"September 2007" Monthly Archives

Jeremy Bonderman: Fantasy owners of Bonderman in keeper leagues will have a whole winter to ponder whether his complete second-half collapse, 3-8 record with a 6.19 ERA was the product of a tender elbow or just bad skills. At the...

Rich Hill Hill allowed the only Reds hit of the day on Saturday, with Sean Marshall and Scott Eyre finishing off the team one-hitter. Hill walked one and struck out four and despite allowing 11 flyballs to just three groundouts,...

C.C. Sabathia, of the Cleveland Indians, got the job done on Friday against the Kansas City Royals. Sabathia didn't have his most dominant performance of the year, but he pitched well enough to improve to 19-7 on the year. Sabathia...

Khalil Greene went 2-for-3 last night with a double, a homer, three RBIs, two runs, a walk, and a partridge in a pear tree. He's hitting .254 on the season with a career best 26 homers and 96 RBIs, but...

  Peter Moylan could be Bobby Cox’s first option for saves as Rafael Soriano faces a potential suspension this weekend (work on Soriano’s appeal of his 4-game suspension is due today). In 89 IP this year Moylan is 5-3...

Aaron Hill: It has been an excellent growth season for Hill's power, 17 home runs and 46 doubles vs. 6 home runs and 28 doubles in 2006, fully supported by a rising FB%, 39% vs. 35% in 2006. He has...

I was only a week or two into my Lamaze classes in preparation for the birth of my first child, my now 12-year-old daughter Sarah, in the late winter of 1995. As a first-time-parent-to-be who came from a small...

Scott Kazmir- TB- FYI- Kazmir's arm has not fallen off...yet. Since manager Joe Maddon has seemed to be watching the young pitcher's workload more closely (only 3 starts over 110 pitches in the second half), maybe damage will be dodged....

Miguel Cabrera isn't getting much press these days with the Marlins way out of playoff contention, but he's had another fantastic season for fantasy owners. I like to start off my analysis of Cabrera by reminding readers that he's still...

Felix Hernandez held the Tribe to 3 runs in 7 IP on Tuesday. He gave up 8 hits without a walk while striking out 2. He also threw 12 GBOs and of course, he did not hand out a...

Nyjer Morgan: Over the last 11 games, Morgan has shown nice speed, 7 steals in 9 attempts. He is already 27 years of age and with no power, 1 home run in 86 AB with the Pirates and 0 home...

2007 FPI All Stars and Anti-All Stars   Good morning everybody. With the MLB season drawing to a close, today we will take a look at our own versions of All Star teams. As our measure we will use our...

Ouch. The Mets fans cannot be feeling any better than Red Sox fans this morning after watching what the Mets pitching staff coughed up yesterday. Mike Pelfrey continues to struggle, giving up 7 runs, 6 earned over 5.2 IP...

I thought we’d mix up this week’s schedule a bit. If you are still playing fantasy baseball this morning, you are likely playing for a championship and trust me, everything counts (more on that later in the week).  ...

Milton Bradley Thanks to the MLB Extra Innings Package, as I was watching the LAD-ARI game when the immortal Vin Scully began talking about an incident going on in the Padres game involving Milton Bradley. Could he be in the...

A.J. Burnett, of the Toronto Blue Jays, has been very good since returning from the disabled list on August 12th. Burnett has made eight starts in that stretch, he has posted a 4-1 record and he has lowered his earned...

Carlos Pena: Pena just keeps adding to his monster season as he hit another 2 HR's on Saturday night against the Red Sox. Pena knocked out his 41st and 42nd HR's of the season in 2-3 effort that came with...

Steven Pearce We haven't written about Pearce yet this year, but it's time to. I've seen him play a couple times, and without a doubt, this is a kid who is going to hit in the major leagues, period. Where...

Gary Matthews Jr. is expected to be back in the Angels' lineup sometime this weekend after missing the last nine games with a severe ankle sprain. Mathews isn't enjoying the success that he had last year-his OPS is down more...

John Smoltz, of the Atlanta Braves, will take the ball, today, against the Milwaukee Brewers. Smoltz will be in search of his 15th win for the sixth time in his 19 years in the Big Leagues. Smoltz has been very...

This morning's First Pitch marks my last one for the 2007 season. Its been quite a ride. Hopefully some of the information I have included in this column has helped your fantasy team to the playoffs and ultimately, a championship....

Justin Verlander: Verlander's second full-season, 17-6 with a 3.70 ERA in 30 starts, is almost a replica of last year, 17-9 with a 3.63 ERA in 30 starts. However, beneath the surface, Verlander has greatly improved his strike outs, 2006/2007...

As we look to the bullpens for the final week of the regular season, we see one structural change and a lot of static.   Brian Wilson all but assumed the role of primary closer in San Francisco with...

Shannon Stewart- OAK- FYI- There was a scoring change in Tuesday's game. Maybe. On mlb.com, there is an item in the A's notes saying that a Jose Guillen error was changed to a Stewart double, giving Stewart 21 doubles for...

Shannon Stewart- OAK- FYI- There was a scoring change in Tuesday's game. Maybe. On mlb.com, there is an item in the A's notes saying that a Jose Guillen error was changed to a Stewart double, giving Stewart 21 doubles for...

Shannon Stewart- OAK- FYI- There was a scoring change in Tuesday's game. Maybe. On mlb.com, there is an item in the A's notes saying that a Jose Guillen error was changed to a Stewart double, giving Stewart 21 doubles for...

Jack Wilson was out of the starting lineup on Wednesday with a hamstring strain, but he's considered day-to-day at this point. Wilson has quietly put together two fantastic months to end the season. Since August 1st, he has hit .415...

Ryan Spilborghs: After a hot stretch, 7 home runs in 108 AB, Spilborghs power has gone MIA, 1 home runs in his last 86 AB. Outside of the mid-season surge, Spilborghs had never shown that kind of power in his...

Garret Anderson - Not only is Anderson hitting as he did at his peak (after 3 1/2 years of visible decline prior to July), but he's walking more than he ever has before to boot. Anderson is hitting 316/376/564 since...

David Wells- LAN- Idea- Does Wells deserve a large guaranteed contract, as he says he does, because he "take[s] the ball every five days"? Probably not, and especially not if you are a fantasy owner. Wells will be turning 45...

Aaron Hill set the Toronto Blue Jays doubles record on Sunday with his 42nd of the season (broke Robert Alomar's record set back in 1991). He's had a nice season with all of these doubles and is hitting .276 with...

Alfonso Soriano, of the Chicago Cubs, looks like he may be starting one of those famous hot streaks in which he can do no wrong. Soriano went two for four with two doubles on Sunday against the St. Louis Cardinals....

Daric Barton: Since being called up, Barton is doing his best to show the A's that he deserves to start at first base in 2008, 9 for 26 with a home run and 3 doubles. He had a fine season...

Pedro Martinez: Insert foot into mouth: that's pretty much how I feel after suggesting fantasy owners be wary of Pedro a few weeks back. Pedro looked a little bit more like vintage Pedro on Saturday as he tossed 6 fantastic...

Ben Sheets- MIL- Cold- Sheets' performances have gotten worse each time out since he returned from the DL. From his first time out, when he went 6 IP and allowed 1 run, he has slipped to lasting just 3 IP...

Chien-Ming Wang and Josh Beckett will square off in possibly the biggest match-up between the New York Yankees and Boston Red Sox in the 2007 regular season. Beckett has the more Cy Young like statistics of the two Aces with...