Posts Tagged ‘spring training’

2011 Fantasy Baseball – Spring Training National League Notes

Posted by Todd Lammi on March 23rd, 2011

With the final week of fantasy baseball drafts nearly upon us, here is a look at what is happening around the National League.

Atlanta Braves: while some news outlets have announced that Brandon Beachy has won the 5th starter job over Mike Minor, there has been no official announcement from the Braves organization yet. If Beachy wins the job, his value would strictly be in NL only leagues for now. Jonny Venters and Craig Kimbrel are still locked up in the battle for the closer position with Venters holding a slight edge. Nate McLouth is hitting .304 in spring with one home run and a stolen base as he looks to rebound from his disappointing 2010 campaign. I would be willing to take a flyer on him late in mixed league formats.

Florida Marlins: the lack of performance at the plate by third basemen Matt Dominguez (hitting .190 in 42 at bats) has the Marlins looking at trade possibilities. If the Marlins stay in house and make a move, Omar Infante could slide over to third base with Emilio Bonifacio getting the start at second. If you are looking for steals late in a NL  auction, Bonifacio is worth a $1 bid.

New York Mets: with the release of Luis Castillo, Brad Emaus takes the lead to win the starting second base job, despite hitting .216 so far with two stolen bases. Daniel Murphy is likely to serve in a super utility role this year seeing time at first base, second base and in the outfield giving him some nice value late in NL only leagues. The back end of the rotation is holding up so far with Chris Young sporting a 1.33 ERA through 20 1/3 innings and Chris Capuano with a 1.69 ERA in 10 2/3 innings.

Philadelphia Phillies: Luis Castillo will take over at second base for the injured Chase Utley but he has little left in the tank. With no definitive time frame for when Utley is scheduled to return, I would avoid him in fantasy drafts and let someone else take that risk. Despite Charlie Manuel’s comments about being concerned with right field, Ben Francisco has been just fine in camp, hitting .365 with three home runs, eight RBI and two stolen bases.

Washington Nationals: the center field job is still up for grabs between Rick Ankiel and Nyjer Morgan with Roger Bernadina in the background. Morgan is the only one with the potential for fantasy value for his stolen bases if he wins the job. Jordan Zimmermann has been rocketing up fantasy baseball drafts in the past week making him somewhat over valued based on where he is going compared to more proven pitchers. The closer situation is still in flux as Drew Storen and Tyler Clippard have been knocked around this spring.

Chicago Cubs: Andrew Cashner holds the lead over Carlos Silva for the 5th starter job but I would not have interest in either one of them. Marlon Byrd has been on fire this spring hitting .478 but please don’t bump him up your outfield rankings. For veteran players, spring stats should have no impact on their fantasy value outside of health issues. I like Ryan Dempster, he is a solid pitcher and always seems to go a round or two later than he should in fantasy drafts.

Cincinnati Reds: lots of people have been pushing Drew Stubbs high in their rankings but I am not quite as sold on that better stats are coming unless he can make more consistent contact. So far he has struck out at close to a 50% rate in spring training. I am also not sold on Edison Volquez bouncing back to his pre-injury season that some people seem to be projecting him for. Johnny Cueto starts the year on the disabled list giving Mike Leake the final spot in the rotation. I think that by the end of the season, the best fantasy pitcher on the Reds is going to be Travis Wood. 

Houston Astros: Nelson Figueroa claimed the 5th starter spot as Jordan Lyles was sent to Triple-A. The injury to Jason Castro has some people jumping on the J.R. Towles bandwagon, but keep in mind that his career average is .189 in 281 at bats.

Milwaukee Brewers: new addition Zack Greinke starts the year on the disabled list for the Brewers and the team is still looking for someone to step up to replace him. Closer John Axford has struggled with his control in spring, something that he also had issues with in the minor leagues. Owners of him should be sure to grab Takashi Saito as insurance just in case.

Pittsburgh Pirates: third basemen Pedro Alvarez, two walks, 21 strikeouts in 53 at bats, not a good omen for his batting average. Closer Joel Hanrahan has not been sharp in spring but neither has setup man Evan Meek.

St. Louis Cardinals: I have a hard time seeing Lance Berkman holding up for an entire season given his nagging injuries and having to patrol the outfield. I would be looking to target outfielder Jon Jay as a cheap play in NL only leagues. Kyle McClellan has been outstanding in spring with a 0.53 ERA and 11 strikeouts in 19 innings.

Arizona Diamondbacks: the first base job looked like it was going to go to Juan Miranda in 2011 but Russell Branyan has been on fire of late and is now hitting .457 with four home runs and 16 RBI. Barry Enright has grabbed one of the final spots in the rotation with a 2.65 ERA in 17 innings, but should only be looked at in deeper NL only leagues.

Colorado Rockies: if you are desperate for stolen bases in a NL only league and looking for a deep, deep sleeper, then consider Willy Taveras who is back with the Rockies. Taveras is hitting .313 in spring with six stolen bases.

Los Angeles Dodgers: with Casey Blake likely to start the season the disabled list, Juan Uribe will move to third base and Jamey Carroll move into the starting lineup at second. Starting pitcher Jon Garland will miss the first few weeks of the season with a strained oblique and will be replaced in the rotation by either John Ely or Tim Redding.

San Diego Padres: little to report with the Padres as they are set outside of the 5th starter spot which I still expect Cory Luebke to win. Tim Stauffer has held his own this spring with a 3.66 ERA in 19 2/3 innings and is an option in mixed leagues to stream for two start weeks and home starts at PETCO.

San Francisco Giants: the big question is whether top prospect Brandon Belt is going to break camp with the team. Belt is hitting .264 with two home runs, 10 RBI and two stolen bases in 53 at bats. Buster Posey has picked up where he left off in 2010, hitting .410 with seven walks and zero strikeouts in 39 at bats.

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2009 Fantasy Baseball – Spring Training Review

Posted by Todd Lammi on April 5th, 2009

by Todd Lammi

Opening day is finally here, now that all of the fantasy baseball drafts have been completed, here is a run down of some of the highlights and lowlights from the spring training stats.

Catcher: Pablo Sandoval might qualify at this position by the All-Star break. As of right now the San Francisco Giants are going without a back up catcher and will use Sandoval in that role. It makes sense if Sandoval can handle the job at the major league level; the Giants cannot afford to have his bat out of the lineup. Sandoval blistered the ball in spring training to a tune of a .442 average. The average and rbi will be there, but the power might take another year or two to develop. I was loving John Baker as a second catcher until the Florida Marlins decided to bring in Ronny Paulino to platoon with. At least Baker owns the majority of the at bats as the left-handed hitter and when he plays he will be batting second so he still should put up decent numbers. Baker is hitting .340 this spring.

First Base: Micah Hoffpauir of the Chicago Cubs is worth stashing in N.L only leagues after his power show this spring. Hoffpauir has hit six home runs with 26 rbi and will see time backing up Derrek Lee  and possibly getting some at bats in the outfield. Travis Ishikawa hit seven home runs to go along with a .316 batting average and looks ready to provide the San Francisco Giants lineup with some much needed power. For those of you in keeper leagues, keep an eye on Kyle Blanks of the San Diego Padres. The first basemen hit .319 with four home runs. Either he or Adrian Gonzalez will find themselves as trade bait by 2010.

Second Base: Emilio Bonifacio opens the season as the Florida Marlins third basemen, but for fantasy baseball purposes he qualifies at second base. Bonifacio hit .279 with 5 stolen bases . Rickie Weeks hit .312 for the Milwaukee Brewers, supposedly new coach Willie Randolph has been helping Weeks with his all-around game. One of these seasons Weeks is going to be injury free and get 600 at bats and hit over .260. He turns the fantasy baseball magical age of 27 in September. Chris Getz of the Chicago White Sox hit .333 with four stolen bases. Emmanuel Burriss of the SanFrancisco Giants hit .341. He qualifies at second base and shortstop in fantasy baseball leagues. His one category of help is stolen bases. In 194 career minor league games, he has only one home run but 105 stolen bases. He stole 13 with the Giants last season in 95 games and could easily steal over 30 this year. He ended the spring with 6 stolen bases in 8 attempts.

Shortstop: Jed Lowrie of the Boston Red Sox ended spring training with a .343 average with three home runs and 16 rbi. I don’t see Julio Lugo ever getting his starting job back with the Red Sox.  For those in NL only leagues, keep an eye on Everth Cabrera. Cabrera has never played above class A and was a rule 5 pick by the San Diego Padres. He still needs work offensively and defensively, but he has a ton of speed, witness his 73 stolen bases in 121 games. If he can shore up his defense, he might see some extended playing time in September with the likes of Luis Rodriguez and David Eckstein ahead of him in the middle infield. Even in a reserve role it is possible for him to get 15-20 steals this season. He was 9 for 11 in stolen bases this spring.

Third Base: It looks like the work that new Kansas City Royals batting coach Kevin Seitzer has been doing with Alex Gordon has been paying dividends. Gordon finished the spring with a .320 average and 6 home runs with 14 rbi. Casey McGehee won the final spot on the Milwaukee Brewers bench following the release of Mike Lamb. Although he hit .328 with 6 home runs and 16 rbi, he is still behind Bill Hall on the depth chart with top prospect Matt Gamel waiting in the wings in AAA.

Outfield: Mark Teahen of the Kansas City Royals finished spring training hitting .433 with 7 home runs and 3 stolen bases. With him making the move to second base, he will qualify at second base and outfield in either the second or fourth week of the season, depending if your league rule is 10 or 20 games for position eligibility. Alfonso Soriano ended spring 0 for 3 in stolen base attempts. I think the over / under on his stolen bases for the year is 20.  Nelson Cruz has carried over his performance from the end of 2008 into spring training with 6 home runs, but more importantly only 9 strikeouts in 55 at bats. Ryan Spillborghs of the Colorado Rockies hit .318 with 5 home runs and 6 stolen bases. The decision to carry rookie Dexter Fowler on the major league roster means Spillborghs could sit a few extra game this season. Fowler hit .291 with 8 stolen bases in 79 at bats.

Starting Pitchers: For NL only leagues, Chan Ho Park seems to have had a re-birth at the age of 35, winning the 5th starter job with the Philadelphia Phillies. Park ended with 25 strikeouts in 21 innings and a 2.53 earned run average. Homer Bailey sported a 2.61 ERA and 20 strikeouts in 20 2/3 innings. If Bronson Arroyo has to miss any time due to the problems he has been having with carpal tunnel, Bailey will be first in line to replace him. Micah Owings ended spring with a 1.52 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 23 2/3 innings.  Owings started off 2008 with four straight wins before things went downhill, I believe due to an unannounced injury. I would not be surprised to see him put up numbers similar to his 2007 season with Arizona. I expect big things from Kevin Slowey of the Minnesota Twins this season. Slowey had a 2.13 ERA with 22 strikeouts in 25.1 innings pitched.

Relief Pitchers: Francisco Cordero of the Cincinatti Reds was bombed all spring long to the tune of a 12.10 ERA. If you own Cordero, I would make sure to grab David Weathers as insurance.

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