All posts under "Player Commentary" - Page 125

Stephen Drew (SS-ARI) – I was surprised to see that we hadn’t written about Drew since June 29, but the obvious reason is that he’s taken a step back this year. After batting .291/.333/.502 a year ago, Drew has dropped...

Jarrod Washburn (SP—Tigers) Well, for once it appears that Seattle may have made a good move, trading Jarrod Washburn to Detroit when he was at the height of his value. Since arriving in the Motor City, Washburn has pretty much...

Ricky Nolasco: Nolasco continues to get victimized by a horrible Strand Rate. He allowed just 5 base-runners on Friday night over 7 innings, but 3 of them found their way across home plate on a 3 run HR by Jeff...

Carlos Quentin (OF – White Sox) I think it is important to once again point out how truly unlucky Carlos Quentin has been this season. Quentin actually increased both his LD (+1.2%) and FB (+4.6%) rates this season, but somehow...

Bronson Arroyo: Consistency is a word you don’t typically associate with Bronson Arroyo, but he spun his twelfth consecutive quality start on Thursday, limiting the Pirates to just 1 ER over 7 innings. The extended hot streak has dropped his...

Placido Polanco: It has been a typical season for Polanco, moderate power in the form of 30 doubles and 10 home runs, a little bit of speed, 7 steals, poor plate patience, 5% BB%, and outstanding contact skills, 93%. The...

Scott Kazmir- LAA- Hot- Kazmir took the loss against the Yankees last night, but still pitched decently. It was a quality start, with 3 runs allowed on 6 hits and 3 walks while striking out 4 in 6 IP. Since...

Chris Coghlan (OF—Marlins) Chris Coghlan has tossed his name into the Rookie of the Year race as he has been on fire the past couple of months. From the beginning of August, Coghlan is batting an amazing .383 in 214...

Pablo Sandoval (3B – Giants) Pablo Sandoval has experienced a true breakout in ’09, and in this season, he has adopted a much more patient approach at the plate. He has swung at 11.8% fewer pitches outside the strike zone,...

Joe Blanton- PHI- Stats- A big part of Blanton’s surge after a poor April has been a turnaround in his comparative home and road performances. He has not been effected by the hitter bias at Citizens Bank Park, posting a...

Andres Torres (OF-SF) – Torres provided all the punch for the Giants in Sunday’s loss to the Dodgers, hitting a pair of solo home runs off Randy Wolf in going 2-for-4. Torres, 31, is batting .257/.339/.522 in 113 at-bats for...

Jake Peavy (SP--White Sox) Congratulations to all Jake Peavy owners who have waited over 3 months to use the ace pitcher this season. Your patience has been rewarded. Saturday was Peavy's White Sox debut against the Royals and he was...

Cliff Lee: The National League seems to agree with Lee, as he has pitched better since the mid-season trade, AL/NL splits of ERA 3.14/2.67, K/9’s 6.3/8.4, and BB/9’s 2.0/1.3. Given his track record, 2007/2008 K/9’s 6.1/6.9, the high strike out...

Clay Buchholz (SP – Red Sox) Clay Buchholz picked up another win on Friday night by allowing just 1 ER over 6 IP, but once again he was not dominant in doing so based on his 1 K and 3...

Chris Young: With 6 home runs in 53 September AB, Young is reminding people why they were so high on him coming into this year. However with an historically low BHIP%, 2007/2008/2009 BHIP’s .192/.216/.147, Young is going to have to...

Scott Feldman: It has been a breakout year for Feldman, 16-5 with a 3.65 ERA, but he has one of those skill sets, 5.3 K/9, 2.9 BB/9, and a 48% GB% that doesn’t exactly inspire confidence that he can come...

Zack Greinke- KC- Stats- Greinke has thrown 4 consecutive quality starts in which he has given up a total of 4 runs, only three earned. There have been three factors that have driven Greinke’s success this year. First is an...

Josh Johnson (SP--Marlins) With just a little over 2 weeks left in the regular season, every game the Marlins play have serious implications as they try to hang on for the NL Wildcard spot. Josh Johnson is someone they will...

Alfonso Soriano (OF – Cubs) With Soriano out for the remainder of the season following knee surgery, we can get a head start on evaluating what was his ’09 season. Soriano posted the lowest OPS of his 9 year career...

Carlos Marmol- CHN- Caution- Marmol picked up his 9th save and has yet to blow an opportunity since his promotion into the closer role, but there are some things that can make you queasy. Half of Marmol’s 14 pitches were...

Dan Hudson - The White Sox have already brought their 2008 5th rounder up to pitch out of the bullpen, and those of you who can find value out of non-closer RP's would be well served to grab him. Even...

Will Venable (OF-SD) – The Padres are giving Venable an extended look as a starting outfielder as they look towards 2010, and as of now, he’s probably done enough to be considered a favorite to start on Opening Day 2010....

Johnny Damon (OF--Yankees) Johnny Damon has had a bit of an aching back that kept him out of the lineup on Friday and Saturday. It doesn't sound like it’s anything to worry about. This is good news since Damon is...

Miguel Tejada (SS-HOU) – Tejada was 1-for-3 with a two-run homer Sunday, with the long ball being his first since August 7. Tejada had that 1.048 OPS at the end of April, but since the All-Star break, the veteran has...

Randy Ruiz (DH – Blue Jays) Randy Ruiz cracked his 7th homer of the season on Friday night in just his 80th at bat. Ruiz makes for a very interesting case. He has spent 11 seasons in the minors, and...

Eric Young Jr: Just from the name alone fantasy owners should know what to expect from Eric Young Jr. Eric’s father was a top of the order speed threat who posted some valuable fantasy seasons in Colorado and Eric’s built...

Hank Blalock: It has been a mixed bag for Blalock this season. While he is displaying very good power, 23 home runs, his batting average is suffering, .237 in 414 AB. A depressed .195 BHIP% isn’t helping, although it is...

Albert Pujols (1B--Cardinals) It almost seems like a pointless exercise to write about Albert Pujols. Is there anyone in the fantasy baseball universe that doesn't know how great he is? Is there anyone that needs to be told that he...

Jeff Niemann: The Rays bullpen is quietly sabotaging Jeff Niemann’s Rookie of the Year prospects. For the third consecutive game Niemann pitched tremendous and left in line for the win, this time shutting out the Yankees in Yankee Stadium for...

Kevin Youkilis (1B - Red Sox) - Youkilis continues to improve every year. Heading into 2009, it would have been tough to beat his 2008 numbers. Last season, he hit .312 with 29 HR, 115 RBI, and a .958 OPS....

Matt Maloney (SP – Reds) After being sent down due to a procedural move last week, Matt Maloney returned to the bigs last night and pitched fairly well against the Rockies. He only struck out 2 in his 5 IP,...

Clayton Kershaw (SP—Dodgers) Stupid injuries are the most frustrating for fantasy owners. Like the guy who stubs his toe on the dugout step and winds up missing a week of games. Or perhaps the player that cuts his index finger...

Chris Young (OF-ARI) – Baseball is a funny game, so should it really be a shocker to see a guy enter a game hitting .181/.293/.344 proceed to hit three home runs and draw two walks? Yes, it was a surprise,...

Luke Hochevar: Anthony Perri highlighted Hochevar’s inability to bear down and get big outs and this was once again the case on Sunday. Hochevar was blasted for 7 ER’s on 9 hits and 2 BB’s in just 3 2/3 innings....

John Lackey (SP—Angels) John Lackey walked away with a tough luck no-decision on Saturday as he scattered 6 hits, allowed 1 ER over 9 innings, walking none and striking out 4. Lackey has put together a solid season albeit not...

Freddy Garcia: With reports of severely declining velocity and multiple teams passing on Garcia after showcases earlier this season, I was pretty skeptical of his return to the White Sox rotation; but after four starts things look pretty good for...