Beyond the Boxscore–Fantasy MLB News and Notes 5/2108

Even when he loses, Brandon Webb is pretty damn good. Webb went seven innings, allowed just three runs and struck out seven. His offense just didn’t show up tonight and his record fell to 9-1. Obviously, Webb is a must start every time out, and is getting to be a shoe in to start the All-Star Game for the National League.

Derek Jeter is a special player whose drive and competitiveness is almost unmatched. A day after being hit on the wrist with a pitch, Jeter played and stole a base and drove in a run. It looks like the Yankee captain is ok, and get him back into your lineup.

Dontrelle Willis has been activated from the disabled list, but he will go to the bullpen for the time being, while Armando Gallaraga will remain in the rotation. I urge all of you to stay away from the D-Train. He is a great example of someone who has a great love for the game, but isn’t a good fantasy option.

Joba Chamberlain pitched two innings tonight in a blowout win against the Orioles, which is weird since they have been so protective of him. Joe Girardi confirmed after the game that they have begun the process of stretching Joba out to put him in the starting rotation. This isn’t a one week process, but he will be starting before the All-Star Break. This guy has some electric stuff, and although he hasn’t been the same dominator as last season, I would try to get him on the cheap right now before the news spreads. He could have a big impact in the rotation.

One guy that Chamberlain won’t be replacing in the rotation is Darrell Rasner, who has been so much more than the Yankees could have hoped for. Rasner went to 3-0 since his recall, after throwing seven shutout innings and striking out six. I don’t see Rasner keeping this up all season long, but if you have an injury or some dead weight, ride the hot hand while Rasner is producing.

Ben Sheets continues to do what he does when he is healthy. Sheets threw his second complete game of the season and improved his record to 5-1 with a win over the Pirates. Sheets allowed just one run and struck out six and now has an ERA under three. I still warn you greatly about Sheets’ inability to remain healthy and not to target him in a trade. If you own Sheets, now is a great time to test his value around your league and see if you can find someone who likes him.

Bartolo Colon did well in his first start of the season as a member of the Boston Red Sox, but I’m not sure that he is a guy that I would target for my team. Colon was a former Cy Young award winner, but that was a few years ago and he has been through a lot since. Colon threw five innings, allowed two runs and struck out four. He is on a team that would lend themselves to getting some wins, but I’m not sure how long he will be in the rotation, and I don’t know if you can expect him to produce well.

Dana Eveland threw his fourth consecutive great start, in fact, it was the best of his career. Eveland threw a complete game on Wednesday, and only allowed a home run to Johnny Gomes and struck out five. Eveland is now 4-3 with a 2.90 ERA for an Oakland team that doesn’t score a ton of runs. Eveland is a great option for the end of your rotation, but you have to expect that ERA to jump up at least a half a run by the end of the season.

The Seattle Mariners sent rookie Jeff Clement back to AAA the other day after his struggles became too much. Clement had only eight hits in 15 games without a home run and only two ribbies. Clement still has a ton of long term talent, especially in keeper leagues, but for now he won’t be able to help you.

Ok, so Derrek Lee hit his 11^th homer of the year today. However, after a blazing start Lee has slowed way down. After the month of April Lee had eight homers, 21 days into May he only has 11. Through the first month of the season, Lee was hitting .364, that average has now dropped to .302. Finally, 23 of his 30 RBI came during the month of April. I believe that Lee will still have a respectable year, but that incredible start had to come to an end.

Boston rookie Jacoby Ellsbury continues to be incredibly impressive. Not only did Ellsbury lead off tonight’s game with a homer, but also had three hits and stole his 19^th base in 20 attempts. It is looking more and more that Ellsbury will give the Red Sox their second consecutive rookie of the year (Pedroia in ’07).

Stephen Drew is really starting to show the hitting ability we all knew he had. Drew has been on a good roll lately and is now hitting near .300. Stephen also hit his 6^th homer of the year as he has started to show a little more power as of late. If for some reason he is still available, definitely go and grab him, if not, see if you can get him on the cheap. I wouldn’t be surprised to see a good second half from Drew.

Geriatric Homer Run Derby—Both Jermaine Dye and Vladimir Guerrero both hit the ball out of the ballpark twice on Wednesday. While Vlad still carries a good deal of fantasy value, I don’t hold much stock at all in Dye. Even after the breakout tonight, Guerrero still only has 6 home runs, so you might be able to get him cheap. I still expect 28-30 HRs from Vlad by the end of the season.

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 5/15/08 Unexpected Hitting and Starting Pitchers Notes

Most of the news tonight involves starting pitching, but we do have a segment of unexpected hitters.

For the first time since April 19^th, Andruw Jones hit a home run. I know a lot of us had reservations about Mr. Jones coming into the season because of the way he struggled last year, but I never thought he would fall this far. In 38 games, Jones is hitting just .182 with only seven RBI. He is completely unownable at this point, and shouldn’t be picked up after this either. You can’t touch Jones until he is over the .200 mark and more than five homers.

A surprise in a good way continues to be Nate McLouth. No matter how many times I keep saying that he can’t keep it up, McLouth doesn’t miss a beat. He is still hitting over .300, and he swatted his 11^th homer of the year on Thursday. Not to mention his 33 RBI are among the league leaders. It is now over six weeks into the season, so it can’t be a total shock if McLouth’s production doesn’t take a dive off a cliff, but I still can’t see him hitting 30 long balls either.

One last quick tidbit under the unexpected header. After taking three of four from the New York Yankees, the Tampa Bay Rays continue to be in first place in the AL East at seven games over .500. On the flip side, the Yankees are now two games south of .500 and in last place in the division. I’m sure it won’t continue this way, but it is nice to see some of the bottom feeders having something to get excited about.

Starting Pitching Notes

Speaking of the Yankees, they wanted to give Ian Kennedy another chance after the total disaster that is Kei Igawa. Well, things didn’t go according to plan again for the Bronx Bombers. You knew right away that it wasn’t going to be a good day for Kennedy when he gave up a home run to the first batter he faced, light hitting Akinori Iwamura. It didn’t get much better from there. Kennedy lasted five innings, allowed five runs while striking out three. Continue to not even think of adding Kennedy.

Kennedy’s opponent was the hot hurler Scott Kazmir. Kazmir threw six shutout innings while striking out three. It is a shame that Kazmir seems to be hurt every year. He has the talent to be a top 20 pitcher.

Phillies starter Cole Hamels went the distance on Thursday, as he continues to show that he is a top 15 starter already. Hamels struck out six, and now has 54 in 65 innings. Cole has an ERA under three, and is one of the top pitchers at the age of 24.

Dodgers’ youngster Chad Billingsley continued to turn the awful start he got his season off to around, and picked up his third win of the year on Thursday. This was three of his last four starts that Billingsley allowed just one earned run, and he struck out four. After starting out 0-4, Chad took his record to 3-5 after today’s victory. He certainly is worth strongly considering to add to your lineup right away.

Brewers ace Ben Sheets continues to keep himself healthy, but right now he just isn’t being productive. This was four consecutive starts that Sheets has allowed three runs or more, as his ERA has gone up to 3.25, up from 0.96 before this run of bad starts. While he’s healthy, Sheets is a must start, but like I have been preaching all season, if you can move Sheets, please do so right away.

Indians’ rookie Aaron Laffey is proving that he belongs in the majors every time he takes the mound. For the third consecutive outing, Laffey failed to give up an earned run. Laffey was kind of cast aside after his first start of the year, but he has been lights out since then and certainly belongs on your roster in all league types at this point.

Ryan Dempster seems to be much more effective as a starter rather than a reliever. Dempster is now 5-1 as he has allowed more than three runs only once all season, and set his career high for strikeouts in a game with 12. As a closer, Dempster was a guy that was definitely worth owning, but he always made getting those three outs an adventure. He has proven to be a much more settled pitcher when he is starting the game.

Just when it seemed safe to write Mets’ pitcher Mike Pelfrey into oblivion, he comes out and throws a gem. Pelfrey went 7.2 innings, gave up just one run and fanned four. The Mets’ rewarded their young hurler with absolutely no run support, and he got hung with his fourth loss of the year. I still wouldn’t own Pelfrey on any of my teams. I still need to see some consistency before I would want him pitching for my team.

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 5/4/08 Injury Notes, Travis Hafner, Pitching Performances

Curtis Granderson is destroying the ball since his return from the DL. Granderson hit his 5^th homer in just his 11^th game back healthy. He is hitting .317 and also stole his first base of the season. Most impressive so far from Granderson is that he has walked nine times, while striking out just six. This is a marked improvement from a guy who has fanned 315 times in the past two years. He’s too hot to trade for right now, and if you have him, you’ve got a big smile on your face.

Speaking of hot, when the hell is Chipper Jones going to come back to earth? With a 3-6 game on Sunday, Chipper is hitting .425 on the year. This isn’t the first week anymore people, for this guy to still be hitting over .400 after five weeks of the season is insane. If I owned Chipper, I would be trying to find the highest bidder in my league and deal him off. There’s NO way he can possibly keep this up, and his value will never be higher. He also has nine homers and has driven in 27.

Roy Halladay finally got some support from his teammates. Maybe the key is for him to be successful is to not throw a complete game, as he is 1-3 when he goes all the way. Halladay was great on Sunday, going 7.1 innings giving up just one earned and whiffing seven. Halladay is still one of the AL’s elite pitchers, and if he stays healthy will win 15 games.

Travis Hafner’s cold streak has now lasted over a year. After a disappointing 2007, Pronk has not picked it up in 2008. After another 0-3 on Sunday, Hafner’s batting average now sits at .209. He is still driving in runs at a decent pace, he does have 17 ribs, but his power has declined as he only has hit three out. The opposite of Granderson, he is too cold to trade right now, and if you have him you are pretty pissed.

Indians’ rookie Aaron Laffey was better in his second start than he was in his first. Laffey lasted seven innings, didn’t give up an earned run and fanned five. However, the unearned run he allowed pinned him with his second loss. He has been decent at worst in both starts, but he is now 0-2. He is still worth keeping an eye on, if he throws a good start or two you might want to think of making a move to get him.

Yankees’ rookie pitcher Ian Kennedy was sent down to Triple A following his latest disappointing start. That is now both of the young pitchers the Yanks were counting on either being hurt or demoted in just five weeks. This gave an opportunity to Darrell Rasner who was ripping up the minors, who made the most of his opportunity. He gave up a two run shot in the first inning, but that was all. Rasner went six and struck out four, while not walking a batter. Let him throw one more good start before heading to the wire to get him, but this is just what the Yankees needed.

Eric Gagne blew his fifth save of the season today, with the game tying run scoring on a bases loaded walk. Gagne’s contract will make it so he needs to be completely awful for a good stretch of time before he will be replaced. However, if you have him, I would do anything I could to make sure he was on someone else’s roster soon.

Injury Notes

Dodgers’ 3B Andy LaRoche was activated from the disabled list and sent to AAA Las Vegas. LaRoche will most likely need a few weeks in the minors to prove that he is ready to return to the big team, and he also needs to hope that fill-in starter Blake DeWitt hasn’t done enough to prove that he deserves some at-bats in Los Angeles.

Rays ace Scott Kazmir did indeed throw his first start of the regular season today and although he wasn’t good, he wasn’t embarrassing either. Kazmir only lasted four innings, gave up three earned, walked three and whiffed five. Whenever a pitcher misses that much time due to injury, you should never expect too much in his first start back. If his elbow is indeed healthy, Kaz should be all right in the very near future.

Although this isn’t his first start back, Ben Sheets just belongs in the injury section of this article. He wasn’t great either on Sunday, but if it wasn’t for Eric Gagne’s fifth blown save, Sheets would have gone to 5-0. His line doesn’t get you excited though, as he gave up four runs in 6.1 innings and struck out six. His season ERA still sits at just 2.29, which is still good enough for you to find a taker on a trade before he has his yearly bad injury.

Aramis Ramirez wrist was still too swollen for him to play on Sunday. He was still a little sore, but from the sounds of it he could be back by the end of the week. Nothing I read suggested that he might be headed to the disabled list, which is great new for Aramis owners.

Big Papi sat out Sunday with tightness in his right knee. He initially missed two games before playing five straight, and then missing again on Sunday. This doesn’t seem like an injury that will cost him a big chunk of time, but it may linger for a while and could cost him a game or two a week for a little while. Ortiz said he would be back in the lineup on Monday.

Ian Kinsler missed his second straight game Sunday with tightness in his hamstrings. Both manager Ron Washington and Kinsler both have said that this is a short term injury, and if it was an important game, Kinsler would be in there.

Dontrelle Willis reinjured his knee in his final rehab start, and it will be longer before he is able to rejoin the team. This shouldn’t be overly important news, as Willis has shown recently that he is no longer worthy to be a member of a fantasy rotation unless you have had wicked injury problems.

Quick Hitters

Marlins’ rookie Andrew Miller continues to do just enough to stay in the majors. Each time it seems like the next bad start will land him at Triple-A, Miller goes out and throws well. Sunday it was a two-run in six inning start, while striking out four. Miller’s ERA is still almost seven, so I don’t recommend you owning him right now, but if he was able to put a couple more good starts together, I could change my tune.

Athletics’ starter Greg Smith continues to have a surprising start to the year. Smith has yet to give up more than three runs in any of his six starts, and Sunday was his best start yet. Smith lasted six, gave up just one run and struck out a career high ten batters. Smith is a two start pitcher this week, and is now worth starting every week until he starts to cool down.

After Mike Lowell had an amazing season in 2007, now Kevin Youkilis is having a great 2008. Youk hit his third homer on Sunday, drove in four runs to bring his total to 20, and is hitting .310. Youkilis is a definite sell high candidate, but is on pace to have his best year as a pro.

Reds rookie 1B Joey Votto continues to get the majority of the starts, and he is making it tough for Dusty Baker to keep him out of the lineup. Votto has 14 ribeyes in limited starts this year, and he is hitting .294. Votto has 20/20 potential, and may realize that potential as soon as 2008.

As always, your questions about your team (adds, drops, trades, etc) and comments are welcome at fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com. I guarantee an answer within 18 hours.

Beyond the Boxscore–Fantasy MLB News and Notes 4/29/08 Injury Notes, Pitching Good and Bad, Sell High

Roy Halladay has got a lot to complain about. He has now gone the distance in four consecutive starts, and his record during this time? 1-3. Granted, they weren’t your traditional complete games (he gave up four runs in one, and five in another), but when your pitcher goes all the way, you gotta score enough runs to get him the win. Halladay has been extremely durable this year, but I am concerned given his injury history and all the innings that he is putting on his arm early in the season. If you own him, maybe test the market for his value.

Yanks rook Phil Hughes is having a tough season. Hughes has not only had a tough time going deep into games (only lasting through six once), but he is getting tattooed pretty regularly, and Tuesday was no different. Hughes threw 82 pitches in just 3.2 innings and he gave up six runs. Hughes even uncorked two wild pitches. I still believe that Hughes will find his confidence at some point during the year and pitch well, but I don’t know when that will be.

Johnny Cueto had another one of those “bump in the road” games tonight. He had been rotating bad start and good start for his last four, but this is two pretty bad ones in a row. Cueto gave up six runs in just 1.2 innings for his shortest outing of the year. The next start will be a big one for Cueto to see what he is made of. Can he bounce back from back to back bad starts to get back on track? Or will he go down the path of many young pitchers before him, and collapse under some adversity?

Marlins rookie Andrew Miller looked like he had turned the corner his last time out, but he was awful again tonight. Miller lasted just three innings again (he is yet to go past five innings yet), and gave up six earned and didn’t strike out a batter. He got off the hook for the loss by a good comeback by the Marlins, but his ERA is now over nine and he would need to put together a good month before I could recommend putting him on your roster.

All the pitching Tuesday was bad. Red Sox starter Jon Lester was amazing Tuesday. Lester went eight shutout innings, gave up just one hit and fanned six. Lester has been no better than average so far this season, but the talent is there, and when he throws games like this it shows what is possible when the guy learns to be consistent.

Arizona minor league phenom Max Scherzer made his major league debut tonight, and boy did he make some noise. Mad Max went 4.1 innings, didn’t give up a hit or a walk and struck out seven. If he is going to be this good, I guarantee the Diamondbacks will find a way to give him starts. I didn’t turn on the TV until after he was relieved, but they showed his strikeouts afterwards, and he had a really live fastball with some movement on it. He could make a big fantasy impact in 2008.

Any excuse to write about Boof Bonser, I will take it. The Boofer was nasty tonight, going seven innings, only giving up one run and whiffing eight. Bonser has been good in 2008 outside of one bad start, and is getting close to be worth owning in all leagues. He strikes out a pretty good number, and although the Twins aren’t great, they aren’t so bad that they often waste solid efforts from their starters.

Freakin Nate McLouth just won’t go away. I sound frustrated with him today because the owner I am playing in a head to head league has Nate. McLouth led off the game today at Shea with his seventh homer of the year, and now has driven in 22 runs, while hitting .327. I keep thinking that you should sell high before he comes back to earth, but McLouth keeps hitting. Can he keep this up all year? I still don’t think so.

Stop the presses, Andruw Jones got a hit. Jones seems to be in a competition with Barry Zito for worst contract ever, as his batting average continues to be well below the Mendoza line. He is averaging over a strike out per game, and has just four RBI in 25 games. It is time for you to cut ties with Jones if you can find anything on the waiver wire worthwhile. Jones may still turn it around, but this is a long drawn out slump that he is stuck in.

Injury Notes

It has just been announced that Alex Rodriguez will be sent to the DL after the game against the Tigers tonight. This is a devastating blow to his fantasy teams, as he was certainly your first round pick. Hopefully this rest will be what he needs to get back healthy, and back on the field.

Troy Tulowitzki left the game tonight in the first inning with some sort of leg injury. The last play that he was a part of was a grounder up the middle that he pretty much just waved at on the way by him and he was taken out of the game after that. Too soon for details, but stay tuned on a guy who was really in a funk anyway.

Scott Kazmir has been told that he will be pitching for the Rays this Sunday against the Red Sox. Kazmir was 0-1 with a 3.55 ERA during his three rehab starts, but more importantly he got through them pain free. I am still nervous about Kazmir, but if you have him, you have to plug him back into your lineup when he is set to come off the DL, and hope he gets back to the form that showed him leading the AL in strikeouts.

One pitcher comes off the DL, another goes on. John Smoltz will be returning to the DL with inflammation in the rotator cuff and severly inflamed biceps tendon. It was diagnosed that it could be cured without surgery, but there has been no timetable for his return. Put him on your injury list, and wait to see if fantasy waste Chuck James, or hot prospect Jo Jo Reyes are called up to take his spot.

Ben Sheets made his first start since coming off the DL, and was far from impressive but still improved his record to 4-0. Sheets threw 108 pitches in five innings, gave up just three earned runs, but walked seven batters. I have been advising anyone who asks me that owns Sheets to try to find an owner in your league that will trade for him and get him off of your team. The fact that he got another win most likely keeps his trade value higher than it should, so take advantage while he still has value.

Quick Hitters

Nats 3B Ryan Zimmerman hit his first homer tonight since the first weekend of the season. Zimmerman has been in a pretty good slump since that first weekend, and his owners are hoping that this is the key to getting him back on track. I was pretty high on Zim going into the season, but now it is looking like last year’s numbers might be what we should expect. If you’ve got him, play him, if you don’t maybe you can buy him at a very low point.

Orioles closer George Sherrill collected his 10^th save of the year tonight and was tied for the league lead until K-Rod notched his 11^th just a few minutes ago. This is completely unexpected from a guy who was setting up in Seattle until he was traded for Erik Bedard and was anointed closer. You might want to try to sell high, but I am confident that Sherrill will nail down most chances presented to him, it is just a matter of how many chances the Orioles will give him.

Mike Cameron’s 25 game suspension for stimulant use is up, and he was back in the lineup for the Brewers. You pretty much know what to expect from Cameron, a decent amount of pop, and a lot of strikeouts.

Yankees 2B Robinson Cano connected on his second homer tonight, and with all the injuries that the Yanks have endured the last week or so, they need him to start contributing more than ever.

Mets’ RF Ryan Church continues to be one of the sleeper stories of the year. Church is still hitting over .315 and connected on his third homer of the season and is closing in on 20 RBI. No one could’ve expected this when they traded Lastings Milledge for Church and Schneider, but right now that trade is looking great for the Mets. He is certainly worth owning while he has a hot bat, but I would be trying to sell high if at all possible.

Angels starter Joe Saunders moved to 5-0 tonight after another incredibly strong start. Saunders threw eight shutout innings and whiffed five. It is the fourth time that Saunders has thrown eight innings, as he continues his improbable season. He is definitely a sell high candidate, but if you can’t find a taker keep running Saunders out there and enjoy it while it lasts. He has the talent to be a good fantasy starter, but he will certainly take a step back from the unheard of start he is on.

As always, your questions about your team (adds, drops, trades, etc) and comments are welcome at fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com. I guarantee an answer within 18 hours.