Fantasy Baseball Advice

So with a continuation from previous post about fantasy baseball middle relievers today will be the senior circuit and the National League.  I personally tend to notice that it is easier to stream or pick up relievers from the NL because of the way they substitute pitchers in games more frequently.  Maybe it’s just me, you can agree to disagree if you choose, but I will always be right regardless of what you say.  Here’s some pitchers that get holds for 2012 fantasy baseball:

NL East

New York – Everyone handcuffed Frank Frank with Rauch as well they should, but in the holds department Tim Byrdak and Bobby Parnell are the main set-up to the set-up guys if that makes any type of sense.

Philadelphia – Antonio Bastardo was the early on favorite to garner most of the holds attention.  Retread Chad Qualls seems to be the go-to guy in the early going. Not a great situation, in general, as Philly’s starters average almost 8 innings a start.

Miami – This to me is the place to come and get a nice mixed daiquiri and maybe an unheralded RP.  Steve Chisek, Edward Mujica and Randy Choate form a nice triumvirate of relievers in front of Bell.  Out of the 3, I would take Chisek.

Washington – Tyler Clippard is the guy most owned, he has had it rough in the beginning, but is a good bet for 30 plus here.  Sean Burnett has been turned into an everyday guy to a more situational guy and it suits him.  Craig Stammen is the sleeper guy, showing great K rate and a good source for vulture wins.

Atlanta – Everyday Jonny is owned or should be in most formats. Kris Medlen and Eric O’Flaherty form a nice righty/lefty setup in front of him.

NL Central

St Louis – The more I watch St Louis, the more I am starting to like Mitchell Boggs as the guy in front of Motte.  Marc Rzepczynski is a fill-in for the tough lefties and both guys should finish above 25 Holds here.

Milwaukee – K-Rod is, well, K-Rod… Shows signs of being unhittable and then looks like a tether ball.  Jose Veras is a nice option to have and has pitched semi-effectively to date.  Kameron Loe is the sleeper to watch here.

Cincinnati – Aroldis Chapman is all the rage, like jean jackets and IOU sweatshirts, and, to be honest, he should be starting. Logan Ondrusek has done a stand-up job in the absence of Nick Masset.

Chicago – Yuck, can I just skip them?  Wood is hurt. Rafael Dolis is young and spotty at best.  Definitely a bullpen to avoid.  Newly acquired Michael Bowden could become useful, so monitor it closely

Houston – Outside of Wilton Lopez, Fernando Rodriguez and David Carpenter are more names for NL-only, then mixed variety.

Pittsburgh – They can’t score so how are they supposed to have a lead.  Do they even need a bullpen?  Juan Cruz did a great job filling in at closer for Joel Hanrahan and is rosterable based on handcuff.  Sleeper here is Jason Grilli, nice 10/1 K/bb rate in the early going.

NL West

Los Angeles – Kenley Jansen is most likely the closer of the future (or of right now).  Josh Lindblom is the guy no one knows, but is climbing up Hold ranks for me.

San Diego – What happened? San Diego used to be the maven for relief pitching and they have three, count it, three holds as of me writing this.  Cashner is the guy to own because of the inevitable trade of Street.  You can pick any other reliever in the bullpen for the Friars and their numbers are excellent just no counting stats yet. Monitor close as 3-4 guys have great ratios and will eventually put up holds in bunches.

San Francisco – Well, Romo is still the man here, Casilla is the one turning out the lights and Clay Hensley and Javier Lopez are the guys that you want for holds after Romo.  Just like Bochy drew it up in his ginormous head.  Don’t forget about Affeldt here, that’s all I am saying.

Colorado – It’s the Rex Brothers and Matt Belisle show here as it seems they pitch everyday for the Rockies.  Guys to keep an eye on are Matt Reynolds and Josh Roenicke.

Arizona – Bryan Shaw keeps stealing David Hernandez’s thunder by getting saves. Both are decent options for holds also. Though if Putz comes to shove, I think Hernandez is the closer in waiting.  Deeper leagues can look at Craig Breslow.

As I awake from my winter hibernation where dreams of twins named Thompson abounded, I realize the time is neigh to learn you all about the potential holds fantasy standouts for the upcoming year. Anyone that knows me knows I love relief pitching, come into my apartment you will see embroidered pillows with my favorite relievers over the years stitched in effigy. Now you’re prolly saying, “Smokey, my league doesn’t use holds,” I say blasphemy. Counting stats is the key here, holds are a category but the counting peripheral numbers they will aide is the key to fantasy prosperity. Everybody knows the key guys below that have a lot of value in most leagues, but I am here to tell you about them (again!) plus the guys that will be useful and aren’t the fantasy stalwarts that we are accustomed. Much props to the Don of Holds who is still searching for a job, Arthur Rhodes.  I hope his first hold is a masculine one.  So enjoy the list of these middle men who help out Holds for 2012 fantasy baseball:

AL

David Robertson - How good was he last year? He finished 11th in the C Young voting and 22nd in the MVP. It’s the highest ranking I could find since 1996 for a non-closing reliever.

Mike Adams - Has become the Cy Spurling of holds. Should reach consigliere status to Art Rhodes.

Glen Perkins - A personal fave of mine because he prolly goes 15/15. For those of you slow on the button, that’s saves and holds.

Jesse Crain - Won’t be caught up in the Reed/Thornton closing sitch. Will plod along as being the most underrated reliever in the AL, and make the All Star game because of it.

Greg Holland - Future closer, but has guys that look the part better for now in front of him. So he is relegated to set-up and has to bide his time like Cobra Commander.

Casey Janssen – Is behind the Latino puppet show known as CoCo and Sergio. Could be a good vulture win candidate again this year, and who doesn’t like something of the aviary variety.

Tony Sipp – Three 6 Mafia must have been fantasy ballers, predicting the future. Cause I would Sipp it faster then Jonny Jolly can make it. On a side note, go buy stock in Vinnie Pestano, if you don’t know now you ya know.

Scott Downs – One season in last 5 with an ERA over 3. Crazy good and will see tons of leads with the celestial bodies.

Joel Peralta - My second 15/15 guy here. Has the guy who used to carry P Diddy’s umbrella ahead of him. Yeah, nuff said.

Joaquin Benoit - Is it just me or whenever you see the name Joaquin you think about a cleft palette? Primary to Valverde, which is hamslapping fantastic.

NL

Sergio Romo - No Tony Romo cracks here… Okay, I lied.  He has the same amount of wins in the playoffs as Tony. Uber effective RH who could fill in if Wilson’s Beard has an out of body experience.

Tyler Clippard - The glasses play; I’m sorry, but they do. Back end of The Nats bullpen is scary good, too bad no one else knows it besides me.

Jose Veras - Who? Yeah, exactly. Had a sneaky great year in the Land of Three Rivers last year.

Marc Rzepczynski - Bobby Digital makes the list, for two reasons. One, I like attempting to spell his name and failing then having to cut and paste it. Second, he isn’t anywhere near the closer spot in the Lou and will see lots of hold opps.

Eric O’Flaherty - The other other white meat in Braves pen. Kimbrel and Venters get the pub, but this guy pitches literally everyday.

Edward Mujica - Is tied with Jim Johnson with J’s in their last name. That random factoid is brought to you by the alphabet. Primary set-up guy to Bell, and jumped over what’s his name.

David Hernandez - Literally waiting for a Putz to fail. Oh, the irony is just to easy write about so go out get a Mad Libs and create your own.

Bill Bray - Loogy’s and Dusty, sounds like a trailer park brochure description. Nope, it’s the Nati’s bullpen.

Antonio Bastardo - Pitches like he really has a daddy, though we read it and he seems like he doesn’t… Weird, but true.

Sean Marshall - Looks like there is a new sheriff in Cincinnati. Oh, Pun Fairy, you kill me. Here is a dollar go away. Madson’s elbow is kinda wonky already, so the Marshall could reach that 15/15 status.

This is it, fellas and three girl readers.  The last train is leaving the station.  The giddy has just about got up and went.  It’s your last chance and I’d throw every single pitcher, not just the ones I have listed here if it meant the difference in my league.  You need to do what you do.  The line for last week was 3.50 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 108 Ks and 6 Wins in 153 2/3 IP.  To recap, these aren’t guys I’d drop anyone worthwhile to get, these starters are meant for streaming purposes and all of their ownership in ESPN is under 50%.  These streamers are in no particular order.  Also, in the final days of the season, managers juggle their lineups more, so there’s no guarantee all of these guys are listed on the right day.  Anyway, here’s some borderline starters for this week in fantasy baseball:

Friday, October 1st

Fausto Carmona – I’ve been recommending for a few weeks in a row now.  Like Carmona, huh, Grey?  Answer, man!  What, too italicized for you? I’m trying to answer, random italicized voice.  Go ahead, money. I don’t like Carmona, but he does have an ERA below 2 in September.

Tony Pena – What’s more exciting than owning both pitchers in an Indians/White Sox matchup?  Not much, I tell ya.

Rick Porcello – Is it bad that I don’t like any of the pitchers I’m recommending today?  Yeah, prolly.

Jordan Zimmermann – I’ll say this, at least I’ll like Zimmermann next year.  Here, he goes into Metco.  It’s a’ight.

Saturday, October 2nd

Carlos Carrasco – How many Indians pitcher can I recommend?  Geez… I’ve been in the monkey house too long.

Chris Capuano – Not a fan at all, but I’m assuming the Reds will be benching most of their hitters.

Brian Matusz – In his last three starts, he has a 0.69 ERA (rawr!).

Tim Stauffer – Pray the Giants have clinched and the Padres are still battling for the Wild Card.  Though I’m not sure that situation is mathematically possible.

Alex Sanabia – Has a 3.06 ERA in his last three starts and gets the Pirates.  Done and done.

Sunday, October 3rd

Randy Wolf – Gets what will undoubtedly be the Reds minor league squad in the last game of the season.

Marc Rzepczynski – You, “Honey, I can’t go to brunch with you.  I’m watching my pitcher in the final game of the season.”  Her, “What’s his name?”  “Um…”  “You’re lying to me.”  “No, I just can’t pronounce his name.”  “I want a divorce.”

Miguel Cabrera rolled his ankle the hard way, didn’t make his point and was immediately lifted from the game to have x-rays taken.  I have some back-of-a-comic-book x-ray glasses, but I wasn’t wearing them when it happened.  I’m only one man!  It looked pretty serious.  My mom was right, I could’ve been a doctor.  There’s a whole lot more zeroes in blogging.  Though that’s not zeroes as in money.  X-rays said it was a sprained ankle, should be more news about how many games he’ll miss.  I’m guessing quite a few.  In other words, it ain’t good.  In other other words, make other plans.  Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Martin Prado – Left the game with an injury to his left hip pointer.  That’s gonna make it hard for his sales presentation on Friday.   I’m guessing he’s done for the year.  If you wanna guess he’s not, then we’ll put my guess and your guess in the squared circle and let them duke it out.

Pedro Alvarez – 3-for-3 with his 14th homer.  He’s insanely hot right now, after winning Player of the Week honors.  You just lost Cabrera?  Hello, Pedro Alvarez.  You catch my drift?  I mean, you should, it was pretty clear.

Brandon Webb – Will not pitch this week.  If you drafted Webb, I got two words for you.  Ha.  Ha.

Brian Matusz – 7 IP, 0 ER, 5 baserunners, 8 Ks.  Everyone should know my feelings on AL East pitchers, especially ones on the lesser teams, so it’ll be hard for me to own Matusz next year, but he has made a strong case in the 2nd half of the year.

Nick Markakis – 2-for-5, but whatever.  Do you know he has 10 homers and 57 RBIs?  Marco Scutaro has more homers and only one less RBI.  Marco flippin’ Scutaro!

Tim Stauffer – 7 IP, 1 ER, 7 baserunners, 5 Ks.  In his final start, he gets the Giants in San Fran.  Best case scenario, Giants clinch the West and the Padres have to fight to win the Wild Card.  Worst case scenario, the Padres have to fight for a Wild Card and Stauffer gives up a quick run or two and Black pulls him for relievers.  Hope for the best.

A.J. Burnett – 2 1/3 IP, 7 ER.  I think a 10-15 record like Burnett has on a 93 Win team is almost as incredible as F-Her only having 12 wins on the M’s.  Cust kayin’.

Curtis Granderson – Hit his third homer in his last four games.  Actually has been a decent 2nd half for Grandy (which will only fuel his fantasy fire next preseason).  In 225 1st half ABs, 7 homers, .240 average.  In 229 2nd half ABs, 17 homers and .262.  Maybe him and Te(i)x can go play winter ball so they can be up to speed by April.

John Buck – 2-for-4 with his 19th homer.  I.e., ten more homers than Joe Mauer.

Vernon Wells – 3-for-4, 3 RBIs and his 31st homer.  There is gonna be a lot of people burned next year by Blue Jay hitters.  Some should be better (Lind, Snider), others will be worse (Wells, Bautista), another will be a complete crapshoot (Hill).

Marc Rzepczynski – 5 IP, 2 ER, 7 baserunners, 9 Ks.  Surprisingly, you can spell Rzepczynski without BBs, but he can’t pitch without them.

Adam Wainwright – Slept awkwardly and has a sore elbow and may not pitch again this year.  That’s weird because I figured he slept standing up since he’s been a horse of so many fantasy staffs.

Ryan Zimmerman – Says he’s done for the season.  I said that last Friday.  Okay, I’m coming clean.  I’m a time traveler.  Financial tip of the day:  invest in Blockbuster.

Alex Sanabia – 7 IP, 1 ER, 5 baserunners, 5 Ks.  He gets the Pirates in the Marlins’ final game of the season.  Depending on your situation, I’d give Sanabia a roll.

Justin Upton – Headed to see Dr. Freeze.  Don’t do it, J-Upside!  He’s gonna make you miss two years and you’ll never get your velocity back.

Jason Bay – Said he might be able to return in August, but he also thinks it’s April and Ronald Reagan’s president.

Brandon League – Got the save yesterday with Aardsma on the sidelines, or as they say in real estate, “Prime neighborhood adjacent.”

Adrian Beltre – 4-for-5, 2 RBIs.  Only six days left until the next contract and then Beltre can nap for three to five years with an option to wake in the fourth year.

Clay Buchholz – 8 IP, 1 ER, 6 baserunners, 5 Ks.  Has a 2.33 ERA, 1.20 WHIP and 17 Wins on the year.  Yet, I gotta be honest, the 120 Ks in 173 2/3 IP is a bit of a red flag.

Alex Rios – Left the game with a bruised knee, which isn’t nearly as delicious as a braised knee.

Carlos Zambrano – 7 IP, 0 ER, 7 baserunners, 5 Ks.  His ERA after the All-Star break is below 2.  Yup.

Kevin Slowey – 1 2/3 IP, 6 ER.  Disappointing to the last drop.

Jarrod Dyson – 1-for-4 with his first career homer.  Not sure where that came from, but if you need steals, my man has wheels.  To be exact, 6 steals in 12 career games.

Justin Smoak – 3-for-4, 3 RBIs and his 11th homer after going 2-for-4 on Sunday.  As I tell my girlfriend, beware the small sample size, but I’d give Smoak a go for his last two games in Texas.

Carlos Carrasco – 6 IP, 3 ER, 12 baserunners, 5 Ks.  It wasn’t the prettiest win but you’ll take it and like it.

Luke Carlin – 2-for-4 with his first homer.  Seven words no one should say, “Should I pick up that catcher Carlin?”

Roy Halladay – 9 IP, 0 ER, 2 baserunners, 6 Ks as he probably clinched the Cy Young.  After the game, a Philly fan was overheard saying, “I’m so happy I could puke on someone, in the good way.”

Some rejected titles were, “It’s A Not-So-Wonderful Elbow, Andrew Bailey,” “Old Man Potter Gets The Last Laugh” and “Won’t You Come Home, Andrew Bailey?  Won’t You Come Home?” but when presented with a Party of Five reference, I turn to mush.  If you can wash Po5 out of your hair, you’re a better man than me.  Andrew Bailey is heading off to see Dr. Freeze, and there’s the reason why Craig Breslow was closing on Monday.  Here I thought he won a game of “Whoever’s Name Sounds Most Like A Character From Family Matters Is The Closer.”  I’d grab Breslow in all leagues.  If you can, I’d grab Wuertz too.  That’s what she said!  Anyway, here’s what else I saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:

Psyche!  Before I get into the roundup, fantasy basketball leagues are signing up over at our sister (brother?) site.  Head over there if that’s your thing.  Anyway II, here’s the roundup:

Trevor Cahill – 8 IP, 2 ER, 7 baserunners, 7 Ks and his 17th win to go along with a 2.81 ERA on the year.  I will now fall on my sword.

Joe Mauer – MRI showed he has tissue inflammation.  That’s what my jeans had in the 8th grade.  Sometimes they had socks inflammation.  Wait, what?  So Mauer’s not coming back for at least 5 days.  Then he’s not going to play every day the week before the playoffs.  I’d look elsewhere.

Joey Votto – Member when I said Dusty would start sitting Votto?  Well, Votto came down with a mysterious sinus infection and missed yesterday’s game.  At least it’s not a concussion, Canadians can’t handle those.

Jair Jurrjens – Has a tear in his right knee, but he might be able to make his next start.  That’s nice, but Jar-Jar’s not a great start anyway.

Gaby Sanchez – 3-for-4, 3 RBIs with his 19th homer.  Behind the scenes at Razzball HQ, October Grey has started to compile the recap of all the top 20 lists that he’ll post when the season ends.  I mention this because Gaby’s ending up much higher than I would’ve thought.  Listen (or read, which is probably easier), Gaby hasn’t been terrible, but, really, he’s just been a prime-of-his-career Lyle Overbay.  It’s a’ight.  Emphasis on ight.

Hanley Ramirez – Returned and went 1-for-4.  In a pregame press conference, he said, “I’m sick of people saying I don’t want to play.  Speaking of which, how many friggin’ games are left?”

Mike Pelfrey – 7 IP, 1 ER, 5 baserunners, 4 Ks.  Solid game from Pelfrey but he gets the Phils next at Citizens Flank.  As they say in Italy, thatta no good.

Mike Aviles – 3-for-6, 3 RBIs.  Where have I heard his name before?  Oh, I know!  I wrote it yesterday.

Billy Butler – 3-for-4 and, because he loves to be overrated, he’s hitting near .400 this month.  He loves it almost as much as he loves going to 2nd base on himself.

Jarrod Dyson – 3-for-4, 3 Runs and his 3rd steal in a week.  SAGNOF!

Eric Young Jr. – Speaking of SAGNOF, Young is out for the D-Backs series with a sore shin.  Noooooooooo, which in a cave would sound even more ominous.

Jorge de la Rosa – 7 IP, 3 ER, 7 baserunners, 5 Ks.  He gets the Giants and Cards in his final two starts in games that should mean something for the Rockies.

Justin Upton – There’s talk he’ll be shutdown.  I say do it and stop giving his fantasy owners hope, but these aren’t decisions where I’m usually included.

Kelly Johnson – 1-for-4, 2 RBIs and his 23rd homer.  Sure, he didn’t stay as crazy hot as he was in April, but what other site was even talking about this guy in January?

Paul Maholm – 7 IP, 2 ER, 7 baserunners, 4 Ks.  He gets the Astros next, a team he has a 1.99 ERA against in 22 2/3 IP this year.  He’ll probably be in Thursday’s borderline starters post with some serious caveats.

Travis Snider – Hit his 10th homer yesterday.  Would it surprise anyone if I said I’m going to be excited about Snider again next year?  It shouldn’t.  Especially not now.

Marc Rzepczynski – 6 1/3 IP, 2 ER, 10 baserunners, 8 Ks.  He gets the O’s next, which could be a sneaky streamer.  Or strmrzynski.

Hunter Pence – Left yesterday’s game with hip discomfort, or as they call them in old age homes a “What else is new.”

Chris Johnson – 3-for-4 with his 2nd homer in 3 games.  He’s also batting near-.400 in the last week.  Yup.

Tyler Clippard – Recorded his 10th win, i.e. except in Teixeira, that’s the same amount of wins as Dan Haren.  God, wins are stupid.

Freddie Freeman – Hit his first major league homer yesterday.  He’s not worth going near in redraft leagues, but I’m still excited about him for next year and in keepers.

Clayton Richard – 9 IP, 0 ER, 10 baserunners, 6 Ks.  Sonavabench!  He had a 4.85 road ERA going into yesterday’s game.  He wasn’t supposed to pitch a complete game shutout.  Dodgers can’t even suck at the right times.

Scott Baker – 5 IP, 1 ER, 5 baserunners, 7 Ks.  Gets the Royals next, which seems like a good matchup on paper.  Too bad they’re not playing Strat-O-Matic.  Half of me wants to believe Baker wants to pitch well and beat the Royals so he secures his spot in the playoff rotation.  The top half of me thinks the Twins will be snoozing through the next week of games.

Fausto Carmona – 5 2/3 IP, 2 ER, 8 baserunners, 3 Ks.  Has around a one and a half ERA in September and gets the Royals and White Sox to close out the year.  Nice and not bad, respectively.

Jonathan Papelbon – 1 IP, 4 ER.  Kazaam!

Adam Jones – 3-for-4, 2 Runs.  Hasn’t been a huge breakout season like some of us were expecting (me!), but he is hitting near-.400 in the month of September.

Edinson Volquez – 8 IP, 1 ER, 7 baserunners, 6 Ks.  In September, his ERA has been below 2.  Guess who has two thumbs and is going to be on every ‘perts sleeper list of starters next year.  This guy!

Ervin Santana – 9 IP, 0 ER, 6 baserunners, 8 Ks.  Somebody knew it was H2H playoff time.

Carlos Zambrano – 6 IP, 0 ER, 8 baserunners, 8 Ks.  Should get the Cards and Astros in his final two starts.  Not to put too fine a point on it, but I’d put Big Z in my bonnet.

Jake Westbrook – 4 IP, 5 ER vs. the Pirates.  Madonna mia, the Cards are tanking.  Westbrook gets the Cubs and Rockies in his last two starts.  I wouldn’t trust him in most leagues unless you need to gamble on not being whammied.

Felipe Lopez – The Cards dropped him after he arrived late for Monday’s game.  As opposed to fellow MI Brendan Ryan who hustled to the ballpark 4 hours before the game for extra batting practice and to make Albert his plantain-flavored protein shake.

Josh Hamilton – Hamilton says he hopes to return next week (yeah, sure) even after the Rangers found two fractured ribs yesterday.  Okay, a few things come to mind.  Don’t you think right after Hamilton says he feels sore they’d send him for tests and find something like fractured ribs?  It’s not like this is the 1890′s and they’re using a cauterizing iron.  Is his doctor, Dr. Nick Riviera?  Or are there some arcane MLBPA rules that restricts doctors to 5 pokes a day?  And they didn’t find the fractured ribs until the 15th day of poking?