Nathan scores his 20th save and Sherrill completes Oriole comeback By Todd Farino, www.thecloserreport.com
Joe Nathan had a terrible start, but turned it around with an insane month in June. Tonight he capped off an incredible month with a 11-pitch, two strikeout performance for his 20th save of the season. In the month of June he got 11 saves, 18 strikeouts, and he gave up zero runs on only four hits. He is clearly the best closer in the game right now.
George Sherrill got his 17th save capping a historic comeback over the Red Sox as the Orioles won 11-10. He needed 25 pitches to get the save and struck out two. Jonathan Papelbon gave up a 2-run double to end the game, blowing his second save of the season.
Mike Gonzalez blew his fourth save of the season giving up two runs in the eiegth inning. It was a bad performance by Gonzalez after several strong performances. He currently shares the job with Soriano.
Matt Capps continues to get results in his roller coaster of a season. He finished off the 3-0 shutout of the Cubs and believe it or not, he got a strikeout.
Heath Bell was needed for 1.1 innings and got his 22nd save of the season. He did have some control problems walking two batters, but overall he was sharp as usual. He ended the month with seven saves and a win. He has only one blown save this year and has developed into an top tier closer.
Other Appearances: J.P. Howell (6) - Got his sixth save of the season after resting yesterday. Mariano Rivera (19) - Rivera is pitching like the old Rivera and his 0.98 WHIP proves it. Chad Qualls - Pitched a quiet inning. Fernando Rodney - When will the Tigers stop bringing Rodney into a non-save situation. He gave up two runs on a two-run blast off the bat of Mark Ellis.
John Smoltz had his second start of the season interrupted by rain, but it was much better than his first. Smoltz only pitched four innings, but allowed just three hits, one run, and struck out two. I am still on the fence on what to expect from him this season, but this was definitely a step in the right direction. At this point in his career he is more of a fifth starter in your rotation or even an end of the roster kind of guy. As of right now, I would continue to start him, but keep expectations under control.
What can we expect from Johan Santana while the entire Mets' offense is on the DL? He must have so much pressure on himself to perform, that perhaps he will go into a funk as well. He has now lost three of his last four starts, and was less than stellar on Tuesday. Santana allowed four earned runs over six innings, walked four and struck out four. The walks are so not like Santana that you have to figure that the trend won't continue. If you have worries about Santana, take a look at his career second half numbers, that should make you feel better.
Joe Saunders has had a pattern of one good start, one bad start. Unfortunately for his owners, this was his turn to be a bad start. Saunders allowed eight runs over just 3.2 innings, walked five and struck out only two. He still is on pace to win 15 games, but given his second half last year, I'm not sure if he will reach that number. If you can get a good return for him in a trade, I would certainly consider moving Saunders. I still think he is good enough that I wouldn't just flat out drop him.
Bronson Arroyo got off to a pretty good start, but has been struggling badly of late. He gave up five earned runs on Tuesday, and has now allowed five runs or more in three of his last four starts. Arroyo is not a guy that I would hold on my roster unless your league has 16 teams or more. If Arroyo gets a matchup against a weak hitting NL teams I would give him a start, but other than that I would leave him in free agency.
Martin Prado had a great 4/5 game including the winning hit, but don't fall into the trap of picking up the hot hand. Prado has never really been a full-time player, and while he might be earning some playing time with his recent success, there is no way that it will continue. He is a fine part time player, but if he were to play everyday I guarantee his numbers will suffer. Leave him in free agency, that is where he belongs.
Ross Ohlendorff has now given up three runs or less in four of his last five starts after his Tuesday outing. He shut the Cubs out for seven innings and struck out eight batters. Ohlendorff is not anywhere near that kind of strikeout pitcher, as he only had 44 in his previous 89 innings. It was impressive that he was so good against the Cubbies, but this isn't a guy that I would pick up unless I was in an NL only league.
Gordon Beckham had his second consecutive three hit game, and his second consecutive two RBI game. The kid has a ton of potential that I have talked about in these articles before, and now he is starting to put it together some. I still don't believe that he is ready to be a consistent fantasy force, but all those Ofers that he took when he came up are likely behind him. He is worth having on your team (and in keeper leagues is a must have), but I just don't know that he will help you on a daily basis.
Mailing List
I'm not going to stop bringing up the mailing list until I get a day where I don't get a request to join it. For those of you who haven't seen it yet, when I find news earlier in the day I will send an email to you about whatever it might be. If you were on the mailing list you would have found out about the callups of Matt Wieters, Fernando Martinez, Nolan Reimold and others. The trade of Nate McLouth, and injuries to Jose Reyes, etc. This mailing list is your way to get a step up on your competition. Anyone who is on the list, please leave a comment below on whether you think that you have benefitted from the list. Send an email to either fantasybaseballtonight@gmail.com or fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com and put Mailing List in the subject line.
As always, your comments and questions are welcome at fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com. I guarantee a response within 18 hours. Also, don't miss the "Fantasy Baseball Tonight" podcast four nights a week from Monday-Thursday. The Big Show on Wednesday is co-hosted by Todd Farino of fantasybaseballsearch.com, RC Rizza of junkyardjake.com and myself, Ryan Hallam at fightingchancefantasy.com. To hear the show go to www.blogtalkradio.com/the_true_guru. You can also hear me weekly on the Tuesday Night show. Join me with Jeff Mans every Tuesday night at 10pm EST for all the the info and craziness we can pack into one hour. A can't miss if you plan on winning your league.
Several interesting saves tonight and Fuentes nails his 22nd. By Todd Farino, www.thecloserreport.com
There was allot of interesting saves today starting with Randy Choate getting back into the mix of saves for the Tampa Bay Rays. He has been lights out all year, but Joe Madden has insisted on going with J.P. Howell. Tonight was only different because Howell has pitched quite a bit over the last few days and was getting a well deserved rest. I like how Choate has been pitching all season and assuming the Rays don't try to trade for another closer, Choate should get a chance. He has a 1.54 ERA and a tiny 0.86 WHIP. He also has 12 strikeouts in 11.2 innings with four saves in the book. I'm not going to tell you to pick him up because Madden seems content to go with Howell, but if Howell messes up at all, Choate will get the next chance.
Leo Nunez got his first save since Matt Lindstrom went on the DL. He bailed out Dan Meyers and got the save by getting just one out and it was a one pitch save. Hopefully this is the sign that Nunez is now ready to close. The Marlins had been waiting for his ankle to heal before handing him the closer duties. Hopefully, today showed them that Nunez is ready to close. Of course it was one pitch.
Another bailout occurred, but this time the man was Jonathan Papelbon. He bailed out Ramon Ramirez, who gave up a hit and then walked a batter with two outs. This setup Matt Weiters to hit a gaming changing 3-run home run and the Orioles would still be losing. Francona wanted none of that excitement for Oriole fans, so he crushed Ramirez's ego and brought in Papelbon who quickly got the fly ball. His save was a three pitch save.
It doesn't stop there, here is another interesting save. Trevor Hoffman got a one pitch save, but managed to get two outs. How is that for absolute efficiency? It all started with Carlos Villanueva imploding in the ninth inning and gave up three runs on five hits. Included in that was a 2-run bomb to Gary Sheffield and he left with two runners on. In came Hoffman, and on one pitch got Brian Schneider to ground into a tailor-made double play.
Brain Fuentes nailed his league leading 22nd save pitching a perfect inning over their division rival Texas Rangers. He only needed ten pitches to dispatch the aggressive swinging Rangers and get the 5-2 save.
Another outstanding performance from Joakim Soria. He got his tenth save of the season by striking out the side against the Twins. Soria is definitely back and is looking sharper than he has all season.
Other Appearances: Kevin Gregg (13) - Pitched a perfect inning for the save. Marmol also pitched very well today.
Jonathan Broxton - Pitched an awesome inning in a tie game. He struck out the side and threw 13 strikeouts. He threw 19 pitches all together.
Chris Perez - Got bombed by the White Sox with four runs. Welcome to the American League!
I think the Phillies are going to come up with a new promotion. It will be Brad Lidge Night sponsored by Tums. Lidge did collect his 14th save, but as usual there was drama. Lidge gave up a bunt single, followed by a walk. The good news is he wiggled out of it, but boy he likes to make them interesting. Obviously, Ryan Madson can't get the job done, so it will take something monumental for them to take the job away from him. However, he will make you sweat and won't do any favors for your ERA or WHIP.
Tommy Hanson is really looking like the real deal. After his six shutout innings on Sunday, he now hasn't allowed an earned run in his last three starts against the Red Sox, Yankees, and Reds. His strikeout numbers have been a little lower than I had expected, but how can you complain about 4-0 with an ERA under 2.50? If Hanson can beat the Yanks and the Red Sox then you can feel free to start him against any opponent. He will likely come back to Earth a little bit, but he is showing that you were wise to hold him on your bench all that time.
David Price on the other hand continues to struggle some. Today he only allowed one run over 6.1 innings, but he still is having trouble with control, as he walked five batters. In five of his first seven starts in the majors, he has allowed two runs or less, so the walks aren't killing him as far as ERA is concerned. However, he usually doesn't go deep into the game, and his WHIP is over 1.50. You have to just hope that he is figuring it out and he will start to be the guy we figured he would be. The good news is they didn't take him out of the rotation when they brought back Scott Kazmir, so the Rays still believe that he can get hot and pitch well.
Ryan Sadowski had a pretty good start to his major league career, but his minor league numbers suggest that you shouldn't put too much stock into this. He did have a pretty good record in the minors, as he was 13-6 over the past year and a half, but his ERA was over 4.50. He was a pretty decent strikeout pitcher down on the farm, but he wasn't a guy who was highly thought of. If he has another couple good starts, perhaps you can think about him, but right now he isn't worth a look.
Alexei Ramirez homered today for the fifth time in the last eleven games, and you can't deny any more that the guy is back on track and is someone that you can count on. I was very tempted a couple of times to let him go or trade him cheap during the first two months of the season, but boy am I happy that I didn't and you should be too if you were patient. He hit his tenth homer of the season, and I believe that he is a lock to go 20/20 again.
Francisco Liriano won his second consecutive start, so maybe he just needs to pitch against National League teams. Liriano allowed just two runs over seven innings and struck out six. The best news may be that he only walked one guy. Until I start seeing him do this against American League teams that he will face more often, I'm not ready to put too much stock in this win. I am hopeful still because I like the guy, but I am not ready to say that he is back.
Matt Palmer may have improved his record to 7-1, but he hasn't been impressive his past couple times out. Palmer was the beneficiary of great run support to get the win, as he allowed six earned runs over just five innings and didn't strike out a batter. He's been decent most of the time and could be used against weaker teams, but I don't believe that he is a guy that you start every time out.
Chad Gaudin is a guy you can target if you really need strikeouts, but just be careful how much stock you put in him. Gaudin won his second straight start to raise his record to 4-6 with a dominating performance against the Rangers. He allowed just one hit over eight innings and struck out nine. Gaudin now has 75 Ks in just 70 innings. He isn't a rookie, and has bounced around the majors, last making an impact in Oakland. He is an OK pitcher, but his ERA of just under 5.00 should tell you exactly what to expect from him if you play him on a regular basis.
Where has the power gone for Nick Markakis? With just two days left in the month, Markakis has a grand total of ONE homer for the all of June. He did only hit twenty in 2008, so it isn't like he is way off his usual pace, but when he had five in May we thought he could top 25 for the year. It now appears that he will fall into the 20-22 range. He is still a .300 hitter and is a quality outfielder. He will get hot again, don't trade him off cheap.
Emilio Bonifacio stole another base on Sunday, giving him three on the weekend. He has gotten a hit in six straight games, and if you are DESPERATE for steals I would give him a try, but I think he will go into a tailspin again before too long.
Mariano Rivera owners should be petitioning their leagues to allow hitting stats for pitchers to count. Rivera was forced to bat tonight against the Mets and earned a walk with the bases loaded for his first career RBI. Francisco Rodriguez inexplicably walked the Yankee closer to force in a run, as you can just add one more blooper to the Mets' season. The fact that they are even close in the standings is a minor miracle between their injuries and many blunders in the field, on the basepaths, and with the pitching.
Mailing List
I'm not going to stop bringing up the mailing list until I get a day where I don't get a request to join it. For those of you who haven't seen it yet, when I find news earlier in the day I will send an email to you about whatever it might be. If you were on the mailing list you would have found out about the callups of Matt Wieters, Fernando Martinez, Nolan Reimold and others. The trade of Nate McLouth, and injuries to Jose Reyes, etc. This mailing list is your way to get a step up on your competition. Anyone who is on the list, please leave a comment below on whether you think that you have benefitted from the list. Send an email to either fantasybaseballtonight@gmail.com or fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com and put Mailing List in the subject line.
As always, your comments and questions are welcome at fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com. I guarantee a response within 18 hours. Also, don't miss the "Fantasy Baseball Tonight" podcast four nights a week from Monday-Thursday. The Big Show on Wednesday is co-hosted by Todd Farino of fantasybaseballsearch.com, RC Rizza of junkyardjake.com and myself, Ryan Hallam at fightingchancefantasy.com. To hear the show go to www.blogtalkradio.com/the_true_guru. You can also hear me weekly on the Tuesday Night show. Join me with Jeff Mans every Tuesday night at 10pm EST for all the the info and craziness we can pack into one hour. A can't miss if you plan on winning your league.
There were so many players that were candidates for this weeks Hot 8, many of which have already been included in previous weeks. Among these players that I still recommend you take a chance on or at least keep an eye on are Homer Bailey, Kevin Frandsen, Drew Stubbs, Kyle Blanks, Marcus Thames and of course Neftali Feliz. Feliz in fact has been moved to the bullpen in Oklahoma City this week in order to get him ready to pitch in the Rangers pen down the stretch this season. He can make a big impact in a late inning role for sure so be ready to make that move pretty soon.For this week however I decided to cleanse our palate so to speak and give you guys some new faces to The Hot 8. Though you will see one familiar face in this weeks version, his last appearance was way back in April so many of you had probably forgot about him by now. Get your pencils and scorecards ready, here is this weeks Hot 8:
THROWIN' SMOKE 1) Ricky Romero (LHP - Starter) -- Blue Jays -- Romero is once again on fire for the Jays after a stint on the disabled list and a couple poor outings. On the season he is 5-3 with a 3.20 ERA and 54 K's in 64 2/3 innings. Romero is a classic late bloomer who had been treading water in the minors the past four season before finally starting to get it late last year. He has found success in throwing both his curve and changeup for strikes early in counts which makes his mid-90's fastball much more effective and "heavy" to hitters. Although he has struck out 33 in his previous 5 starts, Romero is not to be considered a high strikeout guy. He has found a nice rhythm with his pitches and the consistency he had lacked in previous minor league seasons. Right now he is one of the hottest left handers in the league and needs to be a pickup and hold until he proves otherwise.
2) Kevin Correia (RHP- Starter) -- Padres -- I wonder how many of you out there have ever even heard of Kevin Correia before? I have been high on him for years now and he has not failed yet in letting me down. So, when putting together my sleeper list for this season I finally decided to cut the cord with Correia as he had proved himself to be nothing more than a 28 year old spot starter or long reliever. Not even half way into the 2009 season now and Correia is now the ace of the Padres pitching staff! At least until Jake Peavy returns that is. But nonetheless, Correia has made tremendous strides in recent starts as evidenced by his 4-1 record, 2.40 ERA, 29 K's and only 3 walks in his past five starts. He credits this turn around to improved use of his curveball, a pitch he hardly used before this season. He is also throwing much more changeups than he used to and is using his legs more which has really helped with his control. Credit Bud Black with fine tuning some of Correia's mechanics and allowing him to find his way this season. He is a must pickup right now and should be rode for as long as this run lasts.
MORE PLAYING TIME = FANTASY HEAT 3) Jake Fox (OF/3B) -- Cubs -- Fox will be eligible at 3B in the very near future as he's earned his time there by putting in a ton of extra work with Cubs infield coaches. Lou Pinella gushes when talking about Fox nowadays probably because he is the only Cub player who is hitting no matter who the opposing pitcher is, the weather conditions, the spot in the order or the situation at hand. The kid is just raking and has been pretty much all season long. He got a call up to the show after hitting a whopping .409/.495/.841 in AAA Iowa. Since the call he's hitting .349/.354/.605 with 2 HR's and 11 RBI. I believe Fox is the reason Pinella finally stood up to disgruntled OF Milton Bradley because if Bradley wants to cry and pout and be a problem, Fox could slide very nicely into the RF and lineup position that Bradley has been under performing in all season long. Whatever happens with Bradley, Jake Fox has been too productive to ignore and is going to get plenty of chances going forward for a team with big upside potential.
4) Brett Gardner (Outfield) -- Yankees -- Melky Cabrera's hot streak is over and thus Gardner has found himself back into prime action for the Yankees. On the season Gardner is hitting .293/.364/.427 and most impressively has 17 stolen bases in 19 opportunities. The more he gets in the lineup and produces at these current paces the more dramatic his value increases. Gardner very well could steal 40+ bases this year. He is currently available in 93% of Yahoo leagues but that number will tumble quickly with the realization that Gardner is seeing regular playing time once again in the Bronx. Any fantasy team that could use some speed or wants to keep it away from their opponent must find a spot for Gardner ASAP.
5) Casey McGehee (2B/3B) -- Brewers -- Let me be the first to say how stunned I am at the production the Brewers have gotten out of their 2B platoon of Craig Counsell and Casey McGehee. Shortly after Rickie Weeks was lost for the season I was asked about McGehee on an episode of Fantasy Baseball Tonight to which I said not to bother with him. I was and still kind of believe that Alcides Escobar will eventually get the call up and J.J. Hardy will see time at 2B but for now there is no more ignoring of what McGehee is doing. In his last 10 games he is 12-38 (.342) with 3 HR's 7 RBI and 8 runs scored. He is seeing time at both 2B and 3B for the struggling Bill Hall. Just about everybody I know including myself, are looking for middle infield help on their fantasy teams. For the short term, I believe McGehee is a guy that can help those of us who didn't get Ben Zobrist bridge the gap until better solutions evolve.
JUST A SPARK, BUT... 6) Wladimir Balentien (Outfield) -- Mariners -- One of the best "under the radar" young power hitters in the game. Balentien is set for a big increase in playing time due to Endy Chavez being lost for the season now. The Mariners went for an all defensive outfield this season. A very intriguing approach unless of course you play fantasy baseball. Balentien has hit 20+ HR's the past four seasons mostly in the minor leagues and also possesses the speed to swipe 10+ bases annually. He has got Sheffield-like bat speed and the ball just flies off his bat to all fields. He will never hit for a good average however and will strike out a whole bunch. With steady playing time the rest of the season there is no reason to think Balentien can't continue his streak of 20+ HR's and give you an occasional stolen base. He'll hit somewhere in the middle of Seattle's order also which will provide him good RBI opportunities as well.
7) Tyler Clippard (RHP - Relief) -- Nationals -- This is for those of you who email me all of the time looking for the closers in waiting. Clippard is a career minor leaguer who has found success this season in making a conversion from starter to reliever. He's spent most of his time in the Yankees organization and actually made a decent couple of starts for them back in 2007. For AAA Syracuse this year he was 4-1 with a 0.92 ERA and 42 K's in 39 IP while posting a 0.89 WHIP as well. The Nats are obviously desperate for some bullpen help and anytime Mike MacDougal is your closer the job is ultimately available. Clippard was once a top prospect but never really filled out his frame the way scouts would have liked. Still, his fastball/curveball/changeup has shown to be able to get people out at least in the short term.
THE NEXT HOT CATCHER PROSPECT 8) Angel Salome (Catcher) -- Brewers -- Salome is my favorite minor league hitter to watch. Anybody who has the MiLB.TV subscription like I do, please check out the Nashville Sounds and their tiny little free swinging catcher. Salome will drive hitting coaches crazy with his unorthodox style and pitch selection but he has amazing hand/eye coordination. I call him the right handed Ichiro and while nobody can quite do what Ichiro does, Salome is without question the poor man's version. He hit .360/.415/.559 last season in AA Huntsville and won a batting title. For a small guy (5'7"), he does have surprising power but is more of a slap type hitter who will spray the ball to all fields when he is right. Salome started out this season horribly but has caught fire lately hitting .400 with 2 HR's, 7 RBI and 10 runs scored in his last 10 games. Salome also has a plus arm behind the plate although he gets messy with his footwork at times which leads to a lower than expected caught stealing percentage for the youngster. Still, this is a prospect to be very excited about. He is not only productive but fun to watch and can fill a big need for a team that is right in the thick of the playoff race and has a great established offense. You will not find catchers who can hit .300 on the free agent market for long. This is why you'll need to make a play for Salome quickly if you want to upgrade yourself at this always thin fantasy position.
That is the Hot 8 for this week. What do you guys think? Post your comments below or email me at jeff@fantasybaseballsearch.com
Scott Kazmir returned to the Rays' rotation, and I have to say he pitched much better than I anticipated. Kazmir was struggling badly before he was placed on the DL, but his pitching line was pretty sharp on Saturday. Kazmir was his usual self, only lasting five innings, but allowed just two runs, walked only one and struck out five. While I expect Kazmir to be better than he was to open the year, I figured he would struggle in his first couple times to the mound. Regardless of whether he was good or not today, Kazmir is the kind of pitcher that you start every time out, regardless of the matchup. To make room for Kazmir the Rays sent Andy Sonnanstine to the minors, which is great news for David Price owners. It certainly seems like he was another candidate to be sent down.
A.J. Burnett has had a very up and down season for the Yankees, but today was what they expected when they handed out that contract. Granted the Mets have a ton of injuries, but Burnett was masterful none the less. He threw seven shutout innings, allowed just one hit and struck out ten. I don't believe that this is Burnett turning the corner, I still think that he will be very inconsistent and will have his share of difficult outings. On a positive note, he has been perfectly healthy so far in 2009.
For those of you who listen to the Tuesday podcast of Fantasy Baseball Tonight, you know I have been waiting for the start by Homer Bailey. I said he would stink, Jeff said pick him up. Now, he only allowed three runs in five innings, but Bailey walked seven. I stand by my position. DO NOT pick this guy up. Not every high ranking prospect always pans out, and I stand firm by my belief that Bailey will not be a successful Major Leaguer.
John Lackey finally pitched like the John Lackey that we know, and he is a guy that I think will round into shape and will begin to pitch better more often than not in the future. Lackey didn't allow an earned run over seven innings and struck out nine. Lackey has had some injury troubles in the past couple seasons, but when he is in there, Lackey is one of the more underrated pitchers in baseball. If you can get him kinda cheap I would think about making a move to trade for him, but if you have him, feel good that you should be getting more production from him in the future.
J.A. Happ had the performance of day though, making his fantasy owners Happ-y as he threw a complete game shutout against the Blue Jays. Happ allowed just five hits, didn't walk anyone and struck out four to raise his record to 5-0. He had a couple of rocky outings recently, so it was good to see him get back on track. To me Happ is the kind of guy that you can expect to give up three runs over six innings and strikeout four. That should be the average outing for him. Some will be better, some far worse, but overall he should be a useful pitcher to have.
Scott Podsednik continues to play for the White Sox, and he continues to produce. His four hit game on Saturday was his third straight contest with two hits or more, and all he needed was a triple for the cycle. I still don't have supreme confidence that he will be a reliable player all year long, but right now he is hot, and if you need batting average and stolen bases, Podsednik could be just the shot in the arm your team needs.
Nolan Reimold is perhaps my favorite rookie of the first half of the season. He hit his ninth homer of the year today, and continues to hover around the .300 mark. Reimold has been starting on every team that I own him on, and unless your outfield is unusually stacked, he should be starting for you as well.
I guess Pablo Sandoval wasn't happy about me saying that I didn't expect a ton of power out of him yesterday, because he went out on Saturday and hit two more homers. Sandoval is now up to 11 on the season to go with his .340 average. I was happy that I picked him for my guy in the 56 Game Hit Streak game on USA Today.com. He got my streak going again after it was broken by Curtis Granderson. Please join our group to see if you can do any better. Just follow the link above, and the private group is called Fantasy BBall 2nite and the password is fantasy.
Kyle Blanks drove in the first three runs of his major league career with a two double game against the Rangers. Blanks is one of the better power hitting prospects in the majors, but he has struggled to start his time with the Padres. Keeper league players will want to stash him on your bench, while seasonal players probably don't need to own him at this point.
Kazuo Matsui has hit in every game but two since returning from the Disabled List last week, and hit his first home run since the third game of the year. Matsui isn't the best option in the world, but if you have a need at second base or middle infield he could offer you a little help. He is traditionally a .280 hitter and has stolen 20+ bases in each of the last two seasons. He has a tough time staying healthy, but tends to be fairly productive when he plays.
Chris Davis hit his second homer in three days, and third in the last eight. He has also gotten his average above the Mendoza line, up to .212. Is this the start of the hot streak we all have been waiting for over the last three months? I am not ready to say that yet, heck I'm not even ready to take him off my bench yet. But he has my attention because of the power that he is capable of.
Another terribly slow day for closers. Only five saves were recorded by the end of the day, and there were a few ugly non-save appearances to add.
Jonathan Papelbon came into a non-save situation and gave up a bomb to stud powerhouse David Ross. Brain McCann followed with a deep double and eventually Papelbon ended the game. Two hits, one run, and no save.
Brad Lidge made his first appearance since coming off the DL and looked no different then before he went on the DL. He was all over the place tonight and after 24 painful pitches he gave up two runs, while walking two. Clearly he is not ready to close, so hold on to Ryan Madson if you have him.
Joe Nathan pulled out his 18th save of the season in a 3-1 win over the Cardinals. Nathan has had one of the best months I've ever seen for a closer not named KROD. He has nine saves so far and has yet to give up a run in 10.1 innings. He has also struck out 15, while only walking one. Right now I don't think there is another closer pitching better then Nathan. Ryan Franklin got some work in and pitched a perfect inning.
Matt Capps amazes me. He got his 17th save tonight and gave up a bomb to Mark Teahan. He is pitching like the type of closer I'd avoid. He has given up runs in 28% of his appearances and has a bloated 4.91 ERA. Capps has only 19 strikeouts in 25.2 innings and his control has been terible with ten walks. Not the numbers you want to see. Yet, he has 17 saves and you can't complain about that. Capps clearly isn't the closer I thought he would be and I'd recommend trading him ASAP.
Speaking of closers to avoid, Kevin Gregg got his 12th save of the season tonight. He needed 22 pitches to put down the White Sox and gave it the normal Gregg drama that we expect. He did save a game that Carlos Marmol nearly blew. Marmol gave up two runs on a staggering three walks and two hits. One walk was intentional, and he needed a double play to avoid more damage.
Other Appearances: Huston Street (18) - Once left for dead, Street has 11 saves in the month of June. Nobody has more. Andrew Bailey - Pitched in a losing game. Got two strikeouts in a perfect inning.
LaTroy Hawkins (10) - Hawkins clearly has closer stuff this season, but sits behind the now healthy Jose Valverde. He got the save tonight for th resting Valverde.
George Sherrill - Got one inning of work in a blowout.
Mike Gonzalez - Looked very impressive against the Red Sox. Struck out the side getting some non-save work.
J.J. Hardy has been picking it up a little bit as of late, and hit his seventh homer of the season on Friday. Hardy has averaged hitting .280 with 25 homers over the past two seasons, but hasn't looked like the same guy this year. However, this was his fourth multi-hit game in the last ten days, so while he is hitting just .221, that is an improvement from the .207 he was hitting on June 14th. I believe that he will continue to improve and could definitely approach 20 home runs this season.
Pablo Sandoval is far surpassing my expectations with his offensive game this season. I expected him to be a guy who hit for an OK average, without much power. Now, while nine home runs isn't exactly Ruthian, when you pair that with an average over .330, he is putting together a nice year. I still believe his value lies in leagues where he is catcher eligible, but even as a corner infielder or utility player, you could do much worse. I wouldn't sell high on him. His average will obviously fall, but I don't predict a huge dropoff.
I know I talk about him every night, but when he stops hitting, I'll stop talking. Jake Fox was a triple short of the cycle for the second consecutive day. Even with the chance to DH him, Manager Lou Pinella started him at third base again, and again he didn't make an error. The way he is hitting I am hopeful that he will continue to play after interleague is over. We will find out after this weekend.
Geovany Soto homered for the fourth time in a week, giving his fantasy owners hope that he will be able to repeat last year. He has also raised his average nearly 25 points in the last ten games, and he is now a viable fantasy player again. If he is for some incredible reason available in your league, definitely pick him up immediately. If you have owned him all season, it appears your patience is paying off.
Jeremy Sowers was once one of the Indians higher ranking pitching prospects. Several years later, he has never come close to living up to the hype. Over the last six weeks Sowers has been better, but unless you are in a 20 team or A.L. only league, you still can't pick him up. Sowers allowed just two runs over seven innings, and has now allowed three runs or less in six of his last seven starts. However, outside of tonight when he struck out six and walked only one, his control has been atrocious. In his previous eight outings he walked 21, against only 18 strikeouts in 39 innings.
Ricky Romero had another dominant start, and he hasn't allowed more than three runs in an outing since returning from the Disabled List. On Friday he threw seven shutout innings, allowed just two hits, walked only one, and struck out seven. I think that he has some value as a end of the rotation kind of guy, but his less than stellar minor league numbers at the higher levels continue to weigh on my mind. I actually did pick him up in one league for a two start week, but I'm not holding on to him. I am gaining more confidence, but not total confidence yet.
Xavier Nady will undergo Tommy John Surgery and will miss the remainder of the 2009 season. Nady was on a rehab game but felt pain in that elbow during a throw in the third inning of a game the other day. Two innings later he was out of the game, and now his season is over. If you were stashing him on your DL slots, it is time to let him go.
Roy Halladay declared himself ready for his start on Monday. Be sure to have him activated in time for that start if he is on your team.
Mailing List
I'm not going to stop bringing up the mailing list until I get a day where I don't get a request to join it. For those of you who haven't seen it yet, when I find news earlier in the day I will send an email to you about whatever it might be. If you were on the mailing list you would have found out about the callups of Matt Wieters, Fernando Martinez, Nolan Reimold and others. The trade of Nate McLouth, and injuries to Jose Reyes, etc. This mailing list is your way to get a step up on your competition. Anyone who is on the list, please leave a comment below on whether you think that you have benefitted from the list. Send an email to either fantasybaseballtonight@gmail.com or fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com and put Mailing List in the subject line.
As always, your comments and questions are welcome at fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com. I guarantee a response within 18 hours. Also, don’t miss the "Fantasy Baseball Tonight" podcast four nights a week from Monday-Thursday. The Big Show on Wednesday is co-hosted by Todd Farino of fantasybaseballsearch.com, RC Rizza of junkyardjake.com and myself, Ryan Hallam at fightingchancefantasy.com. To hear the show go to www.blogtalkradio.com/the_true_guru. You can also hear me weekly on the Tuesday Night show. Join me with Jeff Mans every Tuesday night at 10pm EST for all the the info and craziness we can pack into one hour. A can’t miss if you plan on winning your league.
Earlier today, Franky Rodriguez dispatched the St. Louis Cardinals 3-2 to getting the saves started in a rather slow day for closers. KROD got the first save of the day striking out two, but also walked two. Granted the walks were given to Albert Pujols and Ryan Ludwick, which was proably smart.
Fernando Rodney continued his hot run with his sixth save in June and 17th overall. Detroit won 6-4 with Rodney giving up a run on two hits in the ninth inning. It was the first time since April 26 that Rodney had given up a run in a save situation. Though Rodney has an inflated 3.90 ERA, he has yet to blow a save this season and batters are only batting .229 against him. His biggest problem this season has been the walks, 15 in total.
After blowing a save yesterday because of bad defense , Valverde came right back tonight and pitched a perfect inning striking out one. Valverde has had a brutal fantasy season after spending most of it on the DL. However, since coming off the DL he has four saves and he's thrown 7.1 innings of scoreless baseball.
Mariano Rivera got one of the cheapest saves you can ever get. He came into tonight's game with two outs and a four run lead. There were runners on the corners, but Rivera got one flyball out and ended the game for his 17th save. Of course, the cheap saves count too and Rivera owners will take it. Rivera has been behind the leagues leaders all season, but he has been catching up in the month of June. So far this month he is 1-1 with seven saves.
Francisco Cordero recorded his 18th save of the season finishing off the Blue Jays 7-5. Cordero is clearly having a breakout season after last years disappointing numbers. I don't think the current run he is on will be season long. So far in June his ERA risen from 1.71 to 2.03. I expect that trend to continue as he is out pitching all of his career stats. He is going to have a great season, but he is reaching his maximum value, so now would be the time to trade him if you were looking to make a move.
Other Appearances: Joe Nathan (17) - Nathan got his eigth save of the season and his WHIP has dropped below 0.80.
Ryan Madson - He probably won't be closing for long, but threw an inning tonight in a blowout loss. He gave up a hit and a walk.
Chad Qualls - Pitched a quiet inning in a tie game.
CJ Wilson - Pitched 1.1 innings striking out two and walking one in a tie game.
Matt Capps - Capps got his first win of the season pitching a perfect inning for the 3-2 win.
Bobby Jenks - Struck out two and held the score tied in an extra inning 6-5 win for the White Sox.
Joey Votto was just a triple short of the cycle, as he looks like he is back from his injury issues and should absolutely be back in your lineups. Votto has the ability to hit for some power, and will also give you a great batting average. He should hit .310-.320 and will give you 20-23 homers even with the games that he missed.
John Smoltz completed his comeback from offseason surgery, but the Washingotn Nationals hit him up pretty good. Smoltz pitched five innings and allowed five runs. On a positive note, he only walked one and struck out five. He is coming back from a bad injury, and he is over 40 years old. He will likely improve the more he pitches, but at his age and coming back from an injury is troublesome. Hold him for another start or two. Don't give a knee jerk reaction on one start.
Jordan Zimmerman continues to impress me more each time he takes the mound, and had his way with the Boston Red Sox over seven innings. It was only the second time he has pitched that deep into a game, and he struck out six while only walking one. Zimmerman has now allowed just one earned run in three straight starts, and should be on a roster in every league right now. In keeper leagues, he is becoming more valuable by the day.
Alex Rodriguez has been frustrating both Yankee fans and fantasy players. Perhaps Thursday was the first step of him breaking out of that funk. A-Rod had two singles and a homer, and he drove in four runs. He is so much better than the .223 average he has, so really try to stay patient. He might not be 100% still, as he rushed back from the hip surgery. I believe he will improve as the season goes on, and will likely hit .280 or better.
Jake Fox was able to DH today so his glove wasn't an issue, and he connected on his first major league home run. He also singled and doubled, and is proving that he will have no problem hitting in this league. Now, if he could either get traded to the American League so he could DH, Fox would be a major player. He has been starting most days now, and the more starts he gets, the more value he holds. See what happens when they leave the American League parks. If Fox keeps playing, you will want to have him.
Sean West bounced back after a couple of tough outings to restore some confidence with his fantasy owners. He is one of the better pitching prospects in Florida, but I don't see him being dominant this year by any stretch. He will likely win close to ten games, but he is walking a few too many, and not striking enough out. I still like West as a guy at the end of your roster.
As we talked about it on the Tuesday edition of the Fantasy Baseball Tonight podcast, but now it is official. The Reds will recall Homer Bailey to start on Saturday. He has only allowed two runs in his last five starts, and is on total fire. However, Bailey has been in the majors a handful of times, and I have ABSOLUTELY no faith that he will succeed in this start, or in any other that he makes. Unless you are in an NL-only league, or are desperate for a spark, I wouldn't touch the guy.
OK, it's Thursday and it didn't rain which means I had a softball game tonight. It was a bit of a laugher as we took over the lead in our division with a 4-3 record after an 11-4 victory. Before the game was over, I had my parents there, a co-worker, and my wife with both girls at the field (which is rare). I played third base tonight, and it was UGLY. Now, mind you it was just my fourth game ever there, and my first in over a month. A hot shot got past me that I might have been able to get to. The only other play I got was a slow roller with a fast guy running. I got to the ball and should never have thrown it, but of course I rushed it and threw it away. At the plate (which is the only part I really care about, I don't like defense) I was 3/4 with two RBI. I had a solid single past the shortstop that drove in a run in the first. Popped up to center in my second at bat after I almost got a cue shot to drop down the first base line, but it was JUST foul. That would have been another double. But all in all a great game, and we will play two games next week because of the neverending rain here in New York.
Mailing List
I'm not going to stop bringing up the mailing list until I get a day where I don't get a request to join it. For those of you who haven't seen it yet, when I find news earlier in the day I will send an email to you about whatever it might be. If you were on the mailing list you would have found out about the callups of Matt Wieters, Fernando Martinez, Nolan Reimold and others. The trade of Nate McLouth, and injuries to Jose Reyes, etc. This mailing list is your way to get a step up on your competition. Anyone who is on the list, please leave a comment below on whether you think that you have benefitted from the list. Send an email to either fantasybaseballtonight@gmail.com or fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com and put Mailing List in the subject line.
As always, your comments and questions are welcome at fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com. I guarantee a response within 18 hours. Also, don’t miss the "Fantasy Baseball Tonight" podcast four nights a week from Monday-Thursday. The Big Show on Wednesday is co-hosted by Todd Farino of fantasybaseballsearch.com, RC Rizza of junkyardjake.com and myself, Ryan Hallam at fightingchancefantasy.com. To hear the show go to www.blogtalkradio.com/the_true_guru. You can also hear me weekly on the Tuesday Night show. Join me with Jeff Mans every Tuesday night at 10pm EST for all the the info and craziness we can pack into one hour. A can’t miss if you plan on winning your league.
Jhonny Peralta homered for the second time in three games, and now looks like he might be rounding into shape. He homered for the second time in three games, and now has eight hits in his last five games. He still has a ways to go to get anywhere near the stats he had last season, but ne no longer looks like someone you should drop. In fact, if you need shortstop or third base help, Peralta should be a solid option going forward.
David Huff had his best start as a pro on Wednesday, as he threw eight shutout innnings against the Pittsburgh Pirates. He had been showing some improvement, allowing just three runs in each of his last three previous starts. He was ranked as the eighth best prospect in the Indians organization coming into the year, but struggled at AAA in '09. He wasn't an elite strikeout pitcher in the minors, but his stats were fairly impressive. In pieces of four seasons he was 20-9 with a 2.95 ERA, with 229 strikeouts in 253 innings. Huff is worth a flier if you are in need of starting pitching, or could be a good spot starter against favorable matchups. At worst, at least keep your eye on him.
There are a handful of Toronto Blue Jays that I don't believe in, no matter what kind of season they are having. Marco Scutaro hit his sixth homer of the season, but it was his first since April 30th. His career high in homers is nine, and while I expect him to eclipse that, he won't do it by much. He has rarely been a full time player in his career, He is certainly not peaking at age33. Rod Barajas has had a few good seasons in his career, but he is another guy who has generally been a part of a platoon during his major league career. He hit his seventh home run of the season, but if he is able to get past 15 I will be very surprised. Scott Rolen has a longer track record of success, and his his fifth home run of the year. It isn't that I don't have faith in Rolen's abilities, but he hasn't played more than 115 games in the past two seasons. As he gets older I don't gain more confidence that he will be on the field all year long.
David Price did not pitch well again, and I'm not sure exactly what is his issue. Price allowed five earned runs (ten total) over 4.1 innings, walked two, and struck out two. He is now 1-2 on the year, with an ERA just under 4.50. He is not going deep into games, he is walking too many and not striking out enough. Seasonal leagues I might try to capitalize on his name and see if you can still get a great trade for him. You likely will have at least one person who is drooling over his potential. Not saying he won't live up to the hype, but if it isn't a keeper league, the risk is limited. I still wouldn't consider dealing him in a keeper league. The ceiling is just too high.
Tommy Hanson threw 5.1 shutout innings against the Yankees on Tuesday, but he continues to struggle with his control. He did strikeout four, which is good, but walked five.......not so good. However, Hanson is now 3-0 with an ERA just over 3.00 in his first four starts. Do I need to tell you to keep starting him no matter of the matchup? I didn't think so.
Chien-Ming Wang was likely good enough to remain in the rotation again, but he fell to 0-6 on the season after allowing three runs over five innings and struck out four. Wang was not horrible, but not great by any stretch, and it is hard to say what New York should do with him going forward. This is a guy who has won 19 games twice in his career, so you have to believe that there are better days ahead of him, but from a fantasy perspective you can't keep him on your team right now. The guy fantasy players all want in the rotation, Phil Hughes, threw two hitless innings in relief of Wang, and continues to pitch well no matter what his role is.
Matt Wieters connected on his second home run, and is now hitting .262 on the year. He has driven in six runs in his last five games, and is starting to look like he might be worth all the hype that he was given before the season started. In my opinion, he is someone that you can even count on now, even in seasonal leagues and I would feel good with him as my only catcher. I believe that he will soon be the star he was projected to be.
Hideki Kuroda has never been a guy that I have had much confidence in, but he nearly threw a complete game on Tuesday. He was one out away from finishing the game, but when he allowed a run he was removed from the game. Kuroda is now 2-3 on the year, with an ERA just under 4.00. He is getting far more strikeouts in 2009 than he did last year, but he isn't someone that I would keep on my roster. He could be an OK start against the Pirates, Nationals, or Padres, but not a guy I hold on my roster.
Troy Tulowitzki hit two homers tonight, one day after I endorsed him as a solid shortstop on an everyday basis. Hopefully you jumped on him if it was possible yesterday, but if not, today's action should give you enough confidence to make the move. He is now up to twelve homers on the season.
Again, there will be no post on Wednesday, as I am traveling to Citi Field to see my Cardinals take on David Wright and a bunch of guys I've never heard of. OK, maybe that's not true, but have you seen the lineup the Mets are forced to play with all of their injuries? I almost feel bad for them, but not really. We are all fighting for playoff spots, and if the Mets lose a few extra games, perhaps that's enough for the Cards to get the wild card if they can't win their division.
I also will be missing the Wednesday edition ("The Big Show") of the Fantasy Baseball Tonight podcast, but this is certainly not one that you should miss as the great Cory Schwartz will be a guest on the show. For those of you new to the site, Cory is from mlb.com and always doles out great information. Definitely a must-listen, and I'm disappointed he will be on the week I am out. So, check it out, go to www.blogtalkradio.com/the_true_guru to listen at 10pm EST Wednesday.
Mailing List
I'm not going to stop bringing up the mailing list until I get a day where I don't get a request to join it. For those of you who haven't seen it yet, when I find news earlier in the day I will send an email to you about whatever it might be. If you were on the mailing list you would have found out about the callups of Matt Wieters, Fernando Martinez, Nolan Reimold and others. The trade of Nate McLouth, and injuries to Jose Reyes, etc. This mailing list is your way to get a step up on your competition. Anyone who is on the list, please leave a comment below on whether you think that you have benefitted from the list. Send an email to either fantasybaseballtonight@gmail.com or fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com and put Mailing List in the subject line.
As always, your comments and questions are welcome at fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com. I guarantee a response within 18 hours. Also, don’t miss the "Fantasy Baseball Tonight" podcast four nights a week from Monday-Thursday. The Big Show on Wednesday is co-hosted by Todd Farino of fantasybaseballsearch.com, RC Rizza of junkyardjake.com and myself, Ryan Hallam at fightingchancefantasy.com. To hear the show go to www.blogtalkradio.com/the_true_guru. You can also hear me weekly on the Tuesday Night show. Join me with Jeff Mans every Tuesday night at 10pm EST for all the the info and craziness we can pack into one hour. A can’t miss if you plan on winning your league.
Soria finally gets a save, while Bell and Fuentes get their league leading 20th save. By Todd Farino, www.thecloserreport.com
There weren't many saves today, but plenty of chances. JoakimSoria finally rejoined the world of closers with his first save since coming off of the DL in ealry June and in fact his first since May 7. He did blow a save back on June 11th, but looked like a closer today striking out two and stranding a pair of runners. He did open the ninth innings by giving up two hits, one was a lucky shot by Miguel Tejada and the other a solid single to Puma Lance Berkman. He then struck out the next two batters and got a ground out for his eighth save. He only needed ten pitches to get the three straight outs and 16 overall.
Heath Bell got his NL leading 20th save of the season with a rocky inning against Seattle. He looked bad opening the innings with a walk, followed by a single to Ichiro Suzuki. Thank God he had a three-run lead on a day when he was all over the place. He was lucky to strikeout an over anxious Russell Branyan before giving up an RBI single to Mike Sweeney. Heath Bell needed 29 pitches to get the save and since he last pitched on the 21st of June, there is a chance he will not pitch tomorrow. Assuming the Padres rest Bell, look for Mike Adams to get the save chance.
Brian Fuentes got his AL leading 20th save in a tight 4-3 win over Colorado. All the momentum was with the Angels after retaking the lead in the eighth and Fuentes fed off it for the save. He threw a perfect inning and struck out two to top it off.
In certain appearances Fuentes looks like one of the most dominating closers in the league, but on others he looks like a deer caught in headlights. When he is on, he's painting the corners and whipping his slider out of the zone. He's like a version of a young Greg Maddux. The key for Fuentes is his fastball, which has lost some velocity this year. Last year he threw 92 MPH, while in 2009 he has topped out at 90 MPH. What worries me about Fuentes is he is dependant on his fastball. He throws it more than any other pitch (70.9%) and it must hit his spots. His curveball and slider are not consistent enough to be used more and most of the time his changeup is flat.
When Fuentes misses bad things happen as noted by the 24 hits and 11 runs in 24.1 innings. He doesn't walk batters, so his easily hittable fastball and changeup are easy pickings for hungry hitters trying to win the game. So far in 2009 he has been in lucky Brian Fuentes mode. For a guy who has saved 20/23, you'd think he would have better numbers. His strikeouts per nine innings is down from 1.31 to 1.16 and his ERA is over a half point higher then his career ERA. Again, the bottom-line is he is getting results and he is not Joe Borowski. Continue to have confidence in your closer.
Kevin Gregg had looked good nearly all month. He hadn't blown a save or given up a run since June second. I was finally gaining trust in him and thought that he had turned the corner, until tonight. Against Detroit, Gregg blew his one run lead by walking the lead off batter and one batter later, pitch hitter Ryan Raburn crushed a flat Kevin Gregg pitch for a 2-run walk-off home run.
Lets see how this impacts Gregg's mental state and what Pinella thinks about his closer. Marmol did strikeout the side in a perfect eighth inning. Let the drama begin.
Jonathan Broxton scored his 18th save of the season against the cross county rivals, the Los Angeles Angels. I was hoping that Broxton wasn't going to pitch today, since he has thrown 46 pitches in three days. He's been an outstanding closer this season and as a owner of him in three leagues I'd like to see him get 3-4 days off to rest his arm and big toe. Torre felt the need to call on Broxton to get one out in a 5-2 game. It was a great show to watch as Broxton came into the game like Wild Thing from Major League and struck out Jim Thome on three pitches.
Other Appearances: Kerry Wood (9) - Wood got hammered again in a 5-4 win. He gave up two hits and a run. His ERA now stands at 5.68 and he is one of the three worst closers in the majors. Jason Frasor (2) - Got his second save of the season with a easy inning. Its looks like Gaston is going with Frasor, but Accardo was not available with a sore hamstring. Matt Lindstrom - Lindstrom got lit up for three runs on four hits. It wasn't even a save opportunity. Mike Gonzalez - Pitched a perfect inning against the cold Yankees. Rafael Soriano - Pitched a near perfect inning against the very cold Yankees.
Troy Tulowitzki continues to look like the guy we knew his rookie year, and I am now endorsing him as someone that you can confidently put in your daily lineups. Tulo had two more hits today, giving him a hit in ten of his last eleven games and has 14 total hits over than span including three home runs. It took a long time for me to consider him again, but if he is somehow available certainly pick him up.
Jake Fox got another start tonight, this time in left field for the Cubs, and he collected another two hits, and again didn't commit an error. If Fox is able to get regular playing time, he is certainly worth a look. The kid can hit, there is no question there. He just needs the opportunity to start, and that is dependent on his glove.
Omir Santos was 4/4 for the Mets, and his fantasy value continues to be a question mark. It is obvious to everyone that he is the Mets' best option as a catcher, but for some reason they still give Brian Schneider his share of starts. Schneider hit a three run homer yesterday, but he is a joke offensively. I have a situation in one league that I was in need of a catcher, and although I like Santos, I was forced to choose Kurt Suzuki because of the uncertainty of who will be behind the plate in New York.
Ryan Ludwick homered for the second time in four games, and perhaps is getting back to the pace he was on before his injury. I think it is safe to assume he won't reach 37 homers again this season, but barring injury he should make a run at 30 again if he can stay healthy and hitting. I don't think he will get his average near the .299 he hit last season, but it will be better than the .240 he is currently at. Look for Ludwick to finish the season in the .270 range.
Travis Ishikawa homered for the third time in four games, and looks like he may begin to live up to some of his preseason expectations. Ishikawa always showed good power in the minor leagues, even thought it didn't quite translate in the majors to this point. In a 48 game stint at AAA last season, Ishikawa hit 16 balls in the seats. He is certainly worth a look, and in deeper formats, I would pick him up right now. I don't know if this will last, but I think it is worth taking a chance on at this point.
There will be no post on Wednesday as I will be traveling down to Citi Field to see my beloved Cardinals take on the crappy Mets. No offense Mets' fans, just gotta talk a little trash. I'll be the guy down there in the Cardinals hat and Pujols jersey. A real classic pitching matchup as Brad Thompson should be opposing Fernando Nieve.
Mailing List
I'm not going to stop bringing up the mailing list until I get a day where I don't get a request to join it. For those of you who haven't seen it yet, when I find news earlier in the day I will send an email to you about whatever it might be. If you were on the mailing list you would have found out about the callups of Matt Wieters, Fernando Martinez, Nolan Reimold and others. The trade of Nate McLouth, and injuries to Jose Reyes, etc. This mailing list is your way to get a step up on your competition. Anyone who is on the list, please leave a comment below on whether you think that you have benefitted from the list. Send an email to either fantasybaseballtonight@gmail.com or fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com and put Mailing List in the subject line.
As always, your comments and questions are welcome at fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com. I guarantee a response within 18 hours. Also, don’t miss the "Fantasy Baseball Tonight" podcast four nights a week from Monday-Thursday. The Big Show on Wednesday is co-hosted by Todd Farino of fantasybaseballsearch.com, RC Rizza of junkyardjake.com and myself, Ryan Hallam at fightingchancefantasy.com. To hear the show go to www.blogtalkradio.com/the_true_guru. You can also hear me weekly on the Tuesday Night show. Join me with Jeff Mans every Tuesday night at 10pm EST for all the the info and craziness we can pack into one hour. A can’t miss if you plan on winning your league.
A special Happy Father's Day goes out to all of the readers who have children, hopefully your wife/girlfriend/kids spoiled you today. I had a very nice day today with a nice new shirt/tie combo for work along with a book that I have been wanting. My wife was also generous enough to take me and the kids to Buffalo Wild Wings for dinner for a nice meal of spicy fried foods and beer. What else can a Dad ask for? We also had a nice meal with my parents last night, as they were going to be out of town today. My father has been an incredible influence in my life, as well as a fantastic father. He is truly the reason that I am doing this today, as he instilled both a love of sports and competitiveness in me from an early age. But even more than that, the support that he has given me throughout my life can never be paid back (or the $$$$, sorry Dad), and I am forever grateful to have such a man in my life. If I am able to be half the father that he has been, I will be very proud of myself. I love you Dad, and I could never thank you enough!
C.C. Sabathia left his start with tightness in his biceps in the second inning on Sunday. He was examined during warmups, got one guy out, but after allowing a hit he was removed from the game. The team has termed him day to day, and they say there are no tests planned. When you give a guy $20+ million and he comes out of the game, I'd be willing to bet that there are some tests in Sabathia's future.
Ryan Howard was released from the hospital after spending consecutive nights there with flu symptoms. Howard was able to provide a pinch hit homer in last night's game, but did not play today. The Phils have an off day on Monday, and you would think that he should be back in the lineup by Tuesday.
Casey McGehee is still playing in place of Rickie Weeks, and the kid is hitting. He hit his second homer of the year, and has 17 hits in his last nine games. I suppose as long as he keeps producing, he will keep playing. McGehee was not a top ranking prospect, so I'm sure there is a stat correction coming in his future, but if you need some middle infield help in the short term, McGehee appears to be worth a look.
Mark Buehrle is having another one of those ho-hum Mark Buehrle kind of years. He threw seven shutout innings on Sunday against the Reds, and raised his record to 7-2. Now there are two reasons, in my opinion, that Buehrle never gets fantasy love. One is he will never win 20 games. His career high is 19, but that was a long time ago. He usually wins between 12-15 games. The second is that he doesn't get a lot of strikeouts. Last season he had just 140 in 218 innings, and he is on a similar pace this year. However, while a lot of us love the lure of the rookies and the potential of the next big thing, a guy like Buehrle at the end of your rotation is likely more help. But hey when is Neftali Feliz coming up? I'll pick him up!
Brandon Phillips left the game early yesterday with pain in his fractured thumb, but was able to play today. Phillips has a hairline fracture in his tuhumb, but never hit the Disabled List. He did not get a hit today, but did drive in a run with a sacrifice fly. I was worried that he might be out a few games again, but it appears that he is tough as nails and is safe to put back into your lineups.
Ricky Romero had his fourth straight good start after coming back from the DL, and he is looking like someone that you can count on each time out. Romero's minor league statistics were nothing to get excited about, so if he starts to go south, don't be surprised and have a backup plan ready. However, the more and more he pitches, the more confidence that I gain in him.
Jeremy Guthrie was great on Sunday, allowing just one run over seven innings against the Phillies. It seems that Guthrie generally pitches well, even against good competition. Somehow though, his statistics just aren't very good. Even with the win on Sunday, his record is 5-7. His ERA is 5.09, while his WHIP is 1.37. He isn't even getting many strikeouts, as he has just 55 Ks in 86 innings. He isn't a bad option at the end of your rotation, but I just have never been a big fan of Guthrie.
Khalil Greene homered for the third straight game, and then was hit with a pitch and had to leave. He was 4/7 since coming back from the Disabled List due to social anxiety, but was hit on the ankle with a pitch the at bat after hitting the homer. Greene has long been a guy with plenty of power potential, but couldn't hit for any kind of average whatsoever. Even if he is able to play tomorrow against the Mets, I still wouldn't be picking Greene up unless you are desperate for help at either shortstop or third base.
With his two home runs on Sunday, Albert Pujols now has 26 homers to go with 27 strikeouts! Who is the best hitter in the game right now? Is there even a question?
Just when you started to feel good about Gil Meche, he goes out and does this. Meche got tattooed by Albert Pujols and the St. Louis Cardinals. There is no shame in getting crushed by Pujols, as you can see above, most pitchers have been for years. But nine runs over 3.1 innings? After six straight starts of two runs or less, you had to figure that something like this was possible. The next start is the important one for Meche. Hopefully, he can get right back on track and pitch effectively again. But Gil Meche isn't Johan Santana, my guess is the next one or two outings aren't that great. I'm not saying nine runs again, but he won't see the seventh inning.
Who in the world does Michael Cuddyer think he is? After 64 games of the season, he is nearly halfway to his career high of 24 homers when he connected on number eleven on Sunday. He has driven in three runs in his last four games, and I wouldn't be the least bit surprised to see him get up to 90 RBI. As long as he can stay healthy, Cuddyer is looking like a solid fourth outfielder, and he could move up farther from that.
Cubs' power hitting prospect Jake Fox is back in the majors and they actually trusted him with a starting spot today. Fox played third base, and the good news is he drove in three runs with a double. The even better news is that he didn't commit and error. If Fox can prove that his glove is up to the task, perhaps he will see more starts.
Even though he lost, Dallas Braden has now allowed three runs or less in seven straight starts. He might not have a great record (5-6), but he generally has been good all year, with a 3.26 ERA. The low strikeout numbers are probably what is holding him back from full fantasy ownership, but if you catch an injury or have someone you want to drop, give Braden a look to see if he fits what you need.
Kevin Kouzmanoff continues to drive in runs, even if he can't really get his batting average to a respectable place. Kouzmanoff hit his ninth homer of the season on Sunday, and has driven in 14 runs in his last ten games. I am still not quite believing that he is going to keep this up, but it is possible. He was a pretty highly touted prospect, showed great power in the minors, and his batting average was always in the .300 range. He is a guy that I had a lot of hope for three years ago, perhaps it is going to come to fruition now. I wouldn't bet on it just yet, but keep an eye on him.
Alex Rios got my hit streak back on track on the USA Today's 56 Game Hit Streak. I am very close to paydirt as that extended my streak to two. Please join our group with the link above. The private group is called Fantasy BBall 2nite and the password is fantasy.
Mailing List
I’m not going to stop bringing up the mailing list until I get a day where I don’t get a request to join it. For those of you who haven’t seen it yet, when I find news earlier in the day I will send an email to you about whatever it might be. If you were on the mailing list you would have found out about the callups of Matt Wieters, Fernando Martinez, Nolan Reimold and others. The trade of Nate McLouth, and injuries to Jose Reyes, etc. This mailing list is your way to get a step up on your competition. Anyone who is on the list, please leave a comment below on whether you think that you have benefitted from the list. Send an email to either fantasybaseballtonight@gmail.com or fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com and put Mailing List in the subject line.
As always, your comments and questions are welcome at fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com. I guarantee a response within 18 hours. Also, don’t miss the “Fantasy Baseball Tonight” podcast four nights a week from Monday-Thursday. The Big Show on Wednesday is co-hosted by Todd Farino of fantasybaseballsearch.com, RC Rizza of junkyardjake.com and myself, Ryan Hallam at fightingchancefantasy.com. To hear the show go to www.blogtalkradio.com/the_true_guru. You can also hear me weekly on the Tuesday Night show. Join me with Jeff Mans every Tuesday night at 10pm EST for all the the info and craziness we can pack into one hour. A can’t miss if you plan on winning your league.
First and foremost, Happy Father's Day to all the Dad's out there! Yeah, I know that it feels like just another day to us, but soak it in while you can. Take some time today or if you're like me and stuck working (you call this work?), set aside some time during the week to spend quality time with the kids. Go ahead and take them to a ballgame, or the race track or to a nearby field or park to play. It's OK to do something you want to do today but include them and let them see why you love going to these places so much and how much fun it can be. Time goes bye so fast and before you know it all you'll get for Father's Day is a phone call that you know they felt obligated to make.For this special Father's Day edition of The Hot 8, I have decided to include a BONUS player who should be able to make a quick impact for your fantasy team. But you'll have to read all the way to the bottom to find out who that bonus baby is...
RED HOT...RIGHT NOW 1) J.P. Howell (LHP - Closer) -- Rays -- Howell is slowly starting to distance himself from the other Rays relievers in the bid to earn manager Joe Madden's trust to finish games. Howell is 2-2 with a 1.93 ERA, 3 saves, 41 K's in 32.2 IP and a 1.10 WHIP. He had been used primarily as a lefty specialist the past two seasons but has seen plenty of time and actually has been more effective versus righties this season. As it stands now, Howell is the one who will get the most chances to saves games for the Rays going forward. His only real competition may wind up being career minor leaguer and strikeout ace Winston Abreu. Howell is a much safer closer choice than a Mike MacDougal or Kerry Wood and he has more upside than a Matt Lindstrom or Jason Frasor. So, take a moment...open a new window or tab and pick up Howell right now.
READY TO IGNITE 2) Neftali Feliz (RHP - Starter) -- Rangers -- I told you a couple of weeks ago that I will put Feliz in The Hot 8 every single week until either the Rangers call him up or his ownership gets above 5% in Yahoo and CBS leagues. Since neither has happened yet here is yet another cry for you to go out and get Feliz while you still can. Since last week Feliz has been roughed up twice in starts for AAA Oklahoma City and his numbers are now looking more pedestrian than when I began this campaign a few weeks ago. But that doesn't affect the most important reasons on why he will get the call to Arlington soon. First of all he has amazing stuff. As one trusted scout told me several weeks ago, ""His fastball is best when coming from a three-quarters arm angle where it reaches 96 MPH with sharp inward bite to right handers. Then he'll hit you with a sharp tight spinning curveball that has great break down. His changeup is major league ready also registering at anywhere from 83-87 MPH with fade making it devastating when looking fastball." The second reason on why you should make the play for Feliz is that the Rangers, as always, need pitching. There is no way they can fight the temptation of what Feliz can bring to the table during a stretch run for the AL West division title or a World Series run. This will be the last week I push Feliz on you though. If you guys don't see the possibility of what Neftali Feliz can bring to the Rangers AND your fantasy team by now then I doubt you ever will. Enjoy second place!
3) Kyle Blanks (1B/OF) -- Padres -- As I prepared for the Thursday edition of Fantasy Baseball Tonight, I did some promotional emails and the such touting a couple of prospects I was going to go into detail with on a segment we call The Farm Report. One of those players was Kyle Blanks to which even my co-host responded with a resounding, "Who?" A day later Blanks was on a plane to San Diego to join the major league club. In my usual tour through minor league boxscores and video highlights this week I happened to notice that Blanks was all of a sudden playing left field. He is actually a pretty good defensive first baseman and a top prospect for the Padres so the move really stood out. I figured that they were getting ready to bring him up and let him play some OF and DH in the next few weeks to see what he could do and that is exactly what happened. Blanks is a huge beast with plus natural power in his right handed swing. He stands 6'6" tall and weighs a solid 285 lbs and can hit the ball a country mile. What makes him even more dangerous is that he has a great eye for the strike zone and is willing to take a walk or hit the ball up the middle or to the opposite field to get on base. I said on Thursday that he reminds me of a young Frank Thomas and the similarities are scary. Adrian Gonzalez and Kyle Blanks are the future middle of the Padres order for sure and if Blanks can get off to a decent enough start these next few weeks he may never see minor league ball again.
ON FIRE! 4) Juan Rivera (Outfield) -- Angels -- I have been waiting and waiting for Rivera to cool off these past few weeks and it just hasn't happened yet. I have never been a big Rivera fan, going all the way back to the hype surrounding his clutch playoff hits for the Yankees back in 2002. Now seven years later he is for the first time resembling the player we were promised all those Octobers ago. He is currently hitting a nice .312/.353/.509 with 10 HR's and 36 RBI in 218 AB's this season. He has kept the Angels offense afloat for the past month while they have been struggling to find the right lineup mix and replacements for their struggling younger players. If the regular playing time holds up which at this point is a no brainer, he is likely to match or exceed his career high in HR's (23) and RBI (85) both set in 2006. You can never really count the Angels out so if they are to get back into the playoff race they will have to do so behind the big bats of Torii Hunter and Juan Rivera. Since he is still available in 65% of fantasy leagues right now, it is time we all stop ignoring and start fanning these flames.
5) Marcus Thames (Outfield) -- Tigers -- If you are looking for some power and so many of us are these days, then Marcus Thames is your guy. He is finally fully recovered from a severe rib cage strain suffered in spring training and has been tearing it up of late. In his last 10 games he is hitting .370 with 4 HR's 9 RBI and 5 runs scored while getting steady playing time with the benching of Magglio Ordonez. Thames is one of the best pure power hitters in the game but it consistently undervalued by fantasy players. Even in part time duty, he is sure to get close to 20 HR's and 50+ RBI with big upside if and when he sees full time action as he has the past couple weeks.
WHERE THERE'S SMOKE... 6) Kevin Frandsen (2B/SS) -- Giants -- Frandsen is about to be recalled from AAA Fresno and will right away become the starting 2B for the Giants. The demotion of Emmanuel Burriss cleared the way for Frandsen who is hitting a whopping .335/.383/.517 this season is AAA. While he doesn't possess the speed or pure athletic ability of Burriss, Frandsen will provide another steady bat in the Giants everyday lineup something that is desperately needed. Frandsen has always been a good contact hitter who puts the ball in play much of the time and has decent gap to gap power. With such few options available to us at middle infield positions I suggest grabbing Frandsen now before the vultures swoop down and pluck him from your grasp.
7) Drew Stubbs (Outfield) -- Reds -- This is one of the most exciting minor leaguers I have seen the past few seasons. Stubbs is an all out player who gives it everything he's got in every game and in every at-bat. For those who have not seen him play yet, you will enjoy the heck out of Drew Stubbs. He has the ability to be a superstar in this league. His best skill is his amazing speed. He has 100 stolen bases in just 3 1/2 minor league seasons. He also has made great strides in taking walks and hitting the ball on the ground in order to get himself on base. I believe in the big picture, Stubbs can hit close to 20 HR's a season as well as he has a big enough frame and is strong through the zone. Early in 2008, he made an adjustment in widening his stance which helped him make more solid contact but seems to have sacrificed a bit of power. Either way he is the Reds CF of the future without a doubt. The more Willy Tavaras struggles, the more likely the prospect unfriendly Dusty Baker will be to finally give Stubbs a chance. We could see him as early as July 1st or at late at September 1st but when he finally makes it, he will bring a smile to any fantasy player that needs some speed.
SIMMERING 8) Luis Valbuena (2B/SS) -- Indiana -- It could be just the wind at Wrigley Field but Valbuena put on a clinic this weekend and has been as hot as anybody this past week. He hit .421 this week with 3 HR's 7 RBI and 5 runs scored. Valbuena was traded to the Indians in the offseason after playing so well in a stretch for Seattle last season that he pushed Jose Lopez over to first base. He is a stocky guy who will surprise people with his quick bat speed and ability to work the count and make contact. Has the power to hit over 12-16 HR's in a season of steady playing time. He's got average speed but is not much of a base stealer. It will be interesting to see what happens when Asdrubal Cabrera comes back in a week or so but in the short term give Valbuena a shot in your middle infield spot.
BONUS BABY!! John Smoltz (RHP - Starter) -- Red Sox -- Everybody and their brother is recommending picking up Smoltz as he is ready to make his first start for the Red Sox this week. I am not very high on Smoltz, though pitching for the Red Sox alone makes him fantasy relevant. We are all speculating on what the Red Sox do with their 7 starters going forward. That's right, I said 7 starters. Have you SEEN what Clay Bucholz is doing in AAA Pawtucket? Dice K is going to take a break for now which is actually good news for all Boston starters. A 6 man rotation would hurt each of their fantasy values as less starts mean less numbers. I think Smoltz will start out hot for the Sox. But this is not a situation I trust for the long term. Smoltz age, arm troubles and bullpen experience are all factors in him possibly not being a durable fantasy starter. Ideally, he is the perfect pitch and ditch candidate but with so many homer Red Sox fans out there that is a very unlikely scenario for most fantasy leagues.
That is the Hot 8 for this week. What do you guys think? Post your comments below or email me at jeff@fantasybaseballsearch.com
Josh Beckett has officially caught fire. He has now won six of his last seven decisions, and with the complete game shutout tonight, has not allowed even a run in four of his last six starts. He now also has 88 strikeouts in 91 innings, so he is really helping you in that category as well. Beckett is really prone to wild streaks, so this could turn around and he could get cold again. However, he is one of the more talented pitchers in baseball, so continue to start him with confidence.
I was going to write about Luis Valbuena yesterday, but decided against it at the last minute. Apparently, he didn't like that so he went out and got my attention today. He had three hits on Saturday, including two home runs, his third in the last two games. In the last four games he has eight hits and has driven in seven runs. Yahoo lists Valbuena at 5'10" and 190 pounds, but I have also seen him listed at 165 pounds. Those are not the kind of dimensions that scream power hitter to me, so you shouldn't be expecting this to continue. In a short term injury situation, or if you have a spot where you just pick up the hot guy, I think Valbuena qualifies. He is not the second coming of Hanley Ramirez however.
Jhonny Peralta had his third consecutive two hit game, and his first homer in over two weeks. All of you know I came into the season with big hopes for Peralta, and they have now switched to high hopes for Peralta after the All-Star Break. He has only had small spurts of production this season, so if he is out there, I couldn't say that I would send you running to the waiver wire. I do think that he will outperform Mr. Valbuena above, so if they are both out there I would consider him first, unless you just want to play the hot guy.
James Shields had one of the better starts of his season on Saturday against the Mets, but it was interrupted by rain. He had only thrown 87 pitches through seven innings when the game was delayed, and likely would have kept going. But he did allow only one run, didn't walk a batter, and struck out four. I have been down on Shields this year, as he hasn't seemed like the same pitcher he had been the past couple of years. You can say that about the entire Rays rotation. But he is definitely capable of having an outing like this most times he goes to the mound. He should be better than he has been this year, perhaps this is the start of a nice roll.
Mat Gamel has started to get regular playing time, and he is showing what his bat is capable of. He hasn't been knocking the ball out of the park, but he is definitely hitting. He was 2/3 today with a triple and two walks, and has seven hits in the last five days. I would definitely like to see him start to drive the ball over the fence, and drive in some runs, but it is good to see him making contact. The power will be arriving shortly if they keep him out there.
Delmon Young is starting to grab my interest just a little. The former elite prospect who has yet to get anywhere near his expectations. But he does have three hits in the last two games, and hit his second homer of the season on Saturday. Now don't take this as advice to run out and grab him. However, sometimes rookies struggle to find their way when they initially come up to the majors. Perhaps this is the start of Delmon settling in and he will start to be productive.
Congratulations to Gordon Beckham on his first major league home run. The kid is hitting more and more, and has started to sneak into my thoughts of actually starting him in the two leagues I own him in. In daily transactions I would likely try to find a spot for him, but I don't think I trust him enough yet for those of you who only set your rosters once a week. That could possibly change in recent times.
Scott Podsednik is back with the White Sox, back to the top of the lineup, and back to hitting and stealing again. He has spent the past few seasons mostly in the trainer's room, but right now he is healthy and back to his old ways. This is a guy who stole 212 bases over a four year span from 2003-2006. However, it wasn't just injury that limited his playing time in recent years, he wasn't effective much when he was in there. If you need speed or have a rotating spot he might be worth a shot, but I am not drinking the Kool-Aid on Podsednik just yet.
FINALLY!!!!! Russell Martin got that goose egg out of his home run category, now if he can only get his batting average out of the .240s perhaps he could be worth the draft pick you spent on him. I'd say hopefully he will improve when Manny comes back into the lineup, but it wasn't like he was doing good then either. Keep him in your lineups though, Martin is better than this, there should be a hot streak in his future.
Frank Francisco will be activated from the Disabled List, and hopefully this time it is for good. However, Manager Ron Washington did say that he wouldn't use Francisco as a closer right out of the chute. So, if you see him in the seventh or eighth inning in his first couple of outings, don't freak out or think he's lost his job.
Diasuke Matsuzaka will be skipped his next time through the rotation I guess to give him a little more rest to see if he can get straight again. Matsuzaka will also be examined by team doctors to be sure that nothing is wrong with him. Hold your breath Dice-K owners. I'm not saying something is wrong, but he's been unusually bad. He could just need a rest, or could be something worse.
Coco Crisp could be facing season ending surgery if he has a torn labrum in his shoulder. It could be a rotator cuff injury, but he will be examined in the next couple of days to pinpoint exactly what the injury is. While Crisp is no great fantasy player, he was useful from time to time this season.
Mailing List
I’m not going to stop bringing up the mailing list until I get a day where I don’t get a request to join it. For those of you who haven’t seen it yet, when I find news earlier in the day I will send an email to you about whatever it might be. If you were on the mailing list you would have found out about the callups of Matt Wieters, Fernando Martinez, Nolan Reimold and others. The trade of Nate McLouth, and injuries to Jose Reyes, etc. This mailing list is your way to get a step up on your competition. Anyone who is on the list, please leave a comment below on whether you think that you have benefitted from the list. Send an email to either fantasybaseballtonight@gmail.com or fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com and put Mailing List in the subject line.
As always, your comments and questions are welcome at fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com. I guarantee a response within 18 hours. Also, don’t miss the “Fantasy Baseball Tonight” podcast four nights a week from Monday-Thursday. The Big Show on Wednesday is co-hosted by Todd Farino of fantasybaseballsearch.com, RC Rizza of junkyardjake.com and myself, Ryan Hallam at fightingchancefantasy.com. To hear the show go to www.blogtalkradio.com/the_true_guru. You can also hear me weekly on the Tuesday Night show. Join me with Jeff Mans every Tuesday night at 10pm EST for all the the info and craziness we can pack into one hour. A can’t miss if you plan on winning your league.
Saves: 7
got 11 saves, 18 strikeouts, and he gave up zero runs on only four hits. He is clearly the best closer in the game right now.
got 11 saves, 18 strikeouts, and he gave up zero runs on only four hits. He is clearly the best closer in the game right now.
