Welcome to week 12, please wipe your feet before you enter. For most leagues this week is the halfway point. Peripheral stats are darn near impossible to make up this late in the season, but the impossible is what fuels fantasy fires. Not the ones started by Drew Barrymore though. So if you’re in a keeper league now may be the perfect time to use strategy and build for tomorrow. Grab guys that may be expensive now but even more expensive next year. The best thing about fantasy is that there will usually be a next year, and what’s wrong with winning next year. Nothing! Sorry if I yelled that too loud. So follow me as we explore this weeks low end pitching options for fantasy baseball, enjoy. (Please keep in mind that match-ups and pitchers may change.)
ONE START OPTIONS:
6/22
Nick Blackburn @Sf – Vogelsong
Joel Pineiro @ Fla – Hand
John Lanna vs. Sea – Bedard
6/23
Chris Capuano vs. Oak – Godfrey
Felipe Paulino vs. Ari – Hudson
Jason Marquis vs. Sea – Pineda
6/24
Carlos Carrasco @SF – Sanchez
Matt Harrison @NYM – Pelfrey
Tim Stauffer vs. Atl – Lowe
Carl Pavano (@SF vs. Bumgarner, @Mil vs. Narveson) Typical Snidely Whiplash. Throws a couple decent games in a row to gain our trust and then goes all Waco on your weekly peripherals. K’s are yuck and away ERA is double yuck.
Ivan Nova (@Cin vs. Cueto, Col vs. Nicasio) Still plays for the yanks, so he has that going for him. Road Era is a run lower. K/BB rate is muy mal. Revert back to first sentence for positive news.
Livan Hernandez (Sea vs. Fister, @CHW vs. Floyd) Comes off a complete game gem against the Cards. Home ERA is under a deuce. Recent quote from Jamie Moyer, “Man, he throws hard.”
Jeff Niemann (@Mil vs. Narveson, @Hou vs. Happ) Hopefully grandma’s ouchie cream and a popsicle made him feel better. Still a bottom of the rotation guy with minimal K potential.
Josh Outman (@NYM vs. Gee, @Phi vs. ?) Thanks to Cahill for falling on the grenade last week and moving up a day. Josh makes consecutive fantasy posts for the first time in….sorry had to look it up…forever.
Doug Fister (@Was vs. Hernandez, Fla vs. Sanchez) Pitching decent and falls into the Paul Maholm category of pitchers with mid 3 ERA’s with losing records. ERA half run better at home.
Charlie Morton (Bal vs. Arrieta, Bos vs. Beckett) Every time he pitches twice in a week I give him a new nickname, this week it’s “Pre Med.” Looks like Halladay without the degree. Still struggles against LH.
Derek Holland (Hou vs. Happ, NYM vs. Gee) xFIP of a run less than his ERA. Seems to be on a two good, one bad stretch. Home ERA isn’t very friendly. K-rate makes it a little more tolerable.
Chris Narveson (TB vs. Niemann, Min vs. Pavano) Discussed him before and he is just frustrating. Cruises through 4 innings than walks a couple and boom goes the dynamite. xFIP lower by a run. Decent K’s, good lineup, just pukes up too many leads.
Joe Saunders (@KC vs. Hochevar, @Det vs. Penny) Zona scores some runs, better ERA on the road and decent match-ups. Sounds like a delicious recipe for a buy low weekly add to me.
I’ve given much love to Desmond Jennings already on this blog, and since what I’ve previously wrote still works, indulge me for a second, “Desmond’s time is nigh, a word that only sounds negative. DJ is currently on the ones and twos for top ranked MLB prospects. He’s ranked number one for me. Numero uno. The Big Mahoff. Dora the Explorer, Boots the Monkey and Swiper the Fox all wrapped in one! (What, not street enough?) If he reaches the top end of his ceiling, you’re looking at Carl Crawford. More likely, you’re going to open up this Crackerjack and get half a Carl Crawford. Say a Carlford. You ain’t got the Craw yet, kid!” And that’s me quoting me! In 2010, he swiped 37 bags with a .362 OBP in Triple-A. In only 57 games in Triple-A this year, 9 homers and 10 steals. Somebody gag Sam Fuld, put a gorilla suit on him and send him to Africa. We want Jennings. *fast-herpes-medication-side-effect-voice* Fuld should be benched any day now for Jennings’ call-up. Or in the next week or so. It’s worth the flyer for upside. If conditions persist for longer than 48 hours, call your doctor. Anyway, here’s some more players to buy or sell this week in fantasy baseball:
BUY
Dee Gordon – Gordon is so fast he just ran into Kitchen Stadium, spit on Michael Symon’s head, buffed it and ran out without Alton even noticing. I see no reason why you shouldn’t own Gordon everywhere for a few weeks to see if he not only sticks but steals some bases. For more on my Dee Gordon fantasy, see that link. I wrote it while picking out all the strawberry Dippin’ Dots from the Banana Split mix.
Jemile Weeks – I’m less excited about Jemile because his power and speed aren’t of the game-changing variety. Could he get hot and be a worthwhile pickup in all leagues? Do I call 16-year-old girls that are dressed too old for their age prostitots? Yes and yes.
Cord Phelps – Um…Well…He has patience. Great, go back to school and become a kindergarten teacher. He’s all right in AL-Only leagues where anyone with a starting job is worth owning.
Scott Sizemore – He’s better than Cord Phelps, who is one of those guys you have to say both his names for it to sound right, but Sizemore’s playing time is a bit iffier.
Anthony Rizzo – I just went over my Anthony Rizzo fantasy. I wrote that while riding an ostrich through downtown Detroit.
Mike Carp – He was hitting the dickens out the ball in the PCL, but since that’s so hitter friendly I wouldn’t have great expectations.
Mike Moustakas – I just went over my Mike Moustakas fantasy. Scroll down, it’ll burn calories and then you can have some extra dessert.
Chris Johnson – He’s pretty yawnstipating but he has been hitting better this month. Do what you will with that information. Keep in mind, you may have to hold a gun to my head in the comments to tell you to pick him up. Or I guess you could just ask me if I like him or Chone Figgins.
Miguel Olivo – He’s hitting home runs. Plural-ing there on purpose, because he doesn’t ever hit just one. He’s like the Lay’s of catchers.
Charlie Blackmon – Dexter Fowler is sidelined due to sucking so the Rox called up Blackmon. Blackmon is actually an exciting flyer if this wasn’t the Rockies who have 5 great upside flyers per position. Hey, Rockies, take a cue from the Astros and get boring. Thank you!
Lucas Duda – Supposed to be called up today. Zip-a-dee-Duda, zip-a-dee-ay. My, oh my, what a Duda day. He has slightly-above average power and no speed. Outside of very deep mixed leagues and NL-Only leagues, I’d wait to see what Duda brings to the Camptown Races.
Ben Revere – He feels like one of those short-term plays that actually stays in your fantasy lineup for much longer because he’s producing. Wherever you’re struggling with a 5th outfielder, I’d give him a shot.
Nyjer Morgan – Here’s the situation, last year Chris Volstad hit Nyjer Morgan with a pitch, Nyjer Morgan charged the mound and got mollywhopped. Cut to last week, Nyjer comes up to face Volstad and takes him deep. The face on Nyjer as he trotted around the bases sorta made him my new favorite player ever in everdom. Then I dug into what other shenanigans he’s been up to and I found a video that sums him up in a big ball of crazy. He gets the walk-off hit and had no idea, he thought his team was winning. Yes, he thought his team was winning even though they were the home team and it was the ninth inning. I love you, Nyjer. Don’t ever change, or get arrested for whatever drugs you’re on. Oh, as for fantasy, he’s on the strong side of a platoon and can steal.
Jason Bourgeois – If you can swap him in and out of your lineup, you may get 30+ steals from a part-time player. Cust kayin’.
Xavier Paul – He could be 12-team mixed league worthy if he had a starting job. Unfortunately, he’s not the fortunate one. In NL-Only daily leagues, I’d grab him, but you gotta be ready to put your keys in the fish bowl and swap.
Rubby de la Rosa – There’s something so rhythmic about the last name de la Rosa that you can put any name in front and it sounds cool. “Hola, compadres, Grey de la Rosa aqui, let’s talk fantasy!” See? The great thing about Rubby is he can strike out hitters. Though he does walk people, that’s the rub(by).
Edinson Volquez – “Striking out and walking people? That’s my bag, baby!” That’s Volquez reading the last blurb.
Dillon Gee – You know the Hodpadres get a lot of love here, but the guys toeing the rubber in Metco seem underappreciated. I’m about to course correct. Hope you ain’t too cool for the safe belt.
Jon Niese – His home ERA is 2.76. Okay, course corrected.
Charlie Morton – I’ve been telling you to pick him up since April. He has a 2.52 ERA. It won’t stay that low, but, c’mon, you can still own him.
Javy Guerra – “Muahahahahahaha…” That’s Mattingly laughing at you trying to figure out who his closer is.
Jon Rauch – Farrell said Rauch is the Blue Jays closer. Then Farrell sang, “Tattoos make great necks…They’ll make great necks!”
SELL
Justin Morneau – Your best bet at this point is to pull off The Patented Flip-Flop Flop* (*Patent pending). The Patented Flip-Flop Flop* (*Patent pending) is when you take an underwhelming star and trade them for someone else’s headache. Because, really, what else are you going to do with this schmohawk at this point? If you can’t pull off a Patented Flip-Flop Flop* (*Patent pending), in most 12 team and under leagues, it’s time to cut bait. He’s playing hurt and he looks like he should be shutdown.
Adam Dunn – I’ve ranked these four Sell candidates for The Patented Flip-Flop Flop* (*Patent pending) in order of least chance of a rebound to greatest. I’m worried about Dunn more than Uggla because of the position eligibility and because of Ozzie. It wouldn’t surprise me to see Ozzie sit Dunn vs. all lefties moving forward even if he starts hitting. Not saying Dunn shouldn’t sit vs. them but it’ll hurt his counting stats either way. Or Ethier way. I do think Dunn can still get to 30 home runs, but the average and counting stats will probably be poor.
Dan Uggla – It’s as simple as the nose on your face (and the eye patch you wear just for looks). If Uggla hits .220 and 25 home runs at 2nd base, it’s not good, but it would be worse at 1st base. Am I trading a decent guy for him? No, I’m not. I would trade one of the two above schmohawks for him though. And I’d trade Josh Tomlin for him. And other players of that ilk. And, yes, ilk is as douchey a word to write as it is to say.
Shin-Soo Choo – You know when they say a player just has to get out of his own way? Yeah, I don’t know who they are, but they could’ve been talking about Choo. Nothing wrong with Choo other than he’s in a shame spiral about his DUI and he’s about to commit seppuku. He just needs a good talking to and maybe a marathon bukkake session and Choo will be back doing what he do. I’d still sell him, I just wouldn’t sell him for a Groupon for a Segway tour of the South Bronx.
Yesterday, Joakim Soria lost the closer job yesterday to Aaron Crow. Yeah, and pigeons fly. Wait, they do. Wait II, The Return of Wait, maybe that makes sense. Yeah, I think it does. Thank you, left side of the brain for working with the right side. Glad you’re talking again. You guys rock! The ax falling on The Mexicutioner was a long time coming. He only had one save in May and had given up 7 runs in 9 1/3 IP. He wasn’t much better in April. In June, he could get the job back. Your deity of choice knows that Aaron Crow isn’t really all that great but he is the guy for right now. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Alfonso Soriano – With yesterday’s game with a strained quad. He’ll probably go to the DL by the time you read this, assuming you dinnit stay up to read this at 12:26 AM PST when it was posted. (BTW, Didn’t and I went our separate ways. It’s now dinnit or bust. Don’t, you’re on notice!)
Tony Campana – Yesterday, he had 4 steals (on only one hit!). I’d like to introduce Campana to my right clickie finger that picks players off waivers. In the minors, he showed bonkers speed. Or sponkers, if you enjoy portmanteaus. Not just fast, but crazy. One year, 48 steals in 131 games and 20 times caught stealing. Tony Campana runs like he just sniffed a mountain of coke and killed some cockroaches. With Byrd still recouping, Soriano likely headed to the DL and the Cubs needing a spark plug, I picked up Campana wherever I could. He’s probably nothing but a short term SAGNOF’er, but member what Jason Bourgeois did a month ago? Yeah, you do. Now come here and let me pinch your cheeks!
Kelly Johnson – 4-for-6 and 2 homers yesterday. Now has 4 homers and 6 steals while batting .190– Oh no, he doesn’t. That’s what he had on May 13th when I told you to buy him. He now has 9 homers, 8 steals and raised his average 52 points.
Justin Upton – 5-for-5, 3 runs, 3 RBIs, his 10th home run and 10th steal. I own him in a few leagues, so this is partially selfish of me, but I’d love for him to have his star mitzvah this year. Say 35 homers, 20 steals and a .280 average while becoming a first round draft pick for next year. That would be nice. (BTW, I can neither confirm or deny this, but Vin Scully checked in on the Arizona game and said Justin Upton was 5-for-5 with a home run when Upton was 4-for-4 with no home run. Then Upton hit a home run 15 minutes later.)
Juan Miranda – 0-for-4 while the Diamondbacks scored 15 runs. Ticker tease!
Jose Reyes – Out for 3-7 days with the death of his grandmother. As someone who was raised by their abuelita, I feel for Reyes, but, well, my fantasy team kinda needs him. Oh, man, I’m a bad person.
Ike Davis – Still having pain in his ankle. A Met having an injury setback? That is uber crazy. Yeah, I said uber. Deal with it!
Charlie Morton – 6 IP, 1 ER, 11 baserunners, 4 Ks. Put eleven baserunners in six innings and only one earned run into Fangraphs Database and you get the error message, “Does not compute.”
Pablo Sandoval – Sounds like he’s about a week and a half away. Or at least that’s the rumor why the Giants clubhouse manager went to Costco for a 128-count Chipwich box.
Brandon Crawford – 1-for-3 with his first steal after hitting a granny in the first game of his career. (That better not had been Jose Reyes’s granny!) He has very, very modest power and speed (like 7/7 over the course of a season). To give you of an idea of how deep the league needs to be to grab him, he’s available in one of my NL-Only leagues.
Eric Patterson – 2-for-5 and has led off two of the last three games! *small voice* But he’s hitting .189. *big voice* He’s stolen 2 bases in those starts! *small voice* He doesn’t play every day. Okay, I’d look at him in NL-Only leagues or deeper leagues for a short term boost on speed. To put it in New Jersey terms, you pass through Patterson, you don’t stay there.
Logan Forsythe – Here’s another NL-Only shout out. He’s playing every day for the Padres, though you’d think if Forsythe was in SoCal, he’d be saying hello to the Angels. He doesn’t have much power and Petco will suppress that further. “Stop smothering me, Petco! I mean, mothering. Actually, I don’t.” Forsythe has five homer power and teen speed. Think a poor man’s Bartlett, i.e. the cupboards are Barelett.
Tim Hudson – 6 IP, 1 ER, 5 baserunners, 7 Ks. Other than the mollywhopping he took at the hands of the Angels, he’s been decent if a bit yawnstipating with Ks.
Mike Napoli – 3-for-6, 5 RBIs and two more homers to bring his total to 10. When he seeks revenge on you for dropping him, he does it swiftly and decisively.
Jayson Nix – Him and brother, Laynce, hit homers yesterday. Today, their brother, Jaymes, drinks himself into a stupor for being the black sheep of the family.
Eric Young Jr. – Another day, another steal. Okay, I’m not talking about him again until Friday’s Buy.
Francisco Liriano – To the DL when the MRI revealed shoulder inflammation. The MRI also revealed it was glad it didn’t draft him.
Phil Hughes – Could be back by July. Yanks said they won’t push him. Put him near traffic and I’ll give him a little shove.
Raul Ibanez – 1-for-3 with his 4th homer in the last week. Frequent commenter, Hans, mentioned Ibanez’s recent hot streak in the comments (appropriate!). I was going to talk about Ibanez yesterday, because he has been crazy hot, it’s just so hard to generate excitement about him and unless you ask, “Between him or Cuddyer,” I’m probably going to say the other guy.
Nick Blackburn – 6 IP, 5 ER. I love corrections to schmohawks. Schadenfreude!
Danny Espinosa – Hit his 8th homer yesterday and has 4 steals on the season. When he ends the season with a .250 average, 20 homers and 10 steals, you’re gonna wonder why you dropped him.
Mike Morse – Another day, another home run. You’re waiting way too long to pick him up. You, “Who me?” Yeah, you.
Jay Bruce – 3-for-4, 3 RBIs with his 16th home run. Could Bruce sneak into the first round next year? Nah, probably not. But he’s moving into the 2nd.
Hanley Ramirez – Out again with what he described as “the worst (pain) he has ever felt.” I betcha there’s quite a few of his fantasy owners that would like to help Hanley continue to break his personal pain threshold record.
Hunter Pence – 3-for-4, 4 runs, 2 RBIs and his 7th home run. Pence is one of those players that stays exactly on pace for his end of the year stats all year long. Minute he starts to fall off pace, he’ll hit a home run or steal a base.
Torii Hunter – 3-for-5, 4 RBIs and two home runs. One for each I.
Mark Trumbo – 2-for-5 with his 2nd home run in as many days. It’s the smart move to keep him in the lineup. Still waiting for the Sciosciapath to make the not smart move.
Fernando Rodney – Got the save yesterday. Walden gave up two runs the day before and threw 37 pitches, so this is probably nothing, but — and unless you’re an alien there’s always a but — I still grabbed Rodney in leagues where I need saves. In May, Walden has a 5.54 ERA, 1.77 WHIP; Rodney hasn’t given up a run in the past week. (Yeah, I’m cherrypicking stats, but whatever. It’s my blog. Start your own blog and cherrypick your own numbers.)
Jon Lester – 5 2/3 IP, 7 ER, 12 baserunners, 4 Ks. I wouldn’t press the panic button, but two of his last three starts have been duds.
Kyle McClellan – 4 IP, 7 ER. See Nick Blackburn or 7 and a 1/4 inches above.
Albert Pujols – 2-for-4 with the ever-tasty slam and legs. A Pujols by any other name would smell foul.
Bartolo Colon – 9 IP, 0 ER, 4 baserunners, 6 Ks. A doctor in Boca Raton is claiming he used stem cells to fix Colon’s arm and make him an effective pitcher once again. The doctor says he used Colon’s own fat cells to repair the elbow. Now the elbow is working like new but it can no longer fit into any of his shirts.
Jorge de la Rosa left the third inning because of elbow soreness. I thought it sounded ominous at the time, but I also thought it might’ve been the older, Hispanic lady riding her bicycle passed my window chanting, “Flores para los muertos.” It turned out it was a combination of both. Jorge’s gonna be sleeping with the pisces for a while as he heads off to get Tommy John surgery. Elsewhere, Rubby de la Rosa was promoted by the Dodgers. Up and down day for the de la Rosas, apparently. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Carlos Gonzalez – Had a big day in the doubleheader at Coors. Multiple home runs, RBIs and runs. A ménage à trois of fantasy goodness.
Matt Garza – Heads to the DL as his elbow auditions for Kerrywood. Elbow, “I have to bend that way for the part?” “Yeah, this is Kerrywood, baby. Nobody pays for ground outs and fly outs in Kerrywood. If you ain’t striking out, you’d done struck out.” That sounds like something Ricky Jay should be saying while shuffling cards. With Garza’s elbow feelin’ kinda Wrigley and gumming up his season, I’d DL him but I wouldn’t try and buy low right now. Elbow issues on pitchers aren’t — how do I say this? — good.
Brian Fuentes – After he lost another game on Monday, he laid into the A’s manager, saying, “There’s just no communication. Two games, on the road, bring the closer in a tied game, with no previous discussions of doing so. I don’t think anybody really knows which direction he’s headed.” He went on to say more, and this is a Razzball exclusive! Fuentes, “I suck, but you suck more for trusting me. Furthermore, you didn’t TELL me I was supposed to not lose. I thought maybe we were doing the whole ‘Major League’ thing. So was it also wrong to sleep with Corbin Bernsen’s wife? Now I look like the A’s-hole!”
Grant Balfour – Hey, it’s Jim Bouton’s favorite speculative closer. Balfour will see some save chances as Fuentes figures out how to play The Blame Game. Eff why hoo, Bailey is due back soon.
Matt Holliday – Half empty: Could miss the series at Petco because of a tight quad. Half full: He’s a lifetime .203 hitter in Petco.
Andrew Oliver – Will get Coke’s start on Saturday vs. the Sawx. When Stephen just went over him, he said, “(Oliver’s) statistics show a pitcher who is getting the job done… Baseball America, “projects [Oliver] as an impact arm.” That can mean a solid middle rotation starter. Finally, I’d like to see him throw his 93 to 95 MPH fastball at Grey’s big, stupid head.” Hmm… Okay. Like a dentist might say, “Sweet, but there’s a caveat.” Oliver may only be a spot start and vs. the Sawx it isn’t worth the agita. In AL-Only leagues, grab him. Keep in mind, if he pitches well, he’ll be a hot add.
Ryan Madson – 1 IP, 3 ER. He really couldn’t pick a worse time to revert to his old Cuddle Boy ways. It’s like he’s on The Voice and Christina is telling him that he needs to step up his game because Contreras is coming back and then he burps during Stand By Me and loses to Frenchie.
Ricky Romero – 7 IP, 1 ER, 10 baserunners, 4 Ks. Bit of an uncharacteristic start for Romero. Usually he strikes out twice as many. His name still drives me crazy though, bringing to mind Prince’s Batdance. Stop the presses! Who is that? Ricky Romero! Ricky Romero!
Frank Francisco – 2/3 IP, 2 ER. Now has a 6.23 ERA. Frank2 has now given up 5 runs in his last 2 innings. Jon Rauch hasn’t been much better. Dotel is also there for potential SAGNOF. You can speculate if you like, but this shizz is ugly.
Jose Bautista – You know the world has gone crazy when you see the Blue Jays scored four runs and you’re like, “Damn, Bautista hit 4 solo homers.”
Brian Roberts – Was told to rest for at least three weeks. Backdate that to last year.
Alfredo Simon – Threw a perfect inning and didn’t even have to use his AK.
Jair Jurrjens – 7 2/3 IP, 0 ER, 7 baserunners, 4 Ks. Is it too much to ask for some effin’ regression?
Joe Mather – Didn’t play yesterday, but is hitting over .500 in the last week. For what it’s Wuertz, I grabbed him in one deep league.
Charlie Morton – 7 IP, 2 ER, 10 baserunners, 4 Ks. You know how when you have multiple teams that are different depths you get a guy that is performing well on a deep team and he slowly makes his way onto shallower teams? That’s Morton for our teams. Started on a 12 team NL-Only team and now he’s on a 13-team mixed league team. And that was probably only interesting to Rudy and I.
Josh Beckett – 6 2/3 IP, 1 ER, 8 baserunners, 6 Ks. I gotta be honest, I might not like him simply because he seems like the guy at the front door of the frat party that tells you in order to get in you have to drop your pants and sing James Ingram’s Just Once, but still doesn’t let you in because you accidentally skip the “Make the magic last for more than just one night” line. Though that might just be me.
Alex Gordon – Now has back-to-back games with a home run and a modest five game hitting streak. If he was dropped in your league, it might be time to pick him up again.
Danny Duffy – 5 1/3 IP, 2 ER, 8 baserunners (3 BBs), 6 Ks. In his short time in the majors, he’s throwing too many walks. I’m watching him; you can watch him…Shoot, let’s watch him together! But I’d hold off on picking him up in mixed leagues for right now.
Josh Collmenter – 4 1/3 IP, 2 ER, 7 baserunners, 1 K. The line looks better because of an error. He gave up 3 additional unearned runs. He’s an iffy mixed league starter. Choosy fantasy owners don’t choose iffy starters. However, he gets the Astros next time out. In case you forgot, Ed Wade’s Toupee put that lineup together.
Mike Leake – Instead of LeCure, Leake will take Friday’s start. Dusty said he’s hoping this Leake doesn’t leave a burning sensation.
Jerry Sands – Hit a grand slam yesterday. Went 4-for-4 the other day. Suddenly, Sands is heating up. Is probably on waivers in just about all mixed leagues. He may not have everyday playing time when Ethier returns today, but I’d take a flyer in some leagues to see if he’s the latest hot schmotato.
Rafael Soriano – Shut down indefinitely. Joe Torre, as played by Paul Sorvino, must be impressed. He’d usually overwork them for a year before they broke down.
Curtis Granderson - 4-for-5, 2 Runs, 1 RBI and a partridge in a pear tree.
Derek Jeter – 0 for his last 10, now hitting .254. Anyhoo! So, I was at Kennedy Airport the other day and in front of me in line at Starbucks was Minka Kelly. With my best heavy New York accent, I said, “You better not break Jeter’s heart like you did to Jason Street.” She looked like she wanted to blow a rape whistle.
Last year, the only type of starts and luck that Charlie Morton had was bad. Despite good stuff and pedestrian ratios (6.7 K/9, 2.9 BB/9), he put up some of the worst stats in recent history. A 7.57 ERA in 79 innings during the year of the pitcher! It was a 54 ERA+ (adjusted for park and era) which stands as the 5th worst ERA+ since 1945 for pitchers with 79+ IP. It’s hard to say how much of his .353 BABIP was because he threw down the middle or back luck but let’s just say the latter. It seemed like luck was balancing out in his first three starts this year as he went 2-0 despite throwing 6 Ks and 12 BBs in 22 innings. But excluding an ugly win in Colorado (where just about every non-ace should be benched), his last three starts – including last nights 5-hit shutout – have shown significant progress. In those 18 2/3 IP, he’s K’d 17 and walked 7. So let your league mates focus on his ghastly K:BB for the season while you get him on the cheap. I’d still bench him during bad match-ups but he looks primed to be a solid 5th/6th SP in shallow leagues.
Onto other fantasy baseball news….
Jake Peavy - A 3 hit shutout with 8 Ks against the Indians who’ve recently been scalping opposing pitchers. To quote the great Larry King, “Sorry Mr. Westbrook but the best Jake pitching today is Jake Peavy”.
Bartolo Colon- How fitting. Jake has his first great comeback start and the Fatman nearly matches him (8 innings, 0 ER, 3 hits). Now they just need to thank their doctor who I think first starred in the Six Million Dollar Man.
Pedro Alvarez – 3-run HR for Alvy. Maybe he’s finally figuring out how to get the lobster in the pot. Reminds of this old joke about two elderly Pirate fans sitting on the Roberto Clemente Bridge. One of them says, “Boy, the Pirates’ <fill in 3rd baseman> has been really terrible.” The other says, “Yeah, I know, and too few at-bats.”
Jon Niese – 7 shutout innings with 7 Ks. You made your Aunt and Uncle proud!
Matt Holliday and Lance Berkman - Yes, the Cardinals were victorious against the Astros and Bud Norris (with that last name, shouldn’t he be a Texas Ranger?) but both Holliday (quad) and Berkman (wrist) were out of the game by the 5th inning. Much like the rest of our existences, they are ‘day-to-day’. Bud Norris must’ve roundhouse kicked them with his mind.
Mark DeRosa – Left the game in the middle of an at-bat when he re-strained his wrist. That hurts more than having your wrist restrained – depending on who’s doing it. If it’s Mrs. DeRosa, I would not be check-swinging. The official announcement is ‘day-to-day’ but I’d move the versatile DeRosa to ‘Left Out’ in all but NL-only leagues (where we unfortunately have him).
Kyle Lohse – Another strong (8 innings, 1 ER, 7 baserunners) yet not dominant (3 Ks) start. He should change his last name to Wihn. He’s now 5-2 with a crazy low BABIP (somewhere in the .215 range). His ERA/WHIP might be due for regression but he’s still worth starting while he’s on this streak.
Craig Kimbrel – Okay, maybe it’s officially time to start worrying. Tonight was blown save #4 and it was an ugly one – 2 ER & 4 hits in 1/3 of an inning to spoil the Braves second straight extra inning victory. This is after Jonny Venters threw two shutout innings in the 9th and 10th. If it weren’t for the anti-lefty sentiment that fuels closer decisions and McCarthyism, Venters would be closer by now. But my guess is Kimbrel won’t be a fugitive from the closer role as he’d been dominant his previous 4 outings (4 IP, 1 hit, 9 Ks).
Mark Reynolds – 0 for 5 with 2 Ks and a BB in the Orioles 15 inning loss to the Yanks. He did manage his 2nd sB of the year but his average now stands at .184. To those of you who said he couldn’t repeat last year’s .198 AVG, well, I guess you’re still technically correct.
Julio Teheran – 4 innings, 2 ER, 8 baserunners, and 1 strikeout. This is after his first start where he threw 4 2/3 innings and managed 1 strikeout. I know it sounds pervy but I’d trade in this 20 year-old phenom for a Minor.
Yovani Gallardo – A six inning win with 2 ER and 9 Ks. That’s three straight wins for Yovani. Have we finally seen the end of his evil telenovela twin – Oyvani Goneyardo?
Elliot Johnson - 2-3 with 3 RBIs as he started for the 3rd straight night. Sam Fuld might be Mr. April but looks like someone is auditioning hard for Mr. May (TM to Dave Winfield).
Trevor Plouffe – 2 for 4 with 3 RBIs. He’s shown some power in the minors (15 HRs in 445 AAA ABs last year) and a K-rate (22%) that screams .250-.260. So, best case, he’s a J.J. Hardy in hi prime type. Worst case, he’s 2011 J.J. Hardy. Either way, I don’t think anyone minds seeing Gardenhire say “See ya” to Casilla when Nishioka comes back.
Neftali Feliz – A blown save after Hosmer took him deep to star the 9th. Ron Washington was tempted to bring in Arthur Rhodes to face the lefty rookie but, when he approached him, Rhodes responded in a world-weary voice, “I’m getting too old for this s**t” and shared how he plans to spend his retirement.
Michael Dunn - Quick shoutout to the Mr. B‘s. Dunn now has 25 Ks in 19 innings this year. He can come in handy in daily leagues where you need K’s.
Clay Buchholz – Unlike Steve Howe and Dwight Gooden, Buchholz was able to go face-to-face against Coke and come out unharmed (7 shutout innings, no decision). Buchholz is pitching well of late (he’d won four of his last 5). More importantly, he’s been putting up some K’s (he’s now averaged 6 in his last 3 games). His K/9 and BB/9 ratios were very average last year (6.2 and 3.5 respectively) and they’ve been about the same this year. If he can keep K’ing guys like he has in the past 3 games, his value goes up significantly.
Danny Duffy - Making his first major league start, you can imagine the pressure Double-D must’ve felt to fit in with his Royal teammates. 4 innings and 10 baserunners (including 6 walks) later….son, you’re going to fit in just fine. Ignore for 10/12-team mixed leagues but I’d keep an eye on him for deeper leagues.
Scott Hairston – Is it me or does this guy have the face of an anthropomorphic frog? No wonder why he’s an outfield while his father and brother are infielders – he’s a natural at shagging flies.
