Posts Tagged ‘Joe Mauer’

2011 Fantasy Baseball Rankings – Catchers

Posted by Todd Lammi on December 9th, 2010

Here is the first article in the series for 2011 fantasy baseball rankings looking at the position of catcher. It will be interesting to see how fantasy baseball drafts unfold in March with Buster Posey, Carlos Santana and Matt Wieters likely having the biggest variances in average draft position of the top catchers, simply because they are young and don’t have a long track record.

As you will note from the rankings below, I have Jesus Montero listed as catcher. If he starts in the major leagues, he will not qualify at catcher for one to three weeks depending on your leagues requirement for games played by position. With Jorge Posada headed for the designated hitter role, Montero has a shot if the Yankees don’t sign anyone.

1. Joe Mauer – his numbers in 2010 were much in line with his 2008 season. Many people expected him to close to 20 home runs and he did not even make it half way there. His new home ballpark Target Field seemed to definitely have an impact as he hit only one home run there compared to seven at home in 2008. Value is still high due to his batting average and runs scored.

2. Victor Martinez – now with the Detroit Tigers, will serve as designated hitter and part-time catcher. Led all catchers in RBI last season with 79, despite missing 20+ games due to injury. Has not fared well at Comerica Park in his career, hitting .225 in 169 at bats with four home runs and 19 RBI.

3. Brian McCann – led the National League in RBI for catchers last year and has been as consistent as they come with more than 20 home runs in four of his last five seasons. Walk rate took a big step forward in 2010 with 74 free passes in 479 at bats.

4. Buster Posey – it was a banner year for Posey, claiming the NL Rookie of the Year award and managing a pitching staff that led the major leagues in ERA. Will likely be the fourth fantasy baseball catcher selected in drafts in 2011. Hit much better on road in 2010, with a .351 average, 12 home runs and 38 RBI.

5. Carlos Santana – the injury that ended his season early in 2010 does nothing to diminish his value. Will likely go in the top 10 rounds of your fantasy baseball draft and some will value him like they did Wieters last year. Has great plate discipline and should have a solid year in 2011.

6. Kurt Suzuki – His stats would have been close to his 2009 numbers outside of batting average if he had not missed 20+ games. Really struggled hitting third, batting just .222 with two home runs compared to hitting clean up where he hit .272 with 9 home runs and 35 RBI in 191 at bats. Struggled the second half of the season, hitting .233 with only three home runs in 249 at bats.

7. Geovany Soto – caught barely 100 hundred games for the second year in a row as arthroscopic surgery on his shoulder ended his season early. When he did play, he looked more like the 2008 version and not the guy in 2009 that hit only .218.

8. Mike Napoli – looked to be headed for a season low on playing time before the injury to Kendry Morales occurred. Hit 26 home runs despite hitting none in April while getting only 42 at bats. Will lose some at bats to Jeff Mathis at catcher if he remains with the Angels.

9. Miguel Montero – suffered a torn meniscus in early April and ended up playing in only 85 games. When he returned, he was hacking at the plate, striking out almost as many times as he did in 2009 in 128 less at bats. I would still value him close to his 2009 season with a little lower batting average.

10. Matt Wieters – I wrote last year he was likely a year away from making the jump to a McCann level and his numbers were worse than most expected. Hard to fathom him scoring only 37 runs in 446 at bats. Showed some slight improvement the second half of the year as his plate discipline improved. Will have to watch his ADP in spring to see where he is going. Could be a good value play or he may be over hyped again. Need to have a little patience as he had just 578 at bats in the minor leagues before he was promoted.

11. Miguel Olivo – it looked like he was going to be in a time share in Colorado with Chris Ianetta but took the job away with a first half that saw him hit .325 with 11 home runs. Fell back to the earth after the All-Star break with a .193 average in 166 at bats. Just signed with the Seattle Mariners and should be good for 15 home runs again in 2011.

12. Jorge Posada – turns 40 in August next season as age is starting to take a toll on him. Has not had more than 400 at bats since 2007. If you draft him in mixed leagues, you will need to grab a catcher for your reserve squad in order to replace Posada when he is out.

13. Jesus Montero – I have him slotted for 400 at bats in order to get this ranking. With Posada headed to designated hitter, Montero could get his shot unless the Yankees sign a free agent. Regardless if they do, they are going to need to find room for his bat in the lineup at some point in 2011.

14. John Jaso – not a bad year for Jaso who was nowhere on the fantasy radar heading into the 2010 season. Had better numbers hitting leadoff where he had a .272 average with three home runs and 16 RBI in 169 at bats. Has extra value in leagues with an on base percentage or OPS category.

15. A.J. Pierzynski – just resigned for two years with the White Sox so prospect Tyler Flowers will remain in Triple-A for at least another season. Has had more than 460 at bats every season since 2003. Boosted his batting average by the end of the year, hitting .299 after the All-Star break.

16. Yadier Molina – Has some value as a second catcher in fantasy baseball leagues but lacks one solid category to start in one catcher leagues unless it is extremely deep. Kept his steals and broke 60 RBI, but has show little power and scores very few runs.

17. Carlos Ruiz – came on strong after the All-Star break, hitting .316 with six home runs and 40 RBI as he saw more consistent playing time. Batting average has gone up 83 points over the last two years. Has added value in leagues where on base percentage is a category.

18. Chris Snyder – no doubt about the power, the question is can you afford to have his batting average on your roster? Luckily the impact is not as big as another position since he will likely be around 350 at bats or so.

19. John Buck - turned his 2010 career year into a three year contract with the Florida Marlins. One of numerous Blue Jay players to see a jump in home runs last year. Has a career batting average of .243 so don’t think he all of a sudden has become a good average hitter.

20. Russell Martin – Martin was headed toward another year similar to 2009 before injuring his hip in August which ended his season after he had played 97 games. Now a free agent, he is looking for a new home after the Dodgers signed Rod Barajas. Seems to be following a similar path to Jason Kendall at the same age range with a drop in his stolen bases.

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2010 Fantasy Baseball Tiers – Catchers

Posted by Todd Lammi on March 23rd, 2010

In a fantasy baseball draft or auction, it is helpful to use average draft position reports along with tiered rankings in order to make sure you get a player you want from each group before there is a statistical drop off.

Here is a look at the 2010 fantasy baseball tiers for catchers.

Tier 1:  rounds 1-2

1.  Joe Mauer
2.  Victor Martinez

Tier 2:  rounds 3-5

3.  Brian McCann
4.  Matt Wieters

Tier 3:  rounds 9-12

5.  Jorge Posada
6.  Kurt Suzuki
7.  Miguel Montero
8.  Geovany Soto
9.  Russell Martin
10. Mike Napoli
11. Bengie Molina
12. Ryan Doumit

Tier 4:  rounds 13-15

13.  A.J. Pierzynski
14.  Chris Ianetta
15.  Yadier Molina

Tier 5:  rounds 16-18

16.  John Baker
17.  Carlos Ruiz

Tier 6:  bottom of the barrel time

18.  Rod Barajas
19.  John Buck
20.  Kelly Shoppach
21.  Ramon Hernandez
22.  Jarrod Saltalamacchia
23.  Gregg Zaun
24.  Gerald Laird
25.  Nick Hundley
26. Miguel Olivo
27. Buster Posey
28. Ivan Rodriguez
29. Jason Kendall
30. Taylor Teagarden

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2010 Minnesota Twins Team Preview

Posted by Todd Lammi on March 16th, 2010

This is the second part our series of 2010 fantasy baseball team previews looking at the American League Central. The team previews will include the projected batting order, projected rotation, rookies that could make an impact in 2010 as well as each players current ADP for a 15 team mixed fantasy baseball league.

2010 Minnesota Twins  Projected Batting Order:

1.  CF Denard Span (ADP 116)
2.  2B Orlando Hudson (ADP 175)
3.  C Joe Mauer (ADP 14)
4.  1B Justin Morneau (ADP 39)
5.  RF Michael Cuddyer (ADP 112)
6.  DH Jason Kubel (ADP 111)
7.  LF Delmon Young (ADP 271)
8.  SS J.J. Hardy (ADP 240)
9.  3B Brendan Harris (ADP ND)

2010 Minnesota Twins Projected Rotation & Bullpen:

1.  Scott Baker (ADP 152)
2.  Kevin Slowey (ADP 219)
3.  Francisco Liriano (ADP 251)
4.  Nick Blackburn (ADP 367)
5.  Carl Pavano (ADP 430)

Closer – Jon Rauch (ADP 321)
Handcuff – Matt Guerrier / Pat Neshek

2010 Minnesota Twins Prospects with potential impact this year:

1.  Danny Valencia – 3B


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2010 Fantasy Baseball ADP – Catchers

Posted by Todd Lammi on February 10th, 2010

by Todd Lammi

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

I have played in the NFBC before and it has some of the best fantasy baseball owners in the industry so I find the ADP numbers to be much more accurate.  The NFBC has no trade leagues with 15 owners per league and standard fantasy baseball categories. The only difference in regards to roster size compared to some other fantasy baseball leagues is the use of two catchers.

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.

Also, position scarcity becomes much greater the larger your fantasy baseball league is. So in a 15 team league, the value of catcher is going to be much higher than in a 10 team league because there are more options to pick from. However, this does not mean you should pass on a catcher for a similar ranked outfielder even in a 10 team league. While there are many ways to win a fantasy baseball league, having the top player at a weak position regardless of league size is going to give you a step up on your competition.

If you agree with my rankings, or even if you use the grid and replace them with your own, it is easy to quickly get a look at where there is potential value. For instance in the chart below, Chris Ianetta has an ADP of 5 rounds higher than A.J. Pierzynski. With the possibility of a time share in Colorado and the downside to average the Ianetta brings, I don’t see there being a five round gap in value there.

12 Teams 15 Teams
Rank Name ADP Round Pick Round Pick
1 Joe Mauer 14 2 2 1 14
2 Victor Martinez 25 3 1 2 10
3 Brian McCann 43 4 7 3 13
4 Matt Wieters 108 9 12 8 3
5 Jorge Posada 121 11 1 9 1
6 Geovany Soto 131 11 11 9 11
7 Miguel Montero 139 12 7 10 4
8 Russell Martin 147 13 3 10 12
9 Kurt Suzuki 151 13 7 11 1
10 Bengie Molina 159 14 3 11 9
11 Mike Napoli 172 15 4 12 7
12 Ryan Doumit 191 16 11 13 11
13 A.J. Pierzynski 235 20 7 16 10
14 Chris Iannetta 173 15 5 12 8
15 Yadier Molina 222 19 6 15 12
16 Carlos Ruiz 281 24 5 19 11
17 John Baker 280 24 4 19 10
18 Nick Hundley 336 28 12 23 6
19 Kelly Shoppach 337 29 1 23 7
20 Ramon Hernandez 334 28 10 23 4

The FBT Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide is now available for purchase for just $9.99. You can view a sample here to see the template for the top 10 catchers and top 10 starting pitchers.

The Draft Guide includes the following:

  • Projections in Excel for 480 players using the standard 5 x 5 fantasy baseball categories
  • Cheat sheets already set up to be printed out
  • Expanded player rankings for all positions
  • Ages for all players as of opening day
  • Word / PDF document that explains how to use the projections and some tips for some neat things to do in Excel.
  • The first article that will be only available to subscribers (and not posted on the website) for “how to win your fantasy baseball draft league”. This is a seven page document with 3,500 words of fantasy baseball goodness based on my 20 years of playing in fantasy baseball leagues.
  • You will also receive weekly reports every Monday that feature updates to rankings and a new article all the way up to opening day.
  • Support for any questions you have in regards to Excel to ensure you get the most out of the data.

Order now to get the information you need to dominate the competition!!!

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

Read More »

2010 Fantasy Baseball Rankings – Catchers

Posted by Todd Lammi on January 26th, 2010

by Todd Lammi

This is the first series of our fantasy baseball rankings looking at the position of catcher. If you are playing in a mixed fantasy baseball league that only has one catcher spot, it is okay to wait toward the latter part of a draft or auction because there is some depth down to around 15 catchers or so. If, however, you are playing in a league that requires two catchers, or in an American League or National League only league, I would try to acquire good catchers rather than tanking the position with a lower stat player.

The reason being, during the fantasy baseball season, there are hardly ever rookie catchers that come up to the major leagues that are going to make an impact to your team that you could claim as a free agent. There are a lot more options at other positions where you will be able to claim free agents to improve your roster. Having a better catcher than the rest of the owners in your league gives you an advantage at that position, plus you will have the chance to improve your roster more at other positions through free agency.

The only caveat I will mention in mixed leagues with two catchers is how high do you want to draft a catcher. The only risk with drafting a catcher is the nicks and bumps they get throughout the season, catching for 150+ games, taking pitches off their body and collisions at home plate. While injuries can happen to any player, there is a better chance that catchers end up being a little more banged up throughout the season. A case in point is Geovany Soto last season, who put up about half the numbers most owners were expecting from him. In most leagues he was drafted in rounds 7-10 depending on the size of your fantasy baseball league, but in reality his value earned placed him in rounds 15-20.

With all that said, let’s take a look at the 2010 fantasy baseball rankings for catchers.

1) Joe Mauer – he will be overrated this year. Yes, he is the best catcher so it may be heard to call him overrated, but he is going the first round in fantasy baseball drafts this year which is way too high. He had a magical year in 2009 hitting 19 more home runs that the previous season. I have to believe there is some power regression coming, down to the 20 home run range or possibly even lower.

2) Victor Martinez – the second best catcher and really not that far away from Joe Mauer, outside of the batting average. Martinez offers the added flexibility of being eligible at first base as well.

3) Brian McCann – would be neck and neck with Martinez if he played in the American League where his runs scored would be higher, but McCann is a solid number three catcher, ahead of the next tier of fantasy baseball catchers.

4) Matt Wieters – I have the next five of six catchers grouped really close to each other in Tier 4, but have Wieters on top for now based on his youth and upside. Probably is one year away from making the jump up to McCann’s level.

5) Jorge Posada – bounced back nicely from his injured 2008 season. Now 39, he has been amazingly consistent for the past 10 seasons, hitting 20 or more home runs every season outside of his injury year in 2008 and 2005 when he hit 19.

6) Geovany Soto – has lost 40 pounds in the off-season and should be ready to bounce back from his disappointing 2009 year. Despite the low batting average, if you project his at bats out to his 2008 totals, he still would have hit roughly 16 home runs and 71 RBI last year.

7) Miguel Montero – Montero was the fantasy baseball breakout at catcher in 2009. With Chris Snyder possibly being traded out of Arizona, Montero should see 500+ at bats this season.

8.) Russell Martin – there once was a catcher named Jason Kendall that used to be pretty good back in the day. At the age of 26, Kendall hit .320 with 14 home runs, 58 RBI and 22 stolen bases. After that season, Kendall’s stolen bases fell off to 13, 15, 8, 11, 8, 11. Martin looks like he may be on the same arc as Kendall’s, with two seasons of declining numbers in home runs and stolen bases. I think Martin is the fantasy baseball catcher of 2010 with the most upside / downside depending where is he drafted.  His current ADP (average draft position) is the 10th round in a 15-team mixed fantasy baseball league draft.

9) Kurt Suzuki – had solid improvement year-over-year, doubling his home run and RBI total in only 40 more at bats. He turned on the power after the All-Star break, hitting 10 home runs in 263 at bats. Could see more RBI in 2010 depending where he hits in the lineup. In 2009, he had over 100 at bats hitting second, third, fifth and sixth.

10) Bengie Molina – I have him 10th in my fantasy baseball rankings for now, as it looks like he will get the majority of at bats for the San Francisco Giants, pushing Buster Posey to AAA to start the season or to a backup with the major league team. Watch the situation in spring training for word from the Giants on where Posey will play. If they carry Posey on the big league club, I would think he would get maybe two starts per week which would cut 100 at bats from Molina’s stats from the season.

11) Mike Napoli – solid power, but limited at bats keeps his value in the middle of the fantasy baseball rankings at catcher. Got some extra bats (62) at DH last year with Vladimir Guerrero sidelined due to injury. Thanks to defensive issues, he will still share time with Jeff Mathis at catcher so project 325 at bats for Napoli at the high end this season.

12) Ryan Doumit -  another injury filled season for Doumit in 2009 as he put up stats similar to 2007 in comparable at bats. Will be 29 in April and only has one major league season of more than 400 at bats. Has the ability to put up good power numbers when healthy. The downside is the injury risk and the potential of being traded, as Doumit’s name was floated in trade talk during the winter.

13) A.J. Pierzynski – the most consistent fantasy baseball catcher you will find every season with little deviation in his numbers. He is in his final year of his contract and with prospect Tyler Flowers knocking on the door, there is an off chance A.J. could be traded during the season if the Chicago White Sox fall out of the race, so AL only owners take note.

14) Chris Iannetta – good power numbers in limited at bats, but the batting average takes a toll on your team numbers. Shared time with Yorvit Torrealba last season and could be in for more of the same with the recently signed Miguel Olivo so keep the at bat projections realistic.

15) Yadier Molina – continues to show gradual improvement at the plate and even threw in nine steals last season. A nice pick as a number two catcher for the batting average support. Upside is .300 with 10 home runs and 10 steals.

16) Carlos Ruiz – similar stats to what he produced in 2007. With the recent three-year contract extension and the trade of top prospect Lou Marson to Cleveland for Cliff Lee last year, Ruiz is locked in as the starter.

17) John Baker – I had Baker on my watch list last year and he came up with solid numbers in his first year as starter for the Florida Marlins. The platoon with Ronny Paulino keeps his limit to around 375 at bats so expect similar type fantasy baseball stats in 2010.

18) Nick Hundley – missed seven weeks last year due to injury which limited his at bats in 2009. If the San Diego Padres give him 400+ at bats this season, Hundley could hit 10-12 home runs with 45-50 RBI. The downside is the batting average which might be around .240.

19) Kelly Shoppach – lots of strikeouts, lots of power when he connects. Should see the majority of at bats ahead of Dioner Navarro for the Tampa Bay Rays.

20) Ramon Hernandez – a disappointing season in his first year in Cincinnati, but he has a full-time job and qualifies also at first base so things should be slightly better in 2010.

The FBT Fantasy Baseball Draft Guide is now available for purchase for just $9.99. You can view a sample here to see the template for the top 10 catchers and top 10 starting pitchers.

The Draft Guide includes the following:

  • Projections in Excel for 480 players using the standard 5 x 5 fantasy baseball categories
  • Cheat sheets already set up to be printed out
  • Expanded player rankings for all positions
  • Ages for all players as of opening day
  • Word / PDF document that explains how to use the projections and some tips for some neat things to do in Excel.
  • The first article that will be only available to subscribers (and not posted on the website) for “how to win your fantasy baseball draft league”. This is a seven page document with 3,500 words of fantasy baseball goodness based on my 20 years of playing in fantasy baseball leagues.
  • You will also receive weekly reports every Monday that feature updates to rankings and a new article all the way up to opening day.
  • Support for any questions you have in regards to Excel to ensure you get the most out of the data.

Order now to get the information you need to dominate the competition!!!

Next up in the series for 2010 fantasy baseball rankings will be first basemen.

Read More »

The Daily Dirt for Friday

Posted by Todd Lammi on June 13th, 2009

by Todd Lammi

The New York Yankees hit four home runs, but in the end, they needed a little luck to defeat the New York Mets 9-8. The Yankees rallied for two runs in the bottom of the ninth inning on a two-out dropped pop up by Luis Castillo. Mark Teixeira (20), Robinson Cano (10), Derek Jeter (9) and Hideki Matsui (9) all went deep for the Yankees. Gary Sheffield delivered his sixth home run of the season for the Mets. Joba Chamberlain needed 100 pitches to make it through four innings, allowing one hit with five walks. In other fantasy baseball news around the diamond on Friday…

Hitters:

Joe Mauer went 2-for-4 with three RBI and hit his 13th home run of the season. Mauer has tied his career-high for home runs that he set back in 2006.

Mark Reynolds went 4-for-5 with 5 RBI, including his 16th home run of the season. Reynolds also picked up his 13th stolen base of the year.

Brian McCann went 4-for-4 with two RBI, raising his batting average to .331 on the year. McCann has driven in seven runs in his last six games.

Albert Pujols connected for his 2oth home run of the season and stole his ninth base of the year. Pujols is batting .321 for the year with 55 RBI.

Troy Tulowitzki hit his eighth home run of the season and swiped his six base in addition to scoring three runs. Tulowitzki has now homered three times in his last five games.

Kevin Kouzmanoff went 3-for-4 with three RBI and belted his sixth home run of the season. Kouzmanoff has been on fire his last five game with 11 RBI.

Pitchers:

San Diego Padres pitcher Jake Peavy will miss eight to 12 weeks with a partially torn tendon in his right ankle. Peavy had struggled since suffering the injury, with a 6.28 ERA in three starts. The Padres have several internal options to replace Peavy although none are very exciting from a fantasy baseball standpoint.  Top minor league prospect Mat Latos would probably be a long shot to get the call to replace Peavy. Latos is currently in Double-A with a 0.79 ERA through four starts.

Dan Haren picked up his fifth win of the year in a complete game seven strikeout performance. Haren has allowed one run in each of his last three outings with 19 strikeouts in 23 innings.

Tim Lincecum pitched a complete game shutout with eight strikeouts to notch his 6th win of the year. Lincecum lowered his ERA for his fifth straight start to its current mark of 2.66

Kevin Slowey allowed struck out a season-high 10 in six innings to pick up his ninth win of the season. Slowey has been getting hit at a much higher rate in 2009 vs. 2008, allowing batters to hit over .300 against him this season. Heading into Friday’s game, he has been much tougher out of the stretch and even harder to hit with men in scoring position.

No one on base: .351 avg.

Runners on: .271 avg.

In scoring position: .200 avg.

Tommy Hanson picked up his first major league win, although it was not pretty, allowing 14 base runners in 5 2/3 innings and two earned runs. The damage could have been worse as Hanson left the game with the bases loaded, but Peter Moylan struck out Adam Jones to end the inning.

Jon Lester allowed one run in seven innings with 11 strikeouts in a no decision. It was Lester’s third straight start with double digit strikeouts, giving him 34 strikeouts in his last 22 innings, with only seven hits and three runs allowed in that span.

Rick Porcello allowed one run in seven innings with two strikeouts to collect his seventh win of the season. The seven innings marked his longest outing since back on May 5th. The Detroit Tigers coaching staff has been limiting his pitch count for most of the year. The 99 pitches Porcello threw on Friday was a season high.

Ricky Nolasco turned in his best start of the season in a no decision, allowing two runs in six innings with nine strikeouts. It was his second straight effective start since being recalled from Triple-A. He should be safe to move back into fantasy baseball rotations in mixed leagues for the time being.

Vincente Padilla tossed five shutout innings with two strikeouts to earn his fifth win of the season. It was the second straight win for Padilla since the Texas Rangers requested waivers on him back on June 3rd.

Luke Hochevar hurled a complete game, allowing one win with three strikeouts, to even his record at 2-2. Hochevar has won both of his starts since being recalled from Triple-A on June 6th.

Recent Double-A call up Aaron Poreda of the Chicago White Sox threw 1 2/3 innings of relief, allowing one run with three strikeouts.

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Fantasy Baseball – May Catcher Rankings

Posted by Todd Lammi on June 1st, 2009

by Todd Lammi

Instead of using some complicated formula to review May statistics, here is a breakdown for the numbers for the month sorted by RBI, beginning with catchers. The catcher spot is one position that fantasy baseball owners have been burned by this season where owners selected someone in the top 12 rounds.

Joe Mauer was so dominant in the month of May that he doubled everyone’s RBI output outside of Victor Martinez. Omir Santos will likely not be in the top 10 for the month of June with Brian Schneider now back from injury for the New York Mets. Likewise for Chris Ianetta as he is currently on the disabled list for the Colorado Rockies.

Missing from the top 10 list for the month were Brian McCann .394 9-3-11-1, missed time due to eye problems, Geovany Soto .278-6-1-10, still trying to catch up at the plate after missing time early in the season with shoulder problems which seems to be affecting his power and Russell Martin, .330 13-0-9-7. Martin has been a disappointment based on his draft position with no home runs to date and a  .269 batting average for the season.  Recent call up Matt Wieters of the Baltimore Orioles will have a chance to add his name to the list for the month of June.

RK PLAYER TEAM AB BA R HR RBI SB
1 Joe Mauer MIN 99 0.414 27 11 32 0
2 Victor Martinez CLE 109 0.321 18 2 25 0
3 Ramon Hernandez CIN 93 0.312 7 2 16 0
Rod Barajas TOR 84 0.274 9 1 16 0
5 Chris Snyder ARI 60 0.300 11 4 15 0
J. Saltalamacchia TEX 79 0.241 10 3 15 0
Bengie Molina SFO 105 0.200 9 4 14 0
7 Ivan Rodriguez HOU 76 0.289 8 2 14 0
Omir Santos NYM 54 0.278 6 2 14 0
10 Chris Iannetta COL 58 0.276 7 5 13 0
11 Jason Varitek BOS 78 0.231 9 6 12 0
Brian McCann ATL 66 0.394 9 3 11 1
Mike Napoli LAA 89 0.270 10 3 11 2
12 Miguel Olivo KAN 64 0.281 6 2 11 1
John Baker FLA 76 0.250 12 5 10 0
Carlos Ruiz PHI 68 0.309 6 2 10 2
15 Geovany Soto CHC 79 0.278 6 1 10 0
Ramon Castro NYM 49 0.265 3 2 9 0
Kurt Suzuki OAK 105 0.248 13 1 9 1
18 Jason Kendall MIL 81 0.235 7 0 9 0
Jeff Mathis LAA 47 0.213 4 0 9 0
Russell Martin LAD 91 0.330 13 0 9 7
23 A.J. Pierzynski CHW 84 0.333 10 2 8 0
Gerald Laird DET 73 0.178 10 1 8 0
Dioner Navarro TAM 79 0.241 10 1 8 0
Wil Nieves WAS 58 0.310 7 0 8 0
27 Jorge Posada NYY 18 0.444 4 3 7 0
Landon Powell OAK 25 0.240 3 1 7 0
Michel Hernandez TAM 31 0.226 3 0 7 2
30 Kenji Johjima SEA 64 0.250 9 3 6 2
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Fantasy Baseball – the Daily Dirt for Saturday

Posted by Todd Lammi on May 23rd, 2009

by Todd Lammi

Eleven was the magic number for the Texas Rangers on Saturday, as they defeated the Houston Astros 6-3. The Rangers banged out 11 hits, including two home runs from Nelson Cruz, giving him 11 on the season. Cruz drove in four runs and now has 30 RBI on the year. Hank Blalock went 3 for 4 and added his 11th home run of the season. In other fantasy baseball news around the diamond on Saturday…

Hitters:

Joe Mauer went 3 for 3 with three runs scored and two RBI including his 9th home run of the year. Mauer is now hitting .429 on the season and has driven in 12 runs in his last six games.

Joey Votto went 2 for 4 with 4 RBI and swatted two home runs. Votto is now batting .371 with 31 RBI on the season.

Recent Philadelphia Phillies call up John Mayberry Jr. went 2 for 3 with 3 RBI and his first major league home run. He should see some time in the outfield or designated hitter during interleague games.

Under the category “why do teams keep pitching to him”, Raul Ibanez slugged his 17th home run of the season, giving him a home run in four consecutvie games.

Recently promoted Jonny Gomes got the start in left field for the Cincinnati Reds and went 1 for 4 with a stolen base. Gomes should see starts against left-handed pitching as long as he is in the majors.

Adam Kennedy went 3 for 4 and hit his second home run of the season. Kennedy has been on a roll at the plate with three 3-hit games in his last eight games. Kennedy has raiased his batting average by almost 120 points in the last 10 days, to his current mark of .400

Jason Bartlett went 2 for 5 with 3 RBI and stole his 13th base of the season. His current pace of a 22 home runs, 108 RBI, 48 steal season would put him in the company of Hanley Ramirez / Jimmy Rollins (back when he had power) in the first round of fantasy baseball drafts next year.

Pitchers:

The New York Mets defeated the Boston Red Sox 3-2 on a two-run home run from Omir Santos in the ninth inning. Mike Pelfrey allowed two runs in seven innings for the Mets with six strikeouts. Josh Beckett hurled eight scoreless innings for the Red Sox while fanning five.

Kyle Lohse tossed eight innings of shut out ball and struck out six to improve to 4-3 on the season. The win for Lohse ended his personal three game losing streak.

Derek Lowe allowed two runs in 7 1/3 innings to move to 6-2 on the year. Lowe has allowed two runs in three consecutive starts.

Matt Cain picked up a complete game victory, moving to 5-1 on the season. Cain allowed one run against the Seattle Mariners and struck out seven to lower his ERA to 2.40.

Clayton Richard, mentioned earlier in the week as a possible player in the Jake Peavy trade, tossed six shutout innings with eight strikeouts versus the Pittsburgh Pirates.

Ross Detwiler allowed one run in six innings and struck out four in a no decision.

In his first start of the season, J.A. Happ allowed two runs in six innings with four strikeouts in a no decision. Happ is a good fantasy baseball play in National League only formats.

Rookie Anthony Swarzak of the Minnesota Twins pitched seven shutout innings with three strikeouts to earn his first major league win.

Josh Geer allowed one run in 6 2/3 innings with seven strikeouts to pick up his first win of the year for the San Diego Padres.

Rookie Sean West called up from AA by the Florida Marlins allowed two runs in five innings with five strikeouts in a no decision.

Casey Janssen returned to the Toronto Blue Jays rotation, making his first start since 2006, allowed three runs in six innings but did not register a strikeout.

Closers:

Brad Lidge blew his third save of the year, allowing three runs in 1/3 of an inning.

J.J. Putz picked up his second save of the season for the Mets in place of an ailing Francisco Rodriguez. K-Rod is out of action due to back spasms and could be faced with a stint on the disabled list.

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Fantasy Baseball – the Daily Dirt for Tuesday

Posted by Todd Lammi on May 12th, 2009

by Todd Lammi

With all of the talk in the news again about performance enhancing drugs, it is nice to see there are still some legitimate hitters in the major leagues, as several players had multiple home run games last night.

Hitters:

Adam Jones hit two home runs, giving him eight on the season, to go along with 25 RBI. His batting average is now up to .363 and he leads the American League in runs scored with 35.

Jim Thome hit two home runs, scored three runs and had four RBI. The home runs were Thome’s first since April 22nd and he now stands one behind Mike Schmidt for 13th place on the all-time home run list.

Prince Fielder went 3 for 4 with two home runs and four RBI to power the Milwaukee Brewers to a 6-3 win over the Florida Marlins. He is currently on pace to far surpass his walk total of 84 from last season with 27 free passes already through 33 games.

Jason Werth went 2 for 4 with two runs scored and stole four bases, giving him seven on the season. His thievery included a steal of home in the seventh inning.

Aaron Hill hit his ninth home run of the season, and is now hitting .357 with 30 RBI for the year.

Josh Hamilton returned from the disabled list and hit a two-run home run in the seventh inning to spark a six run rally in the Texas Rangers 7-1 win over the Seattle Mariners.

Chris Davis hit his ninth home run, but he is going to have a hard time getting his average over .240 with 50 strikeouts in 108 at bats.

Adrian Gonzalez hit his 11th home run and drove in two runs in the San Diego Padres 6-2 loss to the Chicago Cubs. He is getting little help from his teammates as the second best hitter in the lineup is David Eckstein with a .263 batting average.

Joe Mauer homered for the third time in four games and missed another home run when he was robbed by Clete Thomas in the first inning. Mauer has now driven in nine runs in his last five contests.

Brad Hawpe went 4 for 4 with 5 RBI including his fifth home run of the season in a Colorado Rockies 12-1 rout of the Houston Astros. Ian Stewart added two home runs and drove in five runs as well.

Matt LaPorta got his first start in the last five games and went 1 for 3 while playing first base. LaPorta is now hitting .188 on the season.

Pitchers:

Roy Halladay became the first pitcher to seven wins, tossing a complete game against the New York Yankees. Halladay scattered five hits and one earned run while striking out five.

Zach Duke picked up his fourth in of the season, allowing one run in eight innings to lower his ERA to 2.52. Duke allowed five base runners and struck out five.

Jair Jurrjens lost a win on a blown save by Mike Gonzalez in the ninth inning. Jurrjens allowed two runs in 7 2/3 innings with four strikeouts.

Rich Harden allowed two runs in six innings with five strikeouts to move to 4-1 on the season. His counterpart Jake Peavy took the loss, allowing three runs in six innings with nine strikeouts. There is little room for error when Peavy is on the mound as the San Diego Padres offense has scored only nine runs in his last five starts.

Kevin Slowey allowed one run in six innings with two strikeouts to improve his record to 5-1 on the year.

Ubaldo Jimenez allowed one run in seven innings with four strikeouts to pick up his third win of the year. Jimenez has now allowed one run in back to back starts.

Micah Owings allowed one run in seven innings with four strikeouts to pick up win number three on the year. Owings was much more effective with his pitches Tuesday night, needing only 90 pitches to get through seven innings.

Recent call up Luke Hochevar got a rude awakening coming back to the major leagues, allowing eight runs in two innings against the Oakland Athletics.

Closers:

Scott Downs got a vote of confidence as the Toronto Blue Jays closer going forward after G.M. J.P. Riccardi announced that B.J. Ryan would serve in a set up role when he comes off the disabled list.

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