Posts Tagged ‘David Price’

2011 Fantasy Baseball Rankings – Starting Pitchers

Posted by Todd Lammi on January 25th, 2011

Here is the seventh article in the series for 2011 fantasy baseball rankings looking at the position of starting pitchers. A lot of the pitchers in the top tier have scores for their rankings that are pretty close so then is just comes down to a matter of preference in terms of the team they play on or whether they are an American League or National League pitcher.

Just a reminder that if you are looking for more player capsules and stat projections, the FBT Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide will be released on February 1 so be sure to check back for that.

1. Roy Halladay – came over to the National League, won 21 games, claimed the CY Young award and tossed 9 complete games for the 3rd straight year. ERA and WHIP was his lowest since 2005. Only thing moving in the wrong direction is his home runs allowed which rose for the 3rd straight season.

2. Tim Lincecum – velocity was down and control was off the first half of the season, in the second half he gave up a few more home runs which caused ERA to rise. Was much more hittable which makes the gap between him and the next two guys ion the list not too big.

3. Adam Wainwright – season was right in line with 2009 numbers. Showed no ill effects from  his 100 innings jump from 2008 to 2009. His five complete games were more than his three previous seasons combined.

4. Felix Hernandez – pretty impressive to see four straight seasons of improvement outside of wins which is a fickle category. Innings up, strikeouts up, ERA and WHIP all trending lower.  Was dominant the second half of the year with a 1.53 ERA and a .94 WHIP.

5. CC Sabathia – stats were almost identical to his 2009 season despite a rough May which saw him post a 5.15 ERA and a 1.39 WHIP. Should be good for close to 20 wins and 200 strikeouts again.

6. Jon Lester - made nice improvements against right-handed hitters for the second year in a row. Also increased his ground ball rate by 6 percentage points which helped to offset his increase in walks.

7. Cliff Lee – has taken his control to new levels after walking only 18 hitters in 212 1/3 innings as he relies more and more on his cut fastball. The move back to the National League is only going to make his numbers even better.

8. Clayton Kershaw – wins still held somewhat in check by control and pitch count but it has gotten better each season. Very hard to hit when over the plate with a minuscule home run rate that gives him upside still.

9. Justin Verlander – followed up his 2009 breakout season with a similar WHIP and ERA but was unable to keep up his strikeouts losing 1.3 per nine innings.

10. Ubaldo Jiminez – showed improvement across the board in all categories for the second straight year. Was unable to keep up his phenomenal pace the second part of the year as ERA was 3.80 with a 1.30 WHIP.

11. Jered Weaver – was simply a beast at home with a 1.86 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP and only six home runs allowed in 111 1/3 innings. Strike out rate took a big jump allowing him to fan an extra 59 batters in 13 extra innings.

12. Dan Haren – was much better after coming back to the American League, with a 2.87 ERA and 1.16 WHIP for the Angels. ERA was inflated the first half of the season thanks to 16 home runs allowed in April and May in Arizona.

13. Zack Greinke – lost two strikeouts per game in 2010. Move to the National League and into a possible pennant chase should give him the motivation to be inspired again.

14. David Price - new bullpen behind him will likely make his ERA a little higher in 2011. Still has some work to do on his control to take the next step into the top handful of pitchers.

15. Cole Hamels – strikeout rate picked back up and he made great strides against left-handed hitters holding them to a .196 average. Was stellar after the All-Star break with a 2.23 ERA and a 1.00 WHIP with more than a strikeout per inning.

16. Josh Johnson – talent is there but so is the injury risk. Was shut down toward the end of 2010 which still leaves him with one season in the major leagues with over 200 innings. First half numbers were simply sick with a 1.70 ERA and a .96 WHIP.

17. Matt Cain – has made strides against left-handed hitters the last two years which has helped his numbers. Control was superb the second half of the season with only 19 walks allowed in 102 innings.

18. Chris Carpenter – ERA jumped a run after his home run rate normalized in 2010. Was much better at home than on the road with a 2.81 ERA and 1.04 WHIP at Busch Stadium vs. 3.75 and 1.36 on the road.

19. Mat Latos - was considered on the bubble heading into spring training last year and ended the season as the Padres best pitcher. Struck out more than a batter per inning after the All-Star break with 90 strikeouts in 78 innings.

20. Tommy Hanson – interesting second half of the year as he lost strikeouts but also cut down his walk rate. Finished the second half with a 2.51 ERA and a .98 WHIP while holding hitters to a .205 average.

If you are looking for 2011 fantasy baseball pitcher projections and more player rankings and capsules, then check out the 2011 FBT Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide which is now on sale for just $9.99. You can view a sample here to see the template for the top 10 catchers and top 10 starting pitchers from 2010.

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2010 Fantasy Baseball ADP – Starting Pitchers

Posted by Todd Lammi on February 18th, 2010

This is the seventh article in the series looking at the current 2010 fantasy baseball ADP (average draft position) for starting pitchers. The data uses ADP numbers from Mock Draft Central using the NFBC scoring system.

The chart below lists players arranged by my 2010 fantasy baseball rankings with the current ADP broken down by where that player would fall in a 12 or 15 team league by round and pick. The one caveat being that the 12 team numbers may be skewed slightly as some players may go later than others due to the larger player pool to pick from.

Undervalued:

I have Ryan Dempster 11 spots higher on my starting pitcher list than his current ADP ranking. Numbers from 2008 and 2009 were pretty close to the same except for a drop in wins and some regression to his ERA that was to be expected. Has a much better percent chance of striking out 175+, having an ERA under 3.7 and a WHIP under 1.3 than quite a few people that are currently being drafted ahead of him.

Gavin Floyd was a top prospect for the Philadelphia Phillies and one of the top 50 prospects in the minor leagues when he was coming up through the farm system. It took him a little over 170 innings at the major league level before finally settling into a groove so the struggles he encountered still have some people not giving him enough credit. Bumped up his strikeout rate 1.3 per nine last season and decreased his home run rate. ERA went up slightly only because of the ineffectiveness of the bullpen behind him.

Hiroki Kuroda is ranked 50th on my list and is 66th according to his current average draft position. Injuries kept his innings down in 2009 which might partially explain his current standing. But in the innings he did pitch, he improved his strikeout per nine ratio by a batter.

Overvalued:

Starting pitchers in general. Last year in the NFBC, there were only three pitchers drafted in the first 50 picks on average. Those were Tim Lincecum, Johan Santana and CC Sabathia. This season there are eight pitchers with a current fantasy baseball ADP in the top 50.

If you look at the top 15 pitchers based on where they were drafted in the NFBC last season, you could argue that half of them were busts or went too high, either based on injury or performance. Those would include Santana, Jake Peavy, Cole Hamels, Francisco Liriano, Roy Oswalt and John Lackey. Even though they did not have terrible seasons, you could add Chad Billingsley and James Shields to that list as well as their actual value turned out to be much lower than where they were drafted.

Cliff Lee seems to scream overvalued to me based on where he is going in fantasy baseball mock drafts. Moves back to the American League where his control was not as sharp as it was in the NL. Will see a drop in his strikeout rate and if his strand rate which was higher than average the last two seasons regresses, his ERA is going to jump as well. Now, I am not saying to stay away from him, just that there several better options than him when you are on the clock to make your draft choice.

As I wrote about Javier Vazquez in the 2010 fantasy baseball rankings for pitchers, I just don’t see how he is being drafted as high as he is. The move back to the American League (drop in strikeouts, higher ERA and WHIP) coupled with the move to the Eastern division and playing in New York (4.91 ERA and 1.29 WHIP when last with Yankees) means there is some regression coming to his 2009 numbers. Remember that you should be drafting players based on what they will do in 2010 and not what they did last season. I still see way too many people doing that. There are variables every year that impact performance and you need to be able to take these into account when the information is available to you.

A.J. Burnett I have ranked as the 37th pitcher compared to his ADP that places him at 29. An ERA over 4, plus a WHIP that hit 1.40 last season combined with a past injury history makes me leery of grabbing him too high in a mixed league draft. If  you wait to draft starting pitchers and he is one of the top two pitchers on your team, you are going to need to surround with him low ratio pitchers so you don’t feel the full impact of his lack of control.

12 Teams 15 Teams
Rank Name ADP Round Pick Round Pick
1 Tim Lincecum 13 2 1 1 13
2 Roy Halladay 31 3 7 3 1
3 Dan Haren 41 4 5 3 11
4 Zack Greinke 31 3 7 3 1
5 Felix Hernandez 32 3 8 3 2
6 CC Sabathia 29 3 5 2 14
7 Justin Verlander 47 4 11 4 2
8 Johan Santana 46 4 10 4 1
9 Adam Wainwright 61 6 1 5 1
10 Josh Johnson 80 7 8 6 5
11 Jon Lester 62 6 2 5 2
12 Tommy Hanson 87 8 3 6 12
13 Chris Carpenter 81 7 9 6 6
14 Cliff Lee 56 5 8 4 11
15 Josh Beckett 86 8 2 6 11
16 Yovani Gallardo 98 9 2 7 8
17 Matt Cain 95 8 11 7 5
18 Cole Hamels 105 9 9 7 15
19 Jake Peavy 86 8 2 6 11
20 Ubaldo Jimenez 106 9 10 8 1
21 Clayton Kershaw 105 9 9 7 15
22 Javier Vazquez 63 6 3 5 3
23 Ricky Nolasco 111 10 3 8 6
24 Chad Billingsley 126 11 6 9 6
25 Wandy Rodriguez 122 11 2 9 2
26 Brandon Webb 142 12 10 10 7
27 Jair Jurrjens 140 12 8 10 5
28 Ryan Dempster 169 15 1 12 4
29 Brett Anderson 175 15 7 12 10
30 James Shields 133 12 1 9 13
31 Jered Weaver 139 12 7 10 4
32 John Lackey 128 11 8 9 8
33 Matt Garza 129 11 9 9 9
34 Scott Baker 158 14 2 11 8
35 Gavin Floyd 194 17 2 13 14
36 Max Scherzer 150 13 6 10 15
37 A.J. Burnett 132 11 12 9 12
38 Ted Lilly 156 13 12 11 6
39 Roy Oswalt 158 14 2 11 8
40 John Danks 168 14 12 12 3
41 David Price 185 16 5 13 5
42 Carlos Zambrano 171 15 3 12 6
43 Tim Hudson 219 19 3 15 9
44 Rich Harden 226 19 10 16 1
45 Clay Buchholz 211 18 7 15 1
46 Kevin Slowey 225 19 9 15 15
47 Scott Kazmir 185 16 5 13 5
48 Jonathan Sanchez 240 20 12 16 15
49 J.A. Happ 254 22 2 17 14
50 Hiroki Kuroda 261 22 9 18 6
51 Randy Wolf 193 17 1 13 13
52 Francisco Liriano 247 21 7 17 7
53 Johnny Cueto 239 20 11 16 14
54 Rick Porcello 222 19 6 15 12
55 Jorge de la Rosa 202 17 10 14 7
56 Daisuke Matsuzaka 203 17 11 14 8
57 Jeff Niemann 230 20 2 16 5
58 Ervin Santana 243 21 3 17 3
59 Mark Buehrle 248 21 8 17 8
60 Joe Blanton 283 24 7 19 13

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Next up in the 2010 Fantasy Baseball ADP rankings will be closers.

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The Daily Dirt for Thursday

Posted by Todd Lammi on June 11th, 2009

by Todd Lammi

The Tampa Bay Rays used four home runs to defeat the Los Angeles Angels 11-1. Carlos Pena (19), Evan Longoria (14), Carl Crawford (5) and Dioner Navarro (4) all went deep for the Rays. David Price was pulled after 4 1/3 innings due to a high pitch count. Price who threw 105 pitches, allowed one run with six walks and six strikeouts. Angels starter Ervin Santana was pounded for the third time in six starts since returning from the disabled list, allowing six runs in 4 2/3 innings. The Angels announced that starter Kelvim Escobar would be moving to the bullpen after experiencing soreness in his surgically repaired shoulder. Matt Palmer will return to the rotation, starting on Friday against the San Diego Padres. In other fantasy baseball news around the diamond on Thursday…

Hitters:

Justin Upton connected for his 12th home run of the season, drove in two runs and stole his ninth base of the year. Upton is now batting .317 with 37 RBI on the season.

Albert Pujols hit his 19th home run of the year and plated two runners. Pujols has now driven in 10 runs in his last 10 games.

Jim Thome homered for the third time in his last four games, during which time he has driven in seven runs. Thome is now hitting .258 with 12 home runs and 39 RBI on the year. Unfortunately for Thome who had just started to heat up, he will be out of the lineup the next week and a half as the Chicago White Sox go on the road to National League parks.

Curtis Granderson went 3-for-4 with two RBI, including his 14t home run of the year. It was the first home run for Granderson in the month of June.

Ian Stewart went 2-for-4 with three runs scored , while delivering his 12th home run of the season. Stewart has five home runs and 13 RBI in his last nine games, while boosting his batting average 52 points.

Ryan Braun went 3-for-5 with 3 RBI and belted his 13th home run of the season. Braun has hit three home runs in his last four games with eight RBI.

Russell Branyan went 2-for-4 with three RBI and collected his 14th home run of the season. Branyan is now hitting .317 with 29 RBI on the year.

Derek Lee hit his seventh home run of the season and is showing a little bit of life at the plate lately. He has a modest 10 game hitting streak which has raised his batting average 23 points.

Raul Ibanez hit a game-winning three-run home run in the top of the 10th inning to give the Philadelphia Phillies a 6-3 win over the New York Mets. Ibanez has now driven in 12 runs in his last nine games and is hitting .322 on the season.

David Ortiz hit his third home run in five games and has now driven in seven RBI in his last seven games. With the Red Sox going into interleague play on the road, it remains to be seen whether Ortiz will be in the lineup, with Mike Lowell or Kevin Youkilis sitting on the bench.

Pitchers:

Max Scherzer tossed 7 2/3 shutout innings with six strikeouts to pick up his third win of the season. Scherzer has not allowed a run in his last two starts covering 12 2/3 innings.

Kevin Millwood hurled 7 2/3 scoreless innings with one strikeout to notch is sixth win of the season. Millwood has not allowed a run in his last two outings totaling 14 2/3 innings of work.

Javier Vazquez struck out 12 in eight innings while allowing one run in a no decision. Vazquez momentarily took over the National League strikeout lead with 105 now on the season. He has allowed four runs in his last 20 1/3 innings but has no wins to show for it.

Ryan Dempster allowed one run in seven innings with four strikeouts in a no decision. This marks the first time since his opening day start that Dempster’s ERA has fallen below four. Dempster has allowed one earned run in his last 20 innings with 16 strikeouts.

Ricky Romero allowed one run in 6 1/3 innings with six strikeouts in a tough luck 1-0 loss. Romero did not allow a home run after allowing seven in his previous three starts.

Brad Penny turned in six scoreless innings with five strikeouts in a no decision. Despite his ERA not being that pretty, Penny has picked up the strikeout pace in his last four starts, striking out 22 in his last 23 innings.

Gavin Floyd had his fifth consecutive solid start, allowing one run in eight innings with five strikeouts, before Bobby Jenks blew his win in the ninth inning. Floyd has a 1.67 ERA in his last 37 2/3 innings with 36 strikeouts.

Closers:

Joe Beimel picked up his first save of the season for the Washington Nationals, working a scoreless ninth inning.

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Fantasy Baseball – the Daily Dirt for Saturday

Posted by Todd Lammi on May 30th, 2009

by Todd Lammi

If you read the minor league report earlier in the day, it looks like the winner is Antonio Bastardo for the Philadelphia Phillies. Bastardo will get the start on Tuesday against the San Diego Padres in place of the injured Brett Myers.

The Texas Rangers used 17 hits en route to a 14-1 pounding of the Oakland Athletics. Hank Blalock (12), Marlon Byrd (4) and Nelson Cruz (14) all went deep for the Rangers.  Ian Kinsler added four RBI as all starters had at least one hit and one RBI except for Andruw Jones who went 0 for 5. In other fantasy baseball news around the diamond on Saturday…

Hitters:

Armando Rios went 4 for 4 with two RBI and Adam Lind went 2 for 3 with two RBI including his 8th home run of the season in a 5-3 win over the Boston Red Sox.  It was the first home run for Lind since May 17th, from  which he has seen a 30 point drop in his batting average to its current level of .289.

Jeremy Hermida went 3 for 5 with four RBI including his 5th home run of the year to power the Florida Marlins to a 7-3 win over the New York Mets.

Reed Johnson went 3 for 3 with two RBI and his third home run of the season. Johnson has homered three times in the last six games.

Carl Crawford went 3 for 4 with two RBI and collected his third home run of the season in a 5-2 win over the Minnesota Twins. The only negative for Crawford was he was caught stealing for the first time this season, ending his run of 30 consecutive steals this year.

Clete Thomas hitting lead off went 3 for 5 with three RBI and two home runs to lead the Detroit Tigers to a 6-3 win over the Baltimore Orioles. Curtis Granderson chipped in with his 12th home run of the year. Luke Scott continues to put on an offensive show for the Orioles, hitting a home run for the fourth consecutive day and driving in two runs. Rookie Matt Wieters went 2 for 4 with a double and a run scored.

Prince Fielder went 3 for 4 with three RBI and clubbed his 12th home run of the year to lift the Milwaukee Brewers to a 9-5 win over the Cincinnati Reds.

Ryan Howard blasted two home runs and drove in five in a 9-6 win over the Washington Nationals.

Brad Hawpe went 3 for 5 with three RBI and poked his seventh home run of the season. Hawpe raised his batting average to .343 and he now has 39 RBI on the year.

Adrian Gonzalez hit his 19th home run of the season and drove in three runs. For Gonzalez, it was the third home run this week with seven RBI.

Albert Pujols hit two home runs giving him 16 on the season to go along with 42 RBI to lead the St. Louis Cardinals to a 6-2 win over the San Francisco Giants.

Joey Votto was placed on the 15-day disabled list by the Cincinnati Reds in what the team is calling a “stress-related issue.”

Pitchers:

Josh Johnson allowed two runs in seven innings with five strikeouts to earn his fourth win of the season. Johnson has allowed two runs or less in six of his last seven starts.

David Price picked up his first win of the season, allowing one run in 5 2/3 innings with 11 strikeouts. Price was pulled after 108 pitches, 76 of which he threw for strikes.

Ryan Dempster tossed seven shutout innings with five strikeouts to improve his record to 4-3 on the year in a 7-0 defeat of the Los Angeles Dodgers.

CC Sabathia allowed three runs in seven innings and struck out eight to raise his record to 5-3 on the year.

Javier Vazquez and Doug Davis hooked up in a pitchers duel, that the Arizona Diamondbacks won 3-2 in 11 innings. Vazquez allowed one run in 6 1/3 innings with eight strikeouts. Davis allowed two runs in seven innings with six strikeouts. Davis continues to pitch much better when at home where he holds a 3.20 ERA compared to a 4.82 ERA on the road.

Jeff Karstens allowed two runs in seven innings with four strikeouts to even his record at 2-2.

Brandon McCarthy allowed one run in six innings with two strikeouts. It was the second good outing in a row for McCarthy who has shaved 1.25 runs off of his ERA in those two starts.

Matt Palmer tossed seven shutout innings with five strikeouts in a no decision against the Seattle Mariners. His counterpart Felix Hernandez was equally effective, hurling 6 1/3 shutout innings with six strikeouts.

Closers:

Leo Nunez picked up his first save of the season by replacing an ineffective Matt Lindstrom with two outs in the ninth inning. Lindstrom allowed one run and left runners on second and third for Nunez who struck out Fernando Martinez to end the game.

Randy Choate picked up his second save of the season since being recalled from Triple-A earlier in the week.

Heath Bell blew his first save of the season in an 8-7 loss to the Colorado Rockies.

Brian Fuentes blew his third save of the season, surrendering a three-run home run to Jose Lopez in the 9th inning, costing Matt Palmer a win.

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Fantasy Baseball – the Daily Dirt for Monday

Posted by Todd Lammi on May 25th, 2009

by Todd Lammi

It was a painful loss for the Tampa Bay Rays, as the blew a 10-0 lead in an 11-10 loss to the Cleveland Indians. The blown lead was the largest in team history.  The Rays used four relievers in the ninth inning, the last one being Jason Isringhausen, but none of them could stop the bleeding as the Indians rallied for seven runs to pull out the come from behind win. Rookie David Price, getting the start for the injured Scott Kazmir, displayed the same wildness that had been plaguing him in the minor leagues, as he walked five and allowed four hits in 3 1/3 innings while throwing 100 pitches. He did manage to strike out six and only allowed two runs, but his high pitch count limited his innings. Ryan Garko hit two home runs for the Indians and drove in five runs to pace the Tribe’s offense. In other fantasy baseball happenings around the diamond on Monday…

Hitters:

Alex Rodriguez and Mark Teixeira continue to lead the surging New York Yankees offense, as the team pounded out 19 hits in an 11-1 win over the Texas Rangers. A-Rod went 5 for 5 with 4 RBI and Teixeira went 2 for 4 with three runs scored and two RBI.

Who needs Manny Ramirez? The Los Angeles Dodgers pounded out 19 hits en route to a 16-6 pasting of the Colorado Rockies. Matt Kemp, Juan Castro and Juan Pierre each knocked in three runs.

The Chicago White Sox made short work of Ervin Santana, banging out 23 hits on their way to a 17-3 win over the Los Angeles Angels. Jermaine Dye (12), Jim Thome (8) and Paul Konerko (7) all went deep for the White Sox. The lone bright spot for the Angles was the return of Vladimir Guerrero to the line up.

Nelson Cruz hit his 12th home run of the year for the lone score for the Rangers. Cruz has homered 5 times in his last six games while driving in 10 runs. He has now collected an RBI in six consecutive games.

Ryan Howard hit two home runs and drove in three to provide all the offense for the Philadelphia Phillies in a 5-3 loss to the Florida Marlins. Howard now has 12 home runs on the season and 33 RBI.

Jonny Gomes went 3 for 4 with 3 RBI for the Cincinnati Reds in their 8-5 win over the Houston Astros. Gomes is a good pickup in National League only leagues as he should see playing time against left-handed starters.

Adrian Gonzalez hit his 17th home run of the season in the San Diego Padres 9-7 win over the Arizona Diamondbacks in 10 innings. Scott Hairston went 3 for 5 and is now batting .333. With the trade of Jody Gerut to Milwaukee earlier in the week, Hairston should be someone to target if he is still on the waiver wire in your fantasy baseball league.

It took him 100 at bats but Travis Ishikawa finally hit his first home run of the season in the San Francisco Giants 8-2 win over the Atlanta Braves. Ishikawa went 4 for 4 and drove in three runs. He is going to need more games like that if he does not want to lose at bats to recent call up Jesus Guzman.

Freddy Sanchez went 6 for 6 and scored four times to lead the Pittsburgh Pirates to a 10-8 win over the Chicago Cubs. Sanchez drove in three runs and hit his fourth home run of the season.

Pitchers:

Justin Verlander pitched seven shutout innings with eight strikeouts in a 13-1 win over the Kansas City Royals. It marked the sixth consecutive game that Verlander has notched eight or more strikeouts. The outing was the most economical Verlander has been with his pitches all season, making it through seven innings on 96 pitches.

Jeremy Guthrie allowed one run in seven innings with four strikeouts to pitch the Baltimore Orioles past the Toronto Blue Jays 4-1. Guthrie’s biggest problem this season has been the home run, allowing 11 in 53 2/3 innings before his start on Monday.

The Milwaukee Brewers defeated the St. Louis Cardinals 1-0 in 10 innings on a RBI single by Bill Hall. Both starting pitchers were superb in the game, with Chris Carpenter tossing eight scoreless innings with 10 strikeouts for the Cardinals, and Yovani Gallardo hurling eight shutout innings for the Brewers with six strikeouts.

Phil Hughes scattered three hits in eight shutout innings to pick up his third win of the season. Hughes struck out six while allowing only one walk to lower his ERA to 5.16.

Brett Anderson allowed one run in six innings with four strikeouts to gain his second win of the season. It marks the second consecutive good start for the rookie who may be on the verge of turning things around for good.

Jonathan Sanchez, subject to some trade rumors earlier in the week, allowed two runs in five innings with six strikeouts to earn his second win of the year.

John Maine allowed one run in six innings with four strikeouts to get his fourth win of the season.  Despite his 4.18 ERA he conitunes to be bothered by walks. With a 30 to 36 walk to strikeout ratio, Maine is on pace for 108 walks this season which would be a career high.

Closers:

Jonathan Papelbon picked up his 12th save of the season, but it marked back-to-back games that he surrendered two runs and a home run.

Francisco Rodriguez (back spasms) returned to action for the New York Mets and picked up his 13th save of the season.

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Fantasy Baseball – the Daily Dirt for Friday

Posted by Todd Lammi on May 22nd, 2009

by Todd Lammi

Jimmy Rollins hit his third home run of the season and stole his sixth base of the year. He has raised his batting average 40 points in the last seven games up to .240. In addition to slumping at the plate, he has struggled on the base paths this season getting caught stealing four times in 10 attempts. As a point of reference, he was 47 for 50 on stolen bases last season and 41 for 47 in 2007. In other fantasy baseball news around the diamond on Friday…

Hitters:

Brandon Inge hit is 12th home run of the season and drove in two runs giving him 31 RBI on the season. He is now on pace for 49 home runs for the year. And people still don’t believe in the juiced ball theory? Brandon Inge, 49 home runs in one year? His career high was 27 back in 2006.

Exhibit two of my juiced ball theory, Raul Ibanez, with his third home run in as many days, this one coming at Yankee Stadium and Ibanez is now on pace for 65 home runs and 166 RBI. He leads the National League with 16 home runs, 41 RBI and is second in runs scored with 36.

Speaking of the new Yankee Stadium, through the first 21 games, 82 home runs have been hit which is a major league record, breaking the mark of 77 hit at Houston’s Enron Field back in 2000.

Carlos Pena hit home run number 15 on the season and drove in three runs in a 15-2 victory over the Florida Marlins. Pena is currently third in the American League with 38 RBI.

Michael Cuddyer hit for the cycle, going 4 for 5 with 5 RBI and slugging his seventh home run of the season, giving him 30 RBI on the year.

Nolan Reimold went 2 for 5 and hit his second home run of the season and is now batting .313 on the year.

Elvis Andrus went 4 for 5, knocking out his third home run of the year and stealing his sixth base of the season. Andrus is now hitting .292 on the year.

Pitchers:

Johan Santana allowed two runs in seven innings with eight strikeouts to get his sixth won of the year. The 118 pitches he threw on Friday night were the most he had thrown this season.

Bronson Arroyo allowed one run in eight innings with two strikeouts to notch his 6th win of the season, good for a tie for first in the National League with Johan Santana and Chad Billingsley.

Kevin Slowey improved to 6-1, surrendering two runs in 7 1/3 innings with four strikeouts. It was the fourth straight start he has allowed three runs or fewer.

Rick Porcello allowed one run in six innings and struck out three to move to 5-3 on the season. He has now allowed three runs in his last 24 innings and has reeled off four consecutive wins.

Bret Myers allowed three runs in eight innings with five strikeouts to pick up win number four on the season.

Kenshin Kawakami picked up his third win of the year with a 1-0 victory over the Toronto Blue Jays. Kawakami pitched eight shutout innings and struck out seven. Roy Halladay hurled seven shutout innings for the Blue Jays and fanned six.

Gavin Floyd tossed eight shutout innings with eight strikeouts to earn his first win in more than a month, in a 2-0 victory over the Pittsburgh Pirates. Zach Duke suffered the loss, allowing two runs in eight innings with seven strikeouts.

Jordan Zimmermann allowed two runs in seven innings with seven strikeouts in a no decision against the Baltimore Orioles.

Todd Wellemeyer threw six scoreless innings with three strikeouts to even his mark at 4-4 on the season. He was much more effective with his pitches, needing only 85 to get through six innings.

Derek Holland made his first major league start for the Texas Rangers and allowed three runs in 5 2/3 innings with four strikeouts. With Vincente Padilla on the disabled list, Holland should see another start or two.

There has got to be an injury that Ricky Nolasco is hiding for him to be this bad. Nolasco allowed eight runs for the second consecutive start and now sports a 9.07 ERA.

Daisuke Matsuzaka returned from the disabled list and allowed four runs in five innings with four strikeouts in a 5-3 loss to the New York Mets.

Chien-Ming Wang returned to the New York Yankees and threw three innings from the bullpen, allowing six hits and two runs with two strikeouts.

David Price is expected to be recalled by the Tampa Bay Rays to take the rotation spot vacated by Scott Kazmir who was placed on the disabled list with a quadriceps strain. Price would likely get the start Monday against the Cleveland Indians.

Rich Harden was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a back strain. Carlos Zambrano returned from the disabled list Friday and will take Harden’s spot in the rotation.

Closers:

Troy Percival was placed on the 15-day disabled list with shoulder tendinitis. Tampa Bay Rays Manager Joe Maddon said he would go with the dreaded closer by committee in place of Percival.

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Fantasy Baseball Minor League Report – week 5

Posted by Todd Lammi on May 9th, 2009

by Todd Lammi

Although he is not yet in the minor leagues, in fact, he may never spend a day there, keeper league owners should be tracking Stephen Strasburg, the pitcher from San Diego State who should be the first pick by the Washington Nationals in the  June draft. Strasburg threw a no-hitter on Friday night against Air Force with 17 strikeouts in a 5-0 victory. On the year, Strasburg’s record stands at 11-0 with 164 strikeouts in 87 1/3 innings. There is a good chance, depending on when he signs his contract after being drafted, that he could head right into a major league rotation. In other fantasy baseball news from the minor leagues…

Chris Coghlan was recalled from Triple-A by the Florida Marlins and will have a chance to earn a starting role while playing a variety of positions. Coghlan was hitting .344 with three home runs, 22 RBI and nine stolen bases in 96 at bats. He showed a good eye at the plate, with 12 walks and only 10 strikeouts. He started at second base on Friday, going 2 for 4, but should see the majority of time in left field initially.

Xavier Paul was recalled by the Los Angeles Dodgers to fill the roster spot for the suspended Manny Ramirez. Paul was hitting .344 with two home runs and eight stolen bases and will serve as the fourth outfielder for the next fifty games until Ramirez returns.

Nolan Reimold could be one of the next call ups from the minor leagues if the Baltimore Orioles ever get serious about improving their outfield. Although a bit older at 25, Reimold has been hitting non-stop since the season started. He currently holds a batting average of .387 with eight home runs, 25 RBI and five stolen bases.

Tommy Hanson struck out 10 in six innings while allowing one run in his last start. With David Price struggling with his command in Triple-A, Hanson seems to have taken over the spot as top pitching prospect currently in the minors. I liked the comparison Baseball America had on their weekly Hot Sheet from a statistics standpoint between Hanson and Tim Lincecum from his time in Triple-A.

Hanson       IP: 32 2/3      Walks: 11     Strikeouts: 48

Lincecum  IP: 31               Walks: 11     Strikeouts: 46

Kris Medlen (Braves) is still managing to keep pace with his teammate Hanson in Triple-A, striking out 10 in seven innings in his last start. Medlen now has a 1.17 ERA and 0.78 whip ratio, while holding batters to .167 average. In 30 2/3 innings, he has struck out 38 hitters.

Could he be hiding an injury? David Price (Rays) has run into command problems in his last three starts, walking 12 in 11 innings. His whip ratio has climbed to 1.62 on the year and he has struck out only two batters in his last two starts.

Luke Hochevar is patiently waiting for a call up from the Kansas City Royals as he continues to dominate in Triple-A. Hochevar struck out nine in eight shutout innings on Thursday, and is now 5-0 on the season. Hochevar’s ERA is now a sparkling 0.90, with 30 strikeouts in 40 innings of work.

Also biding his time in Triple-A is Clay Buchholz (Red Sox). Buchholz hurled seven shutout innings on Friday in a 4-0 win. Buchholz allowed one hit and struck out eight in seven innings. On the season, his ERA is now 1.33 with 26 strikeouts in 27 innings.

Desmond Jennings (Rays) continues to rake in AA, at one point putting together six consecutive multi-hit games, raising his batting average to .400 on the season. Jennings has three home runs with 22 RBI and nine stolen bases.

Aaron Poreda (White Sox) currently carries an 1.65 ERA in AA with 28 strikeouts in 27 1/3 innings. With Jose Contreras and Bartolo Colon in the major league rotation, Poreda will see starts in the major leagues at some point this season.

Jarrod Parker (Diamondbacks) who jumped to AA at the beginning of May has found the hitters a little tougher in his two starts there. In 10 1/3 innings, he has allowed 16 hits with 11 strikeouts.

Ian Kennedy (Yankees) will undergo surgery on Tuesday, after being diagnosed with an aneurysm under his right armpit. Kennedy, 24, will have the surgery performed by the same doctor who did David Cone’s procedure for an aneurysm back in 1996.

Neftali Feliz (Rangers) missed his start on Friday after complaining of shoulder soreness. Feliz has struggled with his control this year, allowing 16 walking and 23 hits in 19 2/3 innings.

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Fantasy Baseball Minor League Report – week two

Posted by Todd Lammi on April 16th, 2009

by Todd Lammi

Here is a week two update of some of the top minor league players that might make an impact this fantasy baseball season.

David Price got his second start of the season for the Durham Balls (Tampa Bay) and tossed five scoreless innings with six strikeouts. Price threw only 65 pitches, 48 of them for strikes.

Pedro Alvarez of the Lynchburg Hillcats (Pittsburgh) hit a walk-off three run home run and drove in six runs on Thursday. Alvarez has been off to a slow start at the plate hitting only .214 but he does have 14 RBI already on the young season.

Drew Sutton was traded from the Houston Astros to the Cincinnati Reds to complete the trade that sent Jeff Keppinger to the Astros in March. Sutton will report to Triple-A Louisville.

Outfielder Matt LaPorta hit his second home run for the Columbus Clippers (Cleveland). LaPorta is hitting .375 so far this year.

Matt Wieters hit his first home run of the season for the Norfolk Tides. Wieters had two hits and is hitting .261 on the season.

Tom Gorzelanny got the start for the Indianapolis Indians (Pittsburgh) and allowed two runs in five innings. Outfielder Andrew McCutchen stole his third base of the year.

Tommy Hanson of the Gwinnett Braves (Atlanta) allowed one run in 5 2/3 innings on Tuesday, striking out seven. Hanson threw 95 pitches, 65 for strikes. Hanson might only be a bad start or two from Jo-Jo Reyes away from making his major league debut.

To read the week one minor league report, click here.

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Fantasy Baseball – Minor League Report

Posted by Todd Lammi on April 12th, 2009

by Todd Lammi

Each week we will take a look at the top happenings in minor league baseball from a fantasy baseball perspective. Here is a recap of some of the top minor league players in action in week one.

David Price of the Tampa Bay Rays made his minor league debut Saturday, allowing two runs on four hits in 3 2/3 innings, while limited to a 75 pitch count.

Jordan Zimmermann of the Washington Nationals in his first AAA start gave up three runs in 5 1/3 innings.

Tommy Hanson of the Atlanta Braves struck out 10 in 4 1/3 shutout innings on Thursday. Hanson allowed three hits and two walks will throwing 84 pitches.

Neftali Feliz made his AAA debut for the Texas Rangers and overcame some wildness to pitch four shutout innings, allowing four hits and six walks.

Third basemen Brett Wallace (AA) of the St. Louis Cardinals hit two home runs and drove in six runs on Thursday.

Catcher Carlos Santana (AA) of the Cleveland Indians homered and drove in four runs on Thursday.

Seattle Mariners prospect Carlos Triunfel in AA suffered a broken left fibula while sliding into second base on Friday. Preliminary estimates are that he could miss six to eight weeks of action.

Florida Marlins first baseman Logan Morrison (AA) suffered a small fracture at the base of his right thumb and is expected to miss six to eight weeks.

For those of you looking at long term minor league keepers, check out the article at Baseball America that talks about two of the top young outfielders in the game in Jason Heyward of the Atlanta Braves and Mike Stanton of the Florida Marlins.

Baseball America also has their list of where the top 100 prospects are starting out in 2009. You can access the list here. If you live in the San Jose, CA area, be sure to swing by one of the San Jose Giants games. That team boasts several of the top prospects in all of minor league baseball in pitchers Madison Bumgarner and Tim Alderson,  catcher Buster Posey and first basemen Angel Villalona. Also keep an eye on third basemen Conor Gillaspie who saw time in the major leagues last year, and second basemen Nick Noonan.

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2009 Fantasy Baseball Impact Rookies

Posted by Todd Lammi on March 1st, 2009

by Todd Lammi

Every year there are a few rookies that make a significant impact in fantasy baseball. Determining whether a rookie will be boom or bust depends on his opportunity plus a managers patience if the player struggles out of the gate. Let’s take a look at some of the top rookies to make an impact in 2009.

They have a job:

1) David Price - Price enters the year as the number 5 starter for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays. In that slot in the rotation, there is a good chance he will be skipped on some starts due to days off or rainouts to keep the top four pitchers on schedule, plus it limits the amount of innings he will throw for the season. Look for 150+ strikeouts and 12 wins from him.

2) Cameron Maybin - Maybin is expected to start in center field for the Florida Marlins and is currently projected to hit leadoff. Negatives in 2009 are his batting average and lack of power, positives are his speed and if he gets on his base, he will score a bunch of runs. I expect something along the lines of a .240 batting average with 85 runs 9 home runs and 27 steals.

3) Travis Snider - Snider is expected to open the season as the Toronto Blue Jays starting left fielder. He worked his way from Double A to the majors last season so expect some growing pains this year as he justed turned 21 last month. Look for something along the lines of .260 with 15 home runs and 75 rbi’s.

4) Elvis Andrus - Andrus is currently penciled in as the opening day shortstop for the Texas Rangers. His has more value for the Rangers than he does in fantasy outside of his stolen base potential, which might get him 20 steals out of the 9th spot in the batting order. Expect little in the power department as his career high in the minor leagues is four home runs.

They will have a job soon:

1) Matt Wieters - unless he has a monster spring, it looks like he is ticketed to start the year in Triple-A since the Baltimore Orioles signed Greg Zaun. I would not be surprised to see Wieters in the majors by the end of May, similar to the path Evan Longoria took last season.

2) Trevor Cahill / Brett Anderson – both pitchers might start the season in Triple-A  for the Oakland A’s and will be first in line for a call up. Cahill does a good job of keeping the ball down in the strike zone, as he has allowed only 8 home runs in 220+ minor league innings. Anderson, a lefty, has averaged more than a strikeout per inning in the minors.

3) Colby Rasmus – Many people expected to see Rasmus patrolling the St. Louis Cardinals outfield last year, but a slow start in Triple-A coupled with multiple injuries kept him out of the big leagues. With a tremendous spring he could break camp as one of the Cardinals starting outfielders if Skip Schumaker makes the successful transition to second base. That would leave Rasmus to battle Chris Duncan for the third outfield spot.

4) Gaby Sanchez - Sanchez is in the running to be the Florida Marlins starting first baseman if he can perform up to the task in spring training.  Sanchez had eight at bats in the majors last season, but still has not spent any time in Triple-A. The Marlins have other options in Sanchez is not ready, by moving Jorge Cantu to first base and going with one of a number of candidates at third base, either Dallas McPherson, Wes Helms or Emilio Bonifacio.

5) Andrew McCutchen - McCutchen will begin the season in Triple-A for the Pittsburgh Pirates and await either an injury or trade to make his major league debut. He already has had 569 at bats in AAA so there is little to gain to make him repeat an entire season at the age of 22. One area for improvement is his stolen base percentage. Last season he was caught stealing 18 times in 52 attempts.

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