Beyond the Boxscore–Fantasy MLB News and Notes 5/22/08

The next young arm that is going to be added in a lot of fantasy leagues in the next 24 hours is going to be the Marlins’ Andrew Miller. Miller was one of the two big pieces that the Marlins got back in the Miguel Cabrera trade, but he got off to a terrible start. This is the fourth consecutive good start for Miller, and tonight was the best of his major league career. Miller lasted seven shutout innings, while striking out nine. Not bad for a guy who turned 23 yesterday. Unless your staff is stacked, see if you have someone you can replace with Miller, and keeper league players, act quickly.

Yankees rookie Ian Kennedy finally had a start that he didn’t embarrass himself. Kennedy has been a whopping disappointment for both the Yankees and fantasy players, and I am guessing most people had given up on him by now. Kennedy gave up just one run over six innings with four punchouts. I still think that you should wait for two or three more starts like this before thinking of adding him to your roster.

After swirling rumors about his job security, Rangers’ closer C.J. Wilson collected his ninth save of the season. He still could be replaced sometime soon by Eddie Guardado, but perhaps he has bought himself some more time with the 1-2-3 performance he gave on Thursday.

Despite walking more than a batter an inning, Daisuke Matsusaka remained unbeaten with his 8^th win of the season against Kansas City. Dice allowed three runs, walked six and struck out seven over 5.2 innings in which he threw 118 pitches. It wasn’t pretty, but he got the job done.

Both Santanas took the loss on Thursday, with Johan losing to the Braves and Ervin going down to the Jays. Ervin gave up four runs over six innings with seven Ks. He has been shaky his last few times out which is to be expected. He is pitching over his head, I would try to move him if I had him (which I do, and I will).

Johan Santana had two parts to his line score which wouldn’t make me happy if I owned him. First, Santana gave up a career high 12 hits, second, he struck out only one over seven innings. He is a great buy low candidate. Don’t expect anyone to give him away, but I bet the price is lower than it was when the season started.

Even when he loses, Aaron Laffey is pretty impressive. The great Indians’ rookie threw seven, one-run innings and struck out six while only walking one. Laffey has been one of the more impressive rookies in 2008 and is starting to look like a must-start each time out.

Ryan Howard is on a tear, and is starting to show he was worthy of your first round pick. After his 13^th on Thursday, Howard now has six in his last nine games. Ryan will most likely finish with 50, or somewhere near that, you just have to hope that he starts to cut down on the strikeouts which have plagued him this year.

Tigers rookie Matt Joyce is making the most of his opportunity to play. Joyce connected on his fifth homer of the season Thursday, and raised his average to .276. Joyce is worth a look in larger leagues as he is showing that he has some pop. Joyce did have a season of 17 HRs in 130 games, so this isn’t a total fluke. Continue to watch Joyce, and if he continues to hit like this, pick him up.

Jason Bay continues on the road to fantasy relevance again with his 11^th homer of the season Thursday while he now has 22 RBI. After hitting just 21 HRs all of last season, Bay looks to be on pace to get back to the numbers he put up his first two years in the league.

With his third homer in five days, it also looks like Corey Hart is getting back to the form that made him a very sexy pickup in 2007. Hart also stole his eighth base of the year, which puts him on pace to smash his career high of 23 last season. I believe that Hart will hit fewer homers in 2008, but steal more bases than he did in 2007.
Injury News

Brewers closer Eric Gagne has been shut down indefinitely with rotator cuff tendonitis. It is too soon to have a timetable for his return, but if you have him, try ANYTHING to get someone to take him or just cut him off your team.

One day after taking a Pujols line drive to the nose, San Diego pitcher Chris Young was placed on the Disabled List with the broken nose. He hopes to miss just the mandatory 15 games, so stash him in your injury spot on your roster and hope that there are no lingering effect to that scary injury.

Indians closer Joe Borowski will be activated off the DL on Friday and immediately regain his role as closer in the Cleveland bullpen. Yeah, he gives up a lot of runs and blows some saves, but after the way his replacements performed during his absence Borowski’s job security has never been higher. Put him back in your lineup immediately.

Indians catcher Victor Martinez left the game Thursday with an injured finger, making him day-to-day. This is just the latest is in a string of tough events for one of the best catchers in the league. Martinez is hitting for a good average, but still hasn’t homered yet this year. Considering you probably have no second option behind the plate, continue to play Victor and hope this doesn’t keep him out long.

As always, your questions (adds, drops, trades) and comments are welcome at fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com. I guarantee a response within 18 hours. Don’t forget to check me out at mlbfrontoffice.com on Tuesdays under In The News. Also go to fantasybaseballsearch.com to find me in the Gurus Blog.

Beyond the Boxscore–Fantasy MLB News and Notes 5/16/08

It has been an offensive night tonight, with baseballs leaving ballparks all over the country.

By the 5^th inning of tonight’s game, Phillies CF Jayson Werth had three home runs and eight RBI tying the franchise record for runs batted in within a single game. Werth has been a decent player to have at the end of your roster, but tonight someone will grab him and start to play him daily. He is ok as an injury replacement, or an occasional play, but I wouldn’t want to have to have him in my lineup daily. Before this explosion he had six homers in 33 games while hitting .272. Not bad, but not great. If you happen to own Werth, I would try to throw his name in some trade talks and see if you can take advantage of this guy’s career night.

Alfonso Soriano is hot, red hot. With his two home runs on Friday, Soriano now has five dingers in his last five games, with 10 RBI during that time. Is this the signal of the end of his season starting slump? The Cubs, and his fantasy owners sure hope so. After going 40/40 in 2006, Soriano took a pretty good sized step back in 2007. He struggled to start the season in 2008, but if this is any indication, Soriano could be back to first round pick production.

The third guy to hit two or more over the wall is the American League RBI leader Josh Hamilton. Hamilton homered in the third and the fourth inning on his way to a 5-5 night as he raised his RBI total to 49. In his second season back from a hiatus from baseball due to drug addictions, it appears that Hamilton is now ready to realize the potential that made him one of the brightest prospects before his lifestyle forced him from the game. He obviously can’t keep this pace up or he will finish with close to 200 ribbies, but he will hit 30 HRs and drive in 120 as long as he stays healthy.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia has been struggling since his recall to the majors, but he did take his first ball out of the park on Friday. Salty is hitting just under .200 and four batted in over ten games. Salty also most likely has catcher eligibility in your league, which makes him a sleeper candidate if the catcher you drafted isn’t living up to expectations. He isn’t playing every day, but if he goes on a little hot streak, Salty will be in the lineup on most occasions.

Dan Uggla is playing out of his mind lately. Uggla hit his seventh homer in his last ten games, and has his average up to .313. Uggla also has 14 RBI over that span. He has never had his average this high, and is due to have a dry spell. Take this opportunity to see if you can land one of the top few options at second base.

After being a fantasy darling in his first two years in the league, Jason Bay fell off the fantasy map in 2007. In 2008, he is trying to regain the form that made him the National League ROY. Bay hit his ninth homer of the year on Friday, and has his average at .271. He still isn’t back to the status that he once held, but Bay is back to being a top 20 outfielder.

Rockies outfielder Matt Holliday missed Friday’s game with some tightness in his back. Manager Clint Hurdle made a point to say that the injury was nothing serious, and he was only out due to precautionary reasons. It is possible that he will miss another game, but this is nothing that will cost him any significant time.

Not all the news concerns the guys with the bats, there were some great pitching performances as well.

Looking for a sleeper closer in the second half of the year, keep an eye on the A’s Joey Devine. Once the closer in waiting for the Braves during John Smoltz reign, Devine is now an important part of Oakland’s bullpen. Devine’s ERA is at a ridiculous 0.55, and he has allowed just one earned run in 14 appearances, striking out 22 batters in just 17 innings. If anything were to happen to Huston Street, Devine should be the next in line given his performance this season.

Johnny Cueto continues to drive his owners crazy with his inconsistency. However, his performance on Friday was a step in the positive direction. Cueto lasted six innings, allowed three runs, and whiffed seven. He didn’t factor in the decision, but continues his good start, bad start routine. Unfortunately for those of you who have Cueto, if he keeps following this pattern, his next time out will be bad.

Francisco Liriano is showing some improvements in AAA ball. Liriano had his longest outing since going down to the minors, when he went eight innings, gave up three runs, walked just one batter and struck out four. He has continued to last longer into games, walk less guys, and give up fewer runs. This doesn’t mean that his return is imminent, but it at least means that he is making progress, and all is not lost with one of the most exciting prospects in recent memory.

Orioles prospect Garrett Olson is off to a 3-0 start to 2008. Olson beat the Nationals giving up three runs over five innings and striking out three. I wouldn’t go running to the waiver wire to grab Olson, but if you have a short term injury, he could be a decent fill-in.

The FIRST PLACE Tampa Bay Rays got another strong performance from young Andy Sonnanstine. Sonnanstine threw eight great innings against the St. Louis Cardinals as he ran his record to 6-1. His record might be a little misleading, seeing that his ERA is 4.67 but he was terrific Friday. Sonnanstine allowed just one run and struck out three against the Cardinals, as the Rays went to eight games over .500. I envision the number of runs that Sonnanstine has been giving up will catch up to his win-loss record, but for now ride the hot hand if you can’t find a taker in a trade.

Marlins’ pitcher Andrew Miller had a shaky outing, but not one of the horrible ones he had been having in the beginning of the season. Miller pitched five innings and allowed four runs (only two were earned), and struck out six. It is a slight step back, but Miller has certainly been pitching better in May than he did in April. He is a decent end of the rotation starter, with the potential to be the second or third best guy on your staff.

As always, your questions (adds, drops, trades) and comments are welcome at fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com. I guarantee a response within 18 hours. Don’t forget to check me out at mlbfrontoffice.com on Tuesdays under In The News. Also go to fantasybaseballsearch.com to find me in the Gurus Blog.

Beyond the Boxscore–Fantasy MLB News and Notes 5/10/08

Jason Isringhausen has been removed as the Cardinals closer. At his own admission, he has been horrible of late, and he doesn’t want the ball in the ninth inning until he can get those issues straightened out. Manager Tony LaRussa said that Ryan Franklin and Russ Springer would get the save opportunities. Saturday night the save went to Franklin as he pitched a one hit ninth inning. It is so hard to judge what LaRussa might do, but if you are looking for some cheap saves, I’d grab Franklin.

Shockingly, Yanks SS Derek Jeter finally hit his first homer of the year today. Now Jeter is a long way from Mickey Mantle as far as the long ball is concerned, but you fully expect him to hit at least one a month. Jeter is still a top 5 shortstop, and hopefully breaking the ice tonight will lead to him getting back on his usual 15 HR pace each year.

Max Scherzer had his second start of his major league career tonight, and it was much better than his first. Scherzer went six innings, allowing just one unearned run and fanned six guys. After a shaky first start following that dominating relief appearance, I believe many of you got nervous. Don’t worry, as long as he remains in the rotation he will be effective. However, I have been seeing some reports that he won’t last in the D-Backs rotation for too long before being either sent back down or sent to the pen.

Blue Jays centerfielder Vernon Wells will miss six to eight weeks with a broken bone in his wrist. Wells injured himself on a diving catch, and if you have to get injured playing ball, at least do it doing something good like diving for the ball, not something stupid like falling running the bases. Stash Vernon on your DL spot until he is able to return.

Scott Kazmir had his second start since coming off the DL, and this one was pretty impressive. Kazmir went six innings, didn’t give up a run and struck out six. For those of you who own him, I hope he was already back in your lineups.

Tonight, Indians’ rookie Aaron Laffey didn’t run into similar bad luck like he had in his previous two starts. Laffey was finally staked to some runs, and pitched very well. He has been pretty good in all three of his major league starts, but this was his first win. It is getting to the point where you now want to start to add Laffey, as he has allowed just four runs in three major league starts.

Marlins’ rookie Andrew Miller was equally impressive. Along with Cameron Maybin, Miller was a highly sought after rookie in the Miguel Cabrera trade, and after being close to being shipped to the minors, Miller has started to turn it around. Three of his last four starts, Miller has given up two runs or less, and if he throws one more gem, get him on your team. He has a world of potential, and if he starts to realize it you will want to own Andrew Miller.

In just his second season Tim Lincecum is putting together a Cy Young type season. After another brilliant performance, Lincecum improved to 5-1 with a 1.61 ERA. He also strikes out more than a batter an inning, and he is a must have in all leagues at this point already.

In relief of the injured Phil Hughes, the Yanks might have found themselves a decent starter in Darrell Rasner. Rasner allowed just two earned runs for his second consecutive start, but I wouldn’t be grabbing him unless you are desperate. He isn’t a big strikeout guy, and his value is limited. Unless you are desperate for pitching, leave Rasner alone.

Some power displays on Saturday. Grady Sizemore hit homers number five and six, and most likely he was a second round pick for you so you obviously play him everyday. Prince Fielder hit his fifth of the season as he looks to awake from his season beginning slump. It is just a matter of time before he starts to hit them out regularly, so now might be your last chance to buy low. Carlos Delgado is starting to hit a little bit to as he tries to regain his form that had him putting up MVP type numbers. Don’t expect that kind of production again, but if he could get to .285 with 25+ HRs, Delgado’s owners would be ecstatic.

As always, your questions (adds, drops, trades) and comments are welcome at fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com. I guarantee a response within 18 hours. Don’t forget to check me out at mlbfrontoffice.com on Tuesdays under In The News. Also go to fantasybaseballsearch.com to find me in the Gurus Blog.

Beyond the Boxscore–Fantasy MLB News and Notes 4/23/08 Closers, Injuries, Rookies, more

couple of aging closers are really dealing so far in 2008. In New York, Mets’ closer Billy Wagner has been completely dominant. Not only has Wagner not given up a run yet in his eight appearances, but Wagner is yet to give up a hit! He does only have four saves and six Ks, but Billy has been dealing every time out for Manager Willie Randolph, whether it has been a save situation or not. Although he too isn’t filling up the save category (only has three), Rays’ closer Troy Percival has also yet to give up a run, and has allowed only one hit. This is a little more surprising than Wagner’s season, as many wondered how Percival would do being in the closer’s role for the first time in a number of years. I believe the last time that Percival had a save, Jesus himself was playing left field. Although he doesn’t get a ton of chances, he is making the most out of the chances he gets.

Speaking of closers, it was Derrick Turnbow, not Eric Gagne who came in to finish the game for the Brewers on Wednesday. Most likely this was because Gagne has pitched in five of the last six days. Even though Gagne has struggled, Turnbow hasn’t been much better, with an ERA over nine. He did convert the save with no trouble, but I don’t see this as any change in the guard, Gagne is still the Brewers closer.

In Colorado, closer Manny Corpas is in the middle of a meltdown. After blowing tonight’s chance, Corpas has now blown three out of the last four opportunities. Haven’t heard anything about changing jobs yet, but if it isn’t already in the works, you have to believe Corpas is on a very short leash now. Might be worth grabbing Brian Fuentes as insurance.

Trevor Hoffman was victimized again on Wednesday, as Giants catcher Bengie Molina took Hoffman out of the yard for a blown save. There is still some concern over Hoffman, but he will have to do much more to put his job in jeopardy.

If I am going to crush people when they suck, I should give credit when they don’t. One of my favorite whipping posts, Mike Mussina was good tonight as the Yanks played the White Sox. The Moose gave up only two runs over seven innings for the longest outing of his season, and the Bronx Bombers remained above the .500 mark. Don’t expect this type of production to continue, Mussina’s fantasy days are in his rear view mirror…..and out of sight.

Ok, time to check back in with Evan Longoria. He has now played in 11 games, and although the average is lower than what we expected (.243), he does have two homers and seven ribbies. I have to say that so far he has been a success, and as time passes and he becomes comfortable in the majors, it is dangerous to think what he might do.

Another rookie, Geovany Soto is starting to get noticed. The Cubs catcher got off to a pretty horrendous start, but he is locked in now. Soto was a triple away from the cycle tonight, collecting his seventh double and third homer of the season. He is a welcome addition to a position that is starving for some young talent.

The Tigers have made a fairly drastic change to their infield already in this young season. It was announced on Wednesday that 3B Miguel Cabrera would now play first base, and 1B Carlos Guillen would now be the starting third baseman. This is great for those of you who own these players, as the added flexibility helps your team out. Especially with Guillen, your league most likely gives him SS eligibility from last year, he probably already gained 1B eligibility, and now he will soon have 3B as well.

I know I usually try to stay away from reporting about first round picks, but a few were completely awesome on Wednesday. Chase Utley hit his seventh home run in the last seven games, and has driven in 12 runs during that span. Hanley Ramirez not only hit his seventh homer of the year (his fourth in four games), but stole his sixth base as well. He is definitely proving last year was no fluke. Prince Fielder went yard twice as he aims to get back on his pace to get to 50 HRs again his year.

Injury Notes

Welcome back Curtis Granderson! One of my guys going into this year to come close to replicating last season’s numbers, Granderson came back from the DL today after being hit by a pitch in the Spring. Granderson didn’t disappoint, going 2-4 with two walks, three runs scored and two ribeyes. Get him back into your lineups immediately and get ready for Curtis to fill up the boxscore.

For the second time in two days, the Boston Red Sox had to scratch their projected starter. After Josh Beckett couldn’t make his start, Daisuke Matsusaka had to miss his start due to flu like symptoms. I didn’t see any quotes, but I am sure that Dice will make his next start.

Quick Hitters

Marlins’ pitcher Andrew Miller finally put up a decent outing. Miller went five innings and only gave up one earned run. He didn’t strike anybody out, but consider the growing pains, everyone doesn’t execute right away as rookies. There was talk of sending Miller down, but this start most likely bought him a few more.

The Colorado middle infield situation is a mess. Today’s combination was Clint Barmes at second and Troy Tulowitzki at short. I believe that this is the best lineup for the rookies and the Rockies, keep watching Barmes, he hit another long ball today and is earning his playing time.

When the Cardinals and Blue Jays traded Scott Rolen for Troy Glaus, it seemed as both teams were just changing for the same guy. It is looking like the Cardinals got the better end of that deal. While Glaus isn’t exactly mashing (he is yet to go deep), he does have ten doubles and is hitting .267. I know, I know these aren’t all-star numbers, but thinking of those two guys when the season started you would’ve taken those numbers from Glaus.

As always, your questions (adds, drops, trades) and comments are welcome at fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com. I guarantee a response within 18 hours.