Last week, my borderline fantasy starter post was nominated for a Clio. Lost to Draper, but what else is new? Drunks get all the breaks. Just being nominated was a thrill. My line for last week was: 2.17 ERA in 108 IP (that’s only 26 earned runs, you’re welcome). The WHIP was 1.19 with 7 Wins and 71 Ks. To recap, these aren’t guys I’d drop anyone worthwhile to get, these starters are meant for streaming purposes and all of their ownership in ESPN is under 50%. These streamers are in no particular order. Also, in the final month of the season, managers juggle their lineups more, so there’s no guarantee all of these guys are listed on the right day. Anyway, here’s some borderline starters for this week in fantasy baseball:
Friday, September 3rd
Fausto Carmona – I’m not a fan of Carmona, but he gets the French in Safeco, talk about an easy victory. French may just start pitching for the Indians halfway through the game.
Ivan Nova – Gets his toughest matchup yet vs. the Blue Kays. I’d only go here if I absolutely needed the start.
Daniel Hudson – Might finally be over 50% owned by the time you read this. You should’ve grabbed him a month ago when I was first telling you about him.
Saturday, September 4th
Jason Hammel – Actually has been much better at home and hasn’t been great in Petco, but, well, it’s still Petco.
Rick Porcello – It’s not stacking up to be the best week for streamers when I’m recommending guys I don’t particularly like. Porcello has given up only 5 hits in his last 14 IP and he gets the peasant Royals.
Bud Norris – As we saw from his last start, he’s risky, but his Ks are terrific and he gets the Diamondhacks.
Sunday, September 5th
Wade LeBlanc - Has a 2.71 ERA at home. Guess where he is on Sunday? Yup.
Wade Davis – Sticking with the Wade theme, Davis has a 1.13 ERA vs. the Suckie-O’s this year.
Jorge de la Rosa – When I mentioned to one of Razzball’s co-writers that Rosa was only owned in 47% of ESPN leagues, I got this response. Hater Bell, “Ownership numbers at ESPN is like saying what percentage of all morons remember to remove their pants when showering. The sample size may be large but the people within that sample are questionable.” dlR goes to Petco and hasn’t given up more than 3 earned since July 17th.
Armando Galarraga – Has dominated the Royals in his career.
Justin Masterson – He could kill your WHIP and potentially your ERA, so be very careful in H2H leagues running him out there on a Sunday.
Monday, September 6th
Ian Kennedy – Has held the Giants to a .192 BAA and 21 Ks in 20 2/3 IP.
Jordan Zimmermann – Goes against the Mets, who are next to last in offense post-All-Star Break. Only beating the Mariners.
Tuesday, September 7th
Dallas Braden – Not a huge fan, but he gets the M’s, a team he has a 1.16 ERA vs. this year. Actually, every pitcher might have that ERA against the M’s this year.
Wednesday, September 8th
R.A. Dickey – As long as he continues to be unowned in more than 50% of ESPN leagues, I’ll continue to recommend him. He has a 2.56 ERA on the year. Yes, that’s better than the guy you’re thinking of right now.
Ivan Nova – There’s definitely a theme with these streamers. If the pitcher goes against the M’s, Suckie-O’s, the Mess, peasant Royals or in Petco, then it usually works for me.
Daniel Hudson – By the time I got to the end of the post, he was still under 50% owned, unless the power of Razzball pushes him over (or people just come to their senses).
***Hey, I’m on flight back east. Help each other for a few. Thanks!
@royce. It’s the temper thing. Not a part of baseball to rush the mound. Yes, it happens, and–it’s wrong. There are rules to punish the pitcher when he throws at/near a batter. Somehow, I distinguish that throwing inside (not at the head) is O.K. If a pitcher crosses the line, the umps punish him. In my mind, no justification for rushing the mound and punching a pitcher.
helter skelter !
@simply fred: wasnt it the 2nd time they threw at him? and they hit him the first time the night before or whatever?
He was pegged the first time up; no warning for Volstad. Then he was thrown at; so Volstad wasn’t going to be tossed for hitting Nyger and then throwing at him.
Also, what I am not seeing brought up is that Morgan stole his two bases in the fourth inning. Weren’t there two games last week when teams erased 9 or ten run deficits? Was he supposed to, as Royce said, sit on first base?
@Tony: 2nd time? 3rd time? You saying it’s OK to rush and punch?
@DonSlaughtOnslaught: BTW: I have no problem with him stealing the bases.
Now that Nolasco is officially off to the wood chipper, who is a better fill in? Matusz, Big Z or Zimmermannn?
@simply fred: First of all, I agree with you that rushing the mound and throwing at a batter are not equally bad. (A very well respected law prof would disagree with us, however: http://www.boston.com/sports/baseball/redsox/articles/2009/08/19/baseball_errs_with_lax_penalty_on_pitchers_who_take_aim_at_hitters/ )
I have two points, though. First, I think you also have to judge Volstad for his temper. He threw at Morgan the second time because Morgan showed him up by stealing bases off of him. Volstad wasn’t enforcing some unspoken, old-timey rule of baseball. Volstad was acting out of anger.
Second, when doling out blame for actions we think are wrong, we must consider the actor’s justifications. Even if we think that rushing a mound is more blameworthy than hitting a batter, it must be said that throwing at a batter for having stolen two bases off of you is worse than rushing a mound for having been thrown at twice in a row.
Would the world be better off if Morgan had not rushed the mound? Probably. But to lay the blame on Morgan alone would be morally wrong. And in my opinion, because Volstad’s justification for throwing at him the second time was so weak, Volstad is more at fault here than Morgan.
@simply fred: What’s the difference between rushing and punching someone and throwing a baseball at them? In my line of work, the latter would be treated much more seriously. Hitting someone would be an assault. Intentionally throwing a baseball at someone would be assault with a dangerous or deadly weapon (and it would very very rarely matter where you were intending to hit the person with the ball– the question would be whether a baseball could cause serious injury or death).
@simply fred: Just to be sure, my point is not that Morgan is blameless and that he should avoid punishment. My point is that Volstad should be punished equally or more. And as Dershowitz points out in that editorial, suspending Volstad and Morgan for the same amount of games is not equal punishment because a pitcher only plays one of every five games. Equal punishment would be to suspend Volstad for a month and Morgan for a week or so.
Given the enormous amount of attention Morgan’s received for all this, you’d have thought he ran across the side of the mound on his way back to the dugout.
Oh, and where I wrote this: “First of all, I agree with you that rushing the mound and throwing at a batter are not equally bad. (A very well respected law prof would disagree with us, however:” I meant that I agree that rushing the mound is worse than throwing at a batter. I think Dershowitz thinks the opposite.
@peter: Ha! Yeah, it’s time to move on. Sorry to Grey and everyone else for taking the focus away from what really matters, like whether Luebke the hodgepadre should be on your team.
(I’m afraid that came out snarky. I meant it in all seriousness.)
Thanks for this recurring piece – super helpful
@peter: Now, that’s funny
Grandy!
@royce!: I saw Luebke pitch earlier this summer here in Portland. I don’t remember much of the outing because it was cheap hotdog night.
I’m going to wait and see how he does in this start. Note on the Padres’ schedule this month: if he stays in the rotation, his next few starts: vs. LAD, @ Col, @ StL, vs Cin, vs ChC
So, yeah, I’d definitely stay away from those games away from Petco.
@Steve: Grandy*2! Thank god that happened on a Thursday, or else he would’ve ended up on my bench.
Thank you SweetBabyJesus for the shortened schedule; saving most of us from sonavabenching an initially out of the lineup Granderson! Additional thanks to you Grey for the invaluable Borderline Starters posts. Much gratitude to the you both for these wonderful gifts.
@Steve: @Dingo: @zombie: Yeah, if it hadn’t been a shortened schedule I’m pretty sure that I would’ve jumped out my window.
Gaby = Tito HA! I’m just glad Donkey didn’t go all Big John Stud in that pile.
Morgan’s jump-punch was very similar to Randy Couture’s from Expendables – minus the fire.
My h2h regular season ends this week and 3 1/2 games separate the top 5 teams, 1/2 game between the top 3 with me tied for 2nd! Tightest race I’ve seen in this league yet – very exciting stuff!
With a few good outings and barring a total offensive collapse, I can win this thing and earn a first round bye!
Nyjer Morgan occasionally refers to himself as “Tony Plush”, which he says is his “Gentleman’s name.”
http://a1135.g.akamai.net/f/1135/18227/1h/cchannel.download.akamai.com/18227/podcast/PITTSBURGH-PA/WPGB-FM/EXINN%20Nyjer%20041509.mp3?CPROG=PCAST&MARKET=PITTSBURGH-PA&NG_FORMAT=newstalk&SITE_ID=1945&STATION_ID=WPGB-FM&PCAST_AUTHOR=FM_Newstalk_104.7&PCAST_CAT=Sports&PCAST_TITLE=Extra_Innings
@peter:
continuing with the dershowitz theme :
and if you had landed on the neighbor’s dog ,
that was in the process of digging up your flowerbed ,
and that dog , in turn , sunk his teeth into your leg ….
@Grey: Where did u fly out of?
@royce!: Volstad didn’t throw a ball into the stands.
@peter: Yeah, we really need an antonym for sonavabench! I recall someone suggesting “hellavabench”, but I guess that’s for when you bench someone and you’re glad you did. Here, we need something for being thankful that we didn’t bench Grandy.
@simply fred: He didn’t, but the ball-throwing has already been dealt with separately and I’m not sure is a factor in the Nats-Marlin fracas.
wander if morgan is worth holding on to,1 maybe 2 suspensions looming
@simply fred: I’m not taking the bait.
But your statement did make me wonder, has a batter who has just been thrown at ever picked up the ball and tried to hit the pitcher with it? I certainly hope so.
@Razzball Nation: Please complete this sentence: Nolasco is a top ____ pitcher for 2011. Thanks!
@Bill Lumbergh: I’ll go 40, but he would be on the tail end, somewhere in the 35-40 range.
@royce!: Bert Campaneris hurled the BAT at the pitcher. It spun right over his head like a helicopter. He got suspended.
More recently Torii Hunter threw the ball at Danny Baez (horribly) a few years back. Ejection, not suspended i dont think.
@Bill Lumbergh: By which I mean that’s where I expect he’ll be drafted. He could easily surpass that position, and be a top 20 starter for the year.
@Watch it Buster: The Campy bat throwing was uncalled for, for sure.
The Torii throw is hilarious. He’s my new favorite player!
@AL KOHOLIC: I’d wait to see what MLB announces tomorrow. I could see it being as much as two weeks, and I don’t think holding on to him would be worthwhile then. If it stays around 7 games, I think it depends on the standings in the respective league. He could still be valuable to someone in need of steals down the stretch.
@royce!: thanks
Dumb question maybe (haven’t seen what happened), but if Beltran scored on an error, why are both of Hudson’s run earned?
@Steve: Next batter had a hit that would have driven in Beltran, so it is earned.
@VinWins: Gotcha. Thanks.
@Mateo: Zimmermann
@3FingersBrown: Hehe
@tHe sHiT: Lax
Hudson! Dbacks have 1 good starter…hurray.
@Elijah: And now you have Mike Hampton…
these 100 pitch count limits are getting way out of hand .
@Grey: Wut airline?
@tHe sHiT: Stalker!
@tHe sHiT: Virgin
@Grey: @Steve: Lol i wish u woulda come thru my terminal so i could make sure u got the whole 9 yards of additional screening.
@tHe sHiT: I can hear the snap of the rubber gloves from here.
@Steve:lol yup!
Why was Santana taken out after only 65 pitches? Saving him for the playoffs?? lol
Someone please tell me the real Chase Utley has reappeared just in time for my playoffs…
@Grey: Hey Grey, I saw that you recommended to someone in the forums that they drop Quentin for Stanton in a h2h league. I am in a similar situation (it’s the h2h 5×5 + OBP and XBH league). I dropped Stanton recently for Zimmermann. Should I drop Quentin and pick Stanton back up? Another waiver option is Ludwick, who was just dropped. FA options are Brandon Allen, Bernadina, Morse, Nady, Maybin, and Laporta.
And how was Virgin anyways? I’ve always flown Jet Blue when going coast to coast, and have no complaints, but I’m always open to upgrading.
@royce!: A little more relevant info- FLA and SD are the only two teams (of the guys I listed) that have 7 games next week. SD has 7 homes games v. LAD and SF. FLA is @ PHI and @WAS. Stanton’s away OPS is like .300 higher than his home OPS.
I may have just talked myself into picking up Stanton, huh?
Crisp has been pissing in my cereals ever since I picked him up. Drop him for one these young studs (it’s for my UT): Neil Walker, Tabata, Ryan Raburn?
That Delcarmen trade is working out pretty well so far.
For the Red Sox.
In NL only 4×4 keeper league $260 salary at the start of the auction.. I have Victorino for $25 .. I was going to keep him for next year at that price, but then Strasburg got hurt.. so now I’ll need to look elsewhere for pitching and may need the money for other players.. I can get Maybin at $5 in exchange for Victorino.. worth it?
and I wish the cubs would bring up b.jax.
@Grey: I’m picking up a pitcher for a cheap keeper, which do you like better for next year? Zimmermann or Hudson?
@GopherDay: Add Matusz, Chacin, DLR, and Davis to that list. All just about the same amount to keep.
Grey, looking at your post today, I’m now wondering if it’s better for me to drop Hughes for J-Zim (pitching against the Mets) or for Anibal (pitching in Philly which isn’t great, but probably the surest bet long term). Since both J-Zim and Anibal are available, I was thinking of streaming J-Zim first and taking a chance that Anibal will still be available for his next start. Thoughts?
@Grey:
september big o is thinking that he should have pursued wins ,
more vigorously , a little earlier during the season .
(big o , like Rickey , enjoys being a front-runner … yes , he do .)
imo , the last 5 weeks of the season provides plenty of opportunity
to gain ground in the K category , if that is an area in which you are lacking , and , as such , is not germane to this conversation .
however , i’m at the point of gambling a point or two in Saves , for the
chance of greater rewards (3 , maybe 4 points) by making a move on
vulture wins .
is December Grey going to laugh in my face when i tell him of this plan to drop front-line closers for 7th and 8th inning-type middle relievers ?
this is all precipitated , of course , by major league managers holding down the pitch counts on their SP’s , as the season wears down .
obviously , if i was running middle of the pack , the potential for +2 points
would not be worth the time for either of us .
but , as it is , i’d really like to hear September Grey’s opinion ,
before implementing this plan of attack .
thanking you , in advance .
Lidge on the ledge again…
@DrEasy: I shouldn’t say “again”, as he’s been pretty unhittable of late.
Added Todd Helton for the short day. Ticker teasin son of a bitch.
@DrEasy: I wouldn’t say no to a double play right now…
@Steve: Well, he got out of it! And the first base runner wasn’t even his fault.
@DrEasy: Never a doubt!
No Capps? He’d only pitched two days in a row, hadn’t he?
in talking about morgan, why didn’t anyone bring up gaby sanchez cheap shotting him? I know you’re suppose to defend your pitcher, but c’mon man, this isn’t tag team wrestling. If Sanchez isn’t suspended, that’s some mularkey.
Oh yeah, Grey thanks for the Hudson heads up a month ago, he’s been on all my teams lighting it up since then!
I would just like to say that on one of my teams on a short day with only 4 hitters, I ended up with a line like this:
8 hits, 4 hrs, 9 rbi, 5 runs, .500 avg.
I know my bragging will come back to haunt me, but I had to let the world know how shocked I was with this line, even with the four guys being Utley, CarGo, Wright, Peralta.
@big o: Ease up, buddy. You’re killin’ me!
@tHe sHiT: I parked at Parking Lot C.
@royce!: Go for Stanton. Virgin was fine other than some idiot dropped a bag on my head.
@DrEasy: Tabata
@elwood blues: Eh
@DrEasy: Sounds like a plan.
@big o: I wouldn’t gamble for vulture wins, but you can try it.
@phil: Nice!
@Wilsonian: Nice!
@Steve: Duensing now?
Maybe Capps is locked…
@Grey: I hope you grabbed a couple beers and exited via the emergency slide!
@Steve: THAT’S PROBABLY IT.
Need power in a bottle. Kouz, Wiggy, McGehee?
@Grey: Koo maybe ill c u when u come back. I usually park at lot E, but i hear lot C is pretty good also. Im signing off 4 now, gotta wake up at 2am. Workin the early 4am shift 2moro. Enjoy the rest of the nite fellas!
Who will finish off the season stronger–Bruce or Stanton?
It has not been a day that will be remembered for its relief pitching.
keystone kops in the tiger’s infield
this is nuts .
twins SP duensing pulled after 6.2 innings (and 102 pitches) , two nights ago
when , as it turned out , one more out would have earned him the win .
so , here he is tonight with 2 full innings of relief (33 pitches) .
but the capper is , blackburn is the next guy out of the twins bullpen .
tomorrow’s starter .
@Grey:
maybe you should have talked to gardenhire about vulture wins .
btw , i think i’m going to follow your advice on that one .
@Wilsonian:
I’ll see you and raise a Howard , Wright , Choo and Raburn , with help from E Young and Assdribble yielding .481 4HR 10RBI and 8 runs , damn I enjoyed today as well.
@royce!: Ha!
@Kazmere: McGehee… Bruce…
@big o: Ok…
Is Fister good or bad? Was the one hit in his first five innings last night or the infinite number of hits in the sixth inning the real Fister?
I really wish I was in some of those ESPN leagues where Hudson/Dickey/DLR/etc. were available. My Fathers & Sons 8 teamer on ESPN only has DLR and in my money leagues those guys have been owned since their 1st good starts of the year! It hurts when I keep seeing the 50% ownership numbers!
Would you start Dickey against the Cubbies today?
Will Aroldis Chapman be a setup man just about every night?