I wish I was a mathematician or at least had one of those rad looking calculator watches. For now I will remain myself and take random, yet seasoned guesses at this thing that we covet so much, the save. It’s the only position that every person garnering save capability is owned in every league no matter how big or small, which makes it fun. They say all the fun is the chase, I guess that’s why I am bored with so many people tied up in my Gam-Gam’s basement. Digression, segue, punctuation. The Royals, or for better reference, Greg Holland, has figured out his mojo, while all of us hoping for a heated up Kelvin to pounce are reduced to wait for a Holland-days off. I am glad that Holland has shown what we all thought he could be, albeit for one glorious day. Two in a row is a winning streak, so said Lou Brown. So onto the rankings of closers and some of their ‘cuffs. This week’s random weird but true factoid, the Phillies are 13 games into the season and do not have a hold by any pitcher on their team. Put that in your cheese steak and smoke it
Please, blog, may I have some more?Chad Gaudin
In a year where umpires like Joe West and Bill Hohn are doing all they can to show they are far from perfect, Jim Joyce went one step further by having his imperfection blow someone else’s perfection. It’s like that O.
Please, blog, may I have some more?
Justin Upton heads to the DL with an oblique injury. For those reading, who just got out of a time machine from the 80s, no one has any idea what an oblique is. And stop wearing Cavariccis. Upton will probably be out more than the required 15 days, because these oblique injuries that no one has ever heard of are tricky. With the Baby Backs out of every race outside of The Greatest 3rd Baseman To Ever Grace the Human Race Race, they’re not going to rush Upton. Does this hurt you to hear? It’s not my intention. But just don’t expect anything until September from Upton. On the bright side, now you have room for Will Venable. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Mark Reynolds – HR yesterday then he was removed with a sore thumb. It doesn’t seem to be anything to worry about. Mini-donkeys get sore thumbs apparently.
Please, blog, may I have some more?J.A. Happ threw a complete game shutout yesterday with only 6 baserunners and 10 Ks vs. Jorge de la Rosa’s 5 IP, 7 ER, 3 Ks line. I pretty much saw this matchup going almost exactly opposite. Maybe I had my contacts in backwards. dlR had won seven games in a row. Happ was coming off two losses. dlR’s a lefty, the Phils don’t hit lefties well. Maybe I underestimated Happ’s desire to stay in the rotation with Pedro breathing down his neck. This was a solid case for that, but if the Phils don’t pull Happ from the rotation they’re jeopardizing his 2010 (when people take flying cars to the ballpark). Happ should be moved to the bullpen and Pedro should be put into the rotation. Even if that means Pedro throws a bunch of 4 inning, 3 run games and Happ comes in in the 5th inning and throws three dominant innings. It’s the right move for everyone and I think that’s the way the Phils should/will go. To clarify, this is not an endorsement of Pedro. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
David Wright – HR yesterday. As I said yesterday in the comments, “(The Mets play-by-play man, Cohen, said) that was (Wright’s) first opposite field homer in the new park. For a guy that goes that way, that’s not great. After all, we’re in August.” And that’s me quoting me quoting Gary Cohen! Cohen also said the humidity may be helping the ball carry. So now Metco is Yellowstone instead of the Grand Canyon. Sah-weet.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Jason Bay has been terrible. Like Don Mattingly’s wife in a mugshot terrible. In June, J-Bay hit .230 and 4 homers, but he was hitting the cover off the ball in June compared to July. In July, he’s hitting .203 with 1 homer. This month Garrett Jones has hit more homers during REM sleep. The optimist in me says Bay will hit 15 homers and .300 the rest of the way with ten steals. The pessimist in me thinks he’ll be benched in favor of Chris Duncan. The realist looks at all of his splits and sees a guy that has been consistent throughout his career, minus a season (2007) when he was battling knee problems. The surrealist in me thinks Bay will hit a line drive up the middle that will ricochet off the pitcher and shoot to the 1st baseman who will smack the ball into center, then the ball will slowly roll back towards the infield until God tilts the field and the ball rolls towards the 3rd baseman, but God tilts too far and the field freezes causing the ball to roll back towards the catcher. In all likelihood, Bay’s 2nd half should be somewhere in the realist realm (though it would be cool if the surrealist was spot-on). I think Bay can give you 10+ homers, .280 average and a handful of steals. Right now, I’m actively trying to acquire him in one league. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Erik Bedard – Back to the DL. In related news, George Sherrill was an All-Star in 2008, Adam Jones in 2009 and Chris Tillman is about to be called up.
Please, blog, may I have some more?On July 16th, Padres GM, Kevin Towers, said there’s a 50-50 chance that Jake Peavy would pitch again. Turned out there was a 50-50 chance that he was lying. On July 16th, Peavy’s boot came off and his ankle is healthy. Peavy now says he’ll pitch again this year. Oh, okay. Peavy is the Padres ace, i.e., they’re not going to mess with bringing him back to make sure they win 60 games instead of 58.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Much like a newly married female, the Blue Jays have dropped BJ from the active roster. Imagine this scenario. You walk into your fro-yo distribution job, say what’s up to your TCBY manager who’s twelve years younger than you, open up the jimmies container and proceed to flip them, one at a time, at your manager’s head. Timothy asks you politely to stop. You politely give him a wedgie. Naturally, he fires you. Then you collect your salary for the next year. Man, the life of a terrible baseball player may be better than the life of a marginal one who has to play every day. B.J.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Gordon Beckham, the pride of Surrey, wrote little ol’ me a letter last week. It went on for three pages and his penmanship left a lot to be desired, but let me share with you an excerpt. “Hey, Grey, Gordo here. I’m probably not going to be that great for an extended period of time in 2009. But I appreciate you supporting my efforts. Please share with your readers my plate disclipine and above-average speed. I’m probably nothing more than a doubles hitter right now with the occasional dinger (the word dinger makes me giggle). I don’t want to toot my own horn (though if I could, I’d never leave the clubhouse), but when you look at other MIs in your fantasy league, am I really that much worse? As the President of the Debate Club, I once argued in favor of keeping Ben Grieve over Roy Halladay, so what do I know?” Thanks, Gordo! I think he covered everything. At MI, ride the white lightning. Anyway, here’s some more players to buy or sell this week in fantasy baseball:
BUY
Casey McGehee – When I grow up, I wanna be just like Casey McGehee. Be touted relentlessly by me and do just okay in the major leagues. You wanna be fair? Okay, let’s be fair. McGehee is a serviceable MI. He’s not winning you leagues. But without serviceable MIs, our great sport wouldn’t be nearly as proud.
Please, blog, may I have some more?A lot of starting pitchers have been traded by the A’s. Some fare great (Haren), some have mixed results (Hudson), some collapse (Mulder). But there has never been an ex-A’s starting pitcher that seems to miss the AL West as much as Chad Gaudin. While he did get crushed @ LAA, his last 3 starts @SEA, home against SEA, and @TEX have netted 21 IP / 2-1 / 2.14 ERA / 0.76 WHIP / 28 Ks. That’s a Peavian 12 K/9 IP with a K/BB ratio of 21:5. We’ve had Gaudin on a couple of deep league teams since we love NL West pitchers and it’s been hard to recommend him because he’s been so damn wild. But after these past three dominating starts (8+ Ks, 2 or less BBs), he’s a must pickup in any league format at this point. Anyway, here’s what else we saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Everth Cabrera – 3-for-8 this weekend, with one steal. If you need steals, don’t wait until after the 3 steal game to grab him. He may not be there.
Please, blog, may I have some more?Was talking to some friends the other day and one of them thought Ichiro Suzuki was the best all around player he had ever seen. No, he wasn’t Asian or wearing a Buhner jersey. He made his case — defense, cannon arm, can hit any pitch to any field, speed, etc. I countered Rickey Henderson was better. Then somehow it dissolved into how did Bud Selig let steroids ruin baseball. But when he said Ichiro, it wasn’t a slam dunk, “We’re only on our second pitcher of Molson. How are you already drunk?” It was a point to consider. I guess in fantasy baseball sometimes we forget about how great players were or are and only concern ourselves with the numbers. Ah… Nostalgia, I remember you! Well, the numbers say Ichiro is currently ranked 56th for Runs for all outfielders. Behind some stalwarts as Fukudome, Teahen and Skip Schumaker. He’s currently ranked 100th in RBIs just behind Joe Thurston. Hey, he’s got speed though, right? He has 12 steals. The same as Vernon Wells. Ichiro is terrific for average, but that’s only getting you so far. He’s extremely valuable for average. If you need a boost there, then by all means trade for him. But if you’re fine on average or hurting elsewhere, I’d look to trade away Ichiro. Anyway, here’s some more players to buy or sell this week in fantasy baseball:
BUY
Chad Gaudin – NL West starter? Oh, Grey must own him.
Please, blog, may I have some more?