Blog Entries tagged 'fantasy baseball'

Another Closer Bites the Dust

jonlee

I have been down on George Sherrill recently mostly because of his lack of control that led to poor performances. He was still on pace for 40 saves, and was a great sleeper I picked up late in a few leagues. There was really no indication that he was suffering from injury. He then wasn’t able to warm up properly on Monday, complained of shoulder soreness, and then was promptly put on the DL. Sherrill has gone the way of <strong>Billy W [...]

Looking for Late Season Help?

jonlee

Most trading deadlines have past in fantasy leagues so the main source of help is going to come from the waiver wire. Here are a few players that are hot over recent days and can help you bring home a fantasy championship.

Marlon Byrd, TEX OF: He has 16 hits in his last five games including five hits, four runs, and three RBI in that basketball game that broke out at Fenway on Tuesday. He’s hitting .491 over the past tw [...]

Angels no hit Dodgers, Dodgers win 1-0

twilliams

Jered Weaver and Jose Arredondo combined to pitch a no hitter for the Los Angeles Angels on Saturday night against their NL rivals, the Los Angeles Dodgers. The only problem? The Dodgers won 1-0.

Matt Kemp reached first on an error in the fifth inning, stole second, advanced to third on a throwing error, and scored on a Blake DeWitt sacrifice fly. That was the only run of the game. The Angels recorded all five hits, including a threat in the ninth inning when the [...]

Chase Headley gets the call

twilliams

Finally! The long wait for Chase Headley is over, as the Padres announced he would be called up this weekend, possibly starting in the lineup on Sunday. There has been a lot of speculation on Headley recently, as he is the top hitting prospect in the Padres system, but has been tearing it up in the minors while San Diego flounders in the majors.

A lot of people speculated that June 1st would be the date, since that delayed "Super Two" status for a year. I can [...]

Pass on Gonzalez, go for Headley

twilliams

In the aftermath of the Jay Bruce call up, the Oakland A's have decided to call up outfield prospect Carlos Gonzalez. Gonzalez was one of the prospects acquired by Oakland in the Dan Haren deal this winter. In his first game on Friday night, the A's center fielder went 2 for 3 with an RBI. What can you expect from the consolation prize to the people who didn't get Bruce?

Gonzalez went from high A ball to AAA in the last two years, displaying 20 home run pow [...]

Jay Bruce gets the call

twilliams

The Reds will call up Jay Bruce before today's game, according to pretty much every fantasy site I checked today. Bruce is expected to enter the starting lineup in Cincinnati, which will leave Corey Patterson without a spot, and move Ryan Freel to backup duty.

Bruce is batting .364 with 10 homers and 8 steals in 184 minor league at bats at AAA. He is the most likely prospect this year to resemble the start that Ryan Braun got off to last season. I'm not saying he will put up [...]

What to expect from Kershaw

twilliams

Clayton Kershaw has been called up to make his debut today against the St. Louis Cardinals. If he is available in any of your leagues (unlikely) grab him as soon as possible. If you already picked him up, make sure he's in your starting rotation today.

AccuScore projects Kershaw to go 6.2 innings, allow seven hits, three earned runs, two walks, and three strikeouts in the majority of simulations, with a 53 percent chance of a win. Kershaw may not have things that e [...]

Liriano pitching well at AAA

twilliams

Three injury situations to keep an eye on...

Francisco Liriano - Liriano was horrible in his three starts in the majors this year, with an 11.33 ERA and a 2.71 WHIP. In his final start on April 24th he didn't make it out of the first inning, allowing five hits, three walks, and six earned runs, and only recording two outs. Liriano has since turned things around in the minors, with a 2.77 ERA, 1.15 WHIP, 5.54 K/9 ratio, and a 2.77 BB/9 ratio in his last four starts. [...]

Kicking Their Pujols

twilliams

This past week I participated in two fantasy baseball drafts. The first draft was a live draft, to see how I would pick now that a fourth of the season has passed. The second draft was an auto-pick league where I decided to not set my rankings, in hopes that I would get a batch of players who I don't have on any fantasy team.

In the live draft, I went with a similar approach to the rest of my fantasy teams. I took Ryan Braun with the 12th pick in the first round, A [...]

Fantasy Baseball is the only way to go

twilliams

It's late July. You're watching your small market baseball team, in this case the Pittsburgh Pirates, lose another game. The only bright spot of today's 8-2 loss is that Xavier Nady and Jason Bay each hit homers. This is great news. You have known since the start of Spring Training that your team had no shot to compete this season. What you are cheering for now is the future. You are cheering for Jason Bay and Xavier Nady to go on hot streaks, w [...]

Tuesday Night Closer Watch

twilliams

A few interesting developments on the closer front tonight:

-Eric Gagne got the save opportunity in a 5-3 game in Milwaukee. Gagne got the save, but allowed a walk and a hit, with no strikeouts. Personally I liked Torres the best out of the other options in the bullpen. It looks like Gagne will be given another chance. Hold on to Torres or even Mota if there are no better options in your league. I've got both in a deep NL-only league, but I dropped Torr [...]

Kicking Their Pujols

twilliams

I have five teams that I care about, apart from the public leagues where I mainly use my teams for research purposes in my various columns. In these five leagues, my team is known as "Kick Their Pujols", yet up until this season I have never had Albert Pujols on my team. It's not that I don't like Pujols, I love having him as a second round pick in my keeper league this year. It's just that he's not really one of my guys.

Anyone who has multip [...]

Nate McLouth is for real

twilliams

Arguably the biggest surprise this season in fantasy baseball has been the sudden breakout of Nate McLouth. Coming in to the season, McLouth had a .249 career average in the majors with 25 homers and 34 steals in 284 games. So far this season McLouth has a .323 average with seven homers and three stolen bases. In other words, he is on pace for 37 homers and 16 steals on the season. His performance so far is enough to put him in the top 10 fantasy performers this season [...]

Gallardo could be done for the year

twilliams

Yovani Gallardo suffered an injury last night that appeared to be manageable at first, as Gallardo pitched another 1.2 innings following the injury. It turns out today that Gallardo could have torn his ACL in his knee, which would end his 2008 season.

Right now Gallardo is not officially lost for the season, but that is the likely scenario. The Brewers are going to wait for the swelling to go down in order to determine whether Gallardo would need surgery. I'm not d [...]

Hot fantasy starters to avoid

twilliams

I spend a lot of time writing about the guys I like. Between the waiver wire wonders, the trade market, and the need for speed articles, I write three times a week about players who I think should be added to your team. But what about the players who you should ignore on the waiver wire? How about the players you should either trade now while they are hot, or just refuse when they come your way in a trade? There's a time and a place for that kind of article, and it [...]