Posts Tagged ‘Freddie Freeman’

2011 Fantasy Baseball – National League Rookie Projections

Posted by Todd Lammi on March 30th, 2011

Now that major league baseball rosters are close to being finalized, here is a look at some of the top rookies in fantasy baseball this season and what type of stats they should accumulate to help your fantasy baseball team.

National League:

1. Brandon Belt – the injury to Cody Ross gave the San Francisco Giants an easy way to get Brandon Belt on the opening day roster by installing him as the starting first basemen and shifting Aubrey Huff to right field. Belt has made the most of his 71 at bats in spring training, hitting .282 with three home runs, 13 RBI and stealing two bases. Last year he hit .352 across three levels in the minor leagues with 23 home runs, 112 RBI and 22 stolen bases in his first year in baseball.

Projection: .278 avg., 74 runs, 19 home runs, 77 RBI, 12 steals

2. Freddie Freeman – has received the second most at bats for the Atlanta Braves this spring, hitting .263 with two home runs and seven RBI. has more value in NL only leagues as I don’t think he is going to hit for enough power to give him much value except in the deepest (deepest defined as 20 teams or more) of mixed leagues.

Projection: .284 avg., 71 runs, 14 home runs, 74 RBI, 2 steals

3. Danny Espinosa – will team with Ian Desmond as the double play combo for the Washington Nationals giving them one of the few teams with a chance for those two positions to hit 20 home runs with 20 stolen bases. Espinosa still has some work to do on his plate discipline so it will weigh his batting average down this season. He is hitting .290 this spring with two home runs, 15 RBI and four stolen bases.

Projection: .242 avg., 66 runs, 17 home runs, 62 RBI, 18 steals

4. Craig Kimbrel – he has rebounded from some struggles at the beginning of spring and now sports a 2.93 ERA with 15 strikeouts in 12 1/3 innings. Will start the year sharing closer duties with Jonny Venters who is still unscored upon in 11 spring innings, but I expect Kimbrel to see the majority of save opportunities long term.

Projection:  24 saves, 2.82 ERA, 1.34 WHIP

5. Brandon Beachy – claimed the 5th starter spot for the Atlanta Braves, but has a little bit of risk to his innings count with Mike Minor waiting in the wings and a likely innings limit at some point if he sticks around for the entire season. Beachy has a .90 ERA with 21 strikeouts in 20 innings this spring.

Projection:  9 wins, 145 strikeouts, 3.78 ERA, 1.32 WHIP

6. Brad Emaus – rule 5 pick that claimed the second base job with the New York Mets. Emaus is hitting .294 in spring training with a home run and two stolen bases. In his minor league career, Emaus hit .276 with a nice walk to strikeout ratio of 212 to 220, so he gets a little extra value in leagues with on base percentage as a category.

Projection: .258 avg., 61 runs, 8 home runs, 52 RBI, 8 steals

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2011 Fantasy Baseball Rankings – First Base

Posted by Todd Lammi on December 23rd, 2010

Here is the second article in the series for 2011 fantasy baseball rankings looking at the position of first base. This is a loaded position at the top of the draft with not many players with upside later on. If you are looking for players late in the draft, you are going to looking at players like rookie Freddie Freeman of Atlanta or hoping for progress from guys like Justin Smoak in Seattle or Matt LaPorta in Cleveland.

1. Albert Pujols – only quibble is his batting average has dropped for two straight years, but is still easily sits in the .300 range. Stolen bases remained in double digits which is a good sign. Still the landslide number one pick in fantasy baseball drafts.

2. Joey Votto – it was a breakout year for Votto with 37 home runs, 113 RBI and 16 stolen bases. Improving plate discipline coupled with his ability to swipe double digit steals will make him the second first basemen drafted after Pujols in 2011.

3. Miguel Cabrera – scored 100+ runs for the first time since 2006. Something to be said for his durability and consistency, driving in 100+ runs for the 7th straight season. Now has a career batting average of .313.

4. Adrian Gonzalez – the trade to Boston, plus the move away from Petco Park should mean a banner year for Gonzalez in 2011. Only small negative compared to the top tier first basemen is his batting average which has only once been over .300.

5. Mark Teixeira – has had significant fluctuations in batting average the last two years since coming back to the American League due to a struggle against right-handed pitching. Has hit 30+ home runs every season since 2003. Hit much better at home last season at .288 vs. only .227 on the road.

6. Ryan Howard – ended his streak of 40+ home run seasons at four. Power dropped off against right-handed pitching for some reason. The batting average was okay, but losing 14 home runs for a guy that was a first round pick in most drafts was tough to swallow.

7. Prince Fielder – ended the season with okay numbers but not what you needed from a guy that was a first round pick. Looming free agency seems to be impacting his performance at the plate. Drops across the board in power, RBI and batting average. Biggest problem was his struggles against left-handed pitching, hitting only .226 with a measly 19 RBI in 199 at bats.

8. Justin Morneau – was headed for his fourth 30+ home run season in his last five years before injuries hit. His .345 batting average was  24 points higher than his previous best. He has alternated batting over and under .300 his last five seasons so if he continues that trend in 2011, expect something in the .280 range. Struggled to hit home runs in his new ballpark, hitting only four of his 18 home runs at Target Field.

9. Kevin Youkilis – injuries ended his 2010 season early, otherwise he was in line for a season comparable to previous years. With the signings of Carl Crawford and the trade for Adrian Gonzalez, he might be hitting a spot or two lower in the lineup after hitting cleanup in 2010. Scores a ton of runs thanks to an on base percentage close to .400. Has played in less games every year since 2006 so there are some durability issues with owning him.

10. Kendry Morales – season ended early after suffering an injury in a home run celebration. Before that, he was on his way to duplicating his 2009 season. Draft ranking should be much the same as it was last season.

11. Adam Dunn - move to the Chicago White Sox in the American League should help him the next few years with the ability to DH and play in a better lineup. Has hit 38 or more home runs every season since 2004.

12. Paul Konerko – his 39 home runs were the most since 2005 and his .312 average was the best since 2006, so in other words don’t expect a repeat in 2011. Was on fire at home, hitting .342 with 26 home runs and 64 RBI in 260 at bats.

13. Billy Butler – the breakout season that many were expecting never came. Still hit a ton of doubles (45), but lost six home runs and drove in less baserunners. Will be only 25 the first month of the season so there is still some room for growth in the power department.

14. Aubrey Huff – enjoyed his first season with the San Francisco Giants and was rewarded with a two-year contract. Power dropped off in the second half of the season, hitting 17 home runs before the All-Star break and only nine after it.

15. Gaby Sanchez – became the starter at first base at age 26. Tailed off the second half of the season, hitting only .237 after batting .302 before the All-Star break. Also hit much better at home, batting .304 vs. .234 on the road.

16. Ike Davis – not a bad rookie campaign for Davis who was just a first round pick of the New York Mets back in 2008. Good to see him fare well as a young player against southpaws, hitting .295 against them in 122 at bats.Power and batting average were pretty similar in both the first and second half of the season.

17. Derrek Lee – had a predictable drop-off from his bust out 2009 season. Was better the second half of the season hitting .298 vs. .233 in the first part of the year. Still looking for a new team in 2011 as a free agent.

18. James Loney – hard to own him with little power and a lack of runs scored. His stolen bases plus his batting average has held up his value so far but is close to being replaced either through a trade or through a prospect if he cannot hit for more power. Only bright side was his 41 doubles, if a few of those can turn into home runs in 2011, he should have a bit more value. Hit just .211 after the All-Star break with 25 RBI in 251 at bats.

19. Carlos Pena - batting average has dropped for three straight years and if he is hitting less than 30 home runs, then he becomes just another guy. Moves to the National League for the first time so no guarantee that his average is going to rebound despite moving away from the American League East.

20. Adam LaRoche – looking for a new home as a free agent which means it will be his fifth team in the last three seasons. Despite his movement, he is pretty consistent with mid 20 home runs and 80 to 90 RBI every season.

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2011 Fantasy Baseball Team Preview: Atlanta Braves

Posted by Todd Lammi on November 18th, 2010

There will be several new faces for the Atlanta Braves in 2011, starting with new manager Fredi Gonzalez who takes over for Bobby Cox who retired. Closer Billy Wagner has retired as well leaving the Braves with a void to fill at closer.

The team started off the winter with a fleecing of the Florida Marlins by picking up a 30 home run hitter in Dan Uggla for Omar Infante. The problem is it pushes Martin Prado off of second base for now. Prado could slide over to third base but Chipper Jones is expected to return from ACL surgery so he could be headed to the outfield. The team already picked up the option on shortstop Alex Gonzalez whom they acquired from Toronto toward the end of the 2010 season. First base should be taken over by rookie Freddie Freeman who hit .319 at Triple-A with 18 home runs and 87 RBI. His stay in the Arizona Fall League was cut short due to a sprained thumb but it should not impact him once spring training rolls around. Brian McCann is the catcher with David Ross backing him up.

In the outfield, the Braves are set with Jason Heyward in right field for the next 10 years. In center field, the Braves would love to find somebody to take Nate McLouth’s contract off their hands as he is owed $6.5M in 2011 and the club will likely buy him out for $1.25M in 2012. In left field it looks like it could be Prado with him shifting to third base when Chipper’s injured and Matt Diaz filling in.

The starting rotation for the Braves is locked in with Tim Hudson, Tommy Hanson, Derek Lowe, Jair Jurrjens and Mike Minor. They also have some of the top minor league pitching prospects in baseball close to knocking on the door as well with Arodys Vizcaino, Julio Teheran and Randall Delgado.

In the bullpen, the loss of Billy Wagner will likely be offset with the signing of a veteran closer to a one year contract to let Craig Kimbrel get another year under his belt before he takes over the closer reins full-time in 2012.

2011 fantasy baseball breakout player: Jason Heyward – just starting to scratch the surface.

2011 fantasy baseball bust: Alex Gonzalez – that power is coming back down to earth.

2011 fantasy baseball rookie to watch: Freddie Freeman – he has hit at every level, it still may take a year or two for the power to show at the major league level.

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2010 MLB September 1 Callups

Posted by Todd Lammi on September 2nd, 2010

With September 1 here, here is a look at some of the more interesting names that were called up today and they impact they might have in fantasy leagues over the course of the next five weeks. Keep in mind that there will be more players coming up and they still might be in Double-A or Triple-A if there team is in the playoffs.

1B / OF Brandon Allen (ARI) – Allen got the start in left field on Wednesday with Justin Upton out of the lineup and day-to-day. Allen went 2-for-3 and drove in four runs, thanks to a grand slam in the seventh innings. Allen was hitting .261 in Triple-A with 25 home runs and 86 RBI to go along with 14 stolen bases. He should see a good amount of playing time the last five weeks between the outfield and first base.

1B Freddie Freeman (ATL) – Freeman got the start at first base in place of Derrek Lee and went 0-for-3 with a strikeout while hitting sixth in the order. He could see spot starts the rest of the way since Lee has been injury prone this year, but Freeman’s real value won’t come until 2011. He hit .319 in Triple-A with 18 home runs, 87 RBI and six stolen bases.

2B Daniel Espinosa (WAS) – Espinosa should see a good amount of starts at seconds base for the Washington Nationals over the remainder of the season. Espinosa hit .268 at two levels in the minor leagues with 22 home runs, 69 RBI and 25 stolen bases in 481 at bats and is the favorite to start at second base in 2011. He came off the bench Wednesday to go 1-for-2 with an RBI.

OF Nolan Reimold (BAL) – It has been a disappointing season for Reimold who started the year as a strong sleeper candidate in Baltimore, but did not seem recovered enough from surgery to his Achilles to ever get untracked. Reimold was hitting .249 in Triple-A with 10 home runs, 37 RBI and 9 stolen bases in 337 at bats. He got the start Wednesday at designated hitter with the lefty Jon Lester on the mound and went 1-for-3 with an RBI. It looks like he could platoon with Luke Scott at DH and fill-in periodically in the outfield.

OF Lucas Duda (NYM) – With Jason Bay still out of action, Duda could get an extended look in left field for the New York Mets. Duda was in the lineup Wednesday night and hit seventh going 0-for-3 with a strikeout. He hit .304 between two levels in the minor leagues with 23 home runs and 87 RBI in 425 at bats.

OF Desmond Jennings (TB) – Jennings got the start in right field hitting second for Tampa Bay on Wednesday. He went o-for-3 with a strikeout and his playing time for the rest of the season is still in question, unless the Rays decide to give Ben Zobrist more time at second base. The addition of Brad Hawpe also takes away some possible at bats from the DH spot. Jennings hit .278 in Triple-A with 37 stolen bases in 41 attempts.

RP – Aroldis Chapman (CIN) – The Reds cheated the a little by getting him to the major leagues a day early so he would be eligible for the playoffs and he has pitched both days, working two scoreless innings with three strikeouts. He has some value in NL leagues for K’s but is not worth owning in mixed leagues. For keeper leagues, his long term outlook is still in the Cincinnati rotation

SP – Cory Luebke (SD) – Luebke is expected to get the start on Friday for the San Diego Padres against the Colorado Rockies. Luebke was 10-1 between two levels in the minor leagues with a 2.68 ERA and 88 strikeouts in 114 innings.

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The Daily Dirt from Thursday

Posted by Todd Lammi on April 22nd, 2010

I wrote just a few days ago in the Minor League Report that Chris Davis had maybe three more weeks until we saw Justin Smoak. It turned out to be actually only three more days as the Texas Rangers have recalled Smoak and designated Davis for assignment. No real big surprise with Davis hitting .188 with no home runs and striking out 35% of the time.  Smoak was hitting .326 with two home runs, but more importantly 16 walks with only five strikeouts.

Speaking of non-hitting first basemen, Troy Glaus has to be next up on the possible cut block. Freddie Freeman has started to heat up in Triple-A for the Atlanta Braves with three home runs in his last two games and six RBI and will be eventually knocking on the door if Glaus continues to struggle. Glaus went 0-for-4 Thursday with three strikeouts and is now hitting .170 on the season.

On the other side of the diamond, it is time for Brandon Wood to also go pretty soon I think. Wood is hitting .087 with zero home runs or RBI and only two runs scored in 46 at bats. Not helping matters is still his lack of plate discipline with two walks and 15 strikeouts. If Maicer Izturis is a free agent in your league and you need middle infield help, I would pick him up in advance of something happening.

Daisuke Matsuzaka is supposed to return from the disabled list and could get the start either Monday or Tuesday in Toronto, making him potentially a two-start starter in week 4 with the second start coming at Baltimore. In three starts in Triple-A, Matsuzaka had a 1.62 ERA and a 0.72 WHIP with 13 strikeouts in 16 2/3 innings.

Ubaldo Jimenez picked up a win Thursday night with 7 1/3 innings of shutout ball with five strikeouts. He is now 4-0 with a 0.95 ERA and a 1.13 WHIP. While all that is well and nice, he has rang up pitch counts of 115, 128 and 121 in his last three starts. Those are some awfully high numbers and we’re not even into May yet. His trade value is never going to be higher and with his recent pitch count numbers, there is no better time to trade him.

Aroldis Chapman worked 5 1/3 scoreless innings in Triple-A, allowing three hits with five walks and striking out eight. Until he gets his control in order which is going to enable him to pitch past the fifth inning and not blow out the bullpen on days he pitches, he is going to be stuck in Triple-A for awhile.

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The Minor League Report – Atlanta Braves Triple-A Roster

Posted by Todd Lammi on April 6th, 2010

Here is the minor league report for the 2010 Gwinnett Braves roster, the Triple-A affiliate for the Atlanta Braves.

The key name to note on the roster is first basemen Freddie Freeman. With Troy Glaus signed to a one-year contract, Freeman should be ready to assume first base next season and hold it for the next 10 years. Freeman, a second round pick back in 2007, turned 20 back in September and owns a career minor league batting average of .294.

The other name to watch is Craig Kimbrel, a relief pitcher selected in the 3rd round of the 2008 draft. Kimbrel will turn 22 in May and zoomed through four levels in 2009, finishing with a 2.85 ERA and 18 saves. In 60 innings, he struck out 103 hitters and had a WHIP of 1.250.

How they rank:

Baseball America: Freeman (2), Kimbrel (5)
Keith Law: Freeman (4), Kimbrel (9)
John Sickels: Freeman (2), Kimbrel (6)

Here is a look at 2010 Gwinnett Braves roster by position:

Catchers:

Clint Sammons
J.C. Boscan

Infielders:

1B Freddie Freeman
2B J.C. Holt
SS Brandon Hicks
3B Joe Thurston
INF Barbaro Canizares
INF Wes Timmons

Outfielders:

Gregor Blanco
Brent Clevlen
Mitch Jones
Matt Young

Starting Pitchers:

James Parr
Todd Redmond
Ryne Reynoso
Jonny Venters

Relief Pitchers:

Michael Dunn
Cory Gearrin
Mariano Gomez
Tim Gustafson
Craig Kimbrel
Jeff Lyman
Vladimir Nunez
Scott Proctor
Chris Resop

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Fantasy Baseball – the Daily Dirt for Wednesday

Posted by Todd Lammi on June 3rd, 2009

by Todd Lammi

If you are an Atlanta Braves fan, today has provided quite a swing of emotion. Three events happened which all somewhat coincided with each other depending on who’s version of the story you want to believe to shuffle the Atlanta roster. The first move was the Braves fleecing the Pittsburgh Pirates out of Nate McLouth for three prospects, none of whom were named, Tommy Hanson, Kris Medlen, Jason Heyward or Freddie Freeman. Even with the addition of McLouth who takes the spot of Jordan Schafer who was recently demoted, the Braves are still short a bat in their line up. At only $2 million, the Braves take on very little salary by adding McLouth this season.

The next move the Braves made frees up salary, by surprisingly releasing Tom Glavine who was due to return from the minor leagues on rehab assignment very shortly. The release of Glavine saves the Braves $3.5 million in salary, in addition to creating a roster spot for top prospect Tommy Hanson who was called up from Triple-A. Hanson will move into the Braves rotation Saturday and get the start against the Milwaukee Brewers. Kris Medlen gets a pat on the back for striking out nine in his six innings in his last start and a trip to the bullpen.

For the Pirates, the trade of McLouth opens up center field for Andrew McCutchen who should see the majority of starts for the rest of the season. McCutchen was hitting .303 with four home runs, 20 RBI and 10 stolen bases in 201 at bats in Triple-A.

If you are a fan on minor league players or have some on your team, these last two weeks have to feel like Christmas with Matt Wieters getting called up and then Hanson and McCutchen getting called up today. If that was not special enough, late Wednesday night it was announced that Gordon Beckham has been recalled by the Chicago White Sox.  If the White Sox are calling him up after just a week in Triple-A, it stands to reason he is going to be in the starting line up somewhere in the infield. Beckham was hitting .464 in Triple-A with three RBI and one steal in seven games. Between two levels on the season, he was at .326 with four home runs and 25 RBI. In other fantasy baseball news around the diamond on Wednesday night…

Hitters:

Ben Zorbist, wow, where did all the power come from?  Zorbist should be a permanent fixture in the Tampa Bay Rays line up going forward, and is rewarding fantasy baseball owners, by connecting for home runs on consecutive days. Zorbist is currently on pace for a .300 average with 33 home runs, 105 RBI and 16 steals.

Nice to see Elvis Andrus finally turning on the jets a little bit, as he stole two bases and went 2 for 3 at the plate. With stolen bases in consecutive games, he is now on pace for 30 thefts on the season.

Jorge Posada homered for the second straight and has been on a nice roll since returning from the disabled list on May 29th with three home runs in six games with six RBI.

Bobby Abreu went 2 for 5 with 4 RBI including his second home run of the season. After being on a stolen base tear for the first month and a half of the season, Abreu has not stolen a base since May 19th.

Dan Uggla homered for the second consecutive day and is now up to 11 home runs with 39 RBI. His batting average is s-l-o-w-l-y creeping up t0 .219 after being around the Mendoza line for much of the season.

Hunter Pence went 4 for 5 with 3 RBI and slugged his sixth home run of the season. The home run Wednesday night matched Pence’s home run total for the entire month of May.

Ryan Howard hit home run number 16 and knocked in two runs giving him  45 RBI on the season. He has now driven in a run in five consecutive game, totaling 11 plated runners.

Laynce Nix hit two home runs and drove in four, giving him seven RBI in June which matches his total for the entire month of May. He should continue to get the majoirty of at bats against right-handed pitching.

Brandon Phillips went 3 for 5 with 3 RBI and two stolen bases and has homered three times in his last five games.

Scott Hairston was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained biceps. Will Venable was recalled from Triple-A and should see time along with Tony Gwynn Jr.

Asdrubal Cabrera was placed on the 15-day disabled list with a sprained left shoulder and is expected to be out 2-4 weeks. Jamey Carroll should see time at third base with Jhonny Peralta moving over to shortstop. Carroll went 2 for 6 batting second on Wednesday. Peralta, back at his old position of shortstop went 3 for 5 with 3 RBI, including his second long ball of the year.

Pitchers:

Possibly there is light at the end of the tunnel for Jeff Niemann who tossed a complete game shutout with nine strikeouts to earn his fifth win of the season and lower his ERA to 3.77. Niemann has allowed two runs in his last 18 innings with 18 strikeouts and has seen his overall ERA decrease in his last five outings.

Jered Weaver hurled seven innings of one run ball with 10 strikeouts to improve his record to 5-2 on the year.  He has now allowed one run in five of his six last starts, although he only has two wins in those outings due to a lack of run support.

Ted Lilly allowed one run in seven innings with seven strikeouts in a no decision against the Atlanta Braves. He cost himself a win with a throwing error that caused an unearned run to score.

Josh Beckett tossed 7 2/3 shutout innings with nine strikeouts to up his record to 6-2 on the year.  He has allowed two runs or less in his last four starts while shaving two full runs off of his ERA.

Scott Feldman allowed two runs in 6 1/3 innings with five strikeouts to improve to a perfect 5-0 on the season. As a starter this season, remember that he had three relief appearances that threw his ERA out of whack, Feldman had an ERA of 2.59 heading into the game.

Josh Outman moved to 3-0, after allowing two runs in 6 2/3 innings with two strikeouts. Check out the top 2o in pitching for May, he ranked high in several statistics.

Cliff Lee allowed one run in eight innings with five strikeouts to notch his third victory of the year. Despite his 3-6 record, Lee has a 2.96 ERA as the Indians have been shut out or scored one run in six of his starts this year.

J.A. Happ tossed seven shutout innings with four strikeouts to earn his fourth win of the season and second in three starts.

Chad Billingsley hurled six shutout innings with nine strikeouts to up his mrk to 7-3 on the year. His numbers would be even more impressive if he managed to reduce his walks, after walking four or more batters in 5 of his last 7 starts.

Closers:

Jose Valverde is expected to go on a short rehab assignment next week and if all goes well is on track to return from the disabled list around June 12th.

Joakim Soria returned to action, facing two batters and throwing 13 pitches. I would still hold on to Juan Cruz for another week or two if you need saves, just in case.

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