"June 2008" Monthly Archives

John Lackey – Lackey continued to dominate yesterday. He was one out away from a shutout when he was taken out of the game, and he ended up with 9 K’s and 2 BB’s. The win improved Lackey’s record to...

Jake Peavy: Not the type of start Peavy owners were hoping for after seeing an inept Mariners’ offense on the schedule but one they’ll be able to swallow. Peavy took his 5th loss of the season on Sunday allowing 3...

Garrett Atkins With Garrett Atkins, we just assume that he’s going to put up a decent average, 25+ home runs, and 110 or so RBI. This year though, Atkins is a bit behind his normal pace. After batting .319-6-21 in...

Craig Monroe: With a 70% Ct% it is not surprising to see Monroe hitting .214, although a .176 BHIP% is not helping. Monroe can still hit for power, 7 home runs and 7 doubles in 126 AB. However with a...

Chase Headley - Headley hit a two-run homer last night to account for the Padre offense, giving him three in his first 40 AB's for the Pads. People tend to discount stats from the Cal League and the Texas League...

George Sherrill- BAL- Caution- Sherrill is entering uncharted territory as far as his usage is concerned. Last season he pitched in 73 games but accumulated only 45-2/3 IP. Sherrill threw only 724 pitches all year, only throwing 20 or more...

Hideki Matsui - Is a DL stint imminent for Godzilla? He's still nursing that sore left knee and will be examined by doctors on Friday to see if he's ok to at least DH in the first game of today's...

R.A. Dickey: With Felix Hernandez missing at least one start and Miguel Batista not pitching well, Dickey has a shot to stick in the Mariners’ starting rotation. Prior to shutting out the Mets over 7 innings, the 33 year-old knuckleballer...

Ervin Santana- LAA- Injury- Santana had only walked 23 batters in 102-1/3 IP before last night’s start against the Nationals in Washington. He was uncharacteristically wild in the Nation’s Capital, allowing a season-high 5 free passes. There may be an...

Brian McCann - One of the best hitting catchers in the league is in a little slump right now. He has just 1 hit in his last 11 AB and is hovering around the .250 mark for the month of...

American League 15 Austin Jackson NYY OF A- Power coming around? 4 HR in June after 3 the first two months. .366 OBP and 12 SB. 19 Desmond Jennings TAM OF A- .324/.457/.486 with 3 SB in 27 at-bats. Just...

Value Picks - June 25, 2008 Welcome to the Fantasy Week 13 edition of Value Picks.  While I will still provide a list of players to snag off of your waiver wires for a good value, I'm also going to...

Alex Rios had himself a ballgame last night as he went 4-6 with a HR, 3 runs scored and an RBI. The performance brings Rios’ BA up to .281 on the year and I think he’s starting to finally break...

At the end of April we introduced the concept of the Disaster Start and took a look back at the 2007 data in hopes of highlighting some “safer” spot-start or back-end options for your fantasy team. So today we’re going...

Eric Byrnes: Byrnes is back and says he is healthy enough to steal bases again. Prior to his injury, Byrnes was not running at all, 4 for 7 in steals covering 46 games vs. 50 steals in 57 attempts in...

San Diego- SD- Idea- Here is one of those marginal situations that comes up every so often that you keep in the back of your mind to try to get just a little edge when needed. The Padres have allowed...

Justin Duchscherer - If you're trying to find some evidence that Duchscherer is due to backslide, I'll offer up a few points to consider. The .242 BABIP has been mentioned already, and by itself it isn't too far from his...

Carl Crawford - This is the Carl Crawford you drafted. His Fantasy Week 12 results included a .524 OBP, 15 TB which include a double, triple and a HR, 5 RBI, and 3 R. He attempted one steal but was...

Ryan Dempster: This is starting to get a bit ridiculous, but as a Cubs fan I’m enjoying every minute of it! Dempster was dominant again on Sunday night as he allowed just 1 ER in 8 innings of work against...

Rich Hill Rich Hill is sort of like that accident on the freeway that you, despite knowing better, just can’t take your eyes off as you drive by at 5 mph. After striking out 183 hitters for the Cubs last...

Alexei Ramirez: Both Joe and I have highlighted Ramirez in the Value Picks columns of late, but his big June deserves further highlighting. Ramirez has been on fire hitting .373/.408/.537 and the improvements in his peripherals are even more eye...

John Danks – John Danks added his 10th quality start in 15 games started this season last night. He allowed one run over 6 innings while striking out 5 and walking none. Posting a 2.90 ERA entering that start, Danks...

Aramis Ramirez was 1-12 in his last 3 games but stopped that mini-skid with a huge statement yesterday as he blasted homeruns in the 7th and 9th inning, the latter being a game-winner against the cross-town nemesis White Sox. Ramiez...

Aaron Harang: For those Aaron Harang owners out there take some solace in knowing this is just as frustrating to us as it is to you. After looking like he had turned the corner in his last start against the...

Richie Sexson: There are rumors floating around that the Mariners are about to release Sexson. The 33 year-old Sexson is a player in decline, but he still has above average major league power, 9 home runs in 205 AB. The...

Jeremy Guthrie- BAL- Hot- Guthrie bounced back from his worst start of the year the last time out to record his best start of the year last night. He held the Astros to 1 run over 8 innings, allowing 3...

Bronson Arroyo - With Lowe dealin' on the other end, Arroyo struggled against the Dodgers on Wednesday night. He gave up 6 ER and 7 hits in 6.1 IP while striking out 6. He only has 1 QS in his...

American League 28 Chris Davis TEX 1B B Oh my. .459 with 5 HR in last 10 G. .339 with 20 HR and 21 doubles this year. 36 Chris Carter OAK 1B B .231 in June, but 14 BB and...

Unfavorable Matchups, American League Kurt Suzuki Oakland (19 for 47, .404 CS%): 3 against Philadelphia (Shane Victorino, Jimmy Rollins, Jayson Werth, Chase Utley, Eric Bruntlett), 3 against San Francisco (Fred Lewis, Randy Winn, Ray Durham, Emmanuel Burriss) Ivan Rodriguez Detroit...

John Lackey – I said about a month ago to watch and see what Lackey’s BB rate settles down to be in order to determine if Lackey would be the top fantasy pitcher that he was last year or just...

First Pitch – June 18th – Value Picks: It’s Wednesday! Which means another edition of Value Picks is here, but this week we’re going to do things a bit differently! After 2 ½ months of digging through the free agent...

Mike Gonzalez: Gonzalez could be activated from the DL as early as today and immediately enters into the mix for save opportunities. Although he has looked good in the minors, 8 K’s in 5 innings, it is hard to believe...

Bartolo Colon - Colon didn't have much last night, giving up eight baserunners (including three homers) and several other hard-hit outs in just four innings of work before leaving with a stiff back. Colon has had a very favorable schedule...

Miguel Tejada- HOU- Cold- Since May 24th, Tejada has lost 38 points off his batting average and is now hitting an even .300 for the season. In that span he has gone 14-for-73 with 4 homers, 6 RBI and 10...

First Pitch - Sabermetric Tuesdays:  Lefty/Righty Offensive Team Splits Sabermetric Tuesday gives us an opportunity to approach fantasy strategies with a statistical focus.  A common theme in fantasy baseball, especially in head-to-head leagues, is the concept of "pitch-and-ditch."  This strategy...

Robinson Cano - Keep holding on to the hope of a second-half break-out. Cano might have ended another slump with a 2-for-4 performance yesterday, but you never can tell if one game is the official "breakout" point. Let's break down...