All posts under "Player Commentary" - Page 123

Scott Hairston (OF-SD) – Hairston was 2-for-4 with a home run, three runs, a pair of RBI, and two stolen bases Sunday against the Brewers. He’s now batting .271/.357/.542 in a muddled outfield situation. Will Venable and Kyle Blanks have...

Ben Zobrist: Zobrist went 0-4 on Sunday, dropping his batting average down to .253. Given how seemingly “out of nowhere” his 2009 campaign was, owners are certainly going to have their concerns about Zobrist’s slow start, so lets dig in....

Victor Martinez C (BOS) – Martinez is off to a slow start, posting a triple slash of .238/.307/.325 heading into last night’s contest with the Orioles. Those aren’t the numbers fantasy owners expected to see out of the consensus number...

Jason Heyward – Heyward picked up the hat trick on Saturday by homering in his third straight game to give the rookie phenom 7 already in 2010. What else can you say about the Say Hey Kid? He’s walking in...

Jonathon Niese (SP—Mets) Now is about the time we should start paying some serious attention to Jon Niese. Certainly, the Phillies are paying attention after Friday's game where Niese pitched 7 strong innings, allowing just 1 ER, 4 hits, 1...

Fausto Carmona - After starting the season with a 3-0 record and 2.96 ERA (despite a 13/12 K/BB mark), Fausto Carmona struggled against the Twins on Friday by allowing 6 ER in 6 innings of work. While he didn’t get...

Wade LeBlanc: LeBlanc pitched another 6 1/3 scoreless innings on Thursday against the Brewers allowing just 8 hits and 0 BB’s, while striking out 6. The big jump in K Rate this season is the big news for LeBlanc as...

David Aardsma: Coming off of a breakout year in 2009, 38 saves in 42 opportunities, Aardsma has 8 saves in 9 chances this year. On the surface, those numbers would point to job security but consider that the combination of...

Eric Chavez- OAK- Cold- With a GB% of 54.0% and a FB% of only 24.0%, it looks like Chavez may still have back problems plaguing him. He just is not getting enough loft in his batted balls. Chavez has yet...

Matt Capps (RP - Nationals) - Ask the average fan who is leading the majors in saves and there is no WAY they say Matt Capps (unless they live in Washington or they happen to play fantasy and have him on...

American League 11 Dustin Ackley SEA 2B A- Back-to-back multi-hit games then goes 1-for-10 to drop to .145 with no HR. 11:11 K:BB is about it. 12 Brett Wallace TOR 1B A- Off to great start with 8 HR in...

Edwin Jackson- ARI- Cold- Jackson got squashed yesterday at Coors Field, getting charged with 10 runs on 11 hits and 2 walks in 2.1 IP. At this point in the season it skews his stats way out of whack, but...

Francisco Liriano (SP—Twins) Francisco Liriano completely dominated the Tigers on Tuesday night probably making them wish they had just stayed home. He came away with his 4th win of the year while pitching 8 innings of shutout ball, allowing 4...

Jeremy Bonderman (SP - DET) Jeremy Bonderman was relatively sharp last night against the Rangers allowing 4 runs in 5.2 IP on 6 hits and a BB with 3 Ks. I say relatively because Bonderman gave up 11 runs in...

Jonathan Sanchez - Last night was certainly a contrast in styles, as the efficient Roy Halladay faced off against Jonathan Sanchez, who is anything but. Sanchez got the best of Halladay last night, although his 107 pitches only stretch through...

Kyle Kendrick (SP-PHI) – Overall, the Phillies have a team to be reckoned with, but if there’s ever a weak spot, it’s the back end of the rotation (bullpen too?). Sunday, Kendrick allowed five runs over five innings, including a...

Justin Masterson: On the surface it looks like Justin Masterson is taking some big steps forward. He’s improved his K Rate early in the season with 24 K’s in 19 IP and he’s even rolling more ground-balls with an incredible...

Domonic Brown - OF Phillies Guys like me love guys like this. There's usually a backlash in prospect circles against highly-athletic players. The assumption usually is that that you can't be an elite athlete and and a "baseball player" at...

Chase Headley - The Padres’ third baseman continued his hot start to the season by collecting 3 Hits against the Reds Saturday afternoon. After struggling in the first half last season, Chase Headley’s production significantly increased after the All-Star break...

Nick Markakis OF (BAL) – Markakis currently has a career high K% of 22.2%. I don’t expect that to last. He isn’t chasing a lot of balls. In fact his chase percentage of 22% is currently 5 percentage points lower...

John Maine (SP-Mets) John Maine left Friday night’s game against Atlanta after just 3.2 innings pitched. The cause: pain and spasms in his left elbow. Huh? Isn’t Maine a righty? Leave to a Met pitcher to find a way to...

Justin Smoak - The Smoak Monster made his major league debut Friday against the Tigers and finished 0-for-2 with 2 Walks. With Chris Davis in the minors after striking out in 35% of his ABs and hitting .188 with a...

Garrett Jones: Just as quickly as Garrett Jones started in the first 10 days of the season, he’s faded in the next 10 days. Jones is mired in a 3-19 slump with 6 K’s and 0 extra base hits over...

Travis Snider: It looks like the Blue Jays are going to give Snider an extended chance to show that he can handle major league pitching. In the small sample size of 2010, 57 PA, his skills have been a mixed...

April 22, 2010 - NL Fantistics Blog   1.  Jorge Cantu (1B / 3B - Marlins) - Who knew that Jorge Cantu would jump out of the gate as one of the hottest hitters in baseball for the month of...

Alex Gordon- KC- FYI- Gordon got his first homer of the season yesterday, and now has one in only 10 ABs, a far better ratio than his 6 homers in 164 major league ABs in 2009. Gordon is now 26...

National League 7 Mike Stanton FLA OF A Apparently he's feared - 0.31 EYE in AA last year, 1.08 in 2010 plus 1.055 OPS. 14 Dee Gordon LAD SS A- .341, but just 1 BB in 10 games. Raw, but...

Nelson Cruz - Nelson Cruz continued his torrid start to the season by going 2-for-4 with 3 Steals and 1 RBI on Tuesday against the Red Sox. Now hitting .333 with 7 HRs and 16 RBI, Cruz has an OPS...

Edison Volquez: Volquez tested positive for PED and was suspended for 50 games. He can only begin serving the suspension when he is eligible to come off of the 60-day-DL. Since he went on the DL before the season started,...

Randy Wells - Converted from catcher early in his Cub career, Randy Wells suffered through six-plus minor league seasons (and one rule V selection) to get to the point where he isn't really fighting for a rotation slot with the...

1. Casey Kotchman (1B - Mariners) - Three straight games with HRs for Casey Kotchman. That makes him 7-for-12 in XBH to start the season with 6 BB, a .367 OBP and a .963 OPS. Its been a few years...

Ike Davis(1B-NYM) – Reports this week have the Mets promoting Davis from Triple-A sometime in the next week. According to one report, should the Mets wait until after April 19,they would delay Davis’ free agent eligibility by a full year....

Brian Matusz: After two outings against one of the best offenses in MLB (the Rays), Brian Matusz got a much more favorable matchup on Sunday pitching against the A’s in Oakland Coliseum. Matusz looked good, allowing just 3 ER’s on...

Tyson Ross - RP Oakland A's It was a mild surprise that Tyson Ross came north with the A's, opening the season in Oakland's bullpen. The A's instructional staff tinkered with his landing area last year and that produced great...

Ubaldo Jimenez – Despite 6 walks through the first 5 innings, Ubaldo Jimenez buckled down and threw the first no-hitter in Rockies history by shutting down the Braves in Atlanta on Saturday evening. Jimenez finished the game with 7 strikeouts...

Ben Zobrist 2B/OF (TB) – Zobrist is off to a slow start, and his plate discipline is the cause. Last season, Zobrist chased pitches just 19.3% of the time, which was about 6 percent less than the major league average....