I don’t want to believe a word I read by anyone in the New York Mets organization. Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, I’m in minayal. As the definition states, “Denial of the truth by a GM – either disingenuously to the press or, even sadder, they believe the lie. Includes denial of player injuries, trade rumors, manager firings, etc. Example, “If it weren’t for the Mets being in such minayal, Reyes would be on the DL and I could have an empty bench spot on my team!” Related adjective is Riccardulous.” So with that said, Jose Reyes was cleared to return to action. I haven’t been as interested by something I’ve read in the New York Post since they so delicately handled a recent crisis with the headline, “Holy Shiite!” Could Reyes really be good to go? I sure as heckfire hope so since I’ve drafted him already on a few teams. As I’ve maintained since he went down, this wasn’t another leg injury. It was his thyroid. It might phonetically sound like it’s located in the leg, but it’s not. Omar says Reyes could be ready for Opening Day. My best guess is he’ll miss the first week and a half and by May you won’t even remember he missed any time. I say grab him, hopefully I’m not in minayal. Anyway, here’s some more fantasy baseball news:
Albert Pujols – Went for an MRI with a sore back. The New York Post said, “Pujols is full of Shiite!” Actually, they didn’t. But could one day. Pujols played last season with one working elbow. I’m not too concerned about a sore back.
Brian Roberts – Speaking of sore backs, Roberts is set to return this week. I’m less confident about Roberts’s ability to run, but I’m not ready to move him down my rankings yet either. There’s still plenty of time left to have a good season. Guys (and two girls), it’s only March.
Tyler Flowers – Headed to the minors to start the season. To announce the move, Ozzie tweeted, “Flowers is a punta name. #KennyWilliamsSux”
Aroldis Chapman – Has muscle spasms. For most teams, this might be all they need to send him to the Minors. With Dusty, it’s hard to say.
Wade Davis – Should win the fifth starter job over Sonnanstine. As is the norm with the Rays, they make the right decision. Davis is in my top 80 starters post. Go ahead, click it. You know you wanna.
Madison Bumgarner – Heads to the minors to start the season as someone you don’t need to know about wins the 5th starter job.
Daniel McCutchen – Selected to be the Pirates fifth starter. In related news, the Pirates equipment man quit after learning his perfectly centered McCutchen had to be shifted for a first initial.
Last week’s borderline starters post netted a 3.22 ERA if you started Justin Masterson, even though I said I wouldn’t start him unless your situation was dire. So if you didn’t start him, you had a 2.71 ERA from the guys I pointed out last week. You also had 47 Ks in 63 innings with 4 Wins. And Harrison Ford’s a quarter Jewish. Not too shabby. Anyway, here’s some borderline starters I might gamble on depending on your situation this week in fantasy baseball:
Monday, September 21st
Wade LeBlanc – He gets the Pirates. Do I have to say more? No, I really don’t.
Daniel McCutchen – If you throw LeBlanc and McCutchen, you can be the first person to ever watch 6 innings of a Padres/Pirate game.
Tuesday, September 22nd
Hiroki Kuroda – Hasn’t thrown a bad start in two months and gets the Nats. It’s percentages, ya’ll.
Zach Duke – In 20 innings this year, Duke has a 2.70 ERA vs. the Little Red Machine That Dusty’s Run Off The Tracks.
Trevor Cahill – Going against the A’s hasn’t worked out for me at all. So I’m sure going with them won’t either.
Wednesday, September 23rd
Jonathan Sanchez – Has a 1.71 ERA vs. the Diamondbacks. He Ks people, Diamondbacks like to swing. Do the math!
Thursday, September 24th
Homer Bailey – Borderline Starters aka Pitchers Going Against the Pirates.
Vicente Padilla – He wasn’t exactly lights out when I suggested him last week, but he gets the Nationals this time. Decent shot at a win, if nothing else.
Friday, September 25th
Bronson Arroyo – Has a 2.42 Post-All-Star Break ERA. Should’ve really been owned for the last three months.
Kevin Correia – Good for at least Ks vs. the Diamondbacks. Might squeeze out a Win.
Saturday, September 26th
Barry Zito – There’s absolutely no matchups I’d go near on 95% of my teams for Saturday the 26th. If I were really desperate, I’d try Zito, i.e., throw him at your own risk.
Sunday, September 27th
Ryan Rowland-Smith – Really, he should just be owned at this point.
Hiroki Kuroda – He gets the Pirates. BTW, why are the Nats and the Pirates playing the Dodgers at the end of September? Who did Alyssa Milano have to “talk” to to “work” that “out”?
J.J. Hardy wasn’t appreciated by the Brewers earlier this year — I made all the key outs! I don’t see Ryan Braun doing that! — Well, Hardy will return to the Brewers on Tuesday to pick up where he left off. Hope he remembers to bring his magic bats with him. This one here, this one is my runners in scoring position batting .198 bat. Too bad Alcides couldn’t step up in the two plus weeks he had the gig to himself. Guess he missed the day in If You Have Speed Steal A Damn Base class when they went over if you have speed steal a damn base. In fact, there’s only one day of class. That’s all you learn. This shot of Hardyrenaline will nullify Alcides and Hardy’s value in mixed leagues, unless one gets hot and runs with it. Runs being the key word, Alcides. Hardy has pop and little else. His best month of the last two years saw him hit 9 homers. Conservatively, I’d say you’re looking at a guy that will give you a .250 average and 4 homers. I will enjoy not owning you, Hardy. Be well. Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Brad Penny – Signed on with the Giants and will be inserted into their rotation. Bartleby’s Quote of the Day, “Everything old is new again, except Brad Penny. He just kinda sucks.” That Bartleby, he’s quotatious! I do like NL West pitchers and Penny suddenly is on my radar in deep mixed leagues (12+ teams). In 12 team leagues, I’d grab him for match-ups, but would be cautious.
Jim Thome – Dodgers acquired the forebearer of country strong. He’ll serve primarily as the guy on the bench that chews tobacco and scratches himself. Occassionally, he may fill in for the power off the bench when Juan Pierre just won’t suffice.
Jon Garland – Dodgers decided August 31st is the new July 31st as they made a flurry of deals. Don’t worry, Timmy. It’s just a flurry of deals. It’ll pass. If Garland were a Native American, his name would be Man Who Will Serve As Dodgers Long Relief Man In The Playoffs. For now, he’ll have a slight uptick in value. Which is to say he goes from negative value to just a smidge. He’ll give you no Ks, not a great WHIP, but he’s been keeping his team in the game, which could become Wins with the Blue. Unless your name is Randy Wolf.
Jarrod Washburn – 5 2/3 IP, 8 ER. About a month ago, I pointed out to you that Washburn’s FIP was showing he was headed for a correction. His owners and the Tigers obviously didn’t pay attention.
Carlos Guillen – 4-for-5, 2 homers. Somebody’s been drinking their raw egg Hulk Hogan shakes. I’m not a fan of Guillen usually, but at this time of the year, he’s hitting with power with 8 homers since his return. Worth a flier to see if he keeps it up.
Daniel McCutchen – 6 IP, 3 ER, 5 Ks vs. Reds. The Dread Pirate’s brother from a different mother had his major league debut yesterday. It was a modest showing against a terrible team. The Pirates really should be monitoring his innings, but they do what they do, so you can do what you do. McCutchen has decent value in deep leagues — Think of a 7 K/9 and great control. On the Pirates, good luck getting wins.
Drew Stubbs – 4-for-9, 2 HRs and a steal yesterday. His home run balls are still in the left field bleachers since there were only about 2,000 people in attendance. That’s including players and media. If you need steals, Stubbs is worth owning. But, with all of his strikeouts, he’s still a faux hawk away from being cool.
Johnny Cueto – 5 IP, 1 ER, 5 Ks. Great, terrific, welcome back! It was still against the Pirates and it was still only 5 innings. I’d risk Cueto in certain leagues, but not for the risk averse.
Chad Qualls – Done for the season. See yesterday’s roundup for the rundown. See what I did there?
Juan Gutierrez – Didn’t wanna scroll down, huh? Gutierrez got the save yesterday. SAGNOF! If you need saves, grab him in every league. He’s just as likely to get 7 saves in September as is Broxton.
Adam Lind – 2 HRs, 8 RBIs. I fluffed him in a fluff piece just last week.
Rod Barajas – 2 HRs yesterday, but only 5 RBIs so last night he was Barbara Hershey to Lind’s Bette Midler. But he has six homers in the last 10 games and he’s batting near .400 in the last week.
Jose Contreras – Rockies got Contreras from the White Sox. This seems like a recipe for blech.
Alexei Ramirez – 1-for-3 yesterday. It’s a longshot at this point, but if he somehow gets to 20/20 this year (needs 6/7 respectively), he will be the most disappointing 20/20 middle infielder in the history of fantasy baseball. He’s like the guy who has a 25 game hitting streak while only hitting .275. Excite me, Alexei! Do something!
Vladimir Guerrero – 2 HRs yesterday. For a guy with 13 homers, he seems like he has ten two homer games this year. Have to check with Elias or Jayson Stark.
Nick Blackburn – 7 IP, 1 ER, 7 Ks vs. the White Sox. He’s still a risky play in mixed leagues. I’m not even sure how Blackburn managed 7 Ks. Guess when the White Sox throw in the towel, they really throw it in.
Cameron Maybin – Returns to the ‘lins, yes! Has no place to play, no!
Kyle Blanks – Done for the year with a tear in his plantar fascia in his right foot. He was seen limping out of the clubhouse using David Eckstein as a crutch.
Adrian Beltre – Expected to be activated for today’s game as he was able to take grounders again off his nuts.
September 1st may mean autumn is around the corner for meteorologists, but you’re not Sam Champion, are you? No, of course you’re not. He’s handsome. For us in the fantasy baseball trenches, September 1st means rosters expand and rookies are called up. Unlike the September hitter call ups we went over yesterday, I’d use kid gloves with these call ups. As Paula Dean might say, pitchers can hurt you, ya’ll. If you need to take a flier on a rookie pitcher, tread carefully, young Razzball reader. Anyway, here’s some potential September call ups to keep your eye on for fantasy baseball, the pitchers:
Aaron Poreda – I’m crazy for HodgePadres, what can I say? Actually, I just said it. But even I’d be careful with Poreda. In NL-Only leagues, yes, please. Elsewhere, maybe home matchups.
Madison Bumgarner – Scouting the Unknown broke down, Madison Bumgarner. Bumgarner will be one of those adds that everyone does and just about everyone regrets (this year). Though I am prepping a giggle for when Bumgarner attacks Pujols with his number 2.
Tim Hudson – I heard this kid’s got good stuff. Hope his call up goes smoothly, he might have a nice career ahead of him. /sarcasm
David Purcey – Blech.
Carlos Carrasco – I was bonkers for him in the preseason. That’s the drawback to working without a net in December. Carrasco’s hype I extolled was obviously a year too early. Don’t worry, I’m go crazy for him again this offseason. You’ve been caveated.
Hector Rondon – Is Wedge trying to get fired? Are the Indians trying to lose? Heffin’ hey in the screw hole, bring up Rondon and see what he can do. Cause right now he do what he do and he do it in Triple A. Over a 9 K/9 and under a 2 BB/9, which comes out to 42 Ks to 7 walks.
Wade Davis – For a while he looked better than David Price, then for a while he stopped striking out hitters. And both “whiles” came in the minors, so there will be some growing pains, Kirk Cameron.
Dana Eveland – Had a long look last year and pitched well enough for AL-Only leagues. Might have some matchup value in September.
Brandon Morrow – Not a rookie, but I think he can make a nice fantasy impact in September. Worth grabbing in all leagues.
Todd Wellemeyer – He wasn’t that great when he was already in the majors.
Daniel McCutchen – What’s the chances the Pirates have another fantasy-worthwhile McCutchen? Okay, combine those odds with the chances the Pirates have a worthwhile pitcher.
