Posts Tagged ‘Kris Medlen’

2010 Two Start Pitchers – week 7

Posted by Todd Lammi on May 15th, 2010

Here is a complete look at the fantasy baseball two-start pitchers for week 7. Obviously the top tier pitchers are going to be left in your line up, but here is a look at some of the more border line pitchers for mixed league starts and who they face in those starts.

Two-start pitchers week 7: remember again that the list below is more focused on mixed leagues since in AL or NL only leagues in most cases you do not have the option to rotate too many starting pitchers with the smaller player pool. The pitchers below are listed in alphabetical order by team name per category. Unlike in week 6, there are a ton of two-start pitcher options in week 7.

American League:

Start them:

John Danks (CHW) – @ DET (Bonderman),  FLA (Johnson)
Zack Greinke (KC) – @ BAL (Millwood),  COL (Chacin)
Jered Weaver (LAA) – @ TEX (Wilson), @ STL (Carpenter)
Phil Hughes (NYY) -  BOS (Matsuzaka), @ NYM (Santana)
Felix Hernandez (SEA) – @ OAK (Sheets),  SD (Latos)
David Price (TB) -  CLE (Huff), @ HOU (Norris)
Jeff Niemann (TB) -  CLE (Carmona), @ HOU (Rodriguez)
C.J. Wilson (TEX) -  ANA (Weaver),  CHC (Silva)
Derek Holland (TEX) -  ANA (Kazmir),  CHC (Wells)
Shaun Marcum (TOR) – vs. MIN (Pavano), @ ARI (Valdez)

Roll the Dice:

Brad Bergesen (BAL) -  KC (Davies), @ WAS (Stammen)
Fausto Carmona (CLE) – @ TB (Niemann),  CIN (Cueto)
Rick Porcello (DET) -  CHW (Garcia), @ LAD (Ely)
Carl Pavano (MIN) – @ TOR (Marcum),  MIL (Gallardo)
Kevin Slowey (MIN) – @ TOR (Eveland),  MIL (Bush)
Gio Gonzalez (OAK) -  SEA (Rowland-Smith),  SF (Cain)
Ben Sheets (OAK) -  SEA (Hernandez),  SF (Sanchez)

Bergesen’s overall stats do not look pretty, but he has been solid in his last two starts with one run allowed in 14 1/3 innings and will be facing two of the weaker teams in the major leagues. Even with two starts though he is not likely to rack up a lot of strikeouts, with just 10 in 29 2/3 innings on the year. Sheets has turned it around in his last two starts, striking out eight in each of them with three runs allowed in 12 1/3 innings.

Sit Them:

Kevin Millwood (BAL) -  KC (Greinke), @ WAS (Lannan)
Daisuke Matsuzaka (BOS) – @ NYY (Hughes), @ PHI (Halladay)
Josh Beckett (BOS) – @ NYY (Vazquez), @ PHI (Kendrick)
Freddy Garcia (CHW) – @ DET (Porcello),  FLA (Volstad)
David Huff (CLE) – @ TB (Price),  CIN (Bailey)
Jeremy Bonderman (DET) -  CHW (Danks), @ LAD (Kuroda)
Kyle Davies (KC) – @ BAL (Bergesen),  COL (Cook)
Scott Kazmir (LAA) – @ TEX (Holland), @ STL (Lohse)
Javier Vazquez (NYY) -  BOS (Beckett), @ NYM (Pelfrey)
Ryan Rowland-Smith (SEA) – @ OAK (Gonzalez),  SD (Richard)
Dana Eveland (TOR) – vs. MIN (Slowey), @ ARI (Jackson)

Matsuzaka had a good start in his last outing with seven innings of one-run ball with nine strikeouts, but faces the red-hot Phil Hughes and gets Halladay, so he not only faces two of the games top pitchers right now, but two heavy offenses as well. Beckett has been battered this season as he has battled through back problems. In his two starts against New York this season, Beckett has allowed 14 runs in 10 innings.

National League:

Start them:

Johnny Cueto (CIN) -  MIL (Bush), @ CLE (Carmona)
Josh Johnson (FLA) -  ARI (Valdez), @ CHW (Danks)
Hiroki Kuroda (LAD) -  HOU (Norris),  DET (Bonderman)
Yovani Gallardo (MIL) – @ CIN (Bailey), @ MIN (Pavano)
Johan Santana (NYM) – @ ATL (Medlen),  NYY (Hughes)
Roy Halladay (PHI) -  PIT (Duke),  BOS (Matsuzaka)
Mat Latos (SD) -  SF (Sanchez), @ SEA (Hernandez)
Jonathan Sanchez (SF) – @ SD (Latos), @ OAK (Sheets)
Matt Cain (SF) – @ SD (Richard), @ OAK (Gonzalez)
Chris Carpenter (STL) -  WAS (Lannan),  ANA (Weaver)

Roll the Dice:

Derek Lowe (ATL) -  NYM (Pelfrey), @ PIT (Morton)
Randy Wells (CHC) -  COL (Cook), @ TEX (Holland)
Carlos Silva (CHC) -  COL (Chacin), @ TEX (Wilson)
Aaron Cook (COL) – @ CHC (Wells), @ KC (Davies)
Jhoulys Chacin (COL) – @ CHC (Silva), @ KC (Greinke)
Chris Volstad (FLA) -  ARI (Jackson), @ CHW (Garcia)
Wandy Rodriguez (HOU) – @ LAD (Ely),  TB (Niemann)
John Ely (LAD) -  HOU (Rodriguez),  DET (Porcello)
Dave Bush (MIL) – @ CIN (Cueto), @ MIN (Slowey)
Mike Pelfrey (NYM) – @ ATL (Lowe),  NYY (Vazquez)
Clayton Richard (SD) -  SF (Cain), @ SEA (Rowland-Smith)

Wandy Rodriguez has seen his overall ERA rise a full run in the month of May, allowing 11 earned runs in 14 2/3 innings. It goes to show you how hard he has been getting hit to allow that many runs with only four walks and one home run allowed in that time period. Chacin looks to bounce back from his bad start at home by getting two road starts, although one of them is against top American League pitcher Zack Greinke.

Sit Them:

Kris Medlen (ATL) -  NYM (Santana), @ PIT (Duke)
Cesar Valdez (AZ) – @ FLA (Johnson), TOR (Marcum)
Edwin Jackson (AZ) – @ FLA (Volstad),  TOR (Eveland)
Homer Bailey (CIN) -  MIL (Gallardo), @ CLE (Huff)
Bud Norris (HOU) – @ LAD (Kuroda),  TB (Price)
Kyle Kendrick (PHI) -  PIT (Morton),  BOS (Beckett)
Charlie Morton (PIT) – @ PHI (Kendrick),  ATL (Lowe)
Zach Duke (PIT) – @ PHI (Halladay),  ATL (Medlen)
Kyle Lohse (STL) -  WAS (Stammen),  ANA (Kazmir)
Craig Stammen (WAS) – @ STL (Lohse),  BAL (Bergesen)
John Lannan (WAS) – @ STL (Carpenter),  BAL (Millwood)

It is tempting to roll with Medlen and his two starts if you own him since you are only going to get three to four weeks of starts out of him before Jair Jurrjens is back. Facing Santana in his first start does not help, plus his numbers were much better last season as a reliever than a starter, although he did post great numbers in Triple-A last season in the rotation.

When it comes to two-start pitchers, you are usually going to plug in an average or lower average pitcher for two reasons, to either pick up extra wins or strikeouts. The majority on the pitchers above are soft-tossers that even in two starts will rack up k’s equivalent to a one-start pitcher. The only exception to that is Bud Norris or Homer Bailey. If you want to take a chance on two extremely inconsistent pitchers and are desperate for strikeouts, then you may be forced to try Norris or Bailey depending on the rest of your rotation and hope for the best.

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2010 Waiver Wire – Week 7

Posted by Todd Lammi on May 14th, 2010

Here is a look at some potential players to target in your fantasy baseball league that might be out there on the waiver wire in week 7.

American League only:

1B – Juan Miranda - Miranda will give the New York Yankees a left-handed hitter off the Nick Johnson on the disabled list. Miranda was hitting .260 in 96 at bats in Triple-A with five home runs and 15 RBI.

2B – Joaquin Arias – Arias returns from the disabled list this weekend for the Texas Rangers, although he has a lot less value now than Ian Kinsler is back and healthy.

2B – Mark Grudzielanek – not a sexy name by any means, but with Luis Valbuena struggling in Cleveland, Grudzielanek can help give a boost to your team batting average.

UT – Jack Cust – at some point Jack Cust is going to be back up with the Oakland A’s. You can get ahead of your league mates by claiming him now if you have room on your bench. Cust is hitting .286 in 105 at bats with four home runs and 19 RBI.

National League only:

RP - Scott Mathieson - if you are looking for a sleeper candidates in saves. Mathieson could be your guy. With Brad Lidge hurting and Ryan Madson on the disabled list, Mathieson could be thrust into the Philadelphia bullpen picture sooner rather than later. Mathieson has five saves in Triple-A with a 0.54 ERA and 18 strikeouts in 16 2/3 innings.

SP – John Ely – if Ely is still somehow out there on the waiver wire, he is definitely worth grabbing. Ely has a 3.86 ERA and 1.02 WHIP in three starts with 17 strikeouts in 18 2/3 innings. Ely’s career minor league numbers show him with a 3.71 ERA and a 1.254 WHIP with 7.8 strikeouts per nine innings.

12 /15 mixed league:

SP – Derek Holland – I wrote about him in Rising / Falling in week 6.

SP – Kris Medlen – with Jair Jurrjens re-injuring his hamstring, Medlen should remain in the rotation for the next four weeks. He will get a start next week against the New York Mets and will have the opportunity to use the next few weeks to showcase himself as a better starting pitcher option to the Atlanta Braves than Kenshin Kawakami.

OF – Fred Lewis – he still strikes out way too much for a lead off hitter with little power, but as long as he is hot and hitting for average it is worth riding him for as long as you can. Lewis is hitting .296 with two home runs 13 RBI and three stolen bases on the season.

OF – Corey Patterson – he is bound to score runs hitting lead off for the Baltimore Orioles. His batting average will hurt your team, but if you pick him up, you are hoping for a couple of home runs and some stolen bases.

OF – Brennan Boesch – has been sitting against left-handed pitching, but his RBI rate per at bat makes him an intriguing option going forward, especially since Jim Leyland has been giving him props on a regular basis based on his performance.

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Spring Training News & Notes from Wednesday

Posted by Todd Lammi on March 11th, 2010

Here is a look at the Spring Training News & Notes from Tuesday. The news & notes are focused on changes that affect players value as well as players coming back off of injuries or rookies that might make an impact.

Hitters:

Jose Bautista hit his third home run of the spring and is a good source of late game power in a draft as the starting right fielder for the Toronto Blue Jays if you team can support his low batting average.

Marlon Byrd might be able to retain his breakout numbers from last season as it looks like he will be hitting second in the Chicago Cubs line up after Ryan Theriot and in front of Derrek Lee.

After seeing 200 at bats in the one slot in the batting order in 2009, it looks like Aaron Rowand will be taking up full-time residence there in 2010, which should give him a boost in runs scored this season.

Pitchers:

Kris Medlen tossed three shutout innings with two strikeouts. I wrote about him last week in 2010 Fantasy Baseball Sleepers. The talent is there and he will get an opportunity at some point this year as a starter.

Joba Chamberlain was bombed, allowing six runs in 2 1/3 innings with three walks. History has shown that his numbers are much better as a relief pitcher so I have Phil Hughes penciled in for the fifth starter spot.

I put Neftali Feliz in the same boat as Joba right now. It does not look like Feliz will be making the transition to starter which limits his value if he is only a seventh or eighth inning set up man. He allowed four runs on four hits in two innings on Wednesday.

It looks like Ben Sheets still has some rust to shake off after allowing five runs in 2 2/3 innings for the Oakland A’s.

After missing part of the 2008 season and all of 2009, Jeff Francis is back on the hill for the Colorado Rockies. He tossed three shutout innings with two strikeouts on Wednesday.

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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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Fantasy Baseball – the Daily Dirt for Thursday

Posted by Todd Lammi on May 21st, 2009

by Todd Lammi

The Philadelphia Phillies, with the top offense in the National League, continue to club home runs as they now have three players in double digits. Chase Utley went 3 for 4 with 4 RBI and hit his 11th home run of the season. Raul Ibanez (15) drove in three runs and has now driven in 14 runs in his last seven games and Ryan Howard (10) hit a solo shot. In other fantasy baseball news around the diamond on Thursday…

Hitters:

The Minnesota Twins erupted for 20 runs against the Chicago White Sox in a 20-1 victory. Joe Mauer went 3 for 4 with 6 RBI including his eighth home run of the season and is now hitting .417 on the year. Michael Cuddyer went 4 for 6 and hit his sixth home run of the season while adding 3 RBI and Matt Tolbert added his  first long ball of the year and drove in four.

Todd Helton went 3 for 5 with 5 RBI and hit his fifth home run of the season. Helton is now hitting .338 on the season.

Robinson Cano went 3 for 4 with 3 RBI and hit his eighth home run of the season. Cano is now batting .317 on the year with 25 RBI.

Jason Bay hit his 13th home run of the season and drove in two runs, jacking his RBI total up to 44, two behind Evan Longoria in the American League.

Mary Reynolds went 2 for 3 and drove in three runs, with two coming on his 12th home run of the year. Reynolds also stole his 10th base of the year and is currently on pace for a 40-40 season.

Pitchers:

Edwin Jackson allowed three runs in eight innings and struck out seven to pick up his fourth win of the season.

Nick Blackburn threw seven shutout innings and struck out two to pick up his third win of the year.

Carl Pavano allowed three runs in six innings and struck out eight to move to 4-4 on the season.

Matt Garza allowed two runs in 6 2/3 innings with eight strikeouts in a no decision. Garza has allowed three runs or less in his last five starts.

Kris Medlen’s first major league start was not a good one for the Atlanta Braves. Medlen walked five and allowed five runs in three innings to suffer the loss and seemed overwhelmed by nerves in the start. He also hit a batter, threw two wild pitches and had a balk called against him. His counterpart Aaron Cook of the Colorado Rockies tossed a complete game shutout with three strikeouts.

Joba Chamberlain left his start in the first inning after taking a line drive from Adam Jones above his right knee. Chamberlain faced two more batters before being removed from the game. X-Rays were negative on the knee and his status for his next start is up in the air.

Jon Lester allowed one run in 6 1/3 innings with four strikeouts to pick up his third win of the year.

Adam Wainwright allowed one run in 8 2/3 innings and struck out seven to move to 4-2 on the year. Wainwright has allowed one run in back-to-back starts.

Two young guns squared off in the Arizona Diamondbacks – Florida Marlins game, although both starting pitchers did not factor in the decision. Max Scherzer allowed three runs in six innings and struck out 10, while Andrew Miller had his second good start in a row since returning from the disabled list, surrendering two runs in seven innings with nine punchouts.

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Fantasy Baseball Minor League Report – week 6

Posted by Todd Lammi on May 16th, 2009

by Todd Lammi

The big news from the minor leagues this week was not the promotion of Tommy Hanson from Triple-A, but rather the promotion of his teammate Kris Medlen. Medlen will start for the Atlanta Braves on Tuesday against the Colorado Rockies and could see potentially three starts before Tom Glavine is ready to return to the rotation. Depending how Medlen fares, there is a chance once Glavine returns that Kenshin Kawakami, 2-5 with a 5.73 ERA, would be bumped from the rotation for Medlen if Medlen is able to carry over his performance from Triple-A.

Braves general manager Frank Wren admitted if there was a long term opening in the rotation, Hanson would have been the one that was tabbed for the call up. So for now, Medlen gets the first opportunity to crack the Braves rotation. Hanson started on Saturday and tossed seven scoreless innings with seven strikeouts.

The San Jose Giants promoted their top two pitchers as Madison Bumgarner and Tim Alderson were moved up to AA. Alderson pitched 6 2/3 scoreless innings in his first start while striking out 10. In Bumgarner’s first start, he allowed one run in six innings with two strikeouts.

Outfielder Michael Taylor (Phillies) is hitting .308 in AA with six home runs and six stolen bases. The way the Philadelphia outfield is set, Taylor could be trade bait as the deadline approaches.

Jake Arrieta (Orioles) moved to 4-1 with seven shutout innings and 10 strikeouts on Saturday.

Trevor Reckling is moving quickly for the Los Angeles Angels, as he is now currently in AA. Reckling who turns 20 next week is 4-2 with a 1.01 ERA in 44 2/3 innings with 36 strikeouts between two levels.

Hector Rondon (Indians) is 5-1 with a 1.95 ERA in AA. Rondon has struck out 28 hitters in 32 1/3 innings.

Brad Lincoln (Pirates) is slowly working his way back to prospect status. After being selected 4th overall in the 2006 draft, Lincoln missed all of 2007 after having Tommy John surgery. He is currently 0-3 in AA with a 2.87 ERA. Lincoln has struck out 36 in 37 2/3 innings.

Also working his way back to form is Troy Patton (Orioles). Patton was acquired from the Houston Astros in the Miguel Tejada trade. After spending time with the Astros in 2007, Patton missed last season after shoulder surgery. Now down in AA, Patton is 3-1 with a 1.31 ERA, with 23 strikeouts in 34 1/3 innings.

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