Jeff Francis - 7 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 6 K. Not a bad outing, but coupled 4 baserunners together in the 1st inning that led to 2 runs, and then gave up a 2 run HR later. He's still pitching very well, and is being overlooked in fantasy leagues.
Chris Ray - Picked up his 13th save last night. A couple ugly outings that involved big HRs have his ERA up over 4, but with a 1.14 WHIP and 28 K in 29 IP, he's pitching much better than the ERA indicates. He's a good buy-at-a-discount closer.
B.J. Upton - He left last night's game with a strained left quad after only one at-bat. He'll likely miss a few games, but he doesn't believe he'll need to go on the DL. Make sure to take him out of your lineup tonight and most likely tomorrow.
Carl Crawford - On fire recently, going 10/20 with 1 HR, 7 RBI, 9 R, and 5 SB in his last 4 games. Now that's some serious production.
Xavier Nady - Hit his 10th HR last night, to go along with a .287 AVG and 36 RBI. He's proving to be a nice 3 catagory player, and given Pittsburgh's inability to produce much offense, he should be starting the rest of the year. Not a bad 3rd OF/UTIL guy right now.
Hideki Matsui - Hit his 6th HR last night. With a .282 AVG, 6 HR, 29 R, and 30 RBI, he's been a disappointment. Given his history of production since coming over, he remains a legit buy-low. Given his age and his wrist injury last year, I'm not sure if the 30 HR power is coming back, but he'll be solid across the board, save stolen bases.
Jorge Sosa - 8 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K. A very impressive line against one of the best offenses in the majors. With 6 quality starts in 7 tries, it's time to start taking him seriously as a mixed league starter, especially with the power of the Mets offense to support him.
Carlos Delgado - 5 HRs and 9 RBIs in his past 10 games. His power numbers are there, but the .232 AVG might allow you to get him at a discount still.
Homer Bailey - 5 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 3 K. He was wild like I predicted, but even against the Indians he was able to avoid major damage despite the 4 walks. He's probably worth picking up in all formats depending on what your current rotation looks like. He'll pitch in a fairly weak hitting division, and for a fairly good offense.
Brandon Phillips - Hit his 11th HR last night. With a .287 AVG, 11 HR, 33 RBI, 39 R, and 10 SB, he's been arguably the 2nd best 2B to draft this year behind B.J. Upton. Tremendous numbers at a huge draft day discount.
Sean Marshall - 6 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K. That's 4 straight starts of 2 ER or less since he's been called up this year. If your rotation needs help, Jeff Francis, Jorge Sosa, and Sean Marshall all make good short-term (and possibly long-term) suggestions.
Alfonso Soriano - I'll let you guys know if I trade anyone else. They're likely due for a ridiculous hot streak (Rios, Soriano), and then you guys can make sure to go get them. His 3 HRs last night made me throw up in my mouth a bit.
Freddy Garcia - 1 2/3 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 1 K. He might be owned in your league, and if so, laugh at his owner. Unfortunately for Freddy, he complained of shoulder soreness after the game and very well might be headed for the DL.
Octavio Dotel - Retired the 2 batters he faced last night to record his 3rd save. Nice to see an outing not marred with baserunners, even if it only was 2 hitters.
Bartolo Colon - 4 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 4 K. He's been a big (literally) problem the last 3 outings and is likely hurting again, so make sure you don't start him until he straightens things out or goes on the DL.
Chone Figgins - 3 SBs last night, giving him 8 in the last 8 games. He's definitely back being what he is, a light hitting, heavy stealing middle infielder. He led off last night too, so if he's back to leading off, he'll have added value with extra at-bats and extra runs scored.
Albert Pujols - 2/5 with a HR and 2 RBI last night. He's definitely coming around starting to produce like we expect. I still see a massive hot streak ahead for him.
Dan Wheeler/Brad Lidge - Despite Wheeler blowing another save Thursday night, Garner used the same bullpen arrangement last night, and Wheeler tossed a perfect inning with 2 Ks. It looks like Lidge won't be closing yet, but Wheeler will be on a very short leash unless he strings together a number of scoreless outings.
Chris Capuano - 4 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 4 BB, 5 K. He'll get you Ks, but he won't post great ratios, especially WHIP. He's a 2 catagory pitcher for the most part, and rather overrated in fantasy leagues.
Prince Fielder - He and A-Rod have quite a battle going on, tied at 22 HRs to lead the majors.
Josh Beckett - 8 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 8 K. He continues his dominance, moving to 9-0. Easily the best draft day value of any starting pitcher this season. He's finally mixing in his very good offspeed pitches with his fastball, and the results are finally matched up to his talent level.
Raul Ibanez - Who didn't see this coming? He inexplicably hit 33 HRs last year, but his power went away as quickly as it came. He finally hit his 2nd HR last night, and has been a huge bust for those expecting a repeat performance.
Tim Lincecum - 4 1/3 IP, 4 H, 3 ER, 5 BB, 3 K. He just didn't have it last night. His first truly bad performance since opening night. Nothing to worry about.
Chad Gaudin - 6 2/3 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 4 BB, 3 K. Again pitched his way out of jams, but unfortunately the bullpen blew the lead for him. He's maintaining a great ERA under 3, giving you more time to package him in a deal before things catch up to him.
Brad Penny - 7 2/3 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 7 K. If you owned him last year, you've seen this song and dance before. Penny dominates in the first half, then tires and goes to hell in the second half. Don't own him when it happens again.
Takashi Saito - He gave up a HR for the first batter he saw to blow the save last night. He was fine the rest of the inning, so he's back to being the Dodgers closer now.
Jeremy Accardo - Gave up a walk, and then a walkoff HR last night. That's 2 straight outings of giving up 2 ER, but given his ERA is now at 2.26, things are evening out and this shouldn't be a cause for concern.
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4 comments:
Do you think that Jeff Francis will be able to keep up this (or anything near this) pace? I'm thinking about giving up on Jason Schmidt and giving Francis a shot, but I'm undecided right now.
Francis had a great month of May (44 1/3 IP, 3-1, 2.23 ERA, 0.92 WHIP, 23 K), but he was pitching over his head that month and that performance should not be expected. Worth noting are his split stats, where he has a 3.09 ERA and 1.11 WHIP on the road, compared to a 4.30 ERA and 1.41 WHIP at home. If you look at his overall numbers (3.81 ERA, 1.29 WHIP) right now, I think that pace is sustainable, although the lack of Ks (53 K in 87 1/3 IP) makes him a bit less attractive.
It's hard to recommend dropping a pitcher like Jason Schmidt, but after he got torched yesterday, I'm not sure he's healthy. He's throwing 90 instead of 95 these days. Francis doesn't have the same upside, but I think he'll be a more reliable pitcher the rest of the season. I actually prefer Sean Marshall. He has a better offense behind him, and he'll K more batters.
Normally I wouldn't consider dropping Schmidt, but once I saw that he topped out at 88 mph the other night, I couldn't control my thoughts. I keep going back and forth... drop Schmidt, drop Tim Hudson, keep them both on the bench and monitor.
All the while, Jeremy Guthrie sings his siren song. I'm checking out Sean Marshall, too. Thanks for the tip.
I read today that Schmidt was consistently working in the mid 80s during his last start, so I would honestly dump him at this point. For someone who used to throw 94-96, it's obvious his shoulder isn't healthy. I definitely wouldn't drop Tim Hudson as he's finally healthy this year, save that line drive from the Cubs last week. Given the switch to the NL and the fact he finally feels good, he should be solid the rest of the year. I'd trade him if you want to get rid of him because someone would surely be interested.
I picked up Sean Marshall in a league where I have no set 5th starter and will be using him until he gets blown up. I was reading about him yesterday and the main reason for his success so far this year is the improved K:BB ratio. If you compare last year to this year, it's night and day. Is it sustainable? We can hope.
I wouldn't touch Jeremy Guthrie. There's nothing in his history to suggest him maintaining this, especially given his pitches in the best offensive division in baseball.
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