Desmond Jennings will be called up by the Rays on Wednesday. I’m as excited about owning Jennings as the next guy, assuming the ‘next guy’ is excited about owning Jennings. But where’s he playing? Is he gonna Tonya Harding Carl Crawford? Okay, but he needs a Jeff Gillooly. Who’s his Jeff Gillooly? Are you Gillooly’ing? Sorry to burst your Gillooly bubble, but, you sir, are no Gillooly. Jennings should see spot starts and steal bases, but you obviously can’t start him every day because the Rays won’t be. So if you can alternate him and out in daily leagues, go for it. Or go 4 it, if you’re a 13-year-old who only understands text messages. In 2009, he had 11 homers and 52 steals. This year, 3 homers and 37 steals. He’s Carl Crawford as soon as next year, so if you’re in a keeper, he’s a must own. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Brad Hawpe – Will be the Rays’ DH vs. righties, which is a decent position to be in for value. You’ll need to bench him vs. lefties and I wouldn’t add him yet outside of AL-Only and deep mixed leagues, but he could provide some pop if you need power aid.
Aroldis Chapman – In Dusty’s bid to have more arms than a mujahid, Aroldis joins the bullpen crew. Keepers, clean your ears, cause there’s a new Strasburg in town. Get him in keepers. He’s just a middle man this year, but he’ll be a starter next year. Patience is a virtue, or so I’ve read after a delicious meal of General Tsao’s Chicken.
Jay Bruce – Sat yesterday with a little tenderness. Yeah, yeah, yeah.
Anibal Sanchez – 7 IP, 0 ER, 4 baserunners, 7 Ks. He (she?) has mixed in a few turds along with the quality starts, but his overall ERA is 3.14 so I’m thinking he should be owned in more than 55% of ESPN leagues.
Mike Minor – 5 IP, 2 ER, 10 baserunners, 4 Ks. I love this guy’s demeanor. (Da Minor?) He gives up a double to Beltran or a triple to Tejada or loads the bases and he shrugs, “Whatever.” Big fan! Can I draft this guy right now for 2011? You might recognize me by my mustache and my love for Mike Minor.
Cory Luebke – He sounds like a real dork, but I’ll tell you what’s dorky, calling a Padres starter a hodgepadre. I’m a dork! Luebke’s a middle to back of the rotation-type that I would never even mention if it wasn’t for the fact he’s going to be pitching his home games in Petco. I wouldn’t go crazy with him outside of NL-Only leagues, but I’d grab him there.
Jeff Niemann – 5 IP, 7 ER, 9 baserunners, 3 Ks. Kinda sucks if you own him, but I don’t so… Schadenfreude, snitches!
Wandy Rodriguez – 7 IP, 0 ER, 4 baserunners, 5 Ks. For a while it looked like Brian Moehler was ghost riding the Wandwagon, but, since July 19th, he’s lowered his ERA from 5.11 to 3.71.
Jordan Zimmermann – 6 IP, 0 ER, 1 Hit, 0 Walks, 9 Ks for Washington’s ‘other’ Zimmerman(n). Has anyone ever seen Zimmermann and Strasburg in the same dugout?
Brett Gardner – 1-for-2 with his 38th and 39th steal. He has a .389 OBP and hitting leadoff for the Yankees. You tell Raphael that Brett Gardner ain’t taking no jive from no Western Union messenger.
Mark Teixeira – 2-for-3 with his 30th homer. I’m thinking that if I own him next year I may just bench him in April.
Jeff Francoeur – Frenchy, or as they call him in Texas ‘Freedom,’ goes to the Rangers as Cantu gets a hold ’em partner. This trade will hurt David Murphy’s value a bit because now he’ll have a platoon partner. The Rangers were already a little Francou with Vlad the Hacker but now they’re officially Francouer. All they need is Yuniesky “2.6% BB rate” Betancourt to be Francouest.
Michael Young – 4-for-5, 2 Runs, 2 RBIs and his 20th homer. He came up a triple short of the cycle. When I was 8, I woke up a wheel short of a cycle. Very traumatic.
Cliff Lee – 4 2/3 IP, 4 ER, 10 baserunners, 5 Ks. The Adverb’s looking Ugh Lee in Texas. He might consider walking some guys rather than giving up double digit hits. It’s like he’s starring in Passion of the Control. Another hit… I will not walk anyone!
Jose Bautista – 2-for-3, 4 RBIs and his 43rd homer. The only person having a more improbable year: Brian Austin Green.
Aaron Hill – Hit his 21st homer. Okay, Hill, chillax. You lowered your 2011 value all year, don’t screw it up now.
Neil Walker – 4-for-5, 4 RBIs and a homer. I don’t believe this guy at all. He’ll almost certainly be ignored by me next year.
Yovani Gallardo – 5 IP, 8 ER, 12 baserunners, 6 Ks. Since July his ERA has jumped from 2.45 to 3.86. It’s a bit perplexing because the Ks are still there, but I wouldn’t start him anywhere right now unless you’re punting WHIP and ERA.
Edwin Jackson – 8 2/3 IP, 3 ER, 8 baserunners, 11 Ks. His AL ERA is 1.47. This is coming after having a solid year in Detroit in 2009 and a miserable campaign in Arizona, which followed his decent year in Tampa and terrible years in Los Angeles. I’m guessing here, but I think Edwin owns himself in an AL-Only league.
Justin Masterson – 7 2/3 IP, 1 ER, 6 baserunners, 7 Ks. I just know I’m going to go down in a ball of flames when I recommend this guy again next year.
Koji Uehara – 1 2/3 IP, 0 ER and the save. Does it make sense that he’s the O’s closer? Debatable. But he is the O’s closer and should be owned.
Luke Scott – 2-for-3 and his 26th homer. Ryan Howard, 24 homers.
Jon Niese – 4 2/3 IP, 3 ER, 12 baserunners, 6 Ks. He gave up 5 more unearned runs for the ticker shock. The problem with a ticker shock, it’s usually still a detriment to your WHIP. Cust kayin’.
Brian Duensing – 6 2/3 IP, 0 ER, 10 baserunners, 2 Ks. He has a 2.04 ERA. Last September, his ERA was 2.78. Yes, you should own him.
Jason Kubel – Left after being drilled by a pitch on his wrist, which caused him to be pissed and knocked him to the day-to-day list. Sam-I-Am.
Justin Upton – Day-to-day with shoulder irritation. Gibson said Upton could’ve played last night. He also said he hit a homer off of Eck with much worse.
Felix Hernandez – 7 IP, 0 ER, 6 baserunners, 8 Ks. He has 200 Ks and 10 Wins. That’s ten more than Mark Reynolds achieved last year with 200 Ks.
Melvin Mora – 2-for-3 with a homer. Mora hit cleanup yesterday for the Rockies and Giambi hit 5th. It’s the Rockies’ CarGo and Good 10 Years Ago lineup.
