Jim Thome - This isn't the Jim Thome we're used to in April. He's only 6-for-38 this season (.158, with two of those hits coming as HR). In April 2007, Thome got off to a great start, hitting .340 with 5 HR, 10 RBI, and a 1.233 OPS. 2006 showed the same hot-start to April, with 10 HR, 23 RBI, a .300 average, and a 1.170 OPS. Thome's lack of patience at the plate is definitely adding to his poor early season struggles. Over the last two years with the ChiSox, Thome has posted .728 and .709 BB/K batting eyes in 2006 and 2007, respectively. So far in 2008, he has only drawn 3 BB and struckout 12 times for a batting eye of .250. The snowman will stay with Thome until he can turn it around, but if he's healthy and in the lineup, the power and the patience should return for the veteran slugger.
The Tampa Bay free agent games are over and the long-awaited call-up of 3B prospect Evan Longoria is finally here. As a reminder, the Rays kept Longoria in Triple-A for 13 days, preventing him from qualifying for a full big league season and delaying his ability to claim free agency for one additional year (now, not until after the 2014 season). From a fantasy standpoint, you don't have to worry about management's tricky handling of Longria's career. What you should be focused on is grabbing him off the waiver wire as soon as you can. His brand hype is in the Ryan Braun, Hunter Pence, Alex Gordon echelon and if you can grab him for free before someone else does, his potential upside could be huge. In his debut on Saturday, Longoria recorded a single and an RBI.
Daniel Cabrera - Its pretty evident that fantasy owners are giving up on taking a chance on Daniel Cabrera. He's owned in only a very small percentage of ESPN and CBS Sports leagues, likely from his inconsistent past despite his high K potential. Cabrera's quality start on Saturday (6.2 IP, 1 ER, 4 K, 3 BB, 5 H) was his first of the year (he had two previous starts prior). Cabrera turns 27 this season and, if he hasn't done it by now, likely will never be the pitcher we all hoped he would be. His Achilles heel is his lack of control that leads to high BB rates. Dating back to 2004, Cabrera's BB/9 rate is 5.42, 4.85, 6.32, and 4.76. This year, through 16.2 IP his BB/9 is 6.48 with 12 BB to 11 total K's. Of course, when he's dealing, his K's can add up quickly too. Also looking back to '04, his K/9 rates are 4.63, 8.76, 9.55, and 7.31. This year, his K rate is down to 5.94, but that's not a great indicator of performance with only 3 starts under his belt. The moral of the story here is that you can get cheap K's from Cabrera, but be prepared to suffer in the WHIP category unless, but some miracle, he figures it all out this season (doubtful).
As if the Tigers didn't have enough negative press with their slow start, Gavin Floyd turned out an outstanding performance by no-hitting Detroit through 7.1 innings. Considering Floyd has never pitched seven innings in his life, this is the last thing anyone (including the Tigers) expected on a cold and rainy day on the south-side of Chicago. Despite the solid outing, Floyd will need to show some consistency before truly being considered for any sort of mixed-league team. With that said, he does face a favorable match-up against Baltimore in his next scheduled start next Thursday. While Baltimore has been playing well, their lineup is hardly intimidating. Scope out the situation as the week progresses if you feel you need a Thursday spot-start in Fantasy week 3.
Billy the Kid (Billy Butler)extended his hitting streak to 11 games with a single in the 6th inning against the Twins. With the 1-for-4 performance, Butler's average drops to .372 on the season, but he has still yet to play in a game this season without recording a hit. Butler is still waiting to hit his first homerun of the season and at 6'1", 240 lbs, you would think it would come soon. In 2007, Butler hit 8 HR in 329 AB for the Royals for a HR/AB rate of 41.1. Not exactly a true power-hitter, but at his size and solely focused on hitting out of the DH spot, it is believed he could reach the 20-mark for KC as soon as this year.
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