Ubaldo Jimenez (SP - Rockies) - Jimenez hurled his second quality start of the season last night, going 7.0 IP on 5 H, 3 ER, 2 BB, and 5 K's. He was still handed the loss as the Rockies couldn't provide enough run support. He still had somecontrol problems at times, but this was certainly a step in the right direction. Despite not pitching past the 5th inning in three consecutive starts leading up to last night, Ubaldo still has a solid K/9 rate of 8.3 and deserves ownership for the K's and the upside. If he can ever get his control together, Jimenez will generate solid fantasy value. For now, his 6.58 ERA and 1.81 WHIP may be a little too much for a fantasy roster to absorb, but deserves consideration. Last night'sQS may be a good turnaround sign for the young fireballer.
Randy Johnson (SP - Giants) - He hasn't been a model of consistency, but the Big Unit still has a little firepower left in that old southpaw arm. With a quality start and his 297th career win to his name, Johnson's ERA drops to 4.50 ERA and WHIP to 1.27. He struck out 9 without a walk, bringing his K/I well above 1.0 with 30 K's in 26.0IP. Just 2-for-5 in QS for the year, I think we'll be lucky to get a 50% QS rate out of the future Hall of Famer in 2009, but some key metrics are holding steady which shows he does have the potential to put it all together and remain fantasy relevant. His GB/FB is 0.75, in-line with the last 6 years that hover somewhere between 0.73 and 0.83. His K/BB of 2.31 is a little low, given a 3.93 and a 5.54 in his two years with the D-Backs. But, he had that one 7 BB game which can definitely be considered an outlier this early in the season.
Jayson Werth (OF - Phillies) - The ice-cold Werth went 0-fer again, bringing his last 7-game trend to just 4-for-24 (.167) with no home runs and just one RBI. Werth's April was very disappointing for fantasy owners and Phillie fans alike. A potential 20/20 guy, Werth hit just 2 HR and swiped 2 bases while posting a modest 0.64 FPI. While I think his power and stolen base attempts will increase as the season chugs along, I'm especially comforted by his batting eye this season. His BB/K of 0.92 drives a solidOBP of 0.372, up slightly from last year's 0.363 with a BB/K of 0.48. If he can turn around the average and power just a bit, we could seeWerth flirt with .400 OBP potential like he did back in 2007 in his first season in Philly (despite only playing 94 games). Snowman for now, but I see a May correction happening.
Daniel Murphy (OF - Mets) - Murphy has done a decent job for fantasy owners so far, except that he doesn't always play when the Mets face lefty starters. When he does play, he's hitting .315 with 2 HR, 9 RBI, and an .815 OPS. The problem with Murphy is he only has 7 AB against lefties, making him a platoon outfielder until theMets decide to actually develop their young players rather than just avoid the situation of them having to face same-handedness pitchers. In any event, Murphy will remain anNL-only consideration until Mets management instill a little confidence in their youngster and at least let him try to hit a lefty.
Joey Votto (1B - Reds) - Votto's power hasn't been too apparent just yet in 2009 with just 3 HR in 85 AB for a HR/AB of 28.3, but he is hitting .353 for the year with anFPI of 0.84 and an OPS of .973 (has 9 doubles to his name to help the slugging). All of that yields 21 RBI and 11 runs for the lefty first baseman. While the 30 HR potential is on track for more like 22 at this point, I think we may see some fireworks through the warmer summer months. Either way, fantasy owners have to be happy with the production fromVotto so far. If he can drop his HR/AB to about 20.0 for the remainder of the year (he was at 21.9 in 2008), that will give him about 27 more HR and a total of 30 to end the season.
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