Beyond the Boxscore–Fantasy MLB News and Notes 5/23/08

The majority of the news tonight revolves around starting pitching, so let’s just get the hitting out of the way quickly.

Rangers’ catcher Jarrod Saltalamacchia hit his second homer of the season, and he made it count. Salty went Grand Salami, and although he is hitting just over .220, he is certainly an option for those of you suffering with a crappy option at catcher. He is young, he is powerful, now he just needs some experience and confidence and he could be a tough out for years to come.

Yankees 2B Robinson Cano looks like he might be breaking out of his season long slump. Cano has five hits in the last three games, and has driven in a run in three straight games. If his owner in your league is even a little bit down on Cano, see if you can swing a deal for him now (unless you own Chase Utley of course). Cano is a great hitter and when he does bust out of this funk, he is going to fill a lot of fantasy categories.

Another 2B in the news is Florida’s Dan Uggla. Uggla continues to punish the baseball, and he is putting himself in the company with the best at his position. However, if you think he will finish the season with numbers similar to Chase Utley, I believe you will be sorely disappointed. Uggla has his average up to .320 and hit his 15^th homer of the year on Friday. His power was never a question, but I think his average will take a sharp dive in the wrong direction.

Injury News

Another great cancer survivor story came from Arizona’s Doug Davis today. Davis had surgery to remove his cancer on April 10^th, and just six weeks later is back on the mound in a major league mound. Not only that, but he pitched very well. Davis lasted seven innings, allowed just one run and struck out four. His return signals the end of Max Scherzer as part of the rotation, so Davis isn’t very popular with fantasy players, especially those in keeper leagues. Davis is an average fantasy option, and even saying that, unless you have an injury I can’t recommend picking up Davis. He has been an average starter throughout his career, and I believe he will continue to be just that.

Indians starter Fausto Carmona left his start tonight after injuring his hip covering first base. It is too soon to find out if he will miss any extended time, or any at all. Keep an eye on this situation for details.

More Pitching News

The rumors are flying again about the arrival of super prospect Clayton Kershaw for the Dodgers. The speculation comes from the fact that he was pulled after just one inning in his last start Kershaw is in line to make his next start on Tuesday, the exact time that the Dodgers would need a fifth starter again. More details if this becomes official, but right now it is still just a rumor.

Angels starter Joe Saunders continues to pitch way over his head. Saunders ran his record to 8-1 on Friday after pitching into the ninth inning against the White Sox. Saunders was almost able to go the distance, but got into a little trouble in the ninth before being relieved by K-Rod. Saunders is a guy that I would definitely try to sell high on, and after tonight’s performance, he may have made that a lot easier for you to do.

Saunders’ opponent, Gavin Floyd, was able to go the distance, although it was in a losing effort. Floyd has been a very effective pitcher in most of his starts in 2008, and his ERA is under 3.00. Floyd deserves better than his 4-3 record and is a pretty decent option if you are looking to add a pitcher.

Even with Josh Hamilton leading the world in RBI, the trade which sent him to Texas continues to look good for both teams, as Edinson Volquez continues to pitch masterful baseball. On Friday, Volquez allowed just one run over six innings and fanned 12 to actually raise his ERA to an incredible 1.34. Although he is going to have to start allowing SOME runs, Volquez should finish the season as one of the top 15 starters in the majors.

The inconsistencies from Mets’ starter Oliver Perez continue. I keep touting him as a guy who can give your team a lot of help in the second half, but unless he learns to keep these walks under control, Perez is going to hurt you more than help. On Friday, Perez allowed only two runs over five innings, but in could have been much worse if some of his eight walks were to have crossed the plate. I still like Perez, but am starting to become more and more concerned about his control, and if he can give you consistent outings each time he takes the ball on the mound.

The recent shakiness for Royals’ SP Zach Greinke finally manifested itself into a bad start for the youngster. One of the best sell high options, Greinke finally allowed more than three runs for the time all season as he allowed six runs over just five innings. For those of you who are consistent readers of this blog know that I have been waiting for this sort of outing from Greinke, and I believe there are more where this came from in the future.

The Tampa Bay Rays continue to get strong pitching, and continue to have the best season in their franchise history. Friday it was Matt Garza’s turn, and the man they got for Delmon Young didn’t disappoint. Garza went 7.1 innings, allowed just one run and struck out four. Long considered the Twins top pitching prospect, Garza has been up and down some after returning from an injury that cost him the beginning of the season. Keep your expectations under control, and you won’t be disappointed with having Garza on your roster.

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 5/11/08

I want to start tonight by wishing a very Happy Mother’s Day to all the mothers out there, especially my wonderful mother who has meant so much to my life. And also to my wife, who will be a mother for the second time at any minute. We all owe so much to these women, make sure they know what they mean to you. I know fantasy baseball doesn’t lend itself to too many mothers reading this (although I know of two for sure), but it is something that is important to me.

Reds’ rookie Johnny Cueto is taking a turn for the worse. After electrifying his opponents in Spring Training in the beginning of the season, Cueto has lost four of his last five decisions. Cueto allowed another six runs on Sunday against the Mets, failing to get through the fifth inning. I still wouldn’t advise dropping him, but he has got to be on serious watch if he continues to pitch this way.

Closers in the National League Central are dropping like flies. A day after Jason Isringhausen was removed as Cardinals closer, Eric Gagne was finally removed as the closer of the Brewers. Milwaukee announced that they would employ the dreaded “closer by committee” and the first opportunity went to Salomon Torres, but he had to be removed in the ninth inning before the save went to Bob Shouse. This situation is a mess, and it is hard to say who will be getting saves for the Brewers. More information will come IF it becomes available.

People are always very torn on their opinion on the Mets’ Oliver Perez on how he should be valued. Those who argue against Perez see him as a guy who can’t keep his concentration, walks too many batters, and is prone to the big inning. Those, like me, who like Perez see his electric arm, strikeout rate, home park he pitches in, and offensive ability of the team he plays for, and says if he gets a few breaks he could win 18 games. Today Perez was that good pitcher, and the Mets were that offensive team. Perez went six innings, allowed three runs, and struck out eight to improve his record to 3-3. I can’t really argue against his negatives, but I believe he will be good more often than he will be bad.

Rich Harden made his much anticipated return to the mound Sunday, but he did not come through for those who have been so patient with him. Harden could only get through 3.2 innings and allowed five runs. I wouldn’t advise go sending Harden to the waiver wire, not yet at least. As long as he is healthy, keep Harden on your roster, at least until he gets hurt again. He is an immensely talented guy, he just can’t stay on the mound. If you have been this patient, wait until he starts again.

To replace the struggling Rich Hill, the Cubs called up Sean Gallagher, and let’s just say, Rich Hill could have done that! Gallagher only lasted 4.1 innings, gave up four runs, and struck out six. I would want to see at least one quality start before I thought about adding Gallagher to my roster.

Ervin Santana has been nearly perfect all season long, and we here at Fighting Chance have just been waiting for him to falter. And boy did he falter. Santana gave up five runs in 5.2 innings, but didn’t figure in the decision. While I believe that Santana will have a pretty good season, trust me, this isn’t the last time that we will see a terrible outing like Sunday. To me, he is one of the biggest sell high candidates of 2008.

“Mr. Almost A No Hitter” Gavin Floyd did not get so close to the no hitter on Sunday. In fact, Floyd didn’t even see the fifth inning today. He allowed five runs over 3.2 innings and didn’t record a strikeout. Floyd has been a good story this year, but he is still wildly inconsistent. No runs here, five runs there, no runs again, three runs over there. At the bottom of your rotation, he’s not a bad guy to have, but he is just too up and down for me to advise depending on him too much.

The Angels finally placed Chone Figgins on the disabled list with his strained hamstring. The move was retroactive to May 4^th (the day after the last time he played),which means he is eligible to return on May 19^th. The Angels are hopeful that he will be able to return on that day.

Francisco Liriano has been better in the minors, but still has a long road in his return to the majors.  On Saturday he allowed just two runs over six innings with five strikeouts.  This isn’t going to be a quick fix for Liriano, but this is at least encouraging for those of us who are holding on to him while he is in the minors.

Royals starter Brian Bannister came into 2008 with a lot of expectations on him, and up to this point he has been a mild disappointment. On Sunday, he showed what he is capable of. Bannister went eight shutout innings while striking out five. He was viewed as one of the big sleepers coming into the year, but he is looking like he will be slightly more than a .500 pitcher.

Impressive Performances

Ryan Braun is starting to look like the guy who won the 2007 NL ROY. Braun hit homers number six and seven on Sunday, and now has his batting average up to .281. He is not stealing bases like he did last year (he has only one), but if you can get the power numbers he put up last year, you still would have to be happy with his production.

After hitting two more homers on Sunday, Marlins 2B Dan Uggla now has seven homers in his last nine games. He also has 14 RBI during that stretch and has raised his average by over 30 points.

Another Marlin, Jeremy Hermida could possibly be on a hot streak that has been projected of him for years. Hermida has seven hits in his last five games to get his average over .300. He also hit his third homer of the year, and perhaps if he can stay on the field he can start to realize the potential that he has. A couple more good games, and you should hit the waiver wire for him.

A whopping disappointment, Carlos Beltran, had a game that could possibly get him out of the season long slump he has been in. Beltran had two hits, including his third homer, and raised his season average to .240. You probably spent a pretty high draft pick on Beltran, and you have to be hoping that this is the game that he starts to turn it around.

Rays OF Carl Crawford had himself a great Sunday. Crawford had three hits, including his third homer and also stole two bases (his 11^th and 12^th of the year). You most likely spent either a first round or early second round pick on Crawford, and theses are the kind of games you have been waiting for. Crawford has been decently consistent, but you’ve got to be hoping for a little more.

Finally, I got some gas today and I am appalled at the $3.85/gallon price that I paid. I’m not going to get into my political views, as this is not the place, but it is insane the amount that gas has gone up in the past 6-8 weeks. So, my question is, I want to know for those who read this and care to answer, where are you from and what is the gas price in your area?

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 5/2/08

The Reds had two rookie starters going into this season, and it looks like the one with less hype will make the bigger fantasy impact this year. While Johnny Cueto has begun to struggle some now, Edinson Volquez is not. He will take the loss tonight, but it wasn’t all his fault. He was the victim of a horrible drop in the outfield by Corey Patterson (I’m talking right in his glove!), and then gave up a bomb to Brian McCann. And that was it. Volquez final line was six innings, one earned run, and struck out nine in his first loss. Continue to start him with supreme confidence as we keep waiting for him to come back to life, and he keeps mowing down hitters. He obviously can’t keep up the 1.27 ERA, but you can expect him to have a tremendous season as he will be one of the fantasy gems of 2008.

And speaking of Corey Patterson, CAN WE CALL UP JAY BRUCE YET?!?!!???!? PLEASE!!!!!!! Patterson is a bum, and needs to be replaced. He has four home runs, sure, but they all came in a seven day stretch. After an 0 for 4 tonight, he is hitting a lofty .205 while Bruce is making the minor leagues his bitch again. Bruce is now hitting .307 with five homer, 21 ribbies and has stolen six bases. C’mon Cincy, don’t you ever think about us fantasy players?????

Who was that pitching for the Braves tonight in Tim Hudson’s jersey, because it certainly wasn’t him. Hudson went the distance against the Reds while striking out 10. Now no one is going to name the Reds the team with the best plate discipline, but this was the first time since last April. I view Hudson as a low end fantasy starter due to his low strikeout rate, but I might be the minority in that opinion.

I am scouring a bunch of websites to see if there is any reason besides he was sucking, why Rich Hill was pulled in the first inning tonight in St. Louis. Hill only lasted 2/3 of an inning and gave up a run on four walks. There is no doubt that the Cubs have lost confidence in him, and he is apparently on the shortest leash in history. If there is a decent option in free agency, it may be time to consider cutting ties with the guy.

Update:  Rich Hill has been pulled from the rotation, although not sure if he is being sent down or going to the pen.  Pinella says Shawn Marshall will most likely take his spot.  Time to cut ties with Mr. Hill.

The Reds have changed their minds again on how their rotation will be set this coming week. Johnny Cueto will now pitch Monday and Aaron Harang is moved back a day to Tuesday. “We saw an opportunity to get Harang an extra day’s rest, so we are going to take advantage of it, that’s why they call them probable pitchers” was the quote from Reds pitching coach Dick Pole. Ok, I gotta stop there because that is the only reason I included this. If your name is Richard Pole, why would you let people call you Dick? Especially if you will have a public-type job like pitching coach of a major league team. Can anyone explain this to me?

The Yankees inched closer to the .500 mark as the Mariners couldn’t handle Wang. Ok, ok, I’m done with the dirty stuff tonight. Chien-Ming did go to 6-0, however, and continues to be one of the more underrated pitchers in fantasy baseball.

When Frank Thomas was released by the Blue Jays, fantasy players went running to the waiver wire for Adam Lind. And why not, Lind has had a fairly successful minor league career. But for some reason his bandwagon has passed me by. Lind may be what is known as a 4A player, too good for Triple A, but doesn’t make it in the big leagues. After another 0-3 tonight, Lind is hitting .062 since being called up on 4/26. Keep tabs on him as he is talented, but I can’t recommend having him on your roster right now.

Why do the Dodgers’ continue to play Andruw Jones? Well, I know there are over 100 million reasons why, but he is killing them, and anyone who still has him on their fantasy team. Through six innings tonight, Jones is 0-3 with another three strikeouts, lowering his average to .154 and he now has 32 K’s in just 29 games. Meanwhile Andre Eithier, Matt Kemp, and even Juan Pierre are performing well. Thanks Scott Boras, you suck! (well, that’s not true, you are awesome at what you do for your players, but you handcuff teams when your players don’t perform; see J.D. Drew, Andruw Jones, Barry Zito, etc.)

Injury News

I hate to tell you this Yovani Gallardo owners, but it looks like your guy is done for the year. After it appeared Gallardo avoided injury in a collision yesterday, word came today that he has a tear in his ACL and if surgery is done, his season will be over. In keeper leagues if you can stash him on your DL all year I would certainly do that, but in yearly leagues, let him go and let’s go searching the waiver wire.

Phillies SS Jimmy Rollins now looks on pace to return to the lineup this coming Thursday. This is good news, because the reports yesterday were looking cloudy as far as when he might be able to return to the field.

It looks like Yanks’ catcher Jorge Posada isn’t going to have surgery until after the season, meaning he will probably miss about 6-8 weeks to heal his inflamed rotator cuff. Great news for Posada owners, because if you need to replace your catcher at this point, you are usually scraping the bottom of an already shallow barrel.

Shane Victorino got his second start since coming back from the DL tonight, and it is now safe to get him back into your lineups. The “Flyin Hawaiian” will hopefully now get on track to repeat his breakout performance from 2007. Victorino was 1-5 in the Phillies comeback win, and stole his first base since returning to the field.

Marlins’ OF Josh Willingham was placed on the 15 day DL with a stiff back. He had been missing some time with the injury, and now he will get a couple of weeks to try to rest it. Back injuries are tricky and tend to linger for a while, so this could really cool off the hot start that Josh got off to. Put him in your injury slots, and hope that the rest cures what’s ailing him.

The only man to play in 12 different decades, Moises Alou returned to the Mets’ lineup after missing the beginning of the season after hernia surgery. If he can stay on the field, Alou isn’t a bad option to have on your bench to play in case of emergencies, but he shouldn’t be more than an injury replacement on your roster.

Quick Hitters

I’m watching my beloved Cardinals against the hated Cubs and Alfonso Soriano looks LOST in left field. He has completely misplayed two balls in the outfield tonight, and you can bet that Lou Pinella will have a press conference tonight that will be NSFW.

Aramis Ramirez was hit on the wrist by a pitch by Adam Wainwright tonight, but he stayed in the game initially, but was lifted shortly after. Damn it, Soriano just atoned for his sins and hit a two run homer in the 9^th to tie the game.

As much as I have been bashing him, Aaron Rowand is starting to heat up a little for the Giants. Rowand had his fourth consecutive two hit game and connected on his third homer of the year (his second in four days). I can’t see him repeating 2007 statistics, but perhaps he will be better than I thought. A decent fourth outfielder, but don’t expect great production.

Ichiro is also hitting a bunch of singles. The speedy slap hitter had two hits and stole three bases tonight to bring his season total to 10. He has hit in 10 of his last 11 games and has 15 hits during that time. He has got to be on the downside of his career, but should have a few more productive seasons left.

I am so tired of writing about Nate McLouth, but the guy keeps on producing. McLouth was 2-3 with a double and a stolen base, and looks to be single handedly costing me my matchup in my head-to-head league. Thanks Nate!

Marlins’ 2B Dan Uggla is doing exactly what we figured, hitting with some pop, and an average that is poop. After his two taters tonight Uggla now has six on the season and is on pace to hit his 23-28 HRs, and at .245 his average is right where you expect it to be.

After hitting 27 HRs and nearing 100 RBI many had hopes that Khalil Greene would finally put it together…..but they were wrong. Greene finally hit his first homer of the year tonight and is batting an awful .217. If you own Tulowitzki, Greene may be an option to look at, he should improve some from this terrible start.

Mark Hendrickson continues to pitch out of his butt. With seven strong innings on Friday, Hendrickson ran his record to an improbable 5-1 and kept the Marlins around the lead in the NL East. A lifetime 47-56 pitcher, Hendrickson is the poster boy for selling high. Hurry, before it’s too late.

Shawn Marcum continues to pitch well in Toronto when nothing else is going right. Marcum went 6.2 gave up no runs and struck out nine. He has given up two runs or less in four of his six starts and is trying to prove that 2007 was no fluke.

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.