| Tampa Bay Rising |
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The Tampa Bay (Don’t Call Us Devil) Rays just got finished beating up on the Yankees taking the series 3-to-1. The win keeps Tampa a full game ahead in first place, and dropped New York into last in the AL East. So is this a changing of the guard? Not quite yet, at least I don’t think so but the Rays future is certainly looking bright especially with tons of talent waiting in the minors including pitching prospects David Price, Wade Davis, and Jake McGee and shortstop Reid Brignac. Incredibly, with all the prospects waiting their turn in the minor leagues, Tampa Bay may have a surplus of pitching. The ace of the entire organization however is undoubtedly Scott Kazmir. It was just the third start of the season for the lefty, but he was once again dominant in six innings striking out three and allowing no runs. He hasn’t allowed a run in 12 consecutive innings. The player every fantasy player needs to pay attention to is second baseman Akinori Iwamura. I was on his bandwagon at the start of the season, but he disappointed with a slow start. He is living up to the faith I had in him however this month. Since the start of May, Iwamura has upped his batting average 55 points to .265. He was 2-3 Thursday, and hit his third home run of the year as well. Go get him now. As good as Kazmir was however, Yankee starter Ian Kennedy was just as bad allowing five runs in five innings. A short stint in the minors doesn’t look like it has improved anything for the rookie. His ERA is now an astronomical 8.48, and he doesn’t strike out enough batters to help in that category either. He’s unplayable at this point until he shows he can pitch to major league hitters, and I would consider cutting him even in deep AL-only leagues. The Yankees are going to need to get A-Rod healthy so they can start slugging their way to some victories. The pitching staff certainly isn’t getting it done for New York. • Stop the presses, a Cleveland starter finally gave up a run. Aaron Laffey gave up a run on the second, but only on a throwing error. It ended a scoreless streak of 44.2 innings for the Indians’ rotation. He was still terrific going seven strong innings striking out six while walking just one. His season ERA is now a sparkling 1.35. Laffey’s K-rate isn’t terrific, but he isn’t walking any batters. Another start of this quality and he becomes a legit option in 10-team mixed leagues. The game was interestingly closed out by Masa Kobayashi. It was his second save in a week, and I previously had mentioned he could end up in a committee with Rafael Betancourt until Joe Borowski returns. Betancourt entered the ninth first, but allowed three baserunners and a run while getting only one out. Kobayashi is a definite add at this point. • Chad Billingsley is finally starting to find his touch. He threw seven strong innings striking out five while allowing just three hits. He still walked four batters, but his stuff and focus have definitely improved from earlier in the year. It was the third time in four starts that he gave up just one earned run to drop his ERA to 4.34. Billingsley is a great buy low option. The Dodgers broke the game open in the seventh against Ben Sheets scoring six times including three home runs. • Two unlikely pitchers staged a duel in New York as the Nationals beat the Mets 1-0. Mike Pelfrey has stated his case for fantasy relevance this season, and took a no-hitter into the seventh. He ended up with a line of 7.2 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K. On any normal day, this would be good enough for a win. Instead, unheralded Jason Bergmann threw seven innings of shutout ball striking out nine while allowing just three singles. This is more of an indictment on the Mets offense than anything as no regular outside of Ryan Church is batting better than David Wright’s .268. New York needs to get it in gear and score some runs. • It seems as if every Toronto win ends with a save. Thursday it was once again B.J. Ryan, who I assure you, is the primary closer. He got his seventh save closing the door in the 11th inning against the Twins. Not much offense in this one. • Newsflash if you haven’t been paying attention (or just really suck at fantasy): Cole Hamels is an ace. He shutout the Braves 5-0 getting Brian McCann swinging to end the game. His walks are up a bit this season while his strikeouts are down, but this could be just due to sample size. Hamels’ home run is significantly lower however which is always important in his home ballpark. • I know it is still early, but Detroit might really be in trouble now that it was swept by Kansas City. The vaunted continues to struggle, and scored just six runs in three games against the Royals. After a hot start, Curtis Granderson is hitting just .234 and isn’t running (2 SB in 77 at-bats). His fantasy value is taking a hit with the lack of thefts, and inability of his teammates to drive him in. • None of you care about mediocre Giants reliever Tyler Walker, but Tim Lincecum owners can direct their ire towards him. He gave up four runs allowing a home run to Carlos Lee and a three-run shot to J.R. Towles to blow a potential win for his starter. Lincecum was again terrific striking out 10 in seven innings. His win total is going to be affected by his sub-par teammates, but his strikeout totals and peripherals should continue to be excellent. I’m a big fan. • Jose Valverde picked up his 11th save, and has been dominant in the month of May. He has six saves and a win this month and has allowed just three hits in 8.2 innings. • Memo to self: spot start anybody going against the Padres. San Diego was shutout for the fourth time this season, and is averaging just 3.3 runs per game. Ryan Dempster pitched a gem for the Cubs dominating hitters for 8.1 innings and striking out 12. His ERA this season is now just 2.35, and he is 5-1. Maybe Chicago should have put him in the rotation years ago. Dempster has now gone at least five innings in every start, and has allowed more than three runs in a game just once. He is a must own in every format. His walk-rate is a little high for my tastes (3.77/9) but he’s keeping the ball in the ballpark and striking people out. • Mendoza Watch Trackback(0)
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Jonathan Lee - AccuScore Analyst
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