Fantasy Baseball Advice

I’ve added average draft position (ADP) from MockDraftCentral.com to the 5×5 10/12/14/16 Team Point Shares tables. (NL-only Point Shares are also up for 8, 10, and 12 Team.)

As expected, pitchers are valued higher in Point Shares vs. actual drafts.  There’s plenty of reasons for this – riskier pitchers are undervalued, (mis)perceptions, blah blah blah – but all that matters is finding the best bargains across all positions.

Shorthand for the below.  Any player with a positive (+##) is being picked that many picks after their estimated value.  Any player with a negative (-##) is being drafted ahead of their value.  Plus is good value.  Minus is bad value.

Here are some observations for 1B, 2B, SS, 3B.  I’ll cover the other positions in a 2nd post:

First Basemen

The top 3 after Pujols (Fielder, Howard, Cabrera) are drafted at slight premiums (5-16 picks ahead of estimated value) but the next group of Teixeira, A-Gonz, Morneau, and Votto come at a higher premium (30-55 picks).

The biggest premium is going for Mark Teixiera (50 picks above value – 6th vs. 56th).  My CHONE/ZiPS-derived estimates are 529/89/30/106/1/.284.  Last year, he hit 609/103/39/122/2/.292.  It’s possible that the HR-lift of Yankee Stadium still isn’t fully accounted for in the projections but the biggest difference is 80 ABs which drives up the other counting stats.  In 2007-2008, M-Teix averaged 534 ABs.  The Yanks now have a decent backup 1B in Nick Johnson that can spell M-Teix.  I’d shy on bullishness for Teixeira but I still think he’s below the top 3 above.

So what should you do?  Ideally, grab one of the top 3.  If not, I’d hope one of the next 4 fall far enough so that you’re getting a better deal falling back on better valued Lance Berkman (-8), Derrek Lee (+8), and Adam LaRoche (+84).  LaRoche has an average ADP of 180 where his Point Shares value is at #96 – driven by solid stats across the board.  He’s been a solid 25/80 guy for a while but hitting in a better lineup and park might boost him to 100 RBI level (ZiPS thinks so at least)

Second Basemen

No bargains in the top half of the draft for 2Bs.  Utley, Kinsler, Phillips, Pedroia, Cano and Roberts are all going 11-30 picks above their value with Brian Roberts being the highest.  With reports he has a bad back, I’d stay far away from him this year.  Aaron Hill (-94) and Ben Zobrist (-108) are being drafted on last year’s stats vs. their likely regressed stats. Howie Kendrick (-110) is being drafted on his never-delivered promise.

The best bargains are all players that are weak in one dimension or less than inspiring overall:  Uggla (-2), Ian Stewart (+4),  Polanco (+88), Weeks (+40), Prado (+22), Kelly Johnson (+18).

My advice would be to punt 2B to later rounds unless you can good value for Utley or one of the other top 6 (besides Roberts).  Ian Stewart looks nice if your team is short on power.  A Polanco or Kelly Johnson looks better if your scavenging for a player late in the draft.

Shortstops

Hanley at #2 is fine value.  The next 10 rounds have only one SS at above-average value – Jose Reyes.  If he’s healthy, he’s set to be the 18th most valuable player in the draft but his ADP has been at #23.  Tulo (-30), J-Roll (-38),  and Jeter (-83) are all overvalued in drafts.

If you don’t go for Hanley or Reyes, wait until after the 10th round and there are some good bargains – mostly speed guys.  Everth Cabrera (+93), Asdrubal Cabrera (+12), Erick Aybar (+14), Ryan Theriot (+60), and Alcides Escobar (+43) are all great values.

Later round bad values include the always-overvalued Stephen Drew (-69) and Elvis Andrus (-49).

Third Basemen

This position has almost no good values in the whole draft (unless you consider late-round fliers Casey Blake and Kevin Kouzmanoff exciting).  Almost all the 3Bs are being picked 20-40 picks ahead of their value.  Not sure why this is.

I think this is a position that you should reach for but just try to get the best bargain.  I think Point Shares is overvaluing David Wright and undervaluing A-Rod (low playing time estimate from BP) so here are my amended 3B value picks:

- A-Rod – 4th pick or later.  His ADP is #3 but I think Braun is better.
- Wright/Longoria – Anytime after pick #12.  I’m taking one of the top 4 1B instead of them.
- Reynolds – Anytime after pick #25.  #18 ADP too high for me given the unreliable SBs and AVG.
- Zimmerman – Anytime after pick #33.  Zimmerman in the 3rd round is a solid pick in my eyes.
- Sandoval/Youk – Anytime after pick #50.
- Aramis – Anytime after #65
- M Young / Beckham – Anytime after #90
- Figgins – Anytime after #120 (yeah, pretty much saying don’t draft him.  Kills you in HR/RBI for 3B)

Some of you will be drafting your fantasy baseball teams over at ESPN and that’s cool.  I don’t mind their drafting and league setups.  Plus, they’re free.  If you don’t like your team, do like 98% of the other people at ESPN and abandon your team in May.  But when you’re drafting at ESPN, you’re confronted by their rankings.  It’s important to know what they’re saying, so you can exploit the rankings for your greater good.  I’m going off my top 100 for 2010 fantasy baseball and top 300.  So here’s some random turd nuggets from the ESPN 2010 fantasy baseball rankings:

Carl Crawford – 8 at ESPN, 19 here.  Before Miggy Cabrera, Tex, Longoria, Howard… Buh-but, Grey, isn’t 1st base deep? Yeah, and steals from an outfielder are shallow?  Oh-kay.  Because I have a photographic memory and no actual evidence to prove this, you’re gonna have to take my word for it.  Last year, Crawford was ranked somewhere in the 40s by ESPN.  Then he has a career year and he’s ranked 8th.  ESPN’s three year averages to figure out projections are done by multiplying the last year by three.

Ichiro Suzuki – 23 at ESPN, 43 here.  Probably the worst value player that is always overrated.  You need a .277 average to be competitive.  Ichiro best attribute is he can turn your average up to 11; it’s pointless.

Jose Reyes – 40 at ESPN, 18 here.  See my comment about Crawford for why they have Reyes this low.

Curtis Granderson – 55 at ESPN, 34 here.  Clara Bell wrote an interesting piece the other day about how Grandy could hit 35 homers and steal 20 bases but he’s NOT a top fifty draft option.  And, by interesting, I mean you really can’t make this shizz up.  You have to be an ESPN Hindsighter to read the whole thing, so I’ll Cliff Note it for you.  Karabell argues that Grandy is such a negative on average that he’lll cost your team dearly for those 35 homers and 20 steals.  As I’ve mentioned previously, you could have found 25 outfielders who contributed 20 steals, but only ten outfielders, who retain outfield eligibility for 2010, that had 30 homers.  Grandy fell in both categories.  Only three other outfielders did.  Also, nowhere does he mention that Granderson was about fifty points off his career BABIP and should hit closer to .275.  I don’t expect Karabell to know anything about BABIP, except Cockcroft, another ESPN Hindsighter, just wrote an article about how Granderson was unlucky with BABIP.  Maybe Karabell was too busy with a Michael Bolton from Office Space Lookalike Contest to read it.

Brandon Webb – 81 at ESPN, 175 here.  ESPN has Webb ahead of Cain, Ubaldo, Hamels, Wandy and Kershaw… As for why they ranked Webb this high, I think there’s a good chance they just totally forgot about last year.  Or maybe when they were ranking Webb, Berry farted and everyone laughed, causing them to skip over Webb’s name.

Howie Kendrick – 105 at ESPN, 200 here, about 100 picks before I have him.  Kendrick’s a good average bet that hasn’t put together one full year at the major league level.  No, thanks.

Todd Helton – 154 at ESPN, 261 here.  According to Point Shares, Helton will earn -3.38 Points.  He comes in with a -1.5 Points for homers and -1.2 for RBIs.  Nice!

Ian Stewart – 199 at ESPN, 100 here.  I’m totally waiting for them to write the Ian Stewart sleeper post, quoting their own facacta rankings.  Guys, I look like Michael Bolton, and I think Stewart’s great value ranked at 199! Actually, now that I think about it, the best thing you can do with ESPN’s rankings is send all of your leaguemates there to study them.

We continue our 2010 fantasy baseball rankings with the top 20 2nd basemen for 2010 fantasy baseball.  2nd base is an odd duck.  Shortstops have speed.  You can find speed in the outfield.  There’s even some legitimate speed at 3rd base.  All of these 2nd basemen must have grown up watching Bret Boone and Jeff Kent because you’re more likely to find power at 2nd base than speed. Sure, there’s Brian Roberts, but he’s 32 years old and only stole 30 bases last year.  I want a 40 steal 2nd baseman.  Eh, maybe it’s just me.  As with the previous ranking lists, tiers and my projections are noted.  Anyway, here’s the top 20 2nd basemen for 2010 fantasy baseball:

1. Chase Utley – In the top 10 for 2010 fantasy baseball post is Utley’s projections.

2. Ian Kinsler – In the top 20 for 2010 fantasy baseball post is Kinsler’s projections.

3. Brandon Phillips – This is a new tier.  This tier goes from here to Cano.  I call this tier, “Locks for certain stats.”  After just missing a 20/20 season in 2006, Phillips has put up one for three straight years.  Without a whole lot of luck, he’s not going to hit 30 homers and 30 steals seems out of his reach, but you’re kicking a 20/20 season out of bed from your 2nd baseman?  Please.  Phillips is a poor man’s Ian Kinsler.  2010 Projections:  80/22/95/.275/22

4. Brian Roberts – I haven’t been a fan of Roberts for the last two years because of his inconsistency.  Were you paying for a 50 steal guy?  A 40 steal guy? A 30 steal guy?  A 18 homer guy?  A 10 homer guy?  Finally, I feel like Roberts has figured out who he is (or I have).  A 12-15 homer guy with 30 steal speed.  There’s value knowing what you’re going to get and getting what you’re going to get… Hmm… That made sense in my head.  2010 Projections:  105/13/75/.285/30

5. Dustin Pedroia – Pedroia feels a lot less overrated this year than going into 2009, so there’s a chance that I might end up with him on a team, but it’s still not likely when I see some people rank him above Roberts and Phillips.  Roberts is 12-15 homers and 30 steals, Phillips is 20-plus homers, 20-plus steals and Pedroia is a 15/15 guy with great Runs.  Personally, I’ll take 20/20 or 15/30 over 15/15 every day of the week and twice on Muesday.  2010 Projections:  110/15/70/.305/15

6. Robinson Cano – Cano could be outproduced by Aaron Hill, but I ranked them in this order because I trust Cano more.  With Cano going to be the magical 27 years old in 2010 when power tends to peak, I hope Cano can pull a high-20s homer season out of his hat.  2010 Projections:  90/27/100/.315/5

7. Aaron Hill – This is a new tier.  This tier goes from here to Zobrist.  I call this tier, “These 2nd basemen are being drafted like they’re locks, but I don’t think they are.”  I ranked Hill lower than most because I don’t believe the 36 homers he hit last year.  Seems like a reach for him to do it again.  There’s a good possibility I write an entire overrated post for Aaron Hill.  As I said in previous rankings posts, I look at other projections.  So, CBS has Aaron Hill down for 103/36/106/.287/8 in 2010.  Since last year he had a line of 103/36/108/.286/6, I’m assuming they think he’s going to be exactly the same minus one extra base hit that drove in two.  Say what you want about ESPN, Yahoo, etc, but CBS is by far the worst fantasy advice.  I think they are so bad they actually get some lenience from people because no one actually takes them seriously.  2010 Projections:  85/24/80/.280/5

8. Ben Zobrist – I know, it’s Zorilla!  How dare I!  Why do I have to hate on guys that have career years?  He’s ranked far below where he should be considering his numbers last year.  His position eligibility does give him value.  Shoot, I’d draft Lyle Overbay if you gave him shortstop eligibility.  Zobrist’s homers don’t seem as fluky as they might appear.  He maintained a 17.5 HR/FB in 2009 and a 17.4 HR/FB in 2008.  Granted, that was a smaller sample size.  So he may look like David Eckstein, but the only thing they have in common is neither is Jewish though their names sound like they are.  Zobrist’s average seems out there; he looks closer to a .270 hitter.  He was a utility man coming into 2009 and I wouldn’t be surprised if he left 2010 back in that role.  2010 Projections:  75/20/85/.270/12

9. Dan Uggla – This is a new tier.  This tier goes from here to Lopez.  I call this tier, “These guys are okay, but they might give you fits of boredom.”  Uggla hasn’t had a full month of at-bats over a .300 average since May of 2008 when he hit .348.  That pretty much tells you all you need to know.  2010 Projections:  90/32/100/.250/3

10. Jose Lopez – He’s okay on your team.  He’ll work.  But it’s like masturbating to The Golden Girls.  It’ll get the job done, but why not switch the channel?  2010 Projections:  75/22/90/.275/3

11. Ian Stewart – This is a new tier.  This tier starts and ends here.  I call this tier, “The one guy I’d really like to have at 2nd base.”  I love Stewart this year.  First guy I feel like can completely outproduce his ranking.  If I could’ve ranked Stewart 3rd overall without having to give back my diploma from the College of Fantasy Baseball at Charleston, I would’ve.  Stewart feels like the Mark Reynolds of this year.  (That doesn’t mean a 45/20 line.  It doesn’t mean a guarantee.  Remember Reynolds looked like he was splitting time with Chad Tracy in the preseason last year.  It means a line like I thought Reynolds capable of in the preseason last year, around 30/12.)  Need I say more?  If you said yes, then proceed to the Ian Stewart Sleeper post-a-ma-whosie-whatsies.  2010 Projections:  85/29/100/.260/10

12. Asdrubal Cabrera – This is a new tier.  This tier ends at Weeks.  I call this tier, “This is your last chance to even try for something from your 2nd baseman.  With varying degrees of something.”  Asdrubal is a peak of 12 homers and 25 steals, while Barmes hit 23 homers last year with 12 steals.  So why is Asdrubal above Barmes? Good question, random italicized voice.  Barmes’s 23 homers last year looks fluky, while Asdrubal can steal 25 pretty easily.  Barmes’s over/under for homers is 15, while Asdrubal’s over/under for steals is at 20.  2010 Projections:  95/8/65/.300/20

13. Clint Barmes -  See Asdrubal Cabrera or 1/10th of an inch above.  2010 Projections:  65/15/75/.255/12

14. Rickie Weeks – He’s a lock for 20/20 but he needs 150 games.  That “but” is J. Lo-sized.  2010 Projections:  75/17/55/.255/15 in 120 games.

15. Howie Kendrick – This is a new tier.  This tier ends at Lopez.  I call this tier, “People will draft these guys, but I’m passing.” Frankly, I wouldn’t draft Kendrick with your team.  The upside isn’t interesting enough to me to warrant the gamble.  For instance, the best case scenario has him giving a Pedroia-type year.  Eh, it’s okay, but you’d be surprised how bored you get with a guy who’s offering 12/12.  2010 Projections:  85/12/70/.310/12

16. Casey McGehee – McGehee screams of a guy that is drafted and ends up on waivers by June.  His minor league numbers are utility man-ish.  He’s a cold month away from yielding to Mat Gamel, who is legit minus his glove.  And McGehee has no speed whatsoever.  He’s definitely more interesting at 2nd base than 3rd, but I’m passing.  2010 Projections:  55/17/65/.280

17. Placido Polanco – Don’t overestimate Crapolanco’s move to Philly.  He’s the definition of yawnstipating.  Literally.  2010 Projections:  100/10/70/.300/10

18. Felipe Lopez – The FeLopezian might be capable of 20/20, but it’s more likely going to be 10/10.  2010 Projections:  85/10/60/.285/10

19. Scott Sizemore – This is the last tier.  This tier goes from here to the end.  I call this tier, “Upside, snitches.”  As I’ve been saying for as long as I can remember.  If you’re late in the draft and you need a MI, take a flier on upside.  You’re probably going to drop one of these guys to waivers anyway, so you may as well take a shot on someone that can outproduce their oudraft spot.  I could’ve put Freddy Sanchez, Callaspo or Getz here (in that order), but what fun are those schmohawks?  re: Sizemore; been here, talked about this: Scott Sizemore fantasy post.  2010 Projections:  80/14/70/.275/16

20. Eric Young Jr. – Young can steal 40 bases in 2010.  Just give him the job.  Please.  Oh, and if he gets the job, it’ll play havoc on Barmes’s projections or Fowler’s or CarGo’s…  There’s only so much upside for one team.  2010 Projections:  65/1/40/.290/30

There’s a lot of names after the top 20 2nd basemen for 2010 fantasy baseball, but these two stand out:

Kelly Johnson – Already went over my excitement for  Kelly Johnson on the Diamondbacks. I ranked him this far down because I wanted to highlight him.  If I didn’t want to highlight him, I would’ve ranked him above Kendrick, but who reads the middle of these godforsaken posts?  Not me!  2010 Projections:  85/15/65/.270/10

Sean Rodriguez – Iwamura was sent to the 247th largest baseball market, Pittsburgh (which ranked just ahead of Nairobi).  Now Sean Rodriguez has a chance to see playing time.  Zobrist should start at 2nd base, but he can play everywhere, so Rodriguez could work into the mix.  Outside of deep leagues, you’re going to want to make sure Rodriguez has playing time before getting crazy with yourself and drafting him, but if he does have an every day job… 2010 Projections:  65/20/75/.250/5 in 400 ABs.

The Washington Nationals babied their future shortstop, Esmailyn Gonzalez, through their minors until they realized that Esmailyn shouldn’t be babied, he should be old-man’d. Kinda like the orphan in The Orphan that turned out to be a dwarf hooker. (Haven’t seen it, but the spoiler kinda makes me want to.) So the Nats sent Bowden away on his Segway and started looking at what else they had in the way of shortstops.  Hiring a 7 foot guy with tattoos to card everyone, they realized Ian Desmond should get himself a look.  And so it goes, so it goes.  Yesterday, he hit his first major league homer in his first major league game.  Desmond has a decent blend of speed and power (think The Big FraGu at shortstop).  The “at shortstop” thing is the clincher.  It’s a shallow position, you can do worse, yadda yadda yadda.  I don’t think he’s going to be all peaches and cream next year, so I wouldn’t go crazy with him in keepers (unless it’s deep and NL-Only), but he could give you a burst of hotness in these late September weeks.  He’s gotta be better than Gordon Beckham at this point, right?  Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Mike MacDougal – Couldn’t get an out and gave way to Ron Villone for the save.  It’s probably nothing, but some extremely desperate save vultures may want to swoop.  BTW, MacDougal’s legal name is Robert Meiklejohn MacDougal.  Isn’t that the name of a piece of Ikea furniture?

Brett Cecil – 6 IP, 2 ER in his final start of the year.  I’ll like him next year.  He’s capable of taking a nice step forward.  Pretty much won’t be anything but an endgame flier in most 2010 drafts.

Joe Blanton – 4 2/3 IP, 8 ER.  Getting outpitched by Livan Hernandez in September is not the time to revert to being the mediocre pitcher I always thought you were.  June, July, even August… Not September.

Brad Lidge – File this one in the cabinet labeled, “Yeah, No Kidding.”  Two days after being told he’s the closer, Lidge was told yesterday that he won’t pitch in save opportunities anymore.

Angel Pagan – Went 3-for-4 yesterday as Beltran did not play.  *Grey shrugs*

Nate McLouth – Hit his 3rd homer in the last week.  Last time he hit one, I said this, “This is a hunch, but I think he realizes he has three weeks to make his season’s stats look somewhat palatable.”  And that’s me quoting me!

Brian McCann – 4-for-5.  Nice sign because for the last ten games he was 3-for-33.

Mike Gonzalez – Since Bobby Cox is nearly as progressive of a thinker as Archie Bunker and from the old school like Afrika Bambaataa, it took Cox about a month longer than I expected to go to the lefty, Gonzalez, for saves.  With how Soriano’s pitching, this may not be Gonzalez’s last save of the year.

Roy Oswalt – 2 IP, 6 ER.  Months ago, I talked about how I was worried for Oswalt this year.  How I’m not sure if everyone is aware that this isn’t your slightly older brother’s Oswalt.  This Oswalt has games where he gives up six earned in two innings.  Near a 4 ERA on the year seems about what we can expect from him.  A solid #3 with upside.

John Lackey – 9 IP, 0 ER, 6 baserunners, 7 Ks.  In his last three games, he’s thrown 26 innings (that’s a lot for 3 games) and given up only one run (that’s not a lot).

Howie Kendrick – 3-for-3 yesterday.  Scioscia’s only played Kendrick seven times since August 25th.  Giving Kendrick six days off in a row at one time.  Yet, Kendrick’s batting .500 over that time.  Scioscia is either the world’s greatest manager or the world’s stupidest.

Alex Gordon – Hit his 4th homer yesterday.  Comatose Royals fan wakes, “4 homers?  Is it still the first week of April?”

Drew Stubbs – 0-for-4, 2 Ks.  That tingling you felt in your Capezios when you grabbed Stubbs last week should be gone by now.  He’s on the suckwagon heading into K-town.

Jason Frasor – Got the save.  It must be that time of the month.

Eric Young Jr. – 2-for-3, 2 steals.  He’ll be in this afternoon’s Buy/Sell.  The left side of the slash, which is the right side to be on.

Jose Contreras – Left the game with a quad strain.  It’s the curse of being on the cover of the AARP Magazine.

Eric Young, Jr. was in the September call up post, but it turns out he’s a preemie by a week.  Young has so many steals in the minors he’s worth a pickup in every league.  How many steals, you ask.  Well, I was getting there if you give me a second.  In the last four years of the minors, he has 87, 73, 46 and 58 steals, respectively.  Or disrespectfully, holy effin hey, are you kidding me?  In my never-ending rotation of schmohawks (thanks Beltran!), I dropped Alcides Escobar for Young in one league and chucked Drew Stubbs for him in another.  Will Young play every day?  Seems doubtful.  He has been playing in the outfield for at least a few days and will occasionally spell Barmes — B-A-R-M-E-S.  I think he’ll see four to five days a week, but for those needing steals, you know the drill.  Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Johan Santana – Done for the season.  This, and his lackluster (for him) season, might actually help Johan come at a discount in 2010 drafts.  I wouldn’t reach for him because I don’t believe in drafting pitchers early, but I could see him falling into the 5th or 6th rounds of early drafts.  The reason why I specify early is because once Johan looks good in spring training, he’ll bump up a round or two.  Then if Johan looks terrible in March, you’ll want to trade him for Nick Markakis.  Oh, and your fly’s open.  Don’t ask me how I know.

Billy Wagner – Headed to the Sox before The Curse of the Shirtless Bernazard got him.  He’ll back up Papelbon and, as a commenter pointed out yesterday, hopefully he turns out better than The Gagne Experiment™ in 2007.

Hank Blalock – Will be a bench player and will be asked to perform Cole Porter’s Anything Goes.  This is good news for Chris Davis.  Now for Davis to do something with this vote of confidence.

Freddy Sanchez – Headed to the DL.  Postdate this next comment 2011:  The Giants trade for Sanchez will cost them dearly.

Jake Peavy – Doode just can’t win.  On the next to last batter in his last minor league start, he was hit on the elbow by a comebacker.  Cue Kudrow, “I did not need to see that!”  Now because of elbow soreness, he might not be able to pitch this Saturday vs. the Yanks.

Joba Chamberlain – 4 IP, 7 ER.  He’s going again on regular rest this Sunday vs. the Orioles, so I can kinda understand holding him until then, but he’s really unstartable.  Then, on top of that, he’s been skipped here and there.  Okay, he’s not unstartable; he’s unownable.

Jorge Posada – Hit his 16th homer yesterday.  I’m calling a bogey on February Grey who said Posada was done.  He obviously was not done.  Being wrong at catcher is the position to be wrong at, but nevertheless still wrong.

Robinson Cano – Hit his 20th homer yesterday.  Not wrong here, because in the preseason I put him in the “Good value before we get to total Crapolanco” Tier.

Mat Latos – 7 IP, 2 baserunners, 0 ER in Atlanta.  I’m guessing a lot of people were sonavabenched on this one.

Jimmy Rollins – 2 HRs yesterday.  Coming up after the break, J. Rolled The Dorf.

Brad Lidge – No outs recorded, 3 earned.  Lidge has blown nine games this year, an 0-6 record and a 7.33 ERA.  If anyone happens to run into Lidge, give him my regards.  And, by regards, I mean the middle finger.  (BTW, On one team of mine, I had Lidge, Frank², Capps and Bell all give up runs and blow three saves.  Bad week to quit sniffing glue.)

Ryan Doumit – Obviously just needed the additional push of me putting him in Friday’s Sell.  He now has 2 homers in his last three games.

Travis Snider – Hit another homer yesterday and now two in three games.  I have an idea, stop Kemping him and move him up the order.

Carlos Pena – 2 HRs.  Six homers in the last week and a half.  On August 13th, I asked how many homers does Pena have left in his bat?  I gave the over/under of 13.  That means he has an over/under of 7 left.

Carlos Zambrano – 4 1/3 IP, 8 ER.  I admire Big Z for returning from the DL with a mustache, but this start did not make ’stached men proud.  No, sir.  Clay Zavada and I may need to have a word with him.

Josh Willingham – 4-for-4, 2 HRs, 5 Runs and 6 RBIs.  This is the total production of Jose Reyes’s 2009 season.

Zach Grienke – 8 IP, 2 ER, 15 Ks.  *speechless*

Adam Wainwright – 8 IP, 3 baserunners, 5 Ks.  His ERA is only .08 away from Greinke.  Cust kayin’.

Bronson Arroyo – 7 IP, 1 ER, 4 Ks.  Continued his post-All-Star break march of excellence.  He’ll fool someone next March who thinks he’s going to be good in April, May and June.

Felipe Lopez – 4-for-5 with his 8th homer.  He left the game in the ninth and is day-to-day.  It’s nice and all that he’s hitting .319, but 6 steals on the year is not buttering the biscuit.

Delmon Young – 4-for-5 yesterday.  Wait, Delmon Young actually had a good game yesterday?  Glory be!  Only 18 months after predicted.

Howie Kendrick – HR yesterday as he started only his third game in the last week.  In some ways, I kinda understand what Scioscia is doing with Kendrick’s playing time.  I mean, everyone on the Angels is slap-hitting .300 right now.  He could run out there Dick Schofield and he’d hit .300.

Laynce Nix/Jayson Nix – 3 HRs combined yesterday.  Their older brother, Jaymes Nix got drunk.