- Point-zero-zero-zero-six (.0006) of a batting average percentage was ultimately the difference between Inspect Her Gadget and The Streamers (.2664 vs. .2658) in week 7. Gadget pulled out a nail-biter, 8-7, and put up a league best 15 homers and 47 RBIs. The Streamers, once again, capitalized on timely pitching by relative unknowns like Clayton Richard and Josh Outman. However, it all came down to less than .001 of a BA point that decided the fate of both teams. When you consider the total number of at bats taken (214 for Gadget; and 222 for Streamers), you realize we are literally talking about one base knock. In the grand scheme of fantasy baseball, what you know if often trumped by good luck.
- Despite managing a fantasy hospital ward (with Joakim Soria, Brandon Webb, Ryan Ludwick, Jason Bartlett, and the newly acquired Rich Harden all on the Disabled List), Fantasy Filipinos was able to hang tough and deal Yuri Sucart M.D. their first loss of the season. Bartlett, before landing on the DL with a sprained ankle, contributed with eight runs and 13 RBIs. The Rays may have to consider moving the former Minnesota Twin in to the 2-hole and drop B.J. Upton, a virtual black hole atop the Rays order, down towards the bottom of the lineup. Meanwhile, Sucart suffered his most prolonged power outage of the season, accumulating only six home runs [he had 6 HRs in week 4, but has had no fewer than 9 in any other week].
- After a small setback in week 6, Lincecum Honor rebounded with a win against Laminated Wood. A pitching mixture of two San Francisco Giants [Tim Lincecum, Matt Cain] and two Atlanta Braves [Derek Lowe, Javier Vazquez] have been the key ingredients in ‘Cum Honors most recent cake walk through the league. All four starters have been stellar and are all capable of striking out a player per inning, typically an indication of superior stuff. As for Wood, all signs point to a mid-season correction in the standings. The power numbers are healthy [league leading 80 HRs] but they have the leagues worst batting average and are second-to-last in .OPS. With mammoth power producers like Alex Rodriguez and Carlos Pena waiting in the wings, that .OPS should rise in the coming weeks… although leaving four Mark Reynolds home runs on the bench doesn’t help (more on him later).
- In a display of futility, J. Gomes’ Wife Babysat Me slugged a single home run and had the third lowest .OPS total of any team this season (.644). But even more disconcerting is the disappearing act of Derrek Lee’s and James Loney’s power. According to ESPN’s player rater rankings, Loney and Lee rank 22nd and 36th, respectively, in fantasy production. When your first basemen struggle this much to produce offensively, your team will undoubtedly suffer. Taking advantage of Gomes’ poor week were the opportunistic Frederick Keys. They’ve evened their record at 3-3-1 and most of their “Key” players [haha, you see what I did there?!] are starting to come on. After a painfully slow start, Alexei Ramirez rewarded patient owners with two home runs in week 7. Hanley Ramirez, Brian McCann, and the newest Key, Matt Holliday, all chipped in with two homers apiece. There’s that consistency I was talking about!
- The San Francisco Switchhitters went on a tear around the same time Joe Mauer came back from the DL and decided he likes to hit home runs. I guess someone finally told him chicks dig his boyish dimples and the long ball. We’ll get to Mauer in a minute but the story here is that Switchhitters dispatched Gangsta Nation like a used Trojan. Gangsta has fallen on difficult times since winning it all last season. Pick-ups Kosuke Fukudome and Ivan Rodriguez were putrid, going for a combined 4-for-34 in week 7 and killing any chances of having a respectable average. The team is getting old and time is running out. Something needs to happen and happen soon for Gangsta (read: Trade).
- Revenge is a dish best served choad, I always say… After getting the best of He Got Roids From Riding the Trikey last season, The Fast and the Bi-Curious were trounced by Trikey in a laugher this week. Both teams were unspectacular offensively but Bi-Curious was not able to handle Trikey’s pitching, who posted a league best 1.34 ERA and 0.93 WHIP. Roy Halladay, Johan Santana, Cliff Lee, and Baked Zito all earned Quality Starts and picked up the wins. Meanwhile, Bi-Curious is left wondering who played the ‘wet-willy’ joke on Joey Votto that’s given him an ear infection and subsequent dizzy spells.
Raking:
- Many people may not have noticed, but Mark Reynolds was the second player in the Majors behind Ian Kinsler to reach the 10 home run/10 stolen base plateau this season. He currently ranks 5th in the NL in HRs with 13 while striking out at Adam Dunn-type levels. You know what this makes him? That’s right… he’s Mini-Donkey from the right side of the plate with more speed. Which is to say, Reynolds is a rather valuable commodity and one that you could have had on the cheap. In Week 7, Reynolds hit .357 with 4 homers and 9 RBIs. Until owners realize strikeouts are not the boogey-men, players like Reynolds and Dunn will always be undervalued.
- Like a ninja in the night, Miggy Tejada quietly earned himself NL Player of the Week honors. At age 35, and amid allegations of past improprieties relating to steroids, his best days are clearly behind him. But at the end of the day, Tejada is still a career .800 OPS shortstop and there are only a handful of middle infielders in the majors who can claim that distinction. Last week, Miggy blasted three homers and added 3 doubles to boost his average by 30 points from .318 to .348. Impatient owners who dropped him after a slow start, like myself, are surely regretting their move now.
- Mauer’s Pauer surge continues. I was watching the Sunday Night Baseball broadcast on ESPN last weekend, mainly because Joe Morgan had the night off, but also to check in on those red hot Minnesota Twins. True to form, during Mauer’s first at bat, he parks one into the upper deck of the Metrodome. Nice, fluid, easy swing—it was remarkable. On Monday night, he didn’t start, but he did hit another homer. Without seeing the highlights, I’m just going to assume he hit this one from the bench. In the [Denard] Span of a month, I went from being a Mauer-hater to becoming a true believer. He’s big (6’5’’, 225 lbs), he’s athletic (two sport athlete in high school), he’s got incredible plate awareness (a career 1.5:1 BB-to-K ratio), and he’s still developing. The power, to a certain extent, has finally caught up to the rest of his game.
- Let’s compare these two players.
Player A: .296 BA / .352 OBP / .580 SLG / .932 OPS / 12 HR / 32 RBI / 9 SB / 15 BB / 39 K
Player B: .282 BA / .410 OBP / .601 SLG / 1.011 OPS / 13 HR / 47 RBI / 5 SB / 34 BB / 41 K
Pretty comparable, right? Both are elite offensive producers with maybe a slight edge going to Player B because he walks more and gets on base at a better clip. Now, what if I were to tell you the average draft positions of each of these players?
Player A: 147
Player B: 39
Taking avg. draft positions into account, I’d say Player A has far greater value (not to mention the better bargain) because you are essentially getting fourth round production out of your 12th round pick. And in case you were wondering, Player A is Nelson Cruz and Player B is Jason Bay. Cruz is having himself a mighty fine, albeit streaky, year.
Filthy:
- Jake Peavy, who was at the heart of many trade rumors over the winter, was dangled in yet another trade last week, this time going to the Chicago Pale Hose for Clayton Richard, top ‘spect Aaron Poreda and Brent Lillibridge. This one never materialized even though it was agreed to in principle because Peavy is a 10/5 player, which means he’s been in the Majors for 10 seasons and on the same team for last 5 years. Ten/five privileges give Peavy the right to decline any trade he’s involved in. That’s exactly what Jake did. Later that day, he went on to dominate the Cincinnati Reds for nine innings. In his following start last Friday, he held the Cubbies to zero runs and one hit over 6 innings of work and striking out 10. Folks, he wants to get traded to a contender. What don't we get about this?
- In a battle of NL Central rivals, Chris Carpenter and YoGa had an epic duel Monday in Milwaukee. Fresh off the DL from an oblique strain, Carp immediately regained his dominance by shutting down the Brewer’s offense and racking up 10 Ks. But that was not enough. Gallardo saw Carpenter’s 8 innings of shutout ball and raised him 8 innings of his own (to go along with 6 Ks). The tension in the building was so thick you could barely see Prince Fielder’s fat ass at first base.
- I’ve watched enough of Kenshin Kawakami to know that he’ll never be a top line starter. His command is erratic and his flyball rate is alarmingly high, which is to say I think there will be many homers given up in his future. But every once in a while, he’ll turn in a gem like the one he threw against the Toronto Blue Jays last week. In his most impressive start since being signed as a free agent from Japan, he threw 8 shutout innings, gave up only 3 hits, no runs, and struck out 7 Jays. Kenshin said of his performance after that game, “Show me the Sake!”
Power Rankings (as of Tuesday, May 26):
Frederick Keys and Fantasy Filipinos flip flop places but somehow, some way, the Filipinos keep on finding ways to win (or tie).
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