After seeing Edwin Jackson pitch yesterday, I felt as happy as this guy on the inside. I ran around my block yelling “Yuuuuupppp” like Dave Hester in Storage Wars. I went to Coldstone Creamery and got a low fat sundae that had 2700 calories and I ate it (with extra jimmies)! Yesterday, Jackson’s line was 8 IP, 1 ER, 5 baserunners and 13 Ks. He’s now 2-0 with a 1.93 ERA and 20 Ks in 14 innings. Giddy up, snitches! Sure, like I tell my girlfriends, beware the small sample size, but I liked Jackson throughout the preseason. Wanna see where I wrote my Edwin Jackson fantasy in sparkle dust? Click on that link-a-ma-thingie. Right now, Jackson is owned in 29.1% of ESPN leagues. Even when you consider 40% of all ESPN leagues are already abandoned, it’s still too low. BTW, if other fantasy sites tell you to pick up Edwin Jackson now, tell them to go eff themselves, Razzball told you back in January. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Lastings Milledge – White Sox designated him for assignment. That assignment is to stop sucking.
Trevor Cahill – 8 IP, 1 ER, 3 baserunners, 7 Ks vs. the Blue Kays. Here’s what I said in the preseason, “Makes sense that Cahill can’t even buy a K in his last name. In 2009, Cahill’s K-rate was 4.53. Last year, it was 5.40. It’s a good trend but I’ll wait until 2012 when it’s actually up to something presentable. No Ks is a than, but no thans. He’ll probably have an ERA over 4.00 in 2011, but I’ll be generous and give him… 2011 Projections: 8-9/3.90/1.15/130” And that’s me quoting me! I’m still on board with all that. His xFIP was high last year and his K-rate was atrocious. Now the interesting thing about Cahill — and, yes, when I say interesting, I probably mean not that interesting — he had a solid K-rate in the minors. If Cahill strikes out guys this year, I’d only rank it a 5 on a scale of surprising. Or about as surprising as food poisoning from all you can eat sushi.
Ricky Romero – 7 1/3 IP, 1 ER, 6 baserunners, 5 Ks. Even though he pitches in the AL East, I’d own him because RR Cool Jay is doing it well.
Jon Lester – 7 IP, 0 ER, 6 baserunners, 9 Ks. This was against the Indians, but Lester is a bona fide number one against any wahoos.
Fausto Carmona – 7 IP, 0 ER, 4 baserunners, 4 Ks. Carmona looked good which isn’t a compliment to him but an indictment of the Sox right now. Somebody cover Ted Williams’ frozen head, he shouldn’t have to see the Red Sox like this.
Sam Fuld – 1-for-3, 3 steals. To paraphrase Kanye, “Let’s have a toast for those that steal three bags…”
B.J. Upton – 2-for-4, hitting .364 on the year. Not sure what it is, maybe he was getting cold there in Longoria’s shadow, but Upton is about the only Ray currently hitting. (Yeah, I went from Kanye to Bette Midler in the matter of two blurbs. You’re welcome.)
Esmil Rogers – 7 1/3 IP, 1 ER, 5 baserunners, 7 Ks. Member when Rockie pitchers were unownable? That was sooooo 2009! Rogers works with a mid-90’s fastball, slider, changeup– Wait, who am, Stephen? Rogers should have a mid to high 7 K-rate and be in the rotation for at least a month. If he impresses, the Rockies will leave him in the rotation. In deep mixed leagues and NL-Only leagues, I’d grab him to see if you can ride the lightning in a bottle or whatever that cliche is.
Jon Niese – 4 IP, 6 ER, 9 baserunners, 7 Ks. His leash shouldn’t be crazy long, but this was a tough match-up. You gotta give him a little more slack.
Wilson Valdez – 4-for-4, 3 Runs, 3 RBIs. It’s always interesting to see how players react to the threat of everyday violence from their fan base. So far Valdez has done okay in Citizens Flank, but I imagine that will end shortly.
John Axford – Everyone’s favorite closer to lose their job in the first week of the season now has back-to-back saves.
Shaun Marcum – 6 IP, 2 ER, 7 baserunners, 4 Ks. Not quite as dominant as I want to see him every time out *cough* like Edwin Jackson *cough* but this was a step in the right direction. BTW, am I the only one who thinks it’s hilarious that the Brewers are playing Nyjer and Gomez at the same time? Opposing teams just need to shine a flashlight onto a wall to get them to run off base.
Ian Desmond – Led off and went 2-for-5 with 2 steals. Now 6 for his last 10. Yeah, you probably shouldn’t have dropped him after three bad games.
Sam LeClure – 5 IP, 2 ER, 5 baserunners, 6 Ks. Doesn’t it seem like terrible pitchers do well on short schedule days? Yeah, so that got me thinking… As many of you are aware, my IQ falls somewhere between brilliant and brilliantly stupid. The technical term is “Hit or Miss.” I wasn’t sure if this one theory I had was hit or miss, so I contacted frequent commenter, Simply Fred, like I was Tom Cruise contacting Ving Rhames to crack a safe. I told him my theory — Hitters do worse on travel days (Monday and Thursday). Simply Fred then went and did the ERAs for each day of the week. Turned out this theory was a miss. There’s no correlation.
Scott Rolen – 1-for-1 with his 2nd homer. Last year, 17 homers pre-All-Star break. 3 homers afterwards.
Alex Avila – Hit his 2nd homer in two games. Now let the comments commence (say that fast 117 times!) about whether you should pick up Avila.
A.J. Burnett – 6 IP, 2 ER, 7 baserunners, 5 Ks. If you ask me in the comments if you should start Burnett, I’m probably going to say no because I wouldn’t own him. Or I’m going to say yes if you own him.
Adam Moore – Torn meniscus. Simultaneously, the Appendix, Intercostal and Oblique scream, “Get in line!”
Adam Jones – 2-for-3, 3 RBIs, HR and a steal for the always delicious slam & legs. Yesterday, I couldn’t believe I was getting questions asking about dropping Jones or picking up a dropped Jones. Really? After 5 games?
Francisco Liriano – 5 IP, 4 ER, 7 baserunners, 5 Ks. I hope this is because he had a short Spring Training. I really hope so. Do I think it is? Yes, but I’m answering with my fingers crossed.
Nishioka Tsuyoshi – Fractured fibula. No lie.
Luke Hughes – We have a new Aussie major leaguer. Let’s hope he didn’t share a bed with this koala. (Sorry, Snookie, that koala makes STDs look cute.) Hughes hasn’t shown much power in the minors… or speed… or average, but he did hit well in Spring Training (6 homers). I grabbed him in one league where I lost Nishioka. As of right now, I would grab him in AL-Only leagues. The inherent problem with Hughes is the Twins might just play Matt Tolbert. And that’s The Tolbert Report.
