Who Knew? Apparently, everyone. I may have been the only one rooting for Aaron Heilman; Lou definitely was not. Well, open that window and throw Heilman out. Sean Marshall has been named the Cubs fifth starter. As I said somewhere in the comments in the last couple of days, I like whoever comes away with the 5th starter job for the Cubs. They’re gonna win games. Know what I mean, Paula Dean? But what can we actually expect from Sean Marshall? Well, let’s put it this way since we’re talking about the Cubbies. I’d prefer to have Sean Marshall on my fantasy team for where he’s going to be drafted compared to Carlos Zambrano, Ted Lilly, Rich Harden or Ryan Dempster. From Marshall, you should expect a low 4 ERA, a 1.35 WHIP and decent Ks. As with any fifth starter, Sean “Puffy” Marshall may get skipped on occasion, but he’ll also face off against lower tier starters potentially helping him with wins. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in spring training for fantasy baseball:
Chris Getz – We move over to the South Side and stay with the Chi-Town theme. Getz will be the starting 2nd baseman gig for The Pale Hose. He’ll probably bat 9th or 1st depending on the breeze that is circulating through Ozzie’s office. Unlike Marshall, I don’t get Getz. If he gets 500 ABs, maybe he reaches 7 HRs and 10 SBs. If you’re thinking those numbers look a lot like Kelly Johnson, you wouldn’t be too far off. Only Getz could hurt you in average as well as RBIs and Runs if he bats ninth. In AL-Only leagues and deep leagues, I could see you looking, but the league would need to be Cousteau deep. For what it’s worth, ZIPS likes him more giving him about 10/12 and .275 (they only gave him 393 ABs, so I’m projecting their stats up). I think you’ll be miserable if you own him.
Chris Perez – Sticking with the newly-established Chris theme, Perez was shutdown. This seals the deal on him not opening the season as the Cards closer. Jason Motte and Ryan Franklin are still battling it out. I think it goes into the season with those two sharing duties until one guy pulls away. If one guy pulls away. Motte has better stuff, so he’s more attractive. Franklin has seniority, so LaRussa does what he do.
John Lannan – Will be the Nats opening day starter. I sure hope his family can get seats!
Marlon Byrd – Hit his first home run of the spring. I’ve said this before, but it bears repeating. If Byrd and Murphy do a righty/lefty split, they could produce 20/20 numbers in a daily league platoon.
Francisco Cordero – Coco Cordero is looking like Coco B. Ware. Maybe he’s favoring his ankle, maybe he’s just trying to give you agita. He’s still very much the closer. All he needs to do is turn in one solid performance and he’ll be deemed fine. Well, one solid performance not followed by two lousy outings.
John Danks – 17/4 K/BB this spring. As I said in my starters to watch, Danks is one of the few AL pitchers I’d look at late in mixed leagues.
Josh Outman – Recognize, aptronym! Unrecognize, A’s starter. Recognize, there’s five seats on the A’s rotation bus and everyone that can throw a baseball is playing musical chairs. Unrecog– Oh, forget it. Outman’s pitching well in spring training.
