Beyond the Boxscore–Fantasy MLB News and Notes 5/8/08 Kershaw, Injuries, Young Pitchers, Justin Upton

I want to start tonight with a little warning. I am going to be a dad for the second time any day now. So, if I go for a day or two without an article, or if I don’t get back to an email in my usual speedy fashion, that could be the reason. I’m not going away, and I’ll be back as soon as it is possible. Now without further ado, Beyond the Boxscore, gonna be a little bit of a short one tonight I think.

I know I mentioned the other day that Clayton Kershaw could be coming sooner rather than later, and there have been more rumblings, including in the LA Times that it is possible his first start could be May 17. Now, this is not written in stone by any stretch, but those of you who have been waiting for the next big thing, your wait might not be that much longer.

Justin Upton hit his first home run today since April 12^th. I know some of you might have soured some on the young stud during this power draught, but let’s look at the situation. He is just 20 years old, he is starting everyday for a quality team, and today he hit cleanup. Even with his slump lately, he is still hitting a robust .345. He is still going to make a good impact this year, don’t lose the love for Upton.

Is it time to be concerned about Justin Verlander? As much as I touted him as a guy who would jump to superstar status this year, I am officially worried about this guy. Where have his statistics gone? Granted he has gotten garbage for run support, but he just isn’t performing. Poor run support doesn’t make your ERA 6.43 and he isn’t striking out batters at a good rate. You can’t drop Verlander by any stretch, but I’m starting to worry that something might be wrong.

It had to happen eventually. Ancient Rays’ closer Troy Percival finally blew a save tonight. Percival hadn’t given up a run this season before Vernon Wells took Troy out of the yard tonight. He was seven for seven on save opportunities, and no one is perfect. Percival has far exceeded everyone’s expectations this year, and it looks like he will be a decent second level closer in 2008.

For all of you who went running to the waiver wire when Frank Thomas was released by the Jays, it is time for you to drop Adam Lind now. The trendy pickup a couple of weeks ago, Lind struggled mightily. Lind hit just .059, and was a total bomb in his time in Toronto. As I suspected, I think he is a 4A player, and might never make an impact in the majors.

It happened late last night after I was finished writing, but Twins’ rookie Carlos Gomez hit for the cycle. Gomez hit his second homer, along with the single, double, and triple. Gomez has been shipped to free agency in a lot of leagues, and if you have someone underperforming, he is a good addition. I believe he will hit around .275 with 50+ steals in 2008.

Cardinals OF Ryan Ludwick is on fire. After hitting his fifth homer last night, Ludwick did even better hitting two on Thursday. Ludwick is now hitting .356. He isn’t playing every single day with the Cardinals crowded outfield, but the more he plays like this, the more at bats he will get. Ludwick is looking like a good sleeper this season.

Brandon Webb threw another complete game Thursday, as he ran his record to start the season to 8-0. Webb was his usual sharp self, allowing only six hits, two earned runs, and no walks. News flash! He is one of the top five starters in the majors, perhaps top three.

Jacoby Ellsbury continues his impressive rookie season, and is in the discussion of the AL ROY. He is now hitting .290 with 13 RBI and 13 steals (and hasn’t been caught yet). Ellsbury looks like he could be on pace for 12 HRs and 50 steals.

Matt Cain is still struggling with his consistency. He was having a great outing today, giving up just two runs over six innings, and then in the seventh the wheels fall off. He kept his walks under control, but ended up being charged with all five earned runs, and took the loss. Cain has been pitching better as of late, so stay patient with him.

Danny Cabrera has been a little better this year than most, but I still wouldn’t trust him. He has teased us before with good starts, but always ends up doing the same thing. But he hasn’t given up more than three runs in six straight starts, and went the distance on Thursday and gave up only one run and one walk. He did have an eight walk game recently, but I still recommend staying away from Cabrera.

Royals rookie Luke Hochevar was OK on Thursday. He went seven innings, gave up four runs and struck out five. The rookie has been somewhat inconsistent, but still has a high ceiling and should stay in the rotation for the near future.

Injury News

Michael Young left the game last night with an injured hip flexor. He wasn’t in the game tonight, and is listed as day-to-day. He is off to a pretty good start, and the injury doesn’t appear serious. It looks like you just might have to sit on him for a few days, and hope he might be back by Monday.

Braves starter Jo-Jo Reyes left his start today with a blister on his left index finger. No word on how long he might miss, but if it is any length of time, you might have to think about cutting him. He is still showing signs of inconsistency, although in keeper leagues, you might want to wait on him.

Kevin Slowey made his return to the majors, but to unimpressive results. Slowey lasted five innings, but gave up three runs and struck out four. That isn’t terrible, but the Twins weren’t scoring runs. Leave him a free agent right now, but watch his next start to see if it improves. He will be roster worthy at some point this year.

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.

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Beyond the Boxscore–Fantasy MLB News and Notes 4/28/08 Minor League Callups, Yankee injury news, more

There were only a handlful of games last night, and one was rained out so not a ton to report on.

The shoulder injury to Yankees catcher Jorge Posada now looks like it is worse than was originally feared.  After trying to tough it out for a week Posada finally hit the DL on Monday.  Worse news than that is that is he scheduled to meet with Dr James “Tommy John Specialist” Andrews.  Now I’m not saying that Posada will have Tommy John Surgery, but there is rarely good news when you go to see Dr. Andrews.  It means the injury is significant enough to make an appointment with the one of the best in the business.  This could be a huge blow to Posada’s fantasy owners, as most teams don’t carry backup catchers and the talent pool is thin.  If you own Posada, I would stash him on the DL until you get word of how long he will be out and hit the free agent wire for Ryan Doumit, Jarrod Saltalamacchia, etc, to see get some production out of that position.

Seattle has called up its top hitting prospect Jeff Clement, and he figures to get a bunch of starts at DH until they figure out where he is going to play.  He will most likely take some games behind the plate when Kenji Johjima needs a break, but with Johjima’s contract extension, his future is no longer behind the plate.  He could have a great fantasy impact with the bat (although he might only be utility-eligible), so if you have the room, pick him up.

Indians rookie Aaron Laffey made his major league debut Monday night, and lucky him it was against the Yankees.  Laffey was cruising, giving up no hits through five, but with most young pitchers, he was bitten by the big inning.  The Yanks scored four times in the 6th, chased Laffey, and tagged him with a loss in his first start.  He only struck out one, so it wasn’t an eye popping debut, but if you are desperate for pitching, he might be worth a look.

The Angels brought Brandon Wood back to the majors to see if he can recapture the stroke from his magical 2005 season in the minors.  Not sure exactly what his role will be, as Howie Kendrick is due back from the DL, Erick Aybar has taken the starting SS job, and Chone Figgins is entrenched at third.  Wood did come in as a replacement in a 14-2 blow out last night to the A’s and he did what he does best, strike out.  Brandon is more aggressive at the plate than Roger Clemens picking up a date at the Junior Prom.  Wood may still have a productive major league career, but that big season was a long time ago now, and it has been followed by low batting averages and high strikeout rates along the way.  I need to see some consistent production before I jump back on the bandwagon.

It appears that once big time Diamondbacks prospect Carlos Quentin has nailed down the everyday job in left field for the White Sox.  Quentin was one of Arizona’s prized possessions until he struggled upon his callup, and his subsequent shoulder injury made it appear that his talent had left him.  Now after healing that injury, it appears as though Quentin is back on track to success.  He hit his sixth homer of the season Monday, and drove in his 20th run.  More impressive than that, he has his batting average up to .312, which is a little higher than I expect him to be at.  Quentin now appears to be worthy of being on a roster if you have a hole in the outfield, and if he wasn’t already scooped up.  He could hit 25 with 90 RBI and hit around .285.

Daniel Cabrera is up to his old tricks again.  In just 6.1 innings Monday night, Cabrera allowed an amazing seven walks.  No wait a minute, it isn’t the seven walks that are amazing, it is the fact with all those base runners he gave up only two runs!  Could you imagine if this guy could ever get his head on straight what he would be capable of?  But you know what, I’ve finally given up on that pipe dream.  Cabrera is what he will always be, a guy with a ton of potential, who just can’t figure it out.

Alex Rodriguez left Monday’s game a little early after feeling a pull in that injured quad.  Manager Joe Girardi has already said that the MVP will not play on Tuesday.  It will most likely be a day to day thing for the next five to ten days for A-Rod, but my guess is even though he says he doesn’t like to play at less than 100%, he will be in there more often than not.

Matt Cain finally broke into the win column in 2008, and has actually put two nice starts together in a row.  Cain allowed no earned runs through 5.1, and struck out only three while walking five.  That is the one thing that he also needs to get under control, the free passes.  It doesn’t effect him quite like our friend Danny C., but Cain could be so much more if he could stop allowing the base on balls.  He is still a top 20 pitcher, and now that he is on a little bit of a roll, you can start praying for some offense out of the Giants.

Speaking of the Giants, the man with the worst contract in history has been demoted.  Barry Zito, who now sits at 0-6 will be pitching from the pen.  This should come as no surprise, and if for some reason you still had him on your roster, hopefully this is the last straw that causes you to dump him.  No word yet on who will take his place in the rotation.

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.