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 5/8/08 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 4/22/08 Aces, Rookies, Injuries, more

A couple of aces have shown on Tuesday, that maybe they still have it. In Detroit, Justin Verlander might not have been dominant, but right now he’ll take it. Verlander threw six innings giving up just one run and striking out three against the Rangers. After the way he started the season, Justin and his fantasy owners must be breathing a sigh of relief that he was able to pitch so well. After being talked about as someone potentially to drop after his last awful start, C.C. Sabathia came back with a vengeance Tuesday against the Royals. Sabathia went six shutout innings and struck out 11, and is in line to take the win. As I have said previously, I don’t expect him to come close to last year’s Cy Young statistics, but he should be more than a .500 pitcher this season.

Not that Ted Lilly would be described as an ace, but another guy that fantasy owners were starting to think of parting ways with had a turn around start himself. Lilly collected his first win of the season giving up just one run in six innings, while striking out four. Like Verlander, he wasn’t dominant (he did walk four), but it was good to see a guy that some players put some big stock in having a good time out.

It was good news/bad news for the Brewers on Tuesday. The good news was young gun Manny Parra had a better outing than his last couple. Parra has struggled going deep into games, and that continued as he only lasted five innings. But, he did give up only three runs today, and was in line for the win….until the bad news game into the game. After converting give straight save chances, Eric Gagne has now blown two in a row. He continues to show that it was most likely foolish for the Brewers to sign him to that ridiculous contract.

Red Sawks rookie Jacoby Ellsbury is really heating up now. After having two consecutive two-hit, two-steal games, Jacoby added another 2-fer, as he hit two homers on Tuesday. Ellsbury came into the season with the hype that he was a strong candidate for the Rookie of the Year, and after he couldn’t get a start in the beginning of the season, he was cut in many leagues. Well, get yourself running to the waiver wire to see if this guy is available in your league, he could be a 20/50 kind of guy.

The greatest hitter of all time, Nate McLouth, finally had his season beginning hitting streak come to an end. McLouth was up to 19 games before he took the 0-fer tonight. He did still walk twice, so he continues to find ways on base even if he doesn’t hit. I have been urging you to try to sell high on McLouth, as his past performance doesn’t show this type of production in his future.

Injury Notes

Alex Rodriguez was not in the lineup today for the Yankees due to a combination of his second child being born, and a quad injury. It was reported on Baseball Tonight that he is due to rejoin the lineup on Thursday.

Red Sox pitcher Josh Beckett was scratched from his start due to neck pain. This appears to have just been a giant precaution, and manager Terry Francona has said that Beckett will make his next scheduled start.

That giant sigh of relief you hear is coming from Seattle. The Mariners activated closer J.J. Putz from the disabled list today, and free agent prize Eric Bedard is due to come of the DL on Saturday. Get both of these guys back into your lineups immediately.

Cubs OF Alfonso Soriano has targeted May 1^st as his return to action after missing time with a strained calf suffered when making his signature hop when catching a fly ball. Get ready to get him back into your lineup.

Quick Hitters

Reds rookie pitcher Edinson Volquez continues to impress. Volquez improved to 3-0 Tuesday, with a commanding seven innings with seven strikeouts. Volquez gave up just one run, and his season ERA sits at just 1.21. He was a highly touted prospect for the Rangers, so he shouldn’t be considered a flash in the pan.

Rickie Weeks has got to be one of the more frustrating players to own. Weeks will go 0-4 with 3 Ks two or three times a week, but then he has a game like he did on Tuesday and you go back to thinking that he could be an impact player. Weeks had three hits including a triple, drove in three runs with that triple, and stole his fifth base of the year. These are the days that you try to find someone to bite on a trade with Weeks, or you will have no hair left by the end of the year.

Angels 1B Casey Kotchman is showing signs of living up to his potential. Kotchman hit his fifth homer of the season, and is now batting .315. Casey now has 15 RBI, and could be looking at a .300/22/85 kind of season.

Marlins 3B Jorge Cantu is starting to really look like that guy we knew three years ago. Cantu went 3-4 on Tuesday, and hit his third homer of the season. Jorge also has 7 doubles in his first 20 games, and should be a good option toward the bottom of your roster as a sleeper. Pick him up if you have some dead weight on your team.

Nats SP John Lannan has been great in three of his first four starts. Lannan followed up a one run, 11 strikeout performance, with seven shutout innings with four Ks against the Braves. It is time to give this guy a serious look to see if he should have a spot on your roster. He had a pretty good 2007 in the minors, so he might be for real although I’m not ready to make that statement just yet.

Braves Old Man River John Smoltz joined the exclusive 3,000 strikeout club Tuesday, but unfortunately his team could score any runs for him. Smoltz gave up just one run in seven innings and fanned 10. He continues to defy Mother Nature and pitches great.

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 4/21/08

Today was the seventh consecutive start for Jacoby Ellsbury for the Boston Red Sox. He has brought a spark to the Sox offense, and stole two bases for the second consecutive day, and now has eight on the season. Ellsbury came into the season as someone that I expected to make a big fantasy impact (especially on the basepaths), and this recent outburst shows what he is capable of if Boston stops trotting Coco Crisp out there every few days. If by some chance he is still available in your league, Jacoby has shown enough to warrant a place on a roster in every fantasy league.

Another young Red Sox player and reigning AL Rookie of the Year, Dustin Pedroia, is following up last year with another good season. With his two hits on Monday, Pedroia pulled into a three way tie for the league lead in hits with Chone Figgins and teammate Kevin Youkilis. Pedroia hit his eighth double and drove in his 11^th run Monday, and is proving that little guys can produce too. Have you ever seen anyone swing the bat as hard as Pedroia?

OK, I don’t want this to sound like a Red Sox only blog, but Clay Buchholz had a great outing on Patriots’ Day and is looking like he will be a solid contributor to the rotation this season. Buchholz threw six shutout innings and struck out six as he completed the sweep of the Rangers. After throwing a no hitter in his second career start, it looked like Buchholz was one the fast track to superstardom, and although he looks like he will still be good, it maybe too soon to anoint him the king just yet.

It appears that Yankees’ new owner Hank Steinbrenner will follow in the footsteps of his father. He has been opening his mouth, and spitting out ignorance ever since he took over for dear old dad. Hank’s newest junk was that Joba Chamberlain has to be placed into the rotation, and he said “There is no question about it, you don’t have a guy with a 100-mile-per-hour fastball and keep him as a set-up guy. You just don’t do that. You have to be an idiot to do that.” Yankees GM Brian Cashman apparently thinks he should stay in the setup role. We shall see in the near future who wins out on this one, but it appears that Joba will be moved to the rotation sooner rather than later.

Rangers OF Josh Hamilton is following up his solid return to baseball in 2007 with a great start to 2008. Hamilton hit two more doubles and ran his RBI total to 19. The former number one pick (and crackhead) is certainly looking like he is set to start to live up to the potential he left behind so many years ago. Hamilton came into the season as one of the sleepers for 2008, and I believe he will continue to produce at a good rate.

Rockies 2B Clint Barmes has now apparently taken over the starting job from Jayson Nix. Barmes started for the sixth consecutive game Monday, and has had at least two hits in all but four games. Considering he was the talk of the town in fantasy just a few years back, it is possible that Barmes could keep this hot streak continue, but I don’t expect that he will keep this going all season long.

Coming into the season, Russell Martin was in the discussion as the number one catcher in fantasy. So far in 2008, he has yet to live up to that ranking. After homering on Sunday, Martin went 3-3 on Monday with a double and two singles. Those of you who used a high pick on Martin, stay patient, he will perform up to last year’s statistics.

Astros’ CF Michael Bourn is taking both end of the spectrum on a fanatsy league. On one hand, he is leading the league in steals with 13 after two more on Monday night. Unfortunately for his owners, he is currently hitting .216. Those of you who have him strictly for his steal capabilities should be happy, but the rest of his numbers leave something to be desired. If you NEED steals, grab Bourn, but if there’s a close second option, you might want to add Bourn right now.

As the Tigers continue to win games, their offense continues to get well. Now on Monday there is some more good news as Miguel Cabrera filled in a first base, and for those of you whose leagues who only require one game for eligibility, Miggy now plays first.

One of my favorite players, Eric Byrnes hit his third homer of the season. Byrnes should be good for another 20/40 year, and if things go right, maybe 25/40. Byrnes isn’t happy unless he goes home dirty, and is a role model of how to actually play the game. Expect one or two good more years out of Byrnes before his production starts to drop off.

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

I will also be starting up an idea with waht the prospects who are still in AAA are doing. I will follow ten hitters and ten pitchers. If there is someone specific you would like covered, please leave it below.