Fantasy Baseball Advice

We at Razzball realize that exporting our views across the country has damaging consequences on the blogosphere. To help make amends, we are reaching out to leading team blogs and featuring their locally blogged answers to pressing 2009 fantasy baseball questions regarding their team. We feel this approach will be fresher, more sustainable, and require less energy consumption (for us anyway). The 2009 Dodgers Fantasy Baseball Preview comes courtesy of Mike Scioscia’s Tragic Illness.

1)  Chad Billingsley is my pre-preseason pick for NL Cy Young, but The Verducci Effect says I might want to fall back on the Old Faithful of preseason Cy Young picks and go with Johan.  Are you worried about Billingsley’s increase in innings last year?

At the moment, I’m far less concerned by “the Verducci Effect” (god, I hate that term) than I am by the “shattered his leg slipping on ice in November” effect. So, 2009′s not exactly off to a great start for him, though all reports have him being ready in time for spring training. That said, I’m really not that worried about his arm. It’s true that the increase in innings is worrisome for a pitcher of his age, but this is a guy who’s never had any arm issues to speak of at all. Besides, he gets a good deal of his power from his enormous backside and legs, which does seem to take pressure off of that treasured right arm. He was actually even better in 2008 than his stats suggest, because he got off to a brutal start thanks to Joe Torre’s bizarre usage of him out of the pen. On April 24, he was 0-4 with a 6.52 ERA; from that point on he was 16-6 with a 2.75 ERA. So sure, the increase is always a concern, but Billingsley has shown no signs that he’ll fall victim to this “curse”.

2)  After giving Juan Pierre a $44 million, five-year contract, isn’t Manny worth about $300 million over ten years?  Is it the “Colletti no talkie to Boras” thing that’s stopping Manny from signing with the Dodgers?  If need be, could Manny Be Manny’s agent?  If so, please act out Manny negotiating a contract.

First of all, let’s not use Juan Pierre’s contract as a comparison point for anyone. If the 5/$44m he’s getting was actually his fair market value, then the minimum salary for rookies would be somewhere in the neighborhood of $12m/year. Seriously, if Bobby Abreu’s only getting one year and $5m, what would Pierre’s market value be right now? $500k? What’s stopping Manny from signing with the Dodgers isn’t Colletti not talking to Boras; it’s Boras not wanting to swallow his pride and admit that he grossly overestimated Manny’s worth. At this point, it’s just a waiting game – the Dodgers have no other options with Dunn and Abreu off the board, but Manny has no other options to offer anywhere near what the Dodgers have. I don’t know how long it’s going to take, but I think he ends up coming back to LA on a 3 year deal worth between $65-$70m – which would be exactly what I said way back in October. So we may have had to suffer through four months of this just to get back to where it should have been in the first place.

3) I called Blake DeWitt a 2009 fantasy sleeper. Am I right as Chocolate Rain or drunk? And why?

Blake DeWitt has to be one of the most unpredictable players in baseball right now. His line from last year may not say much, but just look at how his 2008 unfolded. Though he was a former first round pick, he was coming off some uninspiring minor league seasons in A and AA and was somewhere around the 7th option at third base – even falling behind “screw it, let’s just fix our outfield logjam by playing all four and forgetting the hot corner” and “hey, why don’t we play our All-Star catcher there?” Most predicted that he’d flop miserably, yet he came up and was great for two months, even to the point where I noted in May that he was a top-5 MLB 3B. Then he started to fail so badly for two months that by July I was calling for him to be demoted (he eventually was), only to return as the everyday 2B in September and the playoffs, and with a much more productive bat than he’d left with.

My point is, I have absolutely no idea what to expect from Blake DeWitt in 2009. He could hit .320 with 20 homers; he could hit .220 and be back in the minors by May; he could be caught speeding down the Pacific Coast Highway with 3 Guatemalan hookers and the corpse of Ricardo Montalbon in his trunk. Nothing would surprise me from him.

4)  The Los Angeles Dodgers of Los Angeles pitchers are always good for fantasy because of their weak hitting division and home stadium (even Chan Ho Park!).  Give me the rotation, as you see it.

The top 4 starters are pretty set right now with Chad Billingsley, Clayton Kershaw, Hiroki Kuroda, and Randy Wolf. The 5th slot likely goes to Jason Schmidt if he’s healthy, but since he’s at about Nomar levels of durability, we’ll also see a battle between youngsters James McDonald & Ramon Troncoso, quad-A type Eric Stults, and the corpses of Shawn Estes, Eric Milton, and Claudio Vargas. It’s funny that you mention Park, however, because the Dodgers have had quite a bit of success in taking washed-up has-beens and wrangling a few months of decent performances out of them (see: Park, Aaron Sele, Scott Erickson). LA had better hope so; while the top 4 is talented, each has health or durability questions to worry about, and while it may be one thing to have the rest of the crew batting for the 5th starter job, it’s quite another to have Vargas, Schmidt, and Estes all in your rotation at the same time.

5)  With Alyssa Milano and Wilmer Valderrama as Dodgers fans and STD carriers, which current Dodger do you hope they pull into a threesome? And why?

The biggest tragedy of the offseason, as far as I’m concerned, is the loss of Brad Penny to the Red Sox. Not just because the Dodgers needed a starter, but mostly because he’ll be taking Eliza Dushku with him. To fill that void, I’d almost consider re-signing Brett Tomko, if only because his wife is a smoking hot former Playmate… but he’s so awful at actually, you know, “playing baseball” that it’s probably not worth it. As for current Dodgers, Andre Ethier seems to have a following among the “non-traditional male” category. But really, the most likely choice has to be Russell Martin – there’s already been rumors about him and Milano.

We at Razzball realize that exporting our views across the country has damaging consequences on the blogosphere.  To help make amends, we are reaching out to leading team blogs and featuring their locally blogged answers to pressing 2009 fantasy baseball questions regarding their team.  We feel this approach will be fresher, more sustainable, and require less energy consumption (for us anyway). The 2009 Rays Fantasy Baseball Preview comes courtesy of Cork Gaines from Rays Index.

1.  What kind of season do you expect from BJ Upton?  Watching him hit, he looks Alfonso Sorianoesque but last year’s stats – 9 HR, 30% Fly Ball rate – look more Carl Crawfordish.

When trying to project BJ Upton for the 2009 season and beyond, it is probably best to just pretend like the 2008 season never happened. Upton played most of the season with a tear in the labrum of his shoulder. Normally one of the quickest and fastest swings in baseball, Upton was clearly bothered by the injury. He wasn’t able to drive fastballs and admittedly laid off pitches in certain zones because he was worried the swing would cause further damage to his shoulder.

Upton had surgery on his shoulder after the season and should be 100% once he returns, but there are long-term concerns. This is not the first time he has injured his shoulder on a swing. That suggests that there is something wrong with his swing. Upton must either alter his swing, and risk losing some of his power, or maintain his swing, and risk reinjuring the shoulder.  Despite the injury, Upton still maintained a 19% LD% which suggests he was still hitting the ball well. He just wasn’t driving the ball over the wall. We saw in the playoffs what he is capable of once he was able to put the fear of swinging the bat out of his head.

I don’t think Upton is going to jump all the way up to Soriano-levels in 2009, but if Upton can stay healthy, he is a safe bet to hit 30 home runs. In 2007, Upton hit 24 even though he missed a month on the DL. And one of these seasons, he will get on a roll and go 40-40.

2.  Which Ray pitcher(s) do you think will be most affected by last year’s extended season?

Pitching coach Jim Hickey ordered the pitchers to not touch a baseball prior to January and Joe Maddon has already indicated that the starting pitchers will throw fewer innings in the spring. We can also assume that they will have very strict pitch counts in the first month of the season. Still, the long season and the shortened off-season are very concerning for a young pitching staff.

Of the four starting pitchers returning from the 2008 staff, Scott Kazmir showed a 7.8% decrease in innings pitched from 2007 to 2008 (including playoffs) and Andy Sonnanstine increased his innings by only 4.4%. James Shields increased his total by 11.6%, with all the additional innings coming in the playoffs. Shields does not worry me because he has proven to be a horse and is very efficient with his pitches. In his 37 starts (including postseason), he only topped 110 pitches once.

The one starter that scares us is Matt Garza. His innings total increased by 21.8%. And on seven occasions he topped 110 pitches in a start. Garza may have the best stuff on the staff, but he is in danger of a tired arm in 2009.

3.  Would you take the over or under on the following projections?

Carl Crawford 40 SBs: OVER. 2008 was Carl Crawford’s first season under 46 steals, a season in which he battled sore legs. Of course, he blamed the Field Turf at The Trop, but I expect him to come into the 2009 season with his legs better prepared.

Carlos Pena 35 HRs: OVER. Carlos Pena’s breakout season in 2007 came when the coaching staff finally convinced Pena that he did not have to pull everything. While he still won’t go opposite field, Pena has enough power to use the entire field and regularly hit home runs to straight-away center field. In 2008 Pena began the season once again trying to pull everything, hitting only 10 home runs the first two months and then missing a month on the DL. Once back he started using the entire field again and his home run totals took off. Look for him to not make that mistake again.

Evan Longoria 90 RBIs: OVER. This seems like a lock, although it could depend on where he is batting in the lineup. At this point I think he will be in the 5-hole with Pat Burrell behind him. With the speed and OBPs ahead of him, and Pat the Bat offering plenty of protection, RBI should come in bunches in 2009 for Dirtbag.

David Price 120 IP: UNDER. King David only worked 129.1 innings in 2008 (incl. playoffs), so it is unlikely the Rays will let him make 33 starts at the big league level. That, along with his need to refine his changeup and the depth of pitching in the organization, and I believe Price will spend the first two months of the season in triple-A.

4.  Last year marked career years for the main cogs in the Ray’s bullpen – Wheeler, Balfour, Howell.  Can they repeat it?  Is Wheeler going to last all year as the closer?

The Rays closer in 2009 will be Troy Percival, when healthy. But that means little in a Joe Maddon bullpen. Like most managers, Maddon has a blueprint in which certain pitchers pitch specific innings, and if he is available, the ninth inning belongs to Percy and the eighth inning belongs to Dan Wheeler.  But the “Aces” of the bullpen are Grant Balfour and JP Howell. Those are the guys that Maddon calls upon in what he considers the most important situations. And there are indications that Maddon is ready to add Jeff Niemann to that mix in 2009.

Percival was actually very effective early in the season before he started breaking down physically, but despite 28 saves, not once did he come into the game with the tying or go-ahead run already on base. Those situations were saved for Balfour and Howell.  In 2008, Balfour posted one of the most dominating relief seasons ever. The Mad Australian became just the fourth relief pitcher ever to strike out at least 11 per 9 innings, give up less than 1 base runner per inning and keep his ERA less than 1.70. The other three are a who’s who of dominating closer performances, including Eric Gagne (2003), Billy Wagner (1999) and Joe Nathan (2006). So it is safe to say that Balfour will regress a bit, but I don’t think it will be much.  Howell’s strength is more in his ability to work across innings. In other words, Howell is able to come into a game in the middle of an inning, retire the side and then go back out for a second inning after sitting. This gives Maddon much more flexibility in his bullpen.

In the end, the individual performances may not be as great, but with the addition of Niemann and Joe Nelson, the depth of the bullpen is greater and there shouldn’t be much of a letdown.

5.  The 1996 Yankees World Series run was bittersweet for me as Don Mattingly didn’t get to experience it.  Did you feel the same in 2008 with Aubrey Huff?

HA! Let’s just say I still feel worse for Donnie Baseball. In the winter after being traded away, Huff signed a contract with the O’s and remarked that it would be refreshing to finally play for a team that has a chance to win. Since then, Rays fans boo Huff lustily, the Rays have won the American League pennant and the Orioles haven’t had a winning season since 1997.

We at Razzball realize that exporting our views across the country has damaging consequences on the blogosphere.  To help make amends, we are reaching out to leading team blogs and featuring their locally blogged answers to pressing 2009 fantasy baseball questions regarding their team.  We feel this approach will be fresher, more sustainable, and require less energy consumption (for us anyway).  The 2009 Brewers Fantasy Baseball Preview comes courtesy of Chuckie Hacks.

1) 34 home runs?  Seriously?  Fielder has to hit more home runs in 2009.  Doesn’t he?

In 2007, 34 home runs was good enough for 8th in the NL. Not terrible, but not what many people expected out of Prince Fielder last season. You would expect a bomber like Prince to be in the top 5 of NL home runs. But we must remember, he is still a young pup. He will only be 24 on Opening Day 2009. He is still prone to the ups and downs of a young ball player and Prince is known to be hard on himself when he slumps, further dragging out the slump. Prince had 84 walks last season, which is good, but with turds like Corey Hart and Bill Hall batting behind him, he isn’t going to see a ton of good pitches. Sometimes, often during key at bats, he tries to kill the good pitches he gets and often fouls them off or swing through them. Prince is usually hitting his best when he has controlled swings and not trying to hit bombs all the time. The big wild card this year is going to be his arbitration hearing. That could be brutal. Doug Melvin has always signed guys and has never gone to a hearing. With Boras as his agent and based on the stink Prince raised last year, a hearing seems inevitable. Prince is a pretty sensitive guy. When word filters back to him that the Brewers focused on his ever increasing weight, his terrible defense and his drop in production in 2008, he will become moody to the outside world. However, Prince has also used doubters as motivators in the past. He (and Boras) know he is a gunning for a big contract with the Yankees following the 2011 season. I have a feeling Prince turns it around this year and hits 40+ bombs.. Part of this is based on the fact that he won’t be on the magnetic schedule given away at Opening Day, thus avoiding the magnetic schedule curse that has been hanging around this franchise. My other hope for Prince this year is that somebody other than ChooseVeg.com sponsors his Baseball-Reference.com page. It should be sponsored by that new bacon and cheers chalupa at Taco Bell.

2) Carlos Villanueva or Manny Parra, who has a better 2009?  Why?

It’s tough to say who is going to have a better year since one is a starter and one is a reliever.  Both played full seasons last year but their seasons went along different paths..  Parra started out relatively strong but hit a major wall in the 2nd half and was ineffective down the stretch.  Villanueva started out the year in the rotation but ended up with a demotion to the bullpen…where he had an extremely productive 2nd half.  I’m going to have to say that if he stays healthy, Parra is going to have the better 2009…at least from an average fan’s perspective.  He’ll be able to push his innings up to the 180-200 (again…if healthy).  With his stuff and the Brewers offense giving him support, he could become a 15 game winner.  Even though Villanueva will be one of the primary set-up men and an effective contributor (which can’t be overlooked) Parra will be seen as a better pitcher in the public eye.  Maybe he is.

3) Mat Gamel or Alcides Escobar, which are you most excited about?  Do we see either in 2009? If so, when?

I like what both guys bring to the table (Gamel hits bombs, Escobar has a ridiculous glove) but in the Show the guys that get paid the big bucks are the guys that RAKE.  That’s what Gamel can bring to the table and that’s what I’m excited about.  In two years (or 6 months) when Prince Fielder is no longer on the team it’s going to be nice to plug in Gamel in the cleanup spot behind Braun as a left-handed power threat.  As for when we’ll see both guys, 2009 might not be the year for them.  First, Escobar hasn’t played an inning of AAA ball…and Gamel got only 5 games in there last year (and he was injured).  They both need their AAA reps…particularly Escobar so his bat can continue to develop to compliment his glove.  Only a significant injury to either JJ Hardy or Rickie Weeks will get Escobar to see MLB action this year (excluding September of course).  Gamel might play himself into the 3rd base spot, ala Ryan Braun in 2007 & Russell the Muscle in 2008.  If Gamel starts out destroying AAA ball with his bat…and the painfully mediocre 3rd base platoon of Bill Hall and Mike Lamb don’t do anything special…Gamel might get the call.  We’ll see how he does in Spring Training.

4) Suppose you work at All-State Insurance, Rickie Weeks comes in for a policy.  Do you insure him for 2009?  If yes, does he break his wrist wiggling the pen as he prepares to sign the policy?

It depends upon what type of insurance he’s looking for.  If it’s health insurance, I’d say he’s worth insuring.  He has had the wrist problem and the thumb problem, but those seem to be freaky injuries.  Maybe he doesn’t get a premium rate, but he’s not Ben Sheets.  However, if it was insurance against another season of sub-.240 batting average and terrible fielding percentage, or insurance against bad double play turns at 2B, I’d be leery.  Everybody thinks that the Willie Randolph hire will have a great impact on Weeks and that he’ll be a huge influence over his play, but we as Brewers fans have been reading the “Weeks is ready for a breakout” stories for 3 years now.  I’m skeptical, at best.  And I’m a Ricky supporter.

5)  Crap is to toilet as Dave Bush is to ___  A) Road games  B) The Brewers Staff  C) Trick question, you can’t flush away Dave Bush.

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel — “Over his last 18 appearances (17 starts), Bush went 7-3 with a 3.23 ERA, including a 4-0 mark and 2.12 ERA in five starts in August. He finished the season with a 1.14 WHIP (walks and hits per inning), the fifth-best mark in the National League.”

Hey, that’s something I might be interested in. Dave Bush is never going to be a #1 or #2 starter. He is not going to dominate every time out like Sabathia did. Dave Bush will have games where he gives up 4 runs in the first.. Dave Bush will have games where he cruises for 5 or 6 inning and then starts unraveling. This is where Ken Mach and Bill Castro need to pick up on the warning signs and get Bush out of there as soon as possible, Dave Bush is not poo. Crap was when the Brewers were trotting out guys like Wes Obermueller, Wayne Franklin and Matt Kinney to make 30 starts a season. Bush will be decent. Just look at him as a younger, slightly better and significantly cheaper Jeff Suppan. I vomited a bit in my mouth there.

We at Razzball realize that exporting our views across the country has damaging consequences on the blogosphere.  To help make amends, we are reaching out to leading team blogs and featuring their locally blogged answers to pressing 2009 fantasy baseball questions regarding their team.  We feel this approach will be fresher, more sustainable, and require less energy consumption (for us anyway). The 2009 Indians Fantasy Baseball Preview comes courtesy of Craig Lyndall from Cleveland/Ohio State sports blog WaitingForNextYear.

1) What the Pronk is up with Hafner?  Do you think Dr. Freeze‘s shoulder cleanup will have a big effect or is Hafner’s performance or is he just a massively noggined flash-in-the-pan?

Pronk is a 50/50 proposition right now in my mind.  The Indians organization is floating stories about other players who have had that surgery and they say they expect him to return to productivity.  That being said, they could just be acting like a cheerleading squad because they are on the hook for almost $60 million for the next 4 seasons.  So, it could be wishful thinking on their part.  Also keep in mind there are some fans out there that are willing to also look at the timing of Travis’ decline and use the word “steroids” under their breath.  I don’t buy into that personally, but it is out there.  Pronk has a lot to prove this season, and it could turn out to be a nice story for fans if he can return to something resembling the guy who used to get MVP votes.  But like I said, 50/50 proposition at this point.

2) Who do you think will be the ace of the Indians staff by the end of 2009 – Cliff Lee, Fausto Carmona, or a wildcard candidate?

I think Cliff Lee will remain that staff ace.  Carmona might end up coming back this season and being effective like he was in the past, but it isn’t something you can bet on.  Cliff Lee on the other hand looks so consistent in his motion from the beginning to the end of games that you have to think as long as he is healthy he will find his groove again.  That isn’t to say he can put up Cy Young numbers again, but if you look at Lee over his career, consistency was always the word for him.  4 out of the last 5 years he has pitched 30+ starts.  3 out of the last 5 years he pitched 200+ innings.  Carmona certainly doesn’t have that track record yet.  Just to give you a hint of the Cleveland fan’s mindset, I think in our podcast at the end of the season, we briefly discussed whether or not trading Cliff Lee right now made any sense.  We were probably half kidding.  That means we were also half serious.  Confidence isn’t a motto for Cleveland fans.

3) The Indians have a lot of hitters who project to be fair-to-average hitters.  Which of this group do you think will most exceed expectations:  Kelly Shoppach, V-Mart, Shin-Soo Choo, Ben Francisco, Ryan Garko, or Asdrubal?

Well, in Cleveland, we keep V-Mart in a class above the other players you mentioned.  So excluding him, I think the best chance to exceed expectations for me personally is Asdrubal Cabrera.  Cabrera risked looking like a flash in the pan with his early season struggles both on the field and with his weight and conditioning last season.  But he turned it around in the second half of the year, presumably taking the temporary demotion to the minors to heart.  Now that the sophomore slump is in the books, I am hoping that he can put together his first complete season at the major league level.  It is also another year of experience playing almost exclusively at second base, which should help, given that his natural position has always been short.  On top of that we always root for Asdrubal because of all the dirty nicknames you can use with him and that first name of his.

4) Will Grady Sizemore stay in the leadoff spot throughout 2009 given that he’s clearly the team’s best hitter?  If he moves to the middle of the lineup, how much do you think his SBs will suffer?

I predict Grady will stay the leadoff hitter mostly because of the stubbornness of Indians manager Eric Wedge.  I am kind of hoping that his stolen base numbers will “suffer” this season regardless of where he bats.  I am hoping that the Indians can get a couple guys in the lineup to produce so they don’t have to spend so much time stealing bases and hitting and running.  Mark DeRosa isn’t exactly like adding Mark Texiera, but he is just the kind of guy the Indians need to help solidify their lineup and help push down a few of the more questionable, and inexperienced batters.  Grady doesn’t hurt the team batting leadoff, except when you are relying on a young guy like Ben Francisco to hold down the two and three holes.  Of course cancel this response completely if at any point this year the Indians have to rely on David Dellucci for “production.”

5) Are you concerned that Kerry-to-Kelly sounds more like 7th grade girls passing notes in class than a fearsome 9th inning pitcher/catcher combination?  Or are you just relieved that you don’t have to sit through another year with Wickmen or Joe-Bo?

Well, Kerry to Kelly sounds a heck of a lot better than the Cavs basketball combo of Sasha to Boobie.  On second thought Sasha to Boobie is just hot.  (Wait, what?)  I digress.  Tribe fans are happy to bet on a career injury history like Kerry Wood’s if it means a guy who can get a strikeout every now and again.  I honestly think it has been since Mike Jackson since the Tribe had a strikeout closer.  I think everyone is just hoping that Kerry Wood chooses something other than Staind’s “Pay to Play” as his warmup music, because there will instantly be flashbacks of an injured Joe Borowski straining his neck to watch the line drives fly out of the park.  These flashbacks subsequently could give fans more coronaries than the nacho cheese at the ballpark ever could.

We at Razzball realize that exporting our views across the country has damaging consequences on the blogosphere. To help make amends, we are reaching out to leading team blogs and featuring their locally blogged answers to pressing 2009 fantasy baseball questions regarding their team. We feel this approach will be fresher, more sustainable, and require less energy consumption (for us anyway). The 2009 Braves Fantasy Baseball Preview comes courtesy of Braves Journal.

1) Jason Heyward & Tommy Hanson, what can we expect of them in 2009? Any big league action? If not, when?

No on Heyward, who hasn’t played above a-ball yet. Hanson is a possibility, though the Braves shouldn’t need him to start the season. If I had my way, every pitcher would get at least two-thirds of a season at AAA before being called up, and better yet a full season. The sooner he’s called up, the sooner things have gone wrong.

2)  You ever see The Bucket List?  It’s one of the worst films ever.  It’s not funny, or dramatic.  And Morgan Freeman’s teeth are a distracting mess.  The Bucket List reminded me of Francoeur’s 2008.  Please tell me those doubles of 2007 will finally turn to home runs in 2009.

I wish I could.  Just from observation, Francoeur’s bat has slowed down dramatically over the last two seasons.  A lot of the time last year, he would take a seemingly mighty swing and hit a 280 foot fly ball to left field.  Moreover, he has to start swinging when the ball is thrown, so he’s totally guessing on if it’s a ball or a strike. Basically, his bat is dead, or at least not at all well.

3)  You know who I’ve heard good things about for 2009? Blanco.  Do I need new sources? Is he even the starter for 2009?  Who can we expect in center?

No starter has been set yet, but Blanco has been playing well in winter ball.  Of course, he played well in winter ball before last year.  He has two problems — he completely lacks power, and he strikes out a lot.  He will take a walk, but unless he can add a lot of batting average or a lot of power, he’s trouble as a regular.  Josh Anderson is probably a better defensive player and has a little bit of power (not much), but doesn’t walk.  I think one of the two will start the year in center, but Jordan Schafer will end it there.  Or the Braves could sign the bloated corpse of Andruw Jones and see if they can reanimate him a little.  They missed him on defense last year, but not as much as the Dodgers missed him on offense.

4)  Give me the rotation and which new addition has you the most excited?

Derek Lowe, Javier Vasquez, Jair Jurrjens, Kenshin Kawakami, and probably Jorge Campillo.  Vasquez looks like the best starter to me, though Lowe will start opening day, health willing.  Vazquez is a good pitcher who since he flamed out in the Bronx has been pitching in hitters’ parks, mostly in front of bad defenses.  If the Braves’ outfield defense returns to its normal standards, he can thrive.

5)  13-year-old kids have zits longer than they have mono, yet Casey Kotchman had mono for, like, 6 months.  So in the Razzball Glossary, we call a player who is out for longer than expected as, “Pulling a Kotchman.”  We toyed with Glass Chipper for the injury-prone Chipper Jones, you got anything better?

Not really.  Something along the lines of “Chipped,” maybe?   My personal most-used neologism is a “Prado,” or “to Prado.”  This is when a player makes an egregious defensive misplay (like dropping the relay on the double play) but isn’t charged with an error.  It happens to Martin Prado a lot, both the dropped DPs (“You can’t assume the DP”) and some plays that are so bad that the scorer kind of has to call them hits.  I also used “Grybo” for inherited runs once upon a time, because Kevin Gryboski would come in, allow two runs to score to bloat someone else’s ERA, and see his drop when he finally got out of the inning.