Roy Halladay (SP-PHI) – The Astros are quickly becoming the laughingstock of the National League, but whenever a pitcher goes the distance this early in the season, it’s worth mentioning. Halladay allowed one unearned run on seven hits with an 8:0 K:BB Sunday in improving to 2-0. So far so good on that trade, as Halladay’s ERA sits at 0.56 with a 17:2 K:BB in 16 innings. Factor in Cliff Lee being on the DL in Seattle and this looks even better for GM Ruben Amaro. Halladay went for $47 in my final auction of the season on Sunday, a 10-team NL-only keeper league. At that price you need a top-3 Cy Young finish, and Halladay is right on track to do just that so far.
JR Towles (C-HOU) – Towles was 0-for-3 Sunday, and is now 1-for-15 with zero walks on the young season. Jason Castro is just 1-for-12 himself for Triple-A Round Rock, but if Towles is still scuffling come early May, I’d look for a switch here. Castro doesn’t have massive offensive upside, but he did have a .380 OBP and .146 ISO in the minors a year ago and could develop into an above-average offensive catcher in a few years. Towles however now sports a .593 career big league OPS in 246 at-bats, including a 0.37 EYE. Not sure he’s every going to “get it”.
Charlie Haeger (SP-LAD) – The knuckleball is a dying breed, as it’s difficult to master and scouts these days are all about velocity in terms of evaluating talent. That’s why it’s refreshing to see a guy like Haeger make it. Of course he’s far from a sure thing to stick all year in the Dodgers’ rotation, but 6-3-4-3-3-12 was a solid debut. You’ll note Haeger surrendered just three hits, but all three earned runs came on a Jorge Cantu home run after Haeger had walked the previous two hitters. That’s the thing with the knuckleball – when it’s knuckling well, it’s tough to hit (12 strikeouts), but it also isn’t easy to control and when it isn’t thrown as it should be, it can be hit a long way. This was certainly a nice start for Haeger and he’s worth a pickup in deep leagues, but keep in mind prior to this start, Haeger’s career major league line reads as follows: 5.26 ERA, 5.6 BB/9, and 1.5 BB/9.
Josh Willingham (OF-WAS) – Seeing Willingham batting fifth and Cristian Guzman third had me scratching my head a bit Sunday, but after Wilingham hit a grand slam and drove in five runs on Sunday, perhaps he’ll move up. Seriously – Willy Taveras and Guzman 2/3 in front of Dunn and Willingham? That’s a fireable offense. Anyway, Willingham is off to a nice start, batting .421/.500/.684 with an impressive 2:5 K:BB in 19 at-bats. Small sample size caveats apply, but Willingham has seen his OPS increase in each of the last two years and his BB% in each of the last three. He’s also seeing a positive trend in his AB/HR rate, so perhaps at 31, we could be looking at his career year.
Trevor Hoffman (RP-MIL) – It’s early of course, but is the end of the line nearing for Trevor Hoffman. The all-time saves leader blew another save on Sunday courtesy of back-to-back homers from a couple decent hitters in Albert Pujols and Matt Holliday. Given who hit those, we’ll give Hoffman an uneasy mulligan for this one, but he now enters next week’s action with a 13.50 ERA, though he did pick up the win Sunday thanks to Casey McGehee. Hoffman has now allowed three homers in four innings and has just one “clean” outing in four attempts on the year. Todd Coffey or LaTroy Hawkins would get the nod should Hoffman be hiding an injury or simply have “lost it”. At this point, I’d probably lean Hawkins given he pitched the eighth Sunday, but Hawkins has proven to be far more effective as a setup man than a closer in his career.
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