3 IP, 12 H, 11 ER, 3 BB, 1 K. Doesn't get much uglier than this. Despite Gallardo falling apart in the 2nd inning, he was left in to give up 7 runs in the frame, and then brought back out in the 3rd to give up 3 more. Just horrible management by the Brewers who are slowly falling apart. This is just a random blowup, and the fact that it came at the hands of the surging Rockies in Coors is nothing to be ashamed of. That being said, he's a young kid, and it'll be interesting to see how he bounces back from this.
Jeff Francis - 5 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, W (13). Not a good outing from Francis, but thanks to the offensive explosion, he cruised to an easy win. He wasn't efficient at all, but the Brewers are still a pretty tough matchup for pitchers.
Troy Tulowitski - 4/5, 4 R, 3 RBI, HR (14). He's starting to catch fire again, going 6/9 in his last two games with 5 R, 2 HR, and 4 RBI. He's been moved up to the 2nd spot with Tavares hurt again, and will maintain bigtime production in the R catagory ahead of Holliday/Helton/Atkins as long as he's getting on base.
Garrett Atkins - 4/4, 1 R, 6 RBI. Atkins is on fire in August, hitting .531 with 2 HR, 18 RBI, and 6 R in only 8 games. He's turned his season around in a big way since May and remains among in the 2nd tier of 3B behind A-Rod/Wright/Cabrera.
James Shields - 7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 9 K, W (9). A very impressive outing against the powerful Tigers lineup from Shields, who was obliterated in the month of July for a 6.62 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP. He has looked better this month and is hopefully settling back down, but his schedule is still not favorable at all down the stretch. I'd use him to try to make a deadline deal, hoping that someone thinks he'll return to his April/May form.
Delmon Young - Put him on your undervalued list for next year. Young has been a pretty big disappointment after putting up huge numbers to close 2006. He's been on fire since the AS break by hitting .356, but with 0 HR, 11 RBI, and 1 SB in that same timeframe, he hasn't been helping fantasy teams very much. He's due to breakout at some point with his 40 HR power potential and still could put up a huge rest of the season, but it looks like he's still acclimating to major league pitching and he might not make a legit fantasy splash until next year.
Felix Hernandez - 6 2/3 IP, 10 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, W (8). Not a great start, but owners will take the win. His walk rate is a bit down from last year, but he's posted a .286 BAA, which is ridiculous for a pitcher with his kind of stuff. He's still learning how to pitch at the major league level and he's only 21 years old, so the hype he's gotten the last two years has definitely been over the top. He is going to breakout one of these years, but owners will have to wait another offseason for it to happen. Hopefully he can close strong to give himself something to build off of.
Jeremy Guthrie - 4 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 0 BB, 3 K. I hope he still isn't on your roster. His overall numbers still look sharp, but he hasn't been consistently pitching well for about a month now. Get rid of him for what you can.
Miguel Tejada - 3/4, 1 RBI. Tejada drove in his 1,000th run last night. Congrats to one of the best SS of our era.
Miguel Cabrera - 1/3, 1 R, 1 RBI, HR (28). From one Miguel to another. This one has 5 HR in his past 10 games, and is obviously feeling just fine after leaving early 2 games ago thanks to a HBP.
Chien Ming-Wang - 2 2/3 IP, 9 H, 8 ER, 2 BB, 3 K. His numbers are pretty much in line with last year after this shelling. He has brought up his K rate, which is good, but his BAA is now .273 which is really limiting what he can do for his ERA. He has to start missing more bats to take the next step.
Roy Halladay - 7 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, W (13). Despite the ER, this was a very good start against the Yankees. Despite the DL stint and the poor pitching, Halladay is one back from the major league leader in wins. His overall numbers don't look that great, but he's been pitching very well for about a month now.
Vernon Wells - 3/4, 2 R, 4 RBI. A rare big game from Wells. He has been hitting .286 since the AS break, which is better, but the power still isn't there with only 1 HR and 14 RBI in 26 games. The production will come with if he sustains a better AVG in the 2nd half.
Robinson Cano - 2/4, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 HR (13). Cano continues to kill the ball as he's definitely reclaimed his position among the 2nd tier of 2B behind Chase Utley. His patient owners are reaping the rewards.
Chad Billingsley - 5 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 3 K. Up and down and up and down. This was a down, but he did a good job stranding baserunners to maintain a solid ERA. The offense just wasn't there for him, not that he really deserved to win pitching like that.
Aaron Harang - 8 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, W (11). A bigtime outing from Harang against a scuffling Dodgers offense who has been shutout in back-to-back games. He's obviously fine after missing a start due to a sore back. He hasn't allowed more than 3 ER since June 27, taking his ERA down to 3.37.
John Smoltz - 6 1/3 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K. Smoltz has scuffled a bit his past two outings, but he's posted a sparkling 3.03 ERA to date. He's turned into a reliable fantasy ace for those who waited for someone like him while drafting hitting heavy early on.
Orlando Hernandez - 7 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 7 K. More of the same from El Duque who's enjoying a career year at 42 years old. Not enough credit can be given to Mets coach Rick Peterson who turned Hernandez/Perez/Maine into a very nice 1/2/3 punch with Pedro hurt.
Carlos Zambrano - 5 2/3 IP, 8 H, 7 ER, 3 BB, 6 K. His streak had to end somewhere. He has actually looked horrible his last two starts, walking 7 against the Mets in his last outing, and then getting knocked around by a bad Houston offense last night. From what I watched, he was wild again and left way too many pitches over the plate. Hopefully he isn't hurting.
Roy Oswalt - 6 IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 4 K, W (12). The command defied him again last night, but it didn't matter against the currently lost Cubs offense. The walks were the only thing preventing him from going deeper into this one, but he picked up the win regardless.
Lance Berkman - 1/3, 2 R, 1 RBI, HR (20). He's still showing good power, but his AVG sits at a very disappointing .258 for a career .299 hitter. Berkman had a big June, but he hasn't hit above .253 in any other month. He's a good reason why you shouldn't overvalue veteran players coming off career years, as they often move up cheatsheets the following year, not that veteran players turn in a followup performance quite this bad.
Johan Santana - 6 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, W (12). Still not one of his better performances, but thanks to a rare Twins offensive explosion, he picked up the win with ease. Expect him to start dominating more like he usually does very soon.
Torii Hunter - 3/5, 2 R, 3 RBI, HR (23). Hunter slumped a bit at the plate in July, but has roared back by hitting .385 so far this month. He hasn't stolen a base since June, but centerfielders wear down a lot faster than corner outfielders do thanks to their daily obligations in the field. He should steal a few more bags by the time the year is up, but he's not a 20 SB guy anymore. Hunter is falling into the Berkman catagory, especially since he is in a contract year. Don't overpay for him next year.
Greg Maddux - 6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K. Maddux hardly deserved to lose this one, but his offense let him down again. He hasn't allowed more than 3 ER over his past 5 starts, but has 0 W to show for it.
C.C. Sabathia - 7 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K. A bit wild last night, but he did a good job limited the White Sox to 2 ER in the process. His offense didn't help him out last night as he was unable to become MLB's first 15 game winner.
Joaquin Benoit - 1 1/3 IP, 2 K. He's been in all the wrong places at the wrong times so far as C.J. Wilson has picked up all 3 saves since the Gagne trade. Continue hanging onto him because I keep reading that he will receive save chances as well.
Jon Lester - 3 1/3 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 3 K. Dump him if you're still hanging onto him. He's not ready to help fantasy teams.
Dustin Pedroia - 3/5, 3 R, 1 RBI, HR (5), SB (5). Great game last night, and he's hitting .326 on the season. He's very much like Polanco...very nice AVG and R production, but he's not going to help in HR/SB/RBI. He's not a bad injury replacement at all, but I wouldn't want him as my everyday 2B.
Matt Cain - 6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, W (4). Pretty amazing that a guy with a 3.77 ERA only has 4 W on the year, proving how luck drives the W catagory in fantasy leagues. Cain's put together 3 very nice outings in a row, so hopefully he's turning things around now.
Jeff Francis - 5 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, W (13). Not a good outing from Francis, but thanks to the offensive explosion, he cruised to an easy win. He wasn't efficient at all, but the Brewers are still a pretty tough matchup for pitchers.
Troy Tulowitski - 4/5, 4 R, 3 RBI, HR (14). He's starting to catch fire again, going 6/9 in his last two games with 5 R, 2 HR, and 4 RBI. He's been moved up to the 2nd spot with Tavares hurt again, and will maintain bigtime production in the R catagory ahead of Holliday/Helton/Atkins as long as he's getting on base.
Garrett Atkins - 4/4, 1 R, 6 RBI. Atkins is on fire in August, hitting .531 with 2 HR, 18 RBI, and 6 R in only 8 games. He's turned his season around in a big way since May and remains among in the 2nd tier of 3B behind A-Rod/Wright/Cabrera.
James Shields - 7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 9 K, W (9). A very impressive outing against the powerful Tigers lineup from Shields, who was obliterated in the month of July for a 6.62 ERA and a 1.47 WHIP. He has looked better this month and is hopefully settling back down, but his schedule is still not favorable at all down the stretch. I'd use him to try to make a deadline deal, hoping that someone thinks he'll return to his April/May form.
Delmon Young - Put him on your undervalued list for next year. Young has been a pretty big disappointment after putting up huge numbers to close 2006. He's been on fire since the AS break by hitting .356, but with 0 HR, 11 RBI, and 1 SB in that same timeframe, he hasn't been helping fantasy teams very much. He's due to breakout at some point with his 40 HR power potential and still could put up a huge rest of the season, but it looks like he's still acclimating to major league pitching and he might not make a legit fantasy splash until next year.
Felix Hernandez - 6 2/3 IP, 10 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, W (8). Not a great start, but owners will take the win. His walk rate is a bit down from last year, but he's posted a .286 BAA, which is ridiculous for a pitcher with his kind of stuff. He's still learning how to pitch at the major league level and he's only 21 years old, so the hype he's gotten the last two years has definitely been over the top. He is going to breakout one of these years, but owners will have to wait another offseason for it to happen. Hopefully he can close strong to give himself something to build off of.
Jeremy Guthrie - 4 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 0 BB, 3 K. I hope he still isn't on your roster. His overall numbers still look sharp, but he hasn't been consistently pitching well for about a month now. Get rid of him for what you can.
Miguel Tejada - 3/4, 1 RBI. Tejada drove in his 1,000th run last night. Congrats to one of the best SS of our era.
Miguel Cabrera - 1/3, 1 R, 1 RBI, HR (28). From one Miguel to another. This one has 5 HR in his past 10 games, and is obviously feeling just fine after leaving early 2 games ago thanks to a HBP.
Chien Ming-Wang - 2 2/3 IP, 9 H, 8 ER, 2 BB, 3 K. His numbers are pretty much in line with last year after this shelling. He has brought up his K rate, which is good, but his BAA is now .273 which is really limiting what he can do for his ERA. He has to start missing more bats to take the next step.
Roy Halladay - 7 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, W (13). Despite the ER, this was a very good start against the Yankees. Despite the DL stint and the poor pitching, Halladay is one back from the major league leader in wins. His overall numbers don't look that great, but he's been pitching very well for about a month now.
Vernon Wells - 3/4, 2 R, 4 RBI. A rare big game from Wells. He has been hitting .286 since the AS break, which is better, but the power still isn't there with only 1 HR and 14 RBI in 26 games. The production will come with if he sustains a better AVG in the 2nd half.
Robinson Cano - 2/4, 2 R, 3 RBI, 2 HR (13). Cano continues to kill the ball as he's definitely reclaimed his position among the 2nd tier of 2B behind Chase Utley. His patient owners are reaping the rewards.
Chad Billingsley - 5 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 3 K. Up and down and up and down. This was a down, but he did a good job stranding baserunners to maintain a solid ERA. The offense just wasn't there for him, not that he really deserved to win pitching like that.
Aaron Harang - 8 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, W (11). A bigtime outing from Harang against a scuffling Dodgers offense who has been shutout in back-to-back games. He's obviously fine after missing a start due to a sore back. He hasn't allowed more than 3 ER since June 27, taking his ERA down to 3.37.
John Smoltz - 6 1/3 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 4 K. Smoltz has scuffled a bit his past two outings, but he's posted a sparkling 3.03 ERA to date. He's turned into a reliable fantasy ace for those who waited for someone like him while drafting hitting heavy early on.
Orlando Hernandez - 7 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 7 K. More of the same from El Duque who's enjoying a career year at 42 years old. Not enough credit can be given to Mets coach Rick Peterson who turned Hernandez/Perez/Maine into a very nice 1/2/3 punch with Pedro hurt.
Carlos Zambrano - 5 2/3 IP, 8 H, 7 ER, 3 BB, 6 K. His streak had to end somewhere. He has actually looked horrible his last two starts, walking 7 against the Mets in his last outing, and then getting knocked around by a bad Houston offense last night. From what I watched, he was wild again and left way too many pitches over the plate. Hopefully he isn't hurting.
Roy Oswalt - 6 IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 4 K, W (12). The command defied him again last night, but it didn't matter against the currently lost Cubs offense. The walks were the only thing preventing him from going deeper into this one, but he picked up the win regardless.
Lance Berkman - 1/3, 2 R, 1 RBI, HR (20). He's still showing good power, but his AVG sits at a very disappointing .258 for a career .299 hitter. Berkman had a big June, but he hasn't hit above .253 in any other month. He's a good reason why you shouldn't overvalue veteran players coming off career years, as they often move up cheatsheets the following year, not that veteran players turn in a followup performance quite this bad.
Johan Santana - 6 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, W (12). Still not one of his better performances, but thanks to a rare Twins offensive explosion, he picked up the win with ease. Expect him to start dominating more like he usually does very soon.
Torii Hunter - 3/5, 2 R, 3 RBI, HR (23). Hunter slumped a bit at the plate in July, but has roared back by hitting .385 so far this month. He hasn't stolen a base since June, but centerfielders wear down a lot faster than corner outfielders do thanks to their daily obligations in the field. He should steal a few more bags by the time the year is up, but he's not a 20 SB guy anymore. Hunter is falling into the Berkman catagory, especially since he is in a contract year. Don't overpay for him next year.
Greg Maddux - 6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K. Maddux hardly deserved to lose this one, but his offense let him down again. He hasn't allowed more than 3 ER over his past 5 starts, but has 0 W to show for it.
C.C. Sabathia - 7 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K. A bit wild last night, but he did a good job limited the White Sox to 2 ER in the process. His offense didn't help him out last night as he was unable to become MLB's first 15 game winner.
Joaquin Benoit - 1 1/3 IP, 2 K. He's been in all the wrong places at the wrong times so far as C.J. Wilson has picked up all 3 saves since the Gagne trade. Continue hanging onto him because I keep reading that he will receive save chances as well.
Jon Lester - 3 1/3 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 3 K. Dump him if you're still hanging onto him. He's not ready to help fantasy teams.
Dustin Pedroia - 3/5, 3 R, 1 RBI, HR (5), SB (5). Great game last night, and he's hitting .326 on the season. He's very much like Polanco...very nice AVG and R production, but he's not going to help in HR/SB/RBI. He's not a bad injury replacement at all, but I wouldn't want him as my everyday 2B.
Matt Cain - 6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, W (4). Pretty amazing that a guy with a 3.77 ERA only has 4 W on the year, proving how luck drives the W catagory in fantasy leagues. Cain's put together 3 very nice outings in a row, so hopefully he's turning things around now.
Wednesday, August 8, 2007
Bonds Hits #756
Mike Bacsik never had a chance. Armed with a mid-80s fastball and a variety of decent off-speed stuff, Bacsik is not the type of pitcher that can get Barry Bonds out. With a 3-2 count in the 5th inning, Bacsik challenged him with an inside fastball, and Bonds turned on it, sending a few rows up into the deepest part of the ballpark, just left of center field. Barry knew it as soon as he hit, raising his arms in the air. Upon seeing Bonds' reaction, Bacsik knew he had served up a piece of history.
I was working late last night, so I had that game on in the background since nothing else was on TV. When Barry came up, I felt motivated to set down what I was doing to watch his at-bat. He didn't disappoint with the big homerun. I've been very lucky in regards to seeing memorable HRs. Although I didn't watch baseball in college very often, I flipped through the Cubs/Cardinals game, and I just so happened to watch McGwire hit a line drive that just got over the left field fence at old Busch stadium for HR #62, breaking Maris' single season record for HR. I was at a bar the summer that Bonds hit #71 deep into McCovey cove to break McGwire's single season record of 70, and happened to watch that at-bat on a corner TV. Last night, I got to watch Bonds break another record, the big one, Hank Aaron's HR record.
I had been pretty blah on the whole Bonds situation this year up until last night. I was rather surprised at how excited I was last night watching him break the record. As a sports fan, whenever you get to watch history, you usually remember where you were when you saw it. I doubt I'll forget where I was last night. It was far more memorable than McGwire's HR as it was a deep bomb of a HR, unlike McGwire's line drive that made you wonder "wait, he just broke Maris' record?" Bonds' reaction at the plate, Bacsik's reaction on the mound, and the crowd's reaction as the ball took flight were all very cool when combined together. There was quite a skirmish where the ball landed, as it hit something and bounced back and to the right a bit. Hopefully nobody was injured in the scrum. I give a lot of credit to Mike Bacsik, who tipped his cap towards Barry as he approached homeplate. It was a very classy move. I also give a lot of credit to the Nationals franchise for allowing Barry to have his moment of glory while applauding his accomplishment. Another very classy move.
The steroids talk really puts a damper on what he accomplished because there's no doubt in most people's minds that he used something, and he might still be using something. It's all hearsay evidence at the current time, but logic prevails for most of us and we understand what Bonds has done. The fact is that Bonds is not the only guilty party here, despite what most of the media would like you to think. Steroids is not a Bonds problem, it's a major league/minor league baseball problem, in the scope of the sport of baseball. I'm sure it has spread to college and even high school as time has gone on. MLB, in an ignorant PR move, has shined the light of steroids brightest on Barry Bonds because he's the easy scapegoat. If he's found guilty, persecuted by a court of law, whatever...baseball hopes that the fans think that sport of baseball has won the war against steroids. Don't let them make you think that.
The steroids scandal in baseball is far, far greater than Barry Bonds. It infiltrated the sport and an unknown amount of players have taken them in their quest to become a better baseball player. Baseball cannot weed it out of it's history because the roots are way too deep at this point. We as fans cannot possibly fathom how many players were taking them, how many managers and coaches turned the other way, and how many league official turned the other way until the situation got too big to handle and baseball was forced to battle it in the public eye. They made that very same public eye stare at Barry Bonds and try to detach the vision against the logic of the brain behind it to say "he's the problem, not us". Can you imagine what baseball would have to go through if they unveiled the entire truth? Years upon years and players upon players would be put through the wringer. It would cast a black cloud over the sport of baseball that wouldn't lift for who knows how long.
I am sure that Bonds has played with steroid users, against steroid users, went to battle against steroid using pitchers, caught fly balls from steroid using hitters, and so on. The fact is, Bonds was a better player than almost all of them. Bonds was selected because of the records he was breaking. If you look at his career stats, you see some of the greatest numbers you've ever seen. Not just the HR, but the SB, the RBI, the AVG, the gold gloves, and so on. It's impossible to say when he started to take them, or if he had been taking them all along. You could do a chronology of what he looked like each year, but that wouldn't give you any clear evidence one way or another. There's also no clear evidence as to how exactly steroids enhances your play, so who knows exactly what has been affected by his usage. Regardless of this, Bonds is still one of the greatest baseball players we have seen play the game. In his prime, there was nothing he couldn't do.
The other thing to take into account here is the change in baseball players preparation for the game. Strength training is more emphasized than ever, starting in the 90s. In fact, society as a whole seems to have a greater fascination with lifting weights. Baseball players are bigger today than they ever were thanks to the enhanced technology of weight training, knowing our bodies better, creating effective workout supplements, etc. Players today, thanks to that, are going to be stronger, playing in similarly sized parks, so HRs are going to be a bigger part of the game. Who's to say exactly how many HRs Bonds would have hit had he not taken steroids knowing this trend?
Finally, I respect Bonds for what he went through to achieve this. In today's game, the media scrutiny of every aspect makes it even tougher to mentally prepare for the game. There's interviews, public showings, cameras, thousands upon thousands of media members analyzing every little thing. Aaron had to go through a lot himself to hit 755 HRs. He went through racism, death threats, and incredible hatred to get where he was. Bonds has also gone through a lot. He's endured hatred at every away game, constant media bombardments and accusations, the national media following every game in a way that Aaron didn't have to deal with, among other things. Now, a lot of what Bonds has gone through was his fault as to where Aaron didn't deserve any of it. Bonds was the one who took steroids and Bonds is the one who's been surly to the media in the past. Still, regardless of that, Bonds still had to deal with all of it in his quest to become the HR king, and he dealt with it successfully. That deserves at least some credit, in my opinion.
Minor league players have been caught with steroids that were having horrible careers. Guillermo Mota was caught, and he was nothing more than a good reliever. Jason Giambi was caught, and while he was a good hitter, he was nowhere near the level Bonds is at. This is only a very short list of steroid users in the game of baseball. The bottom line is that Bonds is a cheater in a game of cheaters, but he's still the best baseball player of any of them.
Congrats to Barry on his 756th HR. I enjoyed watching it.
I was working late last night, so I had that game on in the background since nothing else was on TV. When Barry came up, I felt motivated to set down what I was doing to watch his at-bat. He didn't disappoint with the big homerun. I've been very lucky in regards to seeing memorable HRs. Although I didn't watch baseball in college very often, I flipped through the Cubs/Cardinals game, and I just so happened to watch McGwire hit a line drive that just got over the left field fence at old Busch stadium for HR #62, breaking Maris' single season record for HR. I was at a bar the summer that Bonds hit #71 deep into McCovey cove to break McGwire's single season record of 70, and happened to watch that at-bat on a corner TV. Last night, I got to watch Bonds break another record, the big one, Hank Aaron's HR record.
I had been pretty blah on the whole Bonds situation this year up until last night. I was rather surprised at how excited I was last night watching him break the record. As a sports fan, whenever you get to watch history, you usually remember where you were when you saw it. I doubt I'll forget where I was last night. It was far more memorable than McGwire's HR as it was a deep bomb of a HR, unlike McGwire's line drive that made you wonder "wait, he just broke Maris' record?" Bonds' reaction at the plate, Bacsik's reaction on the mound, and the crowd's reaction as the ball took flight were all very cool when combined together. There was quite a skirmish where the ball landed, as it hit something and bounced back and to the right a bit. Hopefully nobody was injured in the scrum. I give a lot of credit to Mike Bacsik, who tipped his cap towards Barry as he approached homeplate. It was a very classy move. I also give a lot of credit to the Nationals franchise for allowing Barry to have his moment of glory while applauding his accomplishment. Another very classy move.
The steroids talk really puts a damper on what he accomplished because there's no doubt in most people's minds that he used something, and he might still be using something. It's all hearsay evidence at the current time, but logic prevails for most of us and we understand what Bonds has done. The fact is that Bonds is not the only guilty party here, despite what most of the media would like you to think. Steroids is not a Bonds problem, it's a major league/minor league baseball problem, in the scope of the sport of baseball. I'm sure it has spread to college and even high school as time has gone on. MLB, in an ignorant PR move, has shined the light of steroids brightest on Barry Bonds because he's the easy scapegoat. If he's found guilty, persecuted by a court of law, whatever...baseball hopes that the fans think that sport of baseball has won the war against steroids. Don't let them make you think that.
The steroids scandal in baseball is far, far greater than Barry Bonds. It infiltrated the sport and an unknown amount of players have taken them in their quest to become a better baseball player. Baseball cannot weed it out of it's history because the roots are way too deep at this point. We as fans cannot possibly fathom how many players were taking them, how many managers and coaches turned the other way, and how many league official turned the other way until the situation got too big to handle and baseball was forced to battle it in the public eye. They made that very same public eye stare at Barry Bonds and try to detach the vision against the logic of the brain behind it to say "he's the problem, not us". Can you imagine what baseball would have to go through if they unveiled the entire truth? Years upon years and players upon players would be put through the wringer. It would cast a black cloud over the sport of baseball that wouldn't lift for who knows how long.
I am sure that Bonds has played with steroid users, against steroid users, went to battle against steroid using pitchers, caught fly balls from steroid using hitters, and so on. The fact is, Bonds was a better player than almost all of them. Bonds was selected because of the records he was breaking. If you look at his career stats, you see some of the greatest numbers you've ever seen. Not just the HR, but the SB, the RBI, the AVG, the gold gloves, and so on. It's impossible to say when he started to take them, or if he had been taking them all along. You could do a chronology of what he looked like each year, but that wouldn't give you any clear evidence one way or another. There's also no clear evidence as to how exactly steroids enhances your play, so who knows exactly what has been affected by his usage. Regardless of this, Bonds is still one of the greatest baseball players we have seen play the game. In his prime, there was nothing he couldn't do.
The other thing to take into account here is the change in baseball players preparation for the game. Strength training is more emphasized than ever, starting in the 90s. In fact, society as a whole seems to have a greater fascination with lifting weights. Baseball players are bigger today than they ever were thanks to the enhanced technology of weight training, knowing our bodies better, creating effective workout supplements, etc. Players today, thanks to that, are going to be stronger, playing in similarly sized parks, so HRs are going to be a bigger part of the game. Who's to say exactly how many HRs Bonds would have hit had he not taken steroids knowing this trend?
Finally, I respect Bonds for what he went through to achieve this. In today's game, the media scrutiny of every aspect makes it even tougher to mentally prepare for the game. There's interviews, public showings, cameras, thousands upon thousands of media members analyzing every little thing. Aaron had to go through a lot himself to hit 755 HRs. He went through racism, death threats, and incredible hatred to get where he was. Bonds has also gone through a lot. He's endured hatred at every away game, constant media bombardments and accusations, the national media following every game in a way that Aaron didn't have to deal with, among other things. Now, a lot of what Bonds has gone through was his fault as to where Aaron didn't deserve any of it. Bonds was the one who took steroids and Bonds is the one who's been surly to the media in the past. Still, regardless of that, Bonds still had to deal with all of it in his quest to become the HR king, and he dealt with it successfully. That deserves at least some credit, in my opinion.
Minor league players have been caught with steroids that were having horrible careers. Guillermo Mota was caught, and he was nothing more than a good reliever. Jason Giambi was caught, and while he was a good hitter, he was nowhere near the level Bonds is at. This is only a very short list of steroid users in the game of baseball. The bottom line is that Bonds is a cheater in a game of cheaters, but he's still the best baseball player of any of them.
Congrats to Barry on his 756th HR. I enjoyed watching it.
Monday/Tuesday Recap
Sorry, between work and vacation last week, I'm really slacking. I'll be catching up today and things should be smoother for a while. :)
Andy Pettitte - 5 2/3 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 7 K, W (8). Yet another subpar outing from Pettitte, but he limited the damage and picked up the win. With his luck turning around and the Yankees offense hitting very well, he's likely to start helping out in the win column, but his declining K-rate and high WHIP make him a fringe mixed league starter.
Justin Verlander - 6 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 6 K. Detroit didn't rally with runs until the 7th after Verlander had departed, so we has denied a victory in this one. He's clearly not pitching as well as he was earlier in the season, and my suggestion that he might fatigue later on this year seems to be accurate. He has the talent to bounceback, but he worked a long year last year. Keep an eye on him.
B.J. Upton - 1/3, 1 R, 3 RBI, HR (16). Upton had 9 HR before the AS break in 200 AB, but has slugged 7 HR after the AS break in only 94 AB. This isn't exactly what owners had in mind as he hasn't stolen a base since June 7th, prior to his DL stint, but nobody's complaining. He was a huge preseason sleeper in the SB department as many were expecting 40 if he won significant playing time, but instead he's hitting .323 with 16 HR, 52 RBI, 53 R, and has been moved to the 3rd spot in the order. He's a bigtime keeper candidate.
Adrian Gonzalez - 2/4, 1 R, 1 RBI, HR (18). Gonzalez has been a bum since May. He started out hot and was defying the odds while playing most of his games at Petco Park, but he really went south in June and has stayed that way since. He's wasn't quite as good as he started, but he's too good to be playing this bad. Benching him until he gets hot isn't a bad idea, depending on your alternatives.
Rich Hill - 7 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K. This was his best start in quite some time. He dominated down the stretch last year and to start this year, but like I mentioned before, he hasn't pitched all that well since April. This was a step in the right direction, even if it did come against a weak Houston offense. It's likely the league adjusted to him as they saw him more, so now it's up to him to re-adjust. His command has been part of the problem.
Wandy Rodriguez - 8 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 9 K. Ervin Santana part 2. He is well worth using at home, and well worth benching on the road. His home stats are 74 2/3 IP, 6-2, 1.69 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, and 65 K. His road stats are 57 1/3 IP, 1-8, 8.16 ERA, 1.73 WHIP, and 51 K. Is that's not a split worth playing into, I dunno what is.
Prince Fielder - 1/4, 1 R, 1 RBI, HR (33). He's starting to heat up again with 3 HR in his past 6 games after not homering in July after the 13th. Just the ups and downs of owning players, and it's clear he's ready to start mashing again.
Matt Holliday - 3/4, 1 R, 2 RBI, HR (21). Who doesn't love Matt Holliday? He's turned into one of the best fantasy OF over the past 2 years and continues to kill the ball. He's an elite 1st OF.
Curt Schilling - 6 IP, 9 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 5 K. He had good control, but missed too much over the plate and was hit by a good hitting team. Overall, this was a pretty successful return and he's safe to activate for his next start.
Jered Weaver - 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K. Good progress made here, especially against Boston's offense. He's likely to remain an inconsistent pitcher given the fact he's giving up 120 H in 107 1/3 IP, but he's good enough to pitch around problems and he pitches in front of a solid offense.
Kevin Youkilis - 2/4, 1 R, 2 RBI, HR (12), SB (3). Youkilis has picked it back up in August so far, hitting .323 this month. He's been moved to the 2nd spot in the order, which is a solid spot for him. He doesn't strike out a lot and makes solid contact. He'll remain a very nice asset in AVG and R, and he'll be decent in RBI. He has some pop and doesn't steal. Overall, he's a lower tier 3B. He shouldn't be used at 1B.
Tim Lincecum - 7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 5 BB, 8 K. Thanks to the Ks and lowly Nationals offense, he limited the 10 baserunners to only 1 run. He's walked 5 in 3 of his last 5 starts, so his control is becoming a problem. He won't continue to only give up a run or two by doing that.
Dmitri Young - 1/4, 1 R, 2 RBI, HR (10). Young cooled off a bit in the 2nd half of July, ending with a .295 AVG, but he's hitting .414 in August with 8 RBI in 7 games. He's not going to score a lot of runs or hit for big power, but his lofty AVG and solid RBI production make him worth using as a UTIL hitter. It looks like he's here to stay this year as a solid fantasy option.
Ryan Howard - 2/4, 3 R, 3 RBI, 2 HR (32). He's almost caught up to Prince Fielder despite the DL stint as he's now 1 behind him in the NL HR race. He's put together back-to-back 10 HR months, hitting .280 and then .323 in those months. He's clearly back to being a bigtime fantasy 1B after his disappointing start. He was overrated a bit in drafts this year, but should settle in as a solid late 1st round pick next year. Philly needs to find a bat to support him in the lineup this offseason.
Jose Guillen - 4/6, 2 R, 2 RBI. He's hitting .290 on the year, but Safeco has sapped some of his power as he's only hit 13 HR. Still, he's on pace for .290, 20 HR, 100 RBI, and 90 R. A pretty solid season as a 3rd fantasy OF.
Raul Ibanez - 3/6, 3 R, 4 RBI, 2 HR (8). Ibanez had a big June with 5 HR and 20 RBI, but he's nowhere close to last season's career year and is proving that he's not worth a spot on your fantasy roster with his performance this season. Don't hang onto him thinking last year will resurface.
Magglio Ordonez - 3/5, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR (18). He's come roaring back in August after a pedestrian July, hitting .478 with 2 HR and 6 RBI in 6 games. I was very skeptical about him continuing his hot hitting and suggested selling high, but while his AVG has dipped to .313 from .367 and his R pace is down after the AS break, his HR and RBI pace are right in line. I still think the high tier OF you could have gotten in return will outproduce him from here on out, but he's going to make it close from the looks of it.
Jonny Gomes - 3/4, 2 R, 4 RBI, GS (13). Gomes is producing as advertised, showing 30 HR power and RBI production from the bottom half of the order. They should move him up to 5th to make use of what he does well, and he should remain in your fantasy lineup if you need HR/RBI and can take his AVG hit.
Roger Clemens - 6 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (4). A very nice start last night from Clemens, and he also got ejected in the 7th inning for hitting Alex Rios. It was well deserved as the Blue Jays finally hit A-Rod for the popup play earlier in the year. Clemens saved his best fastball and pegged the Jays best hitter in return. The ejection was deserved, but I don't fault Clemens at all for retaliating.
Robinson Cano - 0/1, 3 BB, SB (3). Cano has displayed poor baserunning at the major league level, but the thing to note here is the huge turnaround he's displayed at the plate. He hit .385 with 6 HR and 24 RBI in July, and is hitting .435 with 2 HR and 8 RBI in August so far. He's raised his AVG up to .308 on the season and now has very solid RBI and R totals. His 6th/7th spot in the order will allow him to rack up great RBI totals with A-Rod, Matsui, and Posada ahead of him.
Bronson Arroyo - 6 2/3 IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, W (5). Much better. Washington blasted him last time out, but he shut down a much better Dodgers offense this time around. You can ignore his last start as an abhoration given his much improved performance around that outing.
Oliver Perez - 5 IP, 10 H, 6 ER, 0 BB, 5 K. He had his command last night, but Atlanta was all over him and hit him hard. He still has great numbers on the year, and it was nice to see another start from him without a walk. Don't worry about this outing.
Jeff Francouer - 4/5, 2 R, 3 RBI, HR (13). Big night for Francouer as he raised his AVG to a completely shocking .310 on the season. He's already surpassed last year's walk total in 50 less games, so it's obvious that his improved patient at the plate has led to this. He's still not showing the same power, though.
Sean Marshall - 5 1/3 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 0 BB, 2 K. He was pitching well last night, but surrendered 4 hits in the 6th inning, and the Kerry Wood allowed both of the inherited runners to score before Marshall's book was done. His last bad start was against a great Philly offense, but this was against Houston. I'm a bit worried, but I wouldn't drop him yet.
Jake Peavy - 6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, W (12). Another dominant start by Peavy as he's allowed 1 ER in his last 3 starts, winning all 3. He's back on top of his game as NL's best starting pitcher.
Anthony Reyes - 7 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K. Reyes was a tough luck loser last night as he continues to get terrible run support. He remains on the radar, and pro-active owners needing a pitcher should think about picking him up to see if he's finally adjusted to the major league level.
Mark Teahen - 4/4, 2 R, 1 RBI. Teahen was a popular sleeper heading into this year given his monster run during last summer, but he's settled into a .290 hitter with little pop and only 10 SB. The .290 AVG and 64 R are nice, but that's not enough to make him worth starting at either 3B or in the OF. He's a solid fantasy reserve, but that's all for now.
Todd Helton - 3/5, 3 R, 4 RBI, 2 HR (11). It's weird that Helton only has 11 HR after being used to him hitting 30+ every year, but it's clear that his constant back injuries in recent years have sapped him of his power. The .298 AVG and 65 RBI are nice, but he's just not producing enough to warrant starting at 1B. He's a solid reserve.
Troy Tulowitski - 2/4, 1 R, 1 RBI, HR (13). Tulo really cooled off last month, and he had been hitting horribly this month as well until last night. Let's hope he starts getting hot again now.
Tom Gorzelanny - 7 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 9 K, W (10). To my surprise, he certainly bounced back well from his shoulder injury. Given how well he pitched last night, I'd ignore this last shoulder injury moving forward. Keep in mind he does have a history of arm issues, though.
Justin Upton - 3/4, 2 R, 1 RBI, HR (1). Just missed the cycle last night by a single, grounding out in his last at bat. Mixed leaguers might as well take a chance on him now if he's going to hit well from the start, depending on your OF situation. Just keep in mind that he's 19 years old.
Gary Matthews Jr. - 3/5, 3 R, 4 RBI, HR (14). Big night last night for Matthews, although his AVG now sits at .274. As I've said before, he's right on pace with his breakout season last year in everything but AVG and R, but the lack of R production is explained by him hitting further down in the order.
Barry Zito - 5 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 2 K. Dump him. His velocity is down, which makes his curve less effective, and his location is horrible. Something is wrong here.
Barry Bonds - 3/3, 3 R, 1 RBI, HR (22). #756 for Bonds, baseball's new all-time HR king. I'll touch on this in it's own article.
Bengie Molina - 2/4, 1 R, 3 RBI, HR (12). He's maintaining his lower tier fantasy catcher status with solid power numbers for a backstop. Continue using him if you don't have a top catcher.
Andy Pettitte - 5 2/3 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 7 K, W (8). Yet another subpar outing from Pettitte, but he limited the damage and picked up the win. With his luck turning around and the Yankees offense hitting very well, he's likely to start helping out in the win column, but his declining K-rate and high WHIP make him a fringe mixed league starter.
Justin Verlander - 6 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 6 K. Detroit didn't rally with runs until the 7th after Verlander had departed, so we has denied a victory in this one. He's clearly not pitching as well as he was earlier in the season, and my suggestion that he might fatigue later on this year seems to be accurate. He has the talent to bounceback, but he worked a long year last year. Keep an eye on him.
B.J. Upton - 1/3, 1 R, 3 RBI, HR (16). Upton had 9 HR before the AS break in 200 AB, but has slugged 7 HR after the AS break in only 94 AB. This isn't exactly what owners had in mind as he hasn't stolen a base since June 7th, prior to his DL stint, but nobody's complaining. He was a huge preseason sleeper in the SB department as many were expecting 40 if he won significant playing time, but instead he's hitting .323 with 16 HR, 52 RBI, 53 R, and has been moved to the 3rd spot in the order. He's a bigtime keeper candidate.
Adrian Gonzalez - 2/4, 1 R, 1 RBI, HR (18). Gonzalez has been a bum since May. He started out hot and was defying the odds while playing most of his games at Petco Park, but he really went south in June and has stayed that way since. He's wasn't quite as good as he started, but he's too good to be playing this bad. Benching him until he gets hot isn't a bad idea, depending on your alternatives.
Rich Hill - 7 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K. This was his best start in quite some time. He dominated down the stretch last year and to start this year, but like I mentioned before, he hasn't pitched all that well since April. This was a step in the right direction, even if it did come against a weak Houston offense. It's likely the league adjusted to him as they saw him more, so now it's up to him to re-adjust. His command has been part of the problem.
Wandy Rodriguez - 8 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 9 K. Ervin Santana part 2. He is well worth using at home, and well worth benching on the road. His home stats are 74 2/3 IP, 6-2, 1.69 ERA, 0.91 WHIP, and 65 K. His road stats are 57 1/3 IP, 1-8, 8.16 ERA, 1.73 WHIP, and 51 K. Is that's not a split worth playing into, I dunno what is.
Prince Fielder - 1/4, 1 R, 1 RBI, HR (33). He's starting to heat up again with 3 HR in his past 6 games after not homering in July after the 13th. Just the ups and downs of owning players, and it's clear he's ready to start mashing again.
Matt Holliday - 3/4, 1 R, 2 RBI, HR (21). Who doesn't love Matt Holliday? He's turned into one of the best fantasy OF over the past 2 years and continues to kill the ball. He's an elite 1st OF.
Curt Schilling - 6 IP, 9 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 5 K. He had good control, but missed too much over the plate and was hit by a good hitting team. Overall, this was a pretty successful return and he's safe to activate for his next start.
Jered Weaver - 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 4 K. Good progress made here, especially against Boston's offense. He's likely to remain an inconsistent pitcher given the fact he's giving up 120 H in 107 1/3 IP, but he's good enough to pitch around problems and he pitches in front of a solid offense.
Kevin Youkilis - 2/4, 1 R, 2 RBI, HR (12), SB (3). Youkilis has picked it back up in August so far, hitting .323 this month. He's been moved to the 2nd spot in the order, which is a solid spot for him. He doesn't strike out a lot and makes solid contact. He'll remain a very nice asset in AVG and R, and he'll be decent in RBI. He has some pop and doesn't steal. Overall, he's a lower tier 3B. He shouldn't be used at 1B.
Tim Lincecum - 7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 5 BB, 8 K. Thanks to the Ks and lowly Nationals offense, he limited the 10 baserunners to only 1 run. He's walked 5 in 3 of his last 5 starts, so his control is becoming a problem. He won't continue to only give up a run or two by doing that.
Dmitri Young - 1/4, 1 R, 2 RBI, HR (10). Young cooled off a bit in the 2nd half of July, ending with a .295 AVG, but he's hitting .414 in August with 8 RBI in 7 games. He's not going to score a lot of runs or hit for big power, but his lofty AVG and solid RBI production make him worth using as a UTIL hitter. It looks like he's here to stay this year as a solid fantasy option.
Ryan Howard - 2/4, 3 R, 3 RBI, 2 HR (32). He's almost caught up to Prince Fielder despite the DL stint as he's now 1 behind him in the NL HR race. He's put together back-to-back 10 HR months, hitting .280 and then .323 in those months. He's clearly back to being a bigtime fantasy 1B after his disappointing start. He was overrated a bit in drafts this year, but should settle in as a solid late 1st round pick next year. Philly needs to find a bat to support him in the lineup this offseason.
Jose Guillen - 4/6, 2 R, 2 RBI. He's hitting .290 on the year, but Safeco has sapped some of his power as he's only hit 13 HR. Still, he's on pace for .290, 20 HR, 100 RBI, and 90 R. A pretty solid season as a 3rd fantasy OF.
Raul Ibanez - 3/6, 3 R, 4 RBI, 2 HR (8). Ibanez had a big June with 5 HR and 20 RBI, but he's nowhere close to last season's career year and is proving that he's not worth a spot on your fantasy roster with his performance this season. Don't hang onto him thinking last year will resurface.
Magglio Ordonez - 3/5, 2 R, 2 RBI, HR (18). He's come roaring back in August after a pedestrian July, hitting .478 with 2 HR and 6 RBI in 6 games. I was very skeptical about him continuing his hot hitting and suggested selling high, but while his AVG has dipped to .313 from .367 and his R pace is down after the AS break, his HR and RBI pace are right in line. I still think the high tier OF you could have gotten in return will outproduce him from here on out, but he's going to make it close from the looks of it.
Jonny Gomes - 3/4, 2 R, 4 RBI, GS (13). Gomes is producing as advertised, showing 30 HR power and RBI production from the bottom half of the order. They should move him up to 5th to make use of what he does well, and he should remain in your fantasy lineup if you need HR/RBI and can take his AVG hit.
Roger Clemens - 6 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (4). A very nice start last night from Clemens, and he also got ejected in the 7th inning for hitting Alex Rios. It was well deserved as the Blue Jays finally hit A-Rod for the popup play earlier in the year. Clemens saved his best fastball and pegged the Jays best hitter in return. The ejection was deserved, but I don't fault Clemens at all for retaliating.
Robinson Cano - 0/1, 3 BB, SB (3). Cano has displayed poor baserunning at the major league level, but the thing to note here is the huge turnaround he's displayed at the plate. He hit .385 with 6 HR and 24 RBI in July, and is hitting .435 with 2 HR and 8 RBI in August so far. He's raised his AVG up to .308 on the season and now has very solid RBI and R totals. His 6th/7th spot in the order will allow him to rack up great RBI totals with A-Rod, Matsui, and Posada ahead of him.
Bronson Arroyo - 6 2/3 IP, 6 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, W (5). Much better. Washington blasted him last time out, but he shut down a much better Dodgers offense this time around. You can ignore his last start as an abhoration given his much improved performance around that outing.
Oliver Perez - 5 IP, 10 H, 6 ER, 0 BB, 5 K. He had his command last night, but Atlanta was all over him and hit him hard. He still has great numbers on the year, and it was nice to see another start from him without a walk. Don't worry about this outing.
Jeff Francouer - 4/5, 2 R, 3 RBI, HR (13). Big night for Francouer as he raised his AVG to a completely shocking .310 on the season. He's already surpassed last year's walk total in 50 less games, so it's obvious that his improved patient at the plate has led to this. He's still not showing the same power, though.
Sean Marshall - 5 1/3 IP, 7 H, 5 ER, 0 BB, 2 K. He was pitching well last night, but surrendered 4 hits in the 6th inning, and the Kerry Wood allowed both of the inherited runners to score before Marshall's book was done. His last bad start was against a great Philly offense, but this was against Houston. I'm a bit worried, but I wouldn't drop him yet.
Jake Peavy - 6 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, W (12). Another dominant start by Peavy as he's allowed 1 ER in his last 3 starts, winning all 3. He's back on top of his game as NL's best starting pitcher.
Anthony Reyes - 7 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 2 K. Reyes was a tough luck loser last night as he continues to get terrible run support. He remains on the radar, and pro-active owners needing a pitcher should think about picking him up to see if he's finally adjusted to the major league level.
Mark Teahen - 4/4, 2 R, 1 RBI. Teahen was a popular sleeper heading into this year given his monster run during last summer, but he's settled into a .290 hitter with little pop and only 10 SB. The .290 AVG and 64 R are nice, but that's not enough to make him worth starting at either 3B or in the OF. He's a solid fantasy reserve, but that's all for now.
Todd Helton - 3/5, 3 R, 4 RBI, 2 HR (11). It's weird that Helton only has 11 HR after being used to him hitting 30+ every year, but it's clear that his constant back injuries in recent years have sapped him of his power. The .298 AVG and 65 RBI are nice, but he's just not producing enough to warrant starting at 1B. He's a solid reserve.
Troy Tulowitski - 2/4, 1 R, 1 RBI, HR (13). Tulo really cooled off last month, and he had been hitting horribly this month as well until last night. Let's hope he starts getting hot again now.
Tom Gorzelanny - 7 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 9 K, W (10). To my surprise, he certainly bounced back well from his shoulder injury. Given how well he pitched last night, I'd ignore this last shoulder injury moving forward. Keep in mind he does have a history of arm issues, though.
Justin Upton - 3/4, 2 R, 1 RBI, HR (1). Just missed the cycle last night by a single, grounding out in his last at bat. Mixed leaguers might as well take a chance on him now if he's going to hit well from the start, depending on your OF situation. Just keep in mind that he's 19 years old.
Gary Matthews Jr. - 3/5, 3 R, 4 RBI, HR (14). Big night last night for Matthews, although his AVG now sits at .274. As I've said before, he's right on pace with his breakout season last year in everything but AVG and R, but the lack of R production is explained by him hitting further down in the order.
Barry Zito - 5 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 2 K. Dump him. His velocity is down, which makes his curve less effective, and his location is horrible. Something is wrong here.
Barry Bonds - 3/3, 3 R, 1 RBI, HR (22). #756 for Bonds, baseball's new all-time HR king. I'll touch on this in it's own article.
Bengie Molina - 2/4, 1 R, 3 RBI, HR (12). He's maintaining his lower tier fantasy catcher status with solid power numbers for a backstop. Continue using him if you don't have a top catcher.
Tuesday, August 7, 2007
Sunday's Action: Glavine's 300th Win
Gil Meche - 4 IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 5 BB, 2 K. A brutal outing from Meche, but it should have been expected against the Yankees. His ERA is at 3.96, which is far more reasonable given his 1.33 WHIP. The Royals will probably regret giving him this contract, but at least it's only for 4 years. His stuff is still good, but his execution is not. He remains a fringe mixed league starter.
Mike Mussina - 6 IP, 9 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, W (7). He's won 3 straight starts now since his shelling at the hands of the Devil Rays. It was the only time he's given up more than 3 ER in his last 10 starts, although he's only pitched past the 6th inning twice. He remains a solid mixed league fantasy starter thanks to the resurgent Yankees offense.
Hideki Matsui - 1/3, 1 R, 2 RBI, HR (22). Don't get too carried away with his huge 13 HR July as that won't happen again this year. However, expecting 8-10 HR over the last 2 months is very reasonable, and that would put him over 30 for just the 2nd time in his US career. He's on pace to surpass 100 R and RBI thanks to a very nice 2nd half rebound.
Carlos Lee - 2/4, 1 R, 4 RBI, HR (23). Lee has already hit half the amount of HR post-AS break as he did pre-AS break, in about a quarter of the games. He's still on a serious roll and is helping his owners to big numbers right now.
Hanley Ramirez - 1/4, 2 R, 1 RBI, HR (19), SB (32). His AVG sits at .341, too. He's official made the race to be fantasy's best SS a dead heat between Jose Reyes and himself. Reyes will continue to steal a lot more bases, but Ramirez obviously has more pop and can hit for a higher AVG. Boston knew he'd be good, but there's no way any predicted he'd perform like this in his 2nd full season.
Bobby Jenks - 1 IP, 2 K, SV (32). 10 consecutive scoreless innings for Jenks as he's made a remarkable turnaround after a horrible stretch between mid-June and mid-July. He's pitching as well as any closer in baseball right now, showing his owners a big 2nd half after looking like he might melt down for the 2nd straight year.
Chuck James - 5 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 2 K. You can't use a fringe starter like James against an offense like Colorado. He's definitely a pitcher that you should play the matchups with, although with the acquisition of Teixeira, the Atlanta offense is even strong, making James a slightly better play due to the higher chances of a win.
Octavio Dotel - 1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER. He pitched 2 scoreless innings in his first two Braves appearances against Houston, but Colorado lit him up for 4 H, 5 R and 1 BB in 1 1/3 IP. He's well worth benching given his setup roll status until he turns himself around.
Dustin McGowan - 8 IP, 8 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (8). That's 4 straight appearances of 2 ER or less. Unless you have a rotation full of no brainer starters, there's no harm is riding out the hot streak. He has a lot of talent, with a very good fastball and a quality slider/changeup. TJ surgery back in 2004 dimmed his star as did the inconsistency that followed it. I still wouldn't start him against the Yankees and Red Sox, but he's well worth owning for his other starts until he cools down.
Jeremy Accardo - 1 IP, 1 H, 1 K, SV (20). He's only allowed 2 ER in his past 12 outings, settling some concerns that he was being figured out. He still doesn't project as a long-term closer, but he's giving his owners some relief after having problems in June and early July.
Adam Wainwright - 7 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 7 K. Pretty solid outing against the Nationals. Despite his improved performance over the past 10 outings or so, his WHIP remains a problem and he hasn't turned the corner yet. He's moved himself into the fringe mixed league starter catagory, though.
Erik Bedard - 6 2/3 IP. 9 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 11 K, W (12). This is a bad start by his standards these days. He's become a strikeout monster this season, posting 192 K in 154 1/3 IP. He's won 8 of his last 9 starts, and he's turned into a fantasy ace this season.
Miguel Tejada - 1/5, 1 R, 1 RBI, HR (9). He's only hitting .243 since his return, but he's chipped in 2 HR, 6 RBI, and 5 R in those 9 games. The power was the biggest concern given the wrist injury, but he's proving that he can still hit the long ball. He should be a very solid fantasy SS the rest of the season.
Fausto Carmona - 7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 5 BB, 5 K. Carmona obviously had terrible command, but he pitched around jams and turned in another great outing. Unfortunately he was out-dueled and went 0-2 in his bid to become a 14 game winner.
Scott Baker - 8 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K. Wow, and against a good Cleveland offense as well. Again, he must be owned at this point. He has quality stuff and is finally succeeding at the major league level. I like his chances the rest of the year before the AL offenses better understand him and start to adjust.
John Lackey - 6 2/3 IP, 9 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, W (14). A sloppy outing, but he limited the damage and picked up the win thanks to some timely hitting in the 7th inning. He's going to continue to see his ERA rise with a 1.24 WHIP unless he can cut down on the baserunners.
Dan Haren - 6 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K. He also did a good job dodging baserunners and only allowing 2 runs. He's definitely been far more hittable since the start of July, and he's also going to see an ERA spike if that continues.
Josh Beckett - 6 2/3 IP, 8 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 9 K,. W (14). Another pitcher that dodged baserunners, although his strong K count came in handy in making that happen. He stayed with Lackey atop the AL in wins, and he's on his way to his 2nd straight 200 IP season if he can continue to avoid the blister problems that plagued him much of his Florida career.
Manny Ramirez - 2/4, 1 R, 2 RBI, HR (19). Keep mashing, Manny!
Brandon Webb - 9 IP, 7 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, W (11). Webb is rolling now, with 24 straight scoreless innings. Amazing how he improves his command, then goes on a hot streak. Hopefully he has a strong finish to the season ahead of him, but his 2.92 ERA does not match his 1.24 WHIP. However, his recent streak of pitching definitely supports the ERA plummet.
Brad Penny - 7 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 5 K. Very strong outing from Penny, but his supporting offense was thorough dominated by Brandon Webb in his 2nd failed attempt to reach win #14. He was due for some bad luck anyways given this was his 3rd loss of the season.
Justin Upton - 2/4, 1 RBI. He's awfully raw at 19 years old, but B.J.'s little brother is a bigtime offensive prospect and was mashing minor league pitcher prior to his promotion. If your OF is in shambles, give the kid a shot. Odds are stacked against him making a big fantasy splash, though.
Tom Glavine - 6 1/3 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K. Congrats to Glavine for career win #300. He pitched a fine ballgame and it was a pleasure to watch him achieve this career milestone. Given the change in the game with more relief pitchers, less durable pitchers, and fewer starts per season, Glavine might be the last pitcher to reach this mark for quite a while.
Lastings Milledge - 3/4, 2 R, SB (1). He's hitting .305 on the season, and only his lineup position (usually 7th or 8th) is holding him back from making a bigger fantasy impact. He's a great sleeper for next year as he seems to have finally adjusted to major league pitching, at least for now. Will Beltran still out for a while and Shawn Green not hitting well, he still has a chance to start the rest of the year and be a borderline 3rd OF in mixed leagues.
Mike Mussina - 6 IP, 9 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 3 K, W (7). He's won 3 straight starts now since his shelling at the hands of the Devil Rays. It was the only time he's given up more than 3 ER in his last 10 starts, although he's only pitched past the 6th inning twice. He remains a solid mixed league fantasy starter thanks to the resurgent Yankees offense.
Hideki Matsui - 1/3, 1 R, 2 RBI, HR (22). Don't get too carried away with his huge 13 HR July as that won't happen again this year. However, expecting 8-10 HR over the last 2 months is very reasonable, and that would put him over 30 for just the 2nd time in his US career. He's on pace to surpass 100 R and RBI thanks to a very nice 2nd half rebound.
Carlos Lee - 2/4, 1 R, 4 RBI, HR (23). Lee has already hit half the amount of HR post-AS break as he did pre-AS break, in about a quarter of the games. He's still on a serious roll and is helping his owners to big numbers right now.
Hanley Ramirez - 1/4, 2 R, 1 RBI, HR (19), SB (32). His AVG sits at .341, too. He's official made the race to be fantasy's best SS a dead heat between Jose Reyes and himself. Reyes will continue to steal a lot more bases, but Ramirez obviously has more pop and can hit for a higher AVG. Boston knew he'd be good, but there's no way any predicted he'd perform like this in his 2nd full season.
Bobby Jenks - 1 IP, 2 K, SV (32). 10 consecutive scoreless innings for Jenks as he's made a remarkable turnaround after a horrible stretch between mid-June and mid-July. He's pitching as well as any closer in baseball right now, showing his owners a big 2nd half after looking like he might melt down for the 2nd straight year.
Chuck James - 5 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 2 K. You can't use a fringe starter like James against an offense like Colorado. He's definitely a pitcher that you should play the matchups with, although with the acquisition of Teixeira, the Atlanta offense is even strong, making James a slightly better play due to the higher chances of a win.
Octavio Dotel - 1 IP, 2 H, 1 ER. He pitched 2 scoreless innings in his first two Braves appearances against Houston, but Colorado lit him up for 4 H, 5 R and 1 BB in 1 1/3 IP. He's well worth benching given his setup roll status until he turns himself around.
Dustin McGowan - 8 IP, 8 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K, W (8). That's 4 straight appearances of 2 ER or less. Unless you have a rotation full of no brainer starters, there's no harm is riding out the hot streak. He has a lot of talent, with a very good fastball and a quality slider/changeup. TJ surgery back in 2004 dimmed his star as did the inconsistency that followed it. I still wouldn't start him against the Yankees and Red Sox, but he's well worth owning for his other starts until he cools down.
Jeremy Accardo - 1 IP, 1 H, 1 K, SV (20). He's only allowed 2 ER in his past 12 outings, settling some concerns that he was being figured out. He still doesn't project as a long-term closer, but he's giving his owners some relief after having problems in June and early July.
Adam Wainwright - 7 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 7 K. Pretty solid outing against the Nationals. Despite his improved performance over the past 10 outings or so, his WHIP remains a problem and he hasn't turned the corner yet. He's moved himself into the fringe mixed league starter catagory, though.
Erik Bedard - 6 2/3 IP. 9 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 11 K, W (12). This is a bad start by his standards these days. He's become a strikeout monster this season, posting 192 K in 154 1/3 IP. He's won 8 of his last 9 starts, and he's turned into a fantasy ace this season.
Miguel Tejada - 1/5, 1 R, 1 RBI, HR (9). He's only hitting .243 since his return, but he's chipped in 2 HR, 6 RBI, and 5 R in those 9 games. The power was the biggest concern given the wrist injury, but he's proving that he can still hit the long ball. He should be a very solid fantasy SS the rest of the season.
Fausto Carmona - 7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 5 BB, 5 K. Carmona obviously had terrible command, but he pitched around jams and turned in another great outing. Unfortunately he was out-dueled and went 0-2 in his bid to become a 14 game winner.
Scott Baker - 8 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K. Wow, and against a good Cleveland offense as well. Again, he must be owned at this point. He has quality stuff and is finally succeeding at the major league level. I like his chances the rest of the year before the AL offenses better understand him and start to adjust.
John Lackey - 6 2/3 IP, 9 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, W (14). A sloppy outing, but he limited the damage and picked up the win thanks to some timely hitting in the 7th inning. He's going to continue to see his ERA rise with a 1.24 WHIP unless he can cut down on the baserunners.
Dan Haren - 6 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 6 K. He also did a good job dodging baserunners and only allowing 2 runs. He's definitely been far more hittable since the start of July, and he's also going to see an ERA spike if that continues.
Josh Beckett - 6 2/3 IP, 8 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 9 K,. W (14). Another pitcher that dodged baserunners, although his strong K count came in handy in making that happen. He stayed with Lackey atop the AL in wins, and he's on his way to his 2nd straight 200 IP season if he can continue to avoid the blister problems that plagued him much of his Florida career.
Manny Ramirez - 2/4, 1 R, 2 RBI, HR (19). Keep mashing, Manny!
Brandon Webb - 9 IP, 7 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K, W (11). Webb is rolling now, with 24 straight scoreless innings. Amazing how he improves his command, then goes on a hot streak. Hopefully he has a strong finish to the season ahead of him, but his 2.92 ERA does not match his 1.24 WHIP. However, his recent streak of pitching definitely supports the ERA plummet.
Brad Penny - 7 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 5 K. Very strong outing from Penny, but his supporting offense was thorough dominated by Brandon Webb in his 2nd failed attempt to reach win #14. He was due for some bad luck anyways given this was his 3rd loss of the season.
Justin Upton - 2/4, 1 RBI. He's awfully raw at 19 years old, but B.J.'s little brother is a bigtime offensive prospect and was mashing minor league pitcher prior to his promotion. If your OF is in shambles, give the kid a shot. Odds are stacked against him making a big fantasy splash, though.
Tom Glavine - 6 1/3 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 1 K. Congrats to Glavine for career win #300. He pitched a fine ballgame and it was a pleasure to watch him achieve this career milestone. Given the change in the game with more relief pitchers, less durable pitchers, and fewer starts per season, Glavine might be the last pitcher to reach this mark for quite a while.
Lastings Milledge - 3/4, 2 R, SB (1). He's hitting .305 on the season, and only his lineup position (usually 7th or 8th) is holding him back from making a bigger fantasy impact. He's a great sleeper for next year as he seems to have finally adjusted to major league pitching, at least for now. Will Beltran still out for a while and Shawn Green not hitting well, he still has a chance to start the rest of the year and be a borderline 3rd OF in mixed leagues.
Sunday, August 5, 2007
Wednesday - Saturday Recap
Sorry guys, I took a long weekend and wasn't around the computer until today. I'll recap the last couple days that I missed, but I'll be far more selective in who I cover. I'll be back to the daily updates tomorrow.
Andy Pettitte - 7 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, W (7). Pettitte turned in his best start in about a month and a half, and even though the White Sox performing like a weak offense this year, they're even worse against LHP. Still, it was nice to see him turn in a great start, and that's 4 straight quality starts in a row. He's a fringe mixed league starter despite the name recognition.
Bronson Arroyo - 1 2/3 IP, 7 H, 7 ER, 2 BB, 1 K. Ugh, and against the Nationals no less. He had been pitching quite well before this game, so let's give him a pass on this ugly outing and hope he bounces back in his next appearance. It's only his 2nd non-quality start in his past 8 appearances.
Rich Hill - 4 2/3 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 K. Bad times for Hill against Philly, even without Utley in the lineup. Rich Hill's numbers are living off of his strong April, where he posted a 1.77 ERA and a 0.87 WHIP. Since then, he's posted a 4.40 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP. He's also only had 3 wins in the past 3+ months as well, so he's really only contributing in the K column. I'm surprised I didn't notice this earlier, and it's very possible that the league has caught up to his average fastball and big curve combination. See what you can get for him in trade.
Alfonso Soriano - 2/4, 3 SB (18). I can't imagine owning him in H2H leagues with his ridiculous streaks. Still, it was nice to see him get active on the basepaths again. He's on pace for 27 HR and 27 SB, so he's way behind what people were expecting this year. Still, he's had a productive fantasy season. The Cubs would be smart to pursue a leadoff hitter in free agency and move Soriano to the 5 spot, whether or not Soriano likes it.
Oliver Perez - 6 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 11 K, W (10). Perez wasn't at his best last night, but he still pitched pretty well against a solid Milwaukee offense, and picked up the win thanks to good run support. Plus, who doesn't love 11 Ks?
Jered Weaver - 6 IP, 12 K, 6 ER, 1 BB, 1 K. Back to back 6 ER starts from Weaver. He's been very erratic so far this year, but he pitches for a great team and patience should be shown here. He should bounce back from these outings and be useable.
Felix Hernandez - 8 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 7 K. Love the K:BB ratio here as Felix continues to show more and more progress as the season moves along. He was in line for the win until Putz uncharacteristically blew the save.
Tim Lincecum - 6 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 5 BB, 5 K. He can get through outings like this with all the walks thanks to how unhittable he is right now. Over his last 7 starts, he's allowed 27 H in 44 1/3 IP, which is incredible. He's pitching about as well as anyone in baseball, but given the innings limitation he'll most likely be on come season's end, redraft leaguers should part with him for a n equal value veteran pitcher.
Anthony Reyes - 5 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 K. Not what I was looking for against Pittsburgh. He's slowly getting better, but I expected more against a weaker offense. He's not worth picking up, but he's very well worth monitoring down the stretch.
Jeremy Guthrie - 5 1/3 IP, 9 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 3 K. Boston smacked him around pretty good, and he was really lucky his ERA wasn't crushed given the amount of baserunners allowed. His stellar command is falling apart, and his ratios will go nowhere but up. As I've been preaching, get rid of him, if you can.
Jon Garland - 1 1/3 IP, 9 H, 8 ER, 0 BB, 1 K. His ERA has shot from 3.15 to 4.60 over the past month. I was saying how I had no idea why he was continuing to post the numbers he was, and things have evened out now. He's not worth hanging onto anymore.
Roger Clemens - 1 2/3 IP, 9 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 0 K. And his ERA shoots back over 4. He gave up 8 runs in all. I am elated I was able to get good value for him because he's just not going to be providing consistent mixed league value in the AL. Deal him if you still have him, and hopefully cash in on the name recognition.
Sean Marshall - 2 2/3 IP, 9 H, 7 ER, 1 BB, 2 K. Philly really lit him up. I still view him as a fringe mixed league starter, but be careful with his matchups. As I mentioned before, his Ks are way down since his first few starts. His command is still better than it was last year, and it's possible he can keep his ERA under 4, but it's probably best if he's just used for spot starts against weaker teams.
Jake Peavy - 7 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 10 K, W (11). Vintage Peavy. This is his best start in quite some time, and hopefully he'll go back to being the dominant Peavy from the start of the season. Still, through all of his, he avoided getting lit up and he pitched pretty well.
Barry Zito - 5 2/3 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, W (8). That's a start, I guess. He's on the waiver wire in many leagues, but he's well worth watching because I still think he can turn it around. I'd definitely leave him on waivers, but keep an eye on him and see if he can build off of this.
Orlando Hernandez - 6 2/3 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 9 K. What we've come to expect from El Duque this year, but Zambrano kept him from preventing a win. He continues to amaze despite his age and poor performace last year. I still say he's a great sell high candidate before the deadline thanks to his frequency of injuries.
Carlos Zambrano - 5 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 7 BB, 5 K. So yeah, he didn't have his command at all this game, but his ability to be unhittable when he needs to be allowed him to strand a whole host of runners. He again left his start early due to dehydration (I was at this game...it was really hot), so he needs to figure out what's causing this since that's the 2nd straight start he's left with the same problem.
Ryan Dempster - 1 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 K. A leadoff walk, and this happened. Outside of Delgado's rope double down the right field line, it was a bunch of seeing eye singles, so while he didn't pitch well, he wasn't getting killed. Unless he turns in more starts like this, his job as the closer remains safe despite all the hype about the return of Kerry Wood.
Chien Ming-Wang - 7 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, W (13). Typical start from Wang, and it was nice to see him bounce back after 4 straight starts of 3 ER or more, even if it was against the Royals. Thanks to his lowered ratios over last year, he's become a more reliable fantasy pitcher this season as Ks are the only catagory he's not truly a contributor in.
Tim Redding - 6 1/3 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K. He's pitched quite well since re-joining the major league rotation, but that's only earned him 1 win. His history says this won't last for long, even if he did have the talent to pitch like this at one point earlier in his career. Stay away.
Roy Oswalt - 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (11). Oswalt appears to be back at this point, turning in 2 dominant performances in a row. Let's hope he continues to build on this and returns to the great fantasy pitcher he's been over the past several years.
Mark Buehrle - 8 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, W (9). Tigers or Royals, it just doesn't matter this year for Buehrle. I still remain skeptical about his 3.07 ERA at this point and I think it's due for a correction, but he's pitching as well as any point in his career right now. I'd be really tempted to sell high before the deadline.
Andrew Miller - 4 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, 5 K. He left this start hurt in the 5th inning, and has been placed on the DL with a bum hamstring. I'll fully take the blame for suggesting everyone stick with him. He's very inefficient with his pitches, and while he's a great talent, it doesn't appear he's ready for the majors yet. You can safely drop him.
Ian Snell - 5 IP, 10 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 2 K. He's lost 5 straight starts, and he only mixed in one quality start in that span. He's not useable right now, but given how well he was pitching earlier in the season, his owners should stash him and hopes he turns it around.
Roy Halladay - 6 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 9 K, W (12). Not his best start, but the W and Ks more than make up for it. He's still on a very nice roll and is finally turning back into the fantasy ace he usually is when healthy.
Dannys Baez - 1 IP, 1 BB, SV (1). Baez is finally feeling well, and he cashed in on his first save opportunity. Consider him the strongest candidate for saves in the Baltimore bullpen.
James Shields - 6 2/3 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 6 K. He's been a very mediocre pitcher for the past 10 starts, but his 2 starts have shown a bit of progress back towards the right direction. If you're deep in pitching, you can cut him like I did, but he's worth stashing in most formats to see if he can turn it around. I read that his schedule is very rough over the rest of the year, so that will only complicate his chances of returning to fantasy relevance.
Jeff Francis - 6 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K, W (12). He's come roaring back over his last two starts after a very worrisome set of starts where he was giving up 5-6 ER consistently. Pick him back up if he was dropped.
John Smoltz - 6 2/3 IP, 9 H, 5 ER, 4 BB, 5 K. A bad outing against Colorado is not a bad thing, so don't worry about his one. He had 3 straight quality starts since coming off the DL until this one.
Mark Teixeira - 2/4, 1 R, 1 RBI, HR (16). He's been on fire since joining his new team, slamming HRs in his first three games. Some will make noise about the ballpark switch affecting his value, but like I mentioned in the trade summary, his HR rate was still very strong on the road, and the only thing he needs to prove is that he can hit for a solid AVG.
Yovani Gallardo - 6 2/3 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K. Another outstanding start from this season's 2nd best rookie pitcher. The Brewers have stated that he'll be limited to about 175 IP, so he's only got about 40 IP left. Try to cash in on this in redraft leagues and deal him before the deadline.
C.C Sabathia - 6 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, W (14). AL's first 14 game winner. He's settled back into a fantasy ace after a tough stretch of games earlier last month.
Johan Santana - 6 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 8 K. He's been far more hittable this summer than usual, losing as many games this summer as the past 3 years combined. His numbers are still elite thanks to a stronger start than usual to the season, so expect him to be more Santana-ish very soon.
Joe Borowski - 1 IP, SV (30). His ERA still sits at 4.85, but that's mostly to a brutal April. He had an ERA of 4.00 in May, 3.38 in June, and 3.60 in July, so he's not hurting your team as bad as his overall numbers indicate. He was pretty solid in both May and July in the WHIP catagory, so hopefully he can continue pitching well and not make his owners pay too much for all the saves he generates.
Jon Lester - 5 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K. He's not pitching like a mixed league option, so he's not worth owning right now. Don't forget about him though, since he's still a talented pitcher.
Matt Cain - 7 1/3 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 11 K. Is anyone unluckier than this guy? I'm not sure what he has to do to pick up a win, but he's posted 2 straight impressive starts and appears to be re-capturing mixed league form. He's safe to activate again, but he's risky and can't seem to win. He's not a good option for a team that can't afford a blowup risk in their rotation, so trade him unless you have solid options that can offset his ratio risk.
Greg Maddux - 6 1/3 IP., 8 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 3 K. Steady, if not exciting. Cain outpitched him tonight. I'm not a big fan of his mixed league value, but he is fairly consistent and is probably better than most waiver wire options at this point.
Chad Billingsley - 7 2/3 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K. He continues alternating strong and weak outings. As I said before, it'll balance out to be a pretty good positive for your mixed league rotation when all is said and done. He's well worth owning.
Phillip Hughes - 4 2/3 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 5 K. Not a great start, but there's good news here. Thanks to his leg injury, his arm will be fresh, and unlike Lincecum and Gallardo, he's at no risk to be shut down prior to the season's finish. This kid is for real, and while he'll present the usual inconsistency risk that rookie pitchers offer, he has bigtime upside and great win potential. He'll have good mixed league value over the rest of the year.
Alex Rodriguez - 3/4, 3 R, 3 RBI, HR (36), SB (13). #500 for A-Rod! What a career so far for A-Rod, and count me in with the many people who hope he eventually breaks the HR record. He's busted his slump with 2 very nice games in a row, so settle in and enjoy fantasy's #1 player over the rest of the year.
Bobby Abreu - 3/5, 4 R, 2 RBI, HR (11). He's carried over his big July into August so far as he's reclaiming his previous fantasy value. Let's hope he's re-found his groove and continues to close out the year in a very strong fashion.
Shaun Marcum - 6 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, W (8). 3 straight wins for Marcum who's definitely providing mixed league value right now. Continue using him while he's hot, and don't be afraid to cut bait if he puts together a couple bad outings.
Matt Garza - 4 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K. Very inefficient with his pitches, needing 93 pitches to get through 4 innings. He'll have outings like this, and he had a tough assignment pitching against Cleveland last night. He'll be more useful than not, so he's worth owning in mixed leagues as well. He'll be at risk of being shut down early as well, but he likely has no trade value, so just use him in the right matchups.
Kelvim Escobar - 7 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 7 BB, 2 K. Obviously nowhere close to his best start, but he pitched around all the baserunners and held Oakland to only 2 hits. Unfortunately his offense failed him for the 2nd start in a row.
Joe Blanton - 7 IP, 8 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 0 K. Not bad for not striking out a single batter. This was a step in the right direction after a run of bad starts, but the 0 strikeouts still has me worried a bit. He was lucky here.
Alan Embree - 1 IP, 1 K, SV (13). He's still the closer even though Street has returned. Oakland's manager has stated that he's in no rush thanks to the success Embree is enjoying in the closer's role, so Street owners might have to be patient. Don't drop him yet, and make sure Embree is owned in your league.
John Maine - 2 2/3 IP, 4 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 1 K. Didn't have his control last night. He had bounced back well after a couple rough stretches, but odds are he'll have some control problems here and there and turn in an outing like this. Nothing to worry about here.
Ted Lilly - 7 2/3 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, W (12). Back on the winning path. He's been on an incredible winning streak, winning 8 of his last 10 starts. With the Cubs on fire, he's in a great position to win each time he turns in a quality start. He's turned into a great late round pickup in drafts this year.
Tim Hudson - 7 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, W (12). Hudson shut down the powerful Colorado offense last night in the latest of his 5 consecutive great outings. He's pitching as well as anyone in baseball right now, and would have 5 consecutive wins as well if not for a blown save by Wickman mixed in.
Garrett Atkins - 1/4, 1 R, 4 RBI, HR (17). He's on fire again so far this month, hitting .467 with 2 HR and 10 RBI in 4 games. After two straight months hitting over .300, he's back as a great fantasy option at 3B after a slow first two months.
Javier Vazquez - 7 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, W (9). He continues to pitch well against even the toughest of opponents in a mixed league revelation. He's been a great find for his owners, only turning in one substandard month (5.03 ERA despite a 1.09 WHIP) on the season so far. Too bad the offense has tanked or else he'd likely be contending for the AL lead in wins.
Jeremy Bonderman - 7 IP, 10 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, 4 K. It's happening again as Bonderman continues to blow up after the AS break. Many, including myself, thought this would be the year that he finally stopped the 2nd half meltdown, but he's going to have to be incredble the rest of the way to avoid yet another bad 2nd half.
Cole Hamels - 7 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 5 K. Tom Gordon blew the lead for him in the 8th inning, and that was the night for Hamels. He again pitched well, but gave up 3 of those 4 ER in his last inning of work, coupling several hits together. He's still pitching very well.
Dave Bush - 5 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 4 K. A bad outing from Bush against a quality Philly offense. He's definitely one you have to watch out for in his matchups...he's not a starter you should plug in regardless of his opponent.
Jason Bay - 1/4, 1 R, 2 RBI, HR (17). Bay is hitting .288 with 4 HR, 15 RBI, and 13 R in 20 games since the AS break, so he's definitely hitting more like he usually does. I still think he's due for a patented Bay hot streak sometime soon.
Scott Kazmir - 7 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 9 K. I took longer than I anticipated, but Kazmir is definitely back on track now, posting 5 straight quality starts. Kazmir is showing much improved control, leading to these improved results. Ever since he said that he wanted to stop worrying about his mechanics all the time and just pitch the ball, he's produced far better results. Expect a nice finish.
Daisuke Matsuzaka - 7 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 10 K. 2 solo HR accounted for all the damage as Matsuzaka turned in a very nice outing. He had a 3 outing speedbump after a long stretch of successful starts, but he's back on top of his form with 3 straight quality outings. He seems to be streaky, but he's been more good than bad so far this year.
Barry Bonds - 1/1, 2 R, 1 RBI, HR (21). #755 for Bonds. Meh.
Derek Lowe - 5 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 4 K. Another rough start for Lowe who hasn't pitched the same since injuring his groin. I'm not sure if he's still not feeling healthy. Never underestimate a leg injury for a pitcher, especially if that's his planting foot. Hopefully he shows some progress in his next outing.
Eric Byrnes - 2/5, 1 R, 3 RBI, HR (17), SB (28). He's done an incredible job of being consistent this year, which was his downfall last year during the first fantasy-relevant season of his career. Given he's playing for a new contract, expect a solid finish, which was his problem last year. He's coming of an incredible 12 steal July.
Andy Pettitte - 7 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, W (7). Pettitte turned in his best start in about a month and a half, and even though the White Sox performing like a weak offense this year, they're even worse against LHP. Still, it was nice to see him turn in a great start, and that's 4 straight quality starts in a row. He's a fringe mixed league starter despite the name recognition.
Bronson Arroyo - 1 2/3 IP, 7 H, 7 ER, 2 BB, 1 K. Ugh, and against the Nationals no less. He had been pitching quite well before this game, so let's give him a pass on this ugly outing and hope he bounces back in his next appearance. It's only his 2nd non-quality start in his past 8 appearances.
Rich Hill - 4 2/3 IP, 8 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 5 K. Bad times for Hill against Philly, even without Utley in the lineup. Rich Hill's numbers are living off of his strong April, where he posted a 1.77 ERA and a 0.87 WHIP. Since then, he's posted a 4.40 ERA and a 1.35 WHIP. He's also only had 3 wins in the past 3+ months as well, so he's really only contributing in the K column. I'm surprised I didn't notice this earlier, and it's very possible that the league has caught up to his average fastball and big curve combination. See what you can get for him in trade.
Alfonso Soriano - 2/4, 3 SB (18). I can't imagine owning him in H2H leagues with his ridiculous streaks. Still, it was nice to see him get active on the basepaths again. He's on pace for 27 HR and 27 SB, so he's way behind what people were expecting this year. Still, he's had a productive fantasy season. The Cubs would be smart to pursue a leadoff hitter in free agency and move Soriano to the 5 spot, whether or not Soriano likes it.
Oliver Perez - 6 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 11 K, W (10). Perez wasn't at his best last night, but he still pitched pretty well against a solid Milwaukee offense, and picked up the win thanks to good run support. Plus, who doesn't love 11 Ks?
Jered Weaver - 6 IP, 12 K, 6 ER, 1 BB, 1 K. Back to back 6 ER starts from Weaver. He's been very erratic so far this year, but he pitches for a great team and patience should be shown here. He should bounce back from these outings and be useable.
Felix Hernandez - 8 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 7 K. Love the K:BB ratio here as Felix continues to show more and more progress as the season moves along. He was in line for the win until Putz uncharacteristically blew the save.
Tim Lincecum - 6 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 5 BB, 5 K. He can get through outings like this with all the walks thanks to how unhittable he is right now. Over his last 7 starts, he's allowed 27 H in 44 1/3 IP, which is incredible. He's pitching about as well as anyone in baseball, but given the innings limitation he'll most likely be on come season's end, redraft leaguers should part with him for a n equal value veteran pitcher.
Anthony Reyes - 5 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 4 K. Not what I was looking for against Pittsburgh. He's slowly getting better, but I expected more against a weaker offense. He's not worth picking up, but he's very well worth monitoring down the stretch.
Jeremy Guthrie - 5 1/3 IP, 9 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 3 K. Boston smacked him around pretty good, and he was really lucky his ERA wasn't crushed given the amount of baserunners allowed. His stellar command is falling apart, and his ratios will go nowhere but up. As I've been preaching, get rid of him, if you can.
Jon Garland - 1 1/3 IP, 9 H, 8 ER, 0 BB, 1 K. His ERA has shot from 3.15 to 4.60 over the past month. I was saying how I had no idea why he was continuing to post the numbers he was, and things have evened out now. He's not worth hanging onto anymore.
Roger Clemens - 1 2/3 IP, 9 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 0 K. And his ERA shoots back over 4. He gave up 8 runs in all. I am elated I was able to get good value for him because he's just not going to be providing consistent mixed league value in the AL. Deal him if you still have him, and hopefully cash in on the name recognition.
Sean Marshall - 2 2/3 IP, 9 H, 7 ER, 1 BB, 2 K. Philly really lit him up. I still view him as a fringe mixed league starter, but be careful with his matchups. As I mentioned before, his Ks are way down since his first few starts. His command is still better than it was last year, and it's possible he can keep his ERA under 4, but it's probably best if he's just used for spot starts against weaker teams.
Jake Peavy - 7 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 10 K, W (11). Vintage Peavy. This is his best start in quite some time, and hopefully he'll go back to being the dominant Peavy from the start of the season. Still, through all of his, he avoided getting lit up and he pitched pretty well.
Barry Zito - 5 2/3 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K, W (8). That's a start, I guess. He's on the waiver wire in many leagues, but he's well worth watching because I still think he can turn it around. I'd definitely leave him on waivers, but keep an eye on him and see if he can build off of this.
Orlando Hernandez - 6 2/3 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 9 K. What we've come to expect from El Duque this year, but Zambrano kept him from preventing a win. He continues to amaze despite his age and poor performace last year. I still say he's a great sell high candidate before the deadline thanks to his frequency of injuries.
Carlos Zambrano - 5 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 7 BB, 5 K. So yeah, he didn't have his command at all this game, but his ability to be unhittable when he needs to be allowed him to strand a whole host of runners. He again left his start early due to dehydration (I was at this game...it was really hot), so he needs to figure out what's causing this since that's the 2nd straight start he's left with the same problem.
Ryan Dempster - 1 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 K. A leadoff walk, and this happened. Outside of Delgado's rope double down the right field line, it was a bunch of seeing eye singles, so while he didn't pitch well, he wasn't getting killed. Unless he turns in more starts like this, his job as the closer remains safe despite all the hype about the return of Kerry Wood.
Chien Ming-Wang - 7 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 3 K, W (13). Typical start from Wang, and it was nice to see him bounce back after 4 straight starts of 3 ER or more, even if it was against the Royals. Thanks to his lowered ratios over last year, he's become a more reliable fantasy pitcher this season as Ks are the only catagory he's not truly a contributor in.
Tim Redding - 6 1/3 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K. He's pitched quite well since re-joining the major league rotation, but that's only earned him 1 win. His history says this won't last for long, even if he did have the talent to pitch like this at one point earlier in his career. Stay away.
Roy Oswalt - 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 5 K, W (11). Oswalt appears to be back at this point, turning in 2 dominant performances in a row. Let's hope he continues to build on this and returns to the great fantasy pitcher he's been over the past several years.
Mark Buehrle - 8 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, W (9). Tigers or Royals, it just doesn't matter this year for Buehrle. I still remain skeptical about his 3.07 ERA at this point and I think it's due for a correction, but he's pitching as well as any point in his career right now. I'd be really tempted to sell high before the deadline.
Andrew Miller - 4 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, 5 K. He left this start hurt in the 5th inning, and has been placed on the DL with a bum hamstring. I'll fully take the blame for suggesting everyone stick with him. He's very inefficient with his pitches, and while he's a great talent, it doesn't appear he's ready for the majors yet. You can safely drop him.
Ian Snell - 5 IP, 10 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 2 K. He's lost 5 straight starts, and he only mixed in one quality start in that span. He's not useable right now, but given how well he was pitching earlier in the season, his owners should stash him and hopes he turns it around.
Roy Halladay - 6 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 9 K, W (12). Not his best start, but the W and Ks more than make up for it. He's still on a very nice roll and is finally turning back into the fantasy ace he usually is when healthy.
Dannys Baez - 1 IP, 1 BB, SV (1). Baez is finally feeling well, and he cashed in on his first save opportunity. Consider him the strongest candidate for saves in the Baltimore bullpen.
James Shields - 6 2/3 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 6 K. He's been a very mediocre pitcher for the past 10 starts, but his 2 starts have shown a bit of progress back towards the right direction. If you're deep in pitching, you can cut him like I did, but he's worth stashing in most formats to see if he can turn it around. I read that his schedule is very rough over the rest of the year, so that will only complicate his chances of returning to fantasy relevance.
Jeff Francis - 6 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 8 K, W (12). He's come roaring back over his last two starts after a very worrisome set of starts where he was giving up 5-6 ER consistently. Pick him back up if he was dropped.
John Smoltz - 6 2/3 IP, 9 H, 5 ER, 4 BB, 5 K. A bad outing against Colorado is not a bad thing, so don't worry about his one. He had 3 straight quality starts since coming off the DL until this one.
Mark Teixeira - 2/4, 1 R, 1 RBI, HR (16). He's been on fire since joining his new team, slamming HRs in his first three games. Some will make noise about the ballpark switch affecting his value, but like I mentioned in the trade summary, his HR rate was still very strong on the road, and the only thing he needs to prove is that he can hit for a solid AVG.
Yovani Gallardo - 6 2/3 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K. Another outstanding start from this season's 2nd best rookie pitcher. The Brewers have stated that he'll be limited to about 175 IP, so he's only got about 40 IP left. Try to cash in on this in redraft leagues and deal him before the deadline.
C.C Sabathia - 6 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 3 K, W (14). AL's first 14 game winner. He's settled back into a fantasy ace after a tough stretch of games earlier last month.
Johan Santana - 6 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 8 K. He's been far more hittable this summer than usual, losing as many games this summer as the past 3 years combined. His numbers are still elite thanks to a stronger start than usual to the season, so expect him to be more Santana-ish very soon.
Joe Borowski - 1 IP, SV (30). His ERA still sits at 4.85, but that's mostly to a brutal April. He had an ERA of 4.00 in May, 3.38 in June, and 3.60 in July, so he's not hurting your team as bad as his overall numbers indicate. He was pretty solid in both May and July in the WHIP catagory, so hopefully he can continue pitching well and not make his owners pay too much for all the saves he generates.
Jon Lester - 5 IP, 8 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 4 K. He's not pitching like a mixed league option, so he's not worth owning right now. Don't forget about him though, since he's still a talented pitcher.
Matt Cain - 7 1/3 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 11 K. Is anyone unluckier than this guy? I'm not sure what he has to do to pick up a win, but he's posted 2 straight impressive starts and appears to be re-capturing mixed league form. He's safe to activate again, but he's risky and can't seem to win. He's not a good option for a team that can't afford a blowup risk in their rotation, so trade him unless you have solid options that can offset his ratio risk.
Greg Maddux - 6 1/3 IP., 8 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 3 K. Steady, if not exciting. Cain outpitched him tonight. I'm not a big fan of his mixed league value, but he is fairly consistent and is probably better than most waiver wire options at this point.
Chad Billingsley - 7 2/3 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 8 K. He continues alternating strong and weak outings. As I said before, it'll balance out to be a pretty good positive for your mixed league rotation when all is said and done. He's well worth owning.
Phillip Hughes - 4 2/3 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 5 K. Not a great start, but there's good news here. Thanks to his leg injury, his arm will be fresh, and unlike Lincecum and Gallardo, he's at no risk to be shut down prior to the season's finish. This kid is for real, and while he'll present the usual inconsistency risk that rookie pitchers offer, he has bigtime upside and great win potential. He'll have good mixed league value over the rest of the year.
Alex Rodriguez - 3/4, 3 R, 3 RBI, HR (36), SB (13). #500 for A-Rod! What a career so far for A-Rod, and count me in with the many people who hope he eventually breaks the HR record. He's busted his slump with 2 very nice games in a row, so settle in and enjoy fantasy's #1 player over the rest of the year.
Bobby Abreu - 3/5, 4 R, 2 RBI, HR (11). He's carried over his big July into August so far as he's reclaiming his previous fantasy value. Let's hope he's re-found his groove and continues to close out the year in a very strong fashion.
Shaun Marcum - 6 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 5 K, W (8). 3 straight wins for Marcum who's definitely providing mixed league value right now. Continue using him while he's hot, and don't be afraid to cut bait if he puts together a couple bad outings.
Matt Garza - 4 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 5 K. Very inefficient with his pitches, needing 93 pitches to get through 4 innings. He'll have outings like this, and he had a tough assignment pitching against Cleveland last night. He'll be more useful than not, so he's worth owning in mixed leagues as well. He'll be at risk of being shut down early as well, but he likely has no trade value, so just use him in the right matchups.
Kelvim Escobar - 7 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 7 BB, 2 K. Obviously nowhere close to his best start, but he pitched around all the baserunners and held Oakland to only 2 hits. Unfortunately his offense failed him for the 2nd start in a row.
Joe Blanton - 7 IP, 8 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 0 K. Not bad for not striking out a single batter. This was a step in the right direction after a run of bad starts, but the 0 strikeouts still has me worried a bit. He was lucky here.
Alan Embree - 1 IP, 1 K, SV (13). He's still the closer even though Street has returned. Oakland's manager has stated that he's in no rush thanks to the success Embree is enjoying in the closer's role, so Street owners might have to be patient. Don't drop him yet, and make sure Embree is owned in your league.
John Maine - 2 2/3 IP, 4 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 1 K. Didn't have his control last night. He had bounced back well after a couple rough stretches, but odds are he'll have some control problems here and there and turn in an outing like this. Nothing to worry about here.
Ted Lilly - 7 2/3 IP, 7 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 8 K, W (12). Back on the winning path. He's been on an incredible winning streak, winning 8 of his last 10 starts. With the Cubs on fire, he's in a great position to win each time he turns in a quality start. He's turned into a great late round pickup in drafts this year.
Tim Hudson - 7 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 7 K, W (12). Hudson shut down the powerful Colorado offense last night in the latest of his 5 consecutive great outings. He's pitching as well as anyone in baseball right now, and would have 5 consecutive wins as well if not for a blown save by Wickman mixed in.
Garrett Atkins - 1/4, 1 R, 4 RBI, HR (17). He's on fire again so far this month, hitting .467 with 2 HR and 10 RBI in 4 games. After two straight months hitting over .300, he's back as a great fantasy option at 3B after a slow first two months.
Javier Vazquez - 7 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, 6 K, W (9). He continues to pitch well against even the toughest of opponents in a mixed league revelation. He's been a great find for his owners, only turning in one substandard month (5.03 ERA despite a 1.09 WHIP) on the season so far. Too bad the offense has tanked or else he'd likely be contending for the AL lead in wins.
Jeremy Bonderman - 7 IP, 10 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, 4 K. It's happening again as Bonderman continues to blow up after the AS break. Many, including myself, thought this would be the year that he finally stopped the 2nd half meltdown, but he's going to have to be incredble the rest of the way to avoid yet another bad 2nd half.
Cole Hamels - 7 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 0 BB, 5 K. Tom Gordon blew the lead for him in the 8th inning, and that was the night for Hamels. He again pitched well, but gave up 3 of those 4 ER in his last inning of work, coupling several hits together. He's still pitching very well.
Dave Bush - 5 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 4 K. A bad outing from Bush against a quality Philly offense. He's definitely one you have to watch out for in his matchups...he's not a starter you should plug in regardless of his opponent.
Jason Bay - 1/4, 1 R, 2 RBI, HR (17). Bay is hitting .288 with 4 HR, 15 RBI, and 13 R in 20 games since the AS break, so he's definitely hitting more like he usually does. I still think he's due for a patented Bay hot streak sometime soon.
Scott Kazmir - 7 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 9 K. I took longer than I anticipated, but Kazmir is definitely back on track now, posting 5 straight quality starts. Kazmir is showing much improved control, leading to these improved results. Ever since he said that he wanted to stop worrying about his mechanics all the time and just pitch the ball, he's produced far better results. Expect a nice finish.
Daisuke Matsuzaka - 7 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 10 K. 2 solo HR accounted for all the damage as Matsuzaka turned in a very nice outing. He had a 3 outing speedbump after a long stretch of successful starts, but he's back on top of his form with 3 straight quality outings. He seems to be streaky, but he's been more good than bad so far this year.
Barry Bonds - 1/1, 2 R, 1 RBI, HR (21). #755 for Bonds. Meh.
Derek Lowe - 5 IP, 4 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 4 K. Another rough start for Lowe who hasn't pitched the same since injuring his groin. I'm not sure if he's still not feeling healthy. Never underestimate a leg injury for a pitcher, especially if that's his planting foot. Hopefully he shows some progress in his next outing.
Eric Byrnes - 2/5, 1 R, 3 RBI, HR (17), SB (28). He's done an incredible job of being consistent this year, which was his downfall last year during the first fantasy-relevant season of his career. Given he's playing for a new contract, expect a solid finish, which was his problem last year. He's coming of an incredible 12 steal July.
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