Daniel Murphy and Juan Nicasio are both out for the year – an undeserving fate that would merely be humane for the Astros (note: the Astros can go .500 for the final 48 games and they’d still lose 101 games – on the bright side, they have a magic number of 4 to best the 1962 Mets). Murphy tore his MCL making that two season-ending leg injuries for Met 1Bs (Ike Davis fractured his ankle). Hopefully Keith Hernandez doesn’t get a hip flexor applying Just for Men on his moustache. While Murphy has yet to show much power in the majors, a .320 average with 1B/2B/3B eligibility provided value in just about any league. Murphy’s MCL tear was a scrape compared to Nicasio who fractured a vertebrae in his neck after taking an Ian Desmond comebacker on the cabeza. He’s still being monitored for internal bleeding as I type but hopefully he has a healthy recovery.
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Author: Rudy Gamble
Rudy is the co-founder of Razzball and the wizard behind the Player Rater, Stream-o-nator, and most other statty things on the site.
Read some of Rudy Gamble's 238 posts
It’s trade deadline time, a full baseball weekend, and Grey is at a crawfish festival asking ladies whether he has any chum in his moustache. Anyway, the Indians spoiled the Yanks and Sawx plans by nabbing Ubaldo for a bunch of prospects including their top two pitching prospects (Drew Pomeranz and Alex White).
Please, blog, may I have some more?Tampa is no South Beach. His Wade-in-crime (Davis) isn’t quite as stellar. But James Shields is looking a lot more Kingly than LeBron these days. Facing the red-hot Red Sox (9 straight wins @ 9+ runs scored per game), Shields threw a 5-hit, 3-walk shutout. That’s Shields’ 6th win with a 2.60 ERA, a 1.05 WHIP, and 98 Ks in 103.2 IP. His ERA is almost half of last year’s 5.18 debacle. Sure, he’s playing slightly above the talents he brought to Tampa (.269 BABIP, 82% strand rate) but his peripherals (K/BB) are as solid as anyone in the AL (including Verlander). Hold him if you got ‘em. Be confident to trade for him if you don’t. Just watch out when he starts against the Tigers – that Dirks is clutch.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Chase Utley will make his first start of the year on Monday in the Phillies’ 47th game of the season. If only the Yanks would lend out Suzyn Waldman for the occasion…Oh my goodness gracious!…Of all the dramatic things I’ve ever seen! For those of you who carried Utley on your DL since Opening Day, congratulations. The word is that Utley’s knee feels okay. I’ll put the over/under at 90 games for the rest of the regular season. I wouldn’t expect classic Utley this year (as in .300/30/110/15). I think he’s going to look a lot more like last year’s Utley (511/75/16/65/13) for the rest of his career – minus a couple of SBs. Second basemen don’t age gracefully and he’s 33 with a bad knee. If someone will trade a top 50 player for him, take it.
Please, blog, may I have some more?The Fantasy Razzball Master League Standings went up on Saturday. You can access them here and via the link in the ‘Razzball Commenter Leagues’ section in the left sidebar.
Early congrats to the owner of team Bill Bergen c. 1909 (aka commenter ‘Tom’) who has the early lead.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Last year, the only type of starts and luck that Charlie Morton had was bad. Despite good stuff and pedestrian ratios (6.7 K/9, 2.9 BB/9), he put up some of the worst stats in recent history. A 7.57 ERA in 79 innings during the year of the pitcher! It was a 54 ERA+ (adjusted for park and era) which stands as the 5th worst ERA+ since 1945 for pitchers with 79+ IP. It’s hard to say how much of his .353 BABIP was because he threw down the middle or back luck but let’s just say the latter. It seemed like luck was balancing out in his first three starts this year as he went 2-0 despite throwing 6 Ks and 12 BBs in 22 innings. But excluding an ugly win in Colorado (where just about every non-ace should be benched), his last three starts – including last nights 5-hit shutout – have shown significant progress. In those 18 2/3 IP, he’s K’d 17 and walked 7. So let your league mates focus on his ghastly K:BB for the season while you get him on the cheap. I’d still bench him during bad match-ups but he looks primed to be a solid 5th/6th SP in shallow leagues.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Not sure if you’ve noticed but last year’s ROY runner-up, Jason Heyward, has been AWFUL in May – 2 for 28 with 13 Ks. Now it comes out that he’s got a sore shoulder and his right hand and forearm have become uncomfortably numb. Hopefully they can give him just a little pin prick that will make him feel better. Best case is he misses a couple days. Worst case is amputation via tomahawk. I think he can avoid the worst case but you never know…Heyward….Hey Ward, something’s wrong with the Beaver. Ward and Beaver’s last name was Cleaver. Cleaver is the white man term for tomahawk…..oh oh whoa-a-ho!
Please, blog, may I have some more?The Razzball Commenter League Master Standings are now available. We added a link in the top left of our main menu under ‘Razzball Commenter Leagues’ for future reference.
Early congratulations / unintended jinx to…
The Pesky Pole Dancers who are in 1st place among the 456 participants (38 leagues of 12)!
Please, blog, may I have some more?The Twins’ Francisco Liriano may actually have a Twin. Let’s call him Diego Liriano (runner-up choices were Jose, Antonio, Luis Obispo, and Fernando Valley). Maybe Diego pitched his first 5 starts – the ones where Liriano got shelled to the tune of 24 ER, 18 BB, and 27 Hits within 23 2/3 innings.
Please, blog, may I have some more?The Marlins outfield is only big enough to handle one prospect as Logan Morrison is hitting the DL on the same night that Mike Stanton finally hits a home run. Morrison projected to be the anti-Stanton with solid AVG and OBP but limited power (10-15 HRs). Yet after 4 early HRs, he was showing the 4-category prowess that makes owners feel all a-tingle. But then Logan goes and hurts his left foot and will miss 2-4 weeks. Guess Daniel Day-Lewis is now the favorite for the title role in The Logan Morrison Story. I’d stash vs.
Please, blog, may I have some more?

