Beyond the Boxscore–Fantasy MLB News and Notes 5/24/08 Kershaw is Here! Longoria, Ian Stewart, Injury News

I would like to start out tonight by welcoming the NEW (and second) member of the Fighting Chance Fantasy Sports Team.  Andy Houle will bring a number of things to the table.  One, he is a great fantasy player.  He has been playing in leagues with me for about eight years now, and has been my stiffest competition.  His opinions and knowledge are very respectable.  He made his blogging debut today with the article “Need Some Saves?”  Take a look at it, and give him a welcome and some feedback.  Not only will he bring fantasy knowledge, but also brings a good deal of web design as well.  There will be some great changes to the Fighting Chance site in the coming days/weeks, so we are all looking forward to that.  Organization and beautification have been long overdue.

The “next big thing” is arriving on Sunday! The Dodgers have called up phenom pitcher Clayton Kershaw to start the final game of the series against the Cardinals. A few things need to be said. First, he may be on an innings limit for the season. Many teams put a maximum on the number of innings they want their young pitchers to throw. Two, he is going to get bombed from time to time. Almost all young pitchers have rough patches and are prone to big innings. Finally, as soon as he is available in your league, go get him. Use your waiver priority, as he could have the biggest fantasy impact of any young player.

The “next big thing” in the hitting category isn’t disappointing. Ok, so we would like to see Evan Longoria hitting for a better average and striking out less, but after a two homer, six ribbie game, Longoria has seven homers and 26 RBI in 39 games. Not to mention that two of those homers are game winners. If he’s still available, I would grab him if you have the available roster spot.

Cliff Lee collected his eighth win of the year tonight against the Texas Rangers, although he wasn’t incredibly sharp. He did allow just two runs over 6.2 innings, but he also walked four. The walks didn’t cost him since they went with eight strikeouts. Lee’s ERA still sits at 1.50, but I am still urging you to sell high on Lee while his value is still very high.

The strong pitching of the Toronto Blue Jays continued on Saturday, as it continues to be what is keeping them hanging around in the standings. A day after Roy Halladay went the distance, Jesse Litsch did him one better. Not only did Litsch throw a complete game, but his was a shutout to boot. Litsch isn’t a fireballing strikeout machine, but at 6-1 is a great option at the bottom of your rotation, and possibly a very valuable trade chip.

We warned yesterday that Robinson Cano could be breaking out of his funk. Apparently Seattle pitching is just what the doctor ordered. Cano went 4-4 on Saturday, doubling three times and driving in another run. If you are planning on making a move to trade for Cano, do it quickly before the Yankee 2B gets any hotter.

Randy Johnson did something on Saturday that he hadn’t done in just over a year, reach double digits in strikeouts. Unfortunately for the Unit, the Diamondbacks didn’t provide him with any run support, and his masterful outing was for nothing. Johnson lasted six innings, allowed just the one run and fanned 10. He left trailing by a run, and although the D-Backs quickly tied the game, they would lose it on the walkoff homer by Jeff Francoeur. Continue to play Johnson while he is pitching well, but be ready to have a back up plan for when the Unit goes back on the DL, which is almost inevitable.

As much as I would like to endorse picking up a guy who isn’t named Boof Bonser, he is just not pitching in a way that makes picking him up possible. Boof lasted just three innings and gave up eight runs, raising his ERA to over 6.00.

Royals rookie Luke Hochevar just seems to pitch on the wrong day. His last outing he opposed Jon Lester in his no-hitter, and then Saturday his opponent was Jesse Litsch who threw a shutout. In fact in Hochevar’s seven starts the Royals have only scored ten runs. Luke’s ERA is over 4.50 so you can’t just blame no run support for his 3-4 record, but it isn’t helping him either. Chances are there is someone better on the waiver wire than Hochevar at this point.

Although his average is still really low at least Carlos Delgado is starting to hit for some more power than he did last season. Delgado hit only 24 homers all last season, but on Memorial Day Weekend he is already up to eight. His stock has fallen to an all time low for Delgado, but if you have an injury, you could do worse than Delgado. At least he should hit for some power for you.

A sleeper going forward is Cleveland’s Ben Francisco. After a fairly successful call up in 2007, Francisco followed that up with a great 2008 Spring before being sent back down to the minors to start the season. Francisco is making the most of his second opportunity, as he is hitting .365 and driven in 11 runs in just 19 games. I don’t know how long he will be playing everyday, but he is certainly worth keeping an eye on for the next couple of days to see if this hot hitting continues.

The Tigers dropped 19 runs on the Twins on Saturday, with the attack led by Magglio Ordonez. Maggs hit his eighth and ninth homers today, and has pretty much picked up where he left off in 2007. I wouldn’t recommend trying to trade for Ordonez, but if you own him, he should put up great stats again in 2008.

A sleeper going into the season who has disappointed greatly is Washington’s Lastings Milledge. I expected him to hit for a good average with 20/20 capabilities. Well, he’s got a shot at the 20 steals, but Milledge hit just his second home run on Saturday, making 20 HRs a long shot. In a year-to-year league, it may be time to cut ties with Lastings if he doesn’t turn it around in the next couple of days. Keeper league players, you have to exercise more patience with a guy under 25 with this kind of potential.

Injury News

Matt Holliday suffered a slightly strained hamstring and left Saturday’s game. It isn’t believed to be a serious injury, but he may miss a game or two. Holliday will be re-evaluated on Sunday, so stay tuned for further details.

Not only was Holliday injured but the Rockies put two other starters on the disabled list. Clint Barmes has a sprained knee and Brad Hawpe has a sore right hammy. Neither injury is considered serious, but if you own these players you will have to be looking for a short term replacement. More important than these injuries was the news that prospect Ian Stewart was recalled when Barmes was DL’d. Stewart has a chance to play some third, some first, or some outfield. Saturday Garrett Atkins missed the game and Stewart filled in for him. Ian was having an incredible year at AAA this season, so if you are a Hawpe or Barmes owner I would go right after Stewart. Given the chance to play, he could have an impact.

A day after leaving his last start, Indians’ starter Fausto Carmona was placed on the DL due to his hip injury. Carmona had an MRI to determine the extent of the injury, but the results are not yet known. Stash him in your injury spot for now.

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 5/18/08

Again, I would like to thank the guys from fantasybaseballsearch.com for having me as a guest on their weekly radio show. They do an hour and a half show every Sunday, and I was lucky enough to make my second appearance. Please check out the show as well as their sites. They are fantasybaseballsearch.com, www.fantasybaseballgenerals.com, and www.junkyardjake.com. Please visit these sites as they are great tools to help your fantasy teams.

Let the demise of Cliff Lee as Cy Young begin. A guy who many have touted as this year’s big pitcher to have, will slowly turn back into the pitcher he has been for the last few years. He lasted just 5.2 innings and allowed five earned runs, striking out only two while taking his first loss of the season. I see Lee winning 14 games with an ERA near 4.00 by the end of the year. He is one player that I certainly would try to sell high on now, as you might be able to get one of the top15 pitchers in the league, but move quickly.

2007 17 game winner Jeff Francis finally picked up his first win of the season on Sunday. Francis had been a victim of poor run support on some days, but he was incredibly awful on others. I believe he will finish the season at around the .500 mark, and is a decent option to pick up if you have someone who is really struggling.

A guy I would work on acquiring is Seattle’s Felix Hernandez. The guy has a ton of talent, is still very young, and has a great strikeout rate. King Felix had a good start Sunday going six innings, allowing two runs and striking out five. Felix has been a bit inconsistent throughout his career, but remember he came up when he was 19. Still under 25, he is more of a veteran now, and I believe he will start being very effective regularly very soon.

Although he is almost eligible to start receiving his social security benefits, Randy Johnson continues to be an effective pitcher when he is healthy enough to take the mound. The Big Unit threw seven shutout innings and struck out five improving his record to 4-1. His ERA is higher than he would like, but at his age, if you can get any contribution from him you should be happy, and he is far exceeding my expectations.

Whenever there is a game that is big to the Mets, it always seems that Oliver Perez pitches well. Not that a game in May is huge in the grand scheme of things, but you know the Mets want to beat the Yanks, especially on national television. And right on cue Perez threw well. Oliver went 7.2 innings, allowed two earned runs and fanned four. You know my thoughts on the guy, although he isn’t the most consistent, he is one that I really like.

Although Zach Greinke continues to pitch well and win, he is starting to allow more hits and runs. In the beginning of the season he was giving up zero or one run. The last few times out it has been two or three. I know what you are thinking, boy that’s really splitting hairs. But I really don’t expect this production to continue, and if you need something to point to for backup, it is that he hasn’t been as dominant later. He is another sell high candidate.

Chris Perez is going to be a name that you will be hearing plenty about in the coming days. Perez is a minor leaguer for the Cardinals who was just called up when Jason Isringhausen was put on the DL. Chris appears to have been the Cards closer in waiting, who may not be waiting anymore. Isringhausen is close to the end of his career, and if Perez pitches well while he is in St. Louis, you might not see Izzy back in the 9^th inning when he is healthy enough to return. I’m not sure that Perez is worth all the hype he has received the past couple days, but if you are looking for a new source of saves, Perez might be closing for the Cardinals within the next few weeks.

Home Run Derby

Light hitting White Sox shortstop Orlando Cabrera hit two baseballs out on Sunday, hopefully the start of a turnaround to a nightmare start of the season for the OC. Cabrera will never lead your team to the top of your game in homers, but it is nice to get this kind of game from an unexpected source. I expect his numbers will improve from the .220 he is currently hitting, just don’t expect this power showing to continue.

Adam Dunn has now homered in four straight games. One of the best home run hitters in the majors, you can pretty much write Adam down for 40 bombs now. You can also probably write him down for a .245 average too, but you didn’t draft him for his ability to take the ball the other way, or hit with two strikes. After a power outage to start the year, Dunn is now where we expected, and you can safely expect him to keep hitting homers.

In the past eight games, Ryan Howard now has four home runs, and is another player who is getting back on track from a tough start to the year. He still is striking out at an alarming rate (64 in 45 games), but at least now he is showing the power that we expect from him. Continue to start Howard (obviously) and expect him to play like the first round pick he was.

Fenway Park was a launching pad between the Red Sox and Brewers, as an amazing eight taters went over the fence. Leading the charge were formerly struggling sluggers Ryan Braun (eight in the last eight games), and David Ortiz (three in the past three games) as it seems both of them are back on track to produce like they did last season. But also leaving the yard was J.J. Hardy, Dustin Pedroia, Prince Fielder, and Kevin Youkilis.

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.