We have received payments from a number of you and are in the process of adding you to a new Email list for this season.
PayPal has sent out requests for payment for those of you who have expressed interest in subscribing to our Emails. We are adding to our new mailing list those of you who have made the payment.
Because the new mailing list hasn’t been set up entirely, we still are sending out free Emails to everyone on our preseason mailing list. That free lunch will end soon. We encourage all of you who have been receiving our Emails to subscribe for the remainder of this year.
You or any of your friends – or even you signing friends as gifts to them – can subscribe. You can see below how to do that.
In the normal schedule for our five weekly Emails, the Thursday Emails update News and Notes from around baseball.
LeBlanc blanks Brewers
It wasn’t long after Rangers TV play-by-play man Josh Lewin remarked that it didn’t appear that anyone would hit 10 homers in the majors this April that White Sox 1B Paul Konerko pounded numbers 9 and 10 in the eighth and ninth innings to help beat Texas. He had begun the day tied with Diamondbacks 2B Kelly Johnson for the major league lead. The surprising Johnson hit his ninth as Arizona routed the Cubs. D-backs 1B Adam LaRoche drove in five runs in that game.
One of today’s superlative performances was by Padres LHP Wade LeBlanc. In a 9-0 shutout of the Brewers, ho allowed no runs and no walks in 6 1/3 innings to improve his record to 2-0 since being recalled from Triple-A Portland.
We’re getting to the point where statistics begin meaning something. What the numbers could mean includes that Cardinals OF Colby Rasmus (batting .344) and Tigers CF Austin Jackson (.330) could be breaking out as stars. As much as I hate to say such things so early in a season, Jackson is making a move toward becoming the American League Rookie of the Year.
On the other hand are some players in deep slumps. Athletics 2B Rickie Weeks struck out in all three at-bats to extend his slump to 1-for-25. Royals OF Jose Guillen was even worse, going 0-for-4 with four strikeouts and playing his usual brutal defense in right field as the Rays (17-5 this season) routed KC.
LHP Alan Embree is back with the Red Sox, who purchased his contract from Triple-A Pawtucket. To make room on the roster, Boston designated serviceable 2B/SS Kevin Frandsen for assignment.
Minor matters
The minors had their second no-hitter in two days, with Double-A Arkansas (Angels) RHP Ryan Brasier shutting down Tulsa (Rockies). Brasier is not a top-level prospect.
His no-no was just one of the day’s excellent pitching performances. Kyle Gibson pitched a one-hit shutout for high Class A Fort Myers (Twins). For Triple-A Buffalo (Mets) journeyman RHP R.A. Dickey gave up a single to the first batter for Durham (Rays), then retired 27 consecutive batters.
Injuries
Athletics RHP Justin Duchscherer could be returning to his accustomed place on the disabled list after leaving today’s start because of a hip injury.
Braves RHP Jair Jurrjens left his start at St. Louis after the first inning because of a strained left hamstring. The Cardinals won 10-4 behind 3B David Freese’s home run and six RBI.
Reds CF Chris Dickerson left their game because of s sprained right wrist, and returned to Cincinnati for an MRI exam. OF Drew Stubbs replaced Dickerson.
Yankees C Jorge Posada sat out today after being hit on the right knee Wednesday by a pitch from Orioles RHP Jeremy Guthrie. C Francisco Cervelli started in Posada’s place.
The Astros said LHP Wandy Rodriguez will not make his scheduled start Friday because of back spasms. RHP Brett Myers will move up a day to start at Atlanta. It’s possible that Rodriguez would be able to start Saturday.
Phillies RHP Brad Lidge will return from the disabled list Friday, in time for their series against the Mets. New York no doubt is glad that Mets-killing OF Pat Burrell won’t also be coming back.
In closing
The Dodgers began the season as one of the majors’ hottest-hitting teams. So what would you have expected them to do against the Pirates’ pitching trio of LHPs Brian Burres and Jack Taschner and RHP Evan Meek? Probably not being shut out – which they were, 2-0, with both of Pittsburgh’s runs scoring on C Ryan Doumit’s first-inning triple. Meek pitched one inning for his first major league save. Manager John Russell said RHP Octavio Dotel would remain its closer, pointing out that he had pitched in two of three games during the previous series in Milwaukee. However, over time Meek’s 0.60 ERA might win the job over Dotel’s 10.61 and two blow saves in five chances.
Speaking of the Dodgers, they’ll have to get better hitting because their pitching rotation is a mess. This week they’ve already brought up heretofore unknown John Ely to start one game, and will have RHP Carlos Monasterios start Friday. He at least has a 1.69 ERA in relief for LA.
RHP Kevin Gregg picked up his sixth save in the Blue Jays’ 6-3 victory over the Athletics, during which Toronto C John Buck hit three home runs.
Other saves went to Reds RHP Francisco Cordero, eighth, 4-2 at Houston, and Tigers RHP Jose Valverde, 3-0 against the Twins after LHP Dontrelle Willis started with six scoreless innings.
Promotion
To subscribe for our five-times-weekly Emails and anything else we're able to provide this season, Email us at lary@fantasybaseballscout.com. Through Sunday, May 2, you can subscribe for just $20, a 20 per cent savings from our established price of $25.
Include your name, address, phone number and the Email address where you would like to receive the Emails. PayPal then would send you an invoice that would allow you to pay in one step.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Today's shake up: Injuries do a number on Rockies
Good news for all of you! And for us.
1. We have received payments from a number of you and are in the process of adding you to a new Email list for this season.
2. PayPal has sent out requests for payment for those of you who have expressed interest in subscribing to our Emails. We are adding to our new mailing list those of you who have made the payment.
3. Because the new mailing list hasn’t been set up entirely, we still are sending out free Emails to everyone on our preseason mailing list. That free lunch will end soon. We encourage all of you who have been receiving our Emails to subscribe for the remainder of this year.
You or any of your friends – or even you signing friends as gifts to them – can subscribe. You can see below how to do that.
In the normal schedule for our five weekly Emails, the Wednesday Emails contain Injury Updates, including our Due Dates feature to let you know when to begin looking for key players to return to their lineup.
Kinsler looks ready to go
In addition to losing two starters, LHP Jorge De La Rosa (hand injury, for up to five weeks) and RHP Jason Hammel (strained right groin) to injuries, the Rockies also learned that LHP Jeff Francis’ return from a shoulder injury will be delayed until mid-May. They originally had hoped he could pitch for them this week. There’s some better news for Colorado. In an extended spring training game, RHP Taylor Buchholz (elbow) threw 36 pitches and 2B/SS Omar Quintanilla (sprained left knee) played the entire game. RHP Huston Street (shoulder) threw 20 pitches in Tucson. Hammel and Street are expected back in mid-May, Buchholz not until mid-June.
I saw all three of Rangers 2B Ian Kinsler’s injury-rehab games at Double-A Frisco. He certainly appeared able to play and ready to return to the parent team. Returning from a high ankle sprain, Kinsler appeared to move as he normally does – tracking down grounders to his right much better than those to his left, and stealing a base in his final rehab game. He played all 27 innings at second base. At bat, he was neither exceptional nor deficient. Playing for a team struggling to score runs, Kinsler had two run-scoring singles in his final game for the RoughRiders, leading to a 4-2 victory over San Antonio (Padres organization).
The Pirates are hoping RHP Ross Ohlendorf (back) can return to start Friday, May 7, against the Cardinals.
Questionable for this weekend’s games are Brewers OF Jim Edmonds (back), Athletics C Kurt Suzuki (left side), Dodgers SS Rafael Furcal (hamstring), Royals CF Rick Ankiel (quadriceps), Marlins OF Cody Ross (foot, flu) and Padres SS Everth Cabrera. Giants 2B/3B Jose Uribe (elbow) is expected to be ready only to pinch hit.
Twins C Joe Mauer played despite having fluid drained from his right big toe, hit by a foul ball Tuesday, but 1B Justin Morneau was out of Minnesota’s lineup.
Phillies RHP Brad Lidge (knee, elbow) pitched two scoreless innings Tuesday in his injury-rehab assignment at Double-A Reading. His fastball reached 93 mph, and Lidge said he was “ready to go.” RHP Joe Blanton (strained left oblique) could return to Philadelphia’s rotation Tuesday despite giving up five runs in five innings of a rehab start for Reading.
The Red Sox are planning to have RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka come off the disabled list to make his 2010 debut starting Saturday’s game at Baltimore.
Diamondbacks RHP Kris Benson (shoulder) is listed as doubtful for his scheduled start Monday at Houston.
Due dates
Instead of giving you the entire list of when players are expected to return from the disabled list or an injury, we’ll let you know the due dates for players whose status has changed. Remember that any time a players’ anticipated return date is pushed back, that could be a sign of greater short-term and longer-term problems for that player. Especially dangerous are pitchers’ forearm injuries, which often foreshadow Tommy John surgery.
Delayed from late April to mid-May – Phillies SS Jimmy Rollins (calf)
From early May to mid-May – Orioles 2B Brian Roberts (back), White Sox C Ramon Castro (heel), Indians RHP Kerry Wood (back), Twins C Jose Morales (wrist) and LHP Jose Mijares (elbow), Yankees RHP Chan Ho Park (hamstring), Athletics OF Coco Crisp (finger) and 2B Mark Ellis (hamstring), Blue Jays 3B Edwin Encarnacion (shoulder) and LHP Brian Tallet (forearm), Nationals C Chris Coste (elbow) and 1B/OF Mike Morse (calf) and Padres RHP Chris R. Young (shoulder).
Expected back in mid-May from a new injury – Rockies OF Brad Hawpe (quadriceps), Tigers OF/3B Carlos Guillen (hamstring), Marlins LHP Dan Meyer (calf), Angels C Bobby Wilson (concussion, ankle), Dodgers OF Manny Ramirez (calf), Twins 2B/3B Nick Punto (groin, hip), Athletics OF Travis Buck (oblique), Pirates RHP Chris Jakubauskas (concussion), Rangers OF Nelson Cruz (hamstring) and Nationals RHP Garrett Mock (neck).
Delayed from mid-May to late May – Braves OF Jordan Schafer (hand), Indians RHP Anthony Reyes (triceps), Brewers 3B/2B Mat Gamel (shoulder), Mets CF Carlos Beltran (knee) and Nationals RHP Jason Marquis (elbow).
Back from a new injury in late May – Athletics LHP Brett Anderson (forearm) and Cardinals SS/3B Felipe Lopez (elbow).
From mid-May to early June – Rays OF Matt Joyce (elbow).
Back from a new injury in early June – Dodgers RHP Vicente Padilla (forearm) and Athletics RHP Joey Devine (elbow).
From early June to mid-June – Twins RHP Clay Condrey (elbow).
From early August to possibly the remainder of the season, possibly forever – Dodgers C Brad Ausmus (back).
Delayed from early May to out for the season – Royals 3B Josh Fields.
Minor matters
Orioles RHP Chris Tillman pitched the first nine-inning no-hitter in the minors this season in Triple-A Norfolk’s 6-0 victory over Gwinnett (Braves). He threw 105 pitches, with a pitching line of 900016. He could be in Baltimore’s rotation before long.
In closing
This is a regular feature of our Emails and blog posts. It lets you know who’s getting saves. Equally important is telling you who’s blowing saves or putting his job in jeopardy by getting shaky saves. There’s also a FREE Article on the old fantasybaseballscout.com web site letting you know which pitcher or pitchers each team is using to close games. It will be updated whenever there’s a change or speculation about a change in a team’s closer.
The most action for would-be closers came in the Phillies’ 7-6, 11-inning victory at San Francisco. The Giants’ starter, RHP Tim Lincecum, left the game with one out and a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the ninth inning. San Francisco’s closer blew a save when Philadelphia RF Jayson Werth hit an opposite-field, three-run double down the right field line. RHP Ryan Madson, closing games while Lidge is on the disabled list, blew a save after the Phils had taken a lead in the 10th. Then in the 11th, RHP Nelson Figueroa, who had been starting, survived with a save despite a pitching line of 131100. Giants RF Nate Schierholtz drove in that run with a double – his fifth hit of the day, raising his average to .378, five points higher than 3B/1B Pablo Sandoval’s .373.
A night after RHP Frank Francisco had earned a save, Rangers RHP Neftali Feliz, received a shaky save in a 6-5 victory over the White Sox. Feliz’s line was 132200.
RHP Juan Gutierrez was credited with a save in another wild game, the Diamondbacks’ 12-11 win at Colorado in 11 innings. Before that, Arizona had blown a 6-0 lead and the Rockies let an 11-6 advantage drift away.
Red Sox RHP Jonathan Papelbon’s seventh save came in a 2-0 victory at Toronto, but it also came with a concern. He revealed that one reason he was unavailable to save Tuesday’s game was that he had a sore lower back. Papelbon’s condition could become another factor leading Boston in the wrong direction this season.
Also receiving saves were Nationals RHP Matt Capps, a major league-leading 10th, 3-2 at Wrigley Field; Mariners RHP David Aardsma, eighth, 6-5 at Kansas City, and Padres RHP Heath Bell, sixth, 6-4 at Florida.
Promotion
To subscribe for our five-times-weekly Emails and anything else we’re able to provide this season, Email us at lary@fantasybaseballscout.com. Through Sunday, May 2, you can subscribe for just $20, a 20 per cent savings from our established price of $25.
Include your name, address, phone number and the Email address where you would like to receive the Emails. PayPal then would send you an invoice that would allow you to pay in one step.
Email us at lary@fantasybaseballscout.com. Include your name, address and phone number so we could contact you with any questions, and (most important) tell us the Email address where you would like to receive the Emails. You then would receive an invoice from PayPal, which you could pay by following simple instructions within that Email. Once we receive your payment, we’ll add you to the subscription list so you would receive all of this year’s Emails and have access to any other features from fantasybaseballscout.com.
Subscriptions will include Articles such as our “Pitchers (and Hitters) to Keep and Avoid.” Last year, our recommendation of Rockies LHP Jorge De La Rosa in itself was worth the cost of what you’d pay, and he was only one of our picks that were on the money. Choosing him was inspired; he was 0-6 when we recommended him, and 16-3 thereafter.
You also would have access to whatever content we’re able to get on to the fantasybaseballscout.com web site.
Subscribers will be able to ask questions specific to their fantasy teams and leagues, and receive answers through these Emails, the web site or personal Emails.
1. We have received payments from a number of you and are in the process of adding you to a new Email list for this season.
2. PayPal has sent out requests for payment for those of you who have expressed interest in subscribing to our Emails. We are adding to our new mailing list those of you who have made the payment.
3. Because the new mailing list hasn’t been set up entirely, we still are sending out free Emails to everyone on our preseason mailing list. That free lunch will end soon. We encourage all of you who have been receiving our Emails to subscribe for the remainder of this year.
You or any of your friends – or even you signing friends as gifts to them – can subscribe. You can see below how to do that.
In the normal schedule for our five weekly Emails, the Wednesday Emails contain Injury Updates, including our Due Dates feature to let you know when to begin looking for key players to return to their lineup.
Kinsler looks ready to go
In addition to losing two starters, LHP Jorge De La Rosa (hand injury, for up to five weeks) and RHP Jason Hammel (strained right groin) to injuries, the Rockies also learned that LHP Jeff Francis’ return from a shoulder injury will be delayed until mid-May. They originally had hoped he could pitch for them this week. There’s some better news for Colorado. In an extended spring training game, RHP Taylor Buchholz (elbow) threw 36 pitches and 2B/SS Omar Quintanilla (sprained left knee) played the entire game. RHP Huston Street (shoulder) threw 20 pitches in Tucson. Hammel and Street are expected back in mid-May, Buchholz not until mid-June.
I saw all three of Rangers 2B Ian Kinsler’s injury-rehab games at Double-A Frisco. He certainly appeared able to play and ready to return to the parent team. Returning from a high ankle sprain, Kinsler appeared to move as he normally does – tracking down grounders to his right much better than those to his left, and stealing a base in his final rehab game. He played all 27 innings at second base. At bat, he was neither exceptional nor deficient. Playing for a team struggling to score runs, Kinsler had two run-scoring singles in his final game for the RoughRiders, leading to a 4-2 victory over San Antonio (Padres organization).
The Pirates are hoping RHP Ross Ohlendorf (back) can return to start Friday, May 7, against the Cardinals.
Questionable for this weekend’s games are Brewers OF Jim Edmonds (back), Athletics C Kurt Suzuki (left side), Dodgers SS Rafael Furcal (hamstring), Royals CF Rick Ankiel (quadriceps), Marlins OF Cody Ross (foot, flu) and Padres SS Everth Cabrera. Giants 2B/3B Jose Uribe (elbow) is expected to be ready only to pinch hit.
Twins C Joe Mauer played despite having fluid drained from his right big toe, hit by a foul ball Tuesday, but 1B Justin Morneau was out of Minnesota’s lineup.
Phillies RHP Brad Lidge (knee, elbow) pitched two scoreless innings Tuesday in his injury-rehab assignment at Double-A Reading. His fastball reached 93 mph, and Lidge said he was “ready to go.” RHP Joe Blanton (strained left oblique) could return to Philadelphia’s rotation Tuesday despite giving up five runs in five innings of a rehab start for Reading.
The Red Sox are planning to have RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka come off the disabled list to make his 2010 debut starting Saturday’s game at Baltimore.
Diamondbacks RHP Kris Benson (shoulder) is listed as doubtful for his scheduled start Monday at Houston.
Due dates
Instead of giving you the entire list of when players are expected to return from the disabled list or an injury, we’ll let you know the due dates for players whose status has changed. Remember that any time a players’ anticipated return date is pushed back, that could be a sign of greater short-term and longer-term problems for that player. Especially dangerous are pitchers’ forearm injuries, which often foreshadow Tommy John surgery.
Delayed from late April to mid-May – Phillies SS Jimmy Rollins (calf)
From early May to mid-May – Orioles 2B Brian Roberts (back), White Sox C Ramon Castro (heel), Indians RHP Kerry Wood (back), Twins C Jose Morales (wrist) and LHP Jose Mijares (elbow), Yankees RHP Chan Ho Park (hamstring), Athletics OF Coco Crisp (finger) and 2B Mark Ellis (hamstring), Blue Jays 3B Edwin Encarnacion (shoulder) and LHP Brian Tallet (forearm), Nationals C Chris Coste (elbow) and 1B/OF Mike Morse (calf) and Padres RHP Chris R. Young (shoulder).
Expected back in mid-May from a new injury – Rockies OF Brad Hawpe (quadriceps), Tigers OF/3B Carlos Guillen (hamstring), Marlins LHP Dan Meyer (calf), Angels C Bobby Wilson (concussion, ankle), Dodgers OF Manny Ramirez (calf), Twins 2B/3B Nick Punto (groin, hip), Athletics OF Travis Buck (oblique), Pirates RHP Chris Jakubauskas (concussion), Rangers OF Nelson Cruz (hamstring) and Nationals RHP Garrett Mock (neck).
Delayed from mid-May to late May – Braves OF Jordan Schafer (hand), Indians RHP Anthony Reyes (triceps), Brewers 3B/2B Mat Gamel (shoulder), Mets CF Carlos Beltran (knee) and Nationals RHP Jason Marquis (elbow).
Back from a new injury in late May – Athletics LHP Brett Anderson (forearm) and Cardinals SS/3B Felipe Lopez (elbow).
From mid-May to early June – Rays OF Matt Joyce (elbow).
Back from a new injury in early June – Dodgers RHP Vicente Padilla (forearm) and Athletics RHP Joey Devine (elbow).
From early June to mid-June – Twins RHP Clay Condrey (elbow).
From early August to possibly the remainder of the season, possibly forever – Dodgers C Brad Ausmus (back).
Delayed from early May to out for the season – Royals 3B Josh Fields.
Minor matters
Orioles RHP Chris Tillman pitched the first nine-inning no-hitter in the minors this season in Triple-A Norfolk’s 6-0 victory over Gwinnett (Braves). He threw 105 pitches, with a pitching line of 900016. He could be in Baltimore’s rotation before long.
In closing
This is a regular feature of our Emails and blog posts. It lets you know who’s getting saves. Equally important is telling you who’s blowing saves or putting his job in jeopardy by getting shaky saves. There’s also a FREE Article on the old fantasybaseballscout.com web site letting you know which pitcher or pitchers each team is using to close games. It will be updated whenever there’s a change or speculation about a change in a team’s closer.
The most action for would-be closers came in the Phillies’ 7-6, 11-inning victory at San Francisco. The Giants’ starter, RHP Tim Lincecum, left the game with one out and a 4-1 lead in the bottom of the ninth inning. San Francisco’s closer blew a save when Philadelphia RF Jayson Werth hit an opposite-field, three-run double down the right field line. RHP Ryan Madson, closing games while Lidge is on the disabled list, blew a save after the Phils had taken a lead in the 10th. Then in the 11th, RHP Nelson Figueroa, who had been starting, survived with a save despite a pitching line of 131100. Giants RF Nate Schierholtz drove in that run with a double – his fifth hit of the day, raising his average to .378, five points higher than 3B/1B Pablo Sandoval’s .373.
A night after RHP Frank Francisco had earned a save, Rangers RHP Neftali Feliz, received a shaky save in a 6-5 victory over the White Sox. Feliz’s line was 132200.
RHP Juan Gutierrez was credited with a save in another wild game, the Diamondbacks’ 12-11 win at Colorado in 11 innings. Before that, Arizona had blown a 6-0 lead and the Rockies let an 11-6 advantage drift away.
Red Sox RHP Jonathan Papelbon’s seventh save came in a 2-0 victory at Toronto, but it also came with a concern. He revealed that one reason he was unavailable to save Tuesday’s game was that he had a sore lower back. Papelbon’s condition could become another factor leading Boston in the wrong direction this season.
Also receiving saves were Nationals RHP Matt Capps, a major league-leading 10th, 3-2 at Wrigley Field; Mariners RHP David Aardsma, eighth, 6-5 at Kansas City, and Padres RHP Heath Bell, sixth, 6-4 at Florida.
Promotion
To subscribe for our five-times-weekly Emails and anything else we’re able to provide this season, Email us at lary@fantasybaseballscout.com. Through Sunday, May 2, you can subscribe for just $20, a 20 per cent savings from our established price of $25.
Include your name, address, phone number and the Email address where you would like to receive the Emails. PayPal then would send you an invoice that would allow you to pay in one step.
Email us at lary@fantasybaseballscout.com. Include your name, address and phone number so we could contact you with any questions, and (most important) tell us the Email address where you would like to receive the Emails. You then would receive an invoice from PayPal, which you could pay by following simple instructions within that Email. Once we receive your payment, we’ll add you to the subscription list so you would receive all of this year’s Emails and have access to any other features from fantasybaseballscout.com.
Subscriptions will include Articles such as our “Pitchers (and Hitters) to Keep and Avoid.” Last year, our recommendation of Rockies LHP Jorge De La Rosa in itself was worth the cost of what you’d pay, and he was only one of our picks that were on the money. Choosing him was inspired; he was 0-6 when we recommended him, and 16-3 thereafter.
You also would have access to whatever content we’re able to get on to the fantasybaseballscout.com web site.
Subscribers will be able to ask questions specific to their fantasy teams and leagues, and receive answers through these Emails, the web site or personal Emails.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
How new will Rangers' new look be?
Good news for all of you! And for us.
1. We have received payments from a number of you and are in the process of adding you to a new Email list for this season.
2. PayPal has sent out requests for payment for those of you who have expressed interest in subscribing to our Emails. We are adding to our new mailing list those of you who have made the payment.
3. Because the new mailing list hasn’t been set up entirely, we still are sending out free Emails to everyone on our preseason mailing list. That free lunch will end soon. We encourage all of you who have been receiving our Emails to subscribe for the remainder of this year.
You or any of your friends – or even you signing friends as gifts to them – can subscribe. You can see below how to do that.
In our normal schedule, the Tuesday Emails contain Minor League updates, letting you know which players you could look for to move up from the minors or up through an organization.
Players of the Week
Class League, Team (Organization)
Pos. Name H-AB BA HR-RBI SB
Triple-A International, Harrisburg (Nationals)
OF Roger Bernadina 13-28 .464 1-6 3
Triple-A Pacific Coast, Iowa (Cubs)
OF Brad Snyder 12-25 .480 3-7 1
Double-A Eastern, Bowie (Orioles)
DH Paco Figueroa 13-27 .481 1-7 2
Double-A Southern, West Tenn (Mariners)
CF Carlos Peguero 8-24 .333 3-6 0
Double-A Texas, Northwest Arkansas (Royals)
3B Mike Moustakas 8-17 .471 3-8 0
High Class A California, Inland Empire (Dodgers)
RF Kyle Russell 9-24 .375 2-6 0
High Class A Carolina, Salem (Red Sox)
SS Oscar Tejeda 11-25 .440 3-7 1
High Class A Florida State, Tampa (Yankees)
2B Corban Joseph 10-26 .385 2-6 0
Low Class A Midwest, Great Lakes (Dodgers)
CF Jerry Sands 9-20 .450 5-7 0
Low Class A South Atlantic, Greenville (Red Sox)
C Daniel Butler 9-20 .450 2-7 0
Bernadina raised his season average to .377 with eight RBI and seven stolen bases in 14 games, earning a promotion to Washington.
Sands repeated as the winner of both Midwest League Player of the Week awards for this season.
Moustakas and Russell both were first-round draft choices. Moustakas hadn’t played before last week because of a strained oblique muscle. Russell and Sands both represent part of the Dodgers’ future.
Pitchers of the Week
Class League, Team (Organization)
Hand Name IP W-L ERA WHIP K/W
Triple-A International, Durham (Rays)
RHP Aneury Rodriguez 14.0 2-0 0.00 0.57 10:3
Triple-A Pacific, Portland (Padres)
RHP Radhames Liz 6.0 1-0 1.56 0.83 11:2
Double-A Eastern, Reading (Phillies)
RHP Phillippe Aumont 17.0 2-0 0.53 0.47 11:6
Double-A Southern, Huntsville (Brewers)
RHP Amaury Rivas 13.0 2-0 0.69 0.85 9:6
Double-A Texas, Northwest Arkansas (Royals)
LHP Edgar Osuna 7.0 1-0 0.00 0.86 6:0
High Class A California, Visalia (Diamondbacks)
RHP Joshua Collmenter 5.0 0-0 0.00 0.40 9:1
High Class A Carolina, Wilmington (Royals)
LHP Michael Montgomery 12.2 1-0 1.42 1.03 14:3
High Class A Florida State, Clearwater (Phillies)
RHP Austin Hyatt 11.0 2-0 0.82 0.91 15:5
Low Class A Midwest, Beloit (Twins)
LHP Daniel Osterbrock 13.1 1-0 1.35 0.83 14:3
Low Class A South Atlantic, Charleston (Yankees)
RHP Graham Stoneburner 14.0 0-0 1.29 1.00 16:3
Rodriguez was making his first two starts in Triple-A.
Osuna made it through the first 2 ½ weeks of this season with an 0.00 ERA. He succeeded as Texas League Pitcher of the Week Federico Castaneda, who already has moved up to Triple-A Omaha. We already told you he’s likely to be pitching out of Kansas City’s bullpen during this season.
Montgomery has won both Carolina Pitcher of the Week awards this season. He, Osuna and Castaneda show there is pitching talent in the Royals organization.
News and Notes
The face of the Rangers’ farm system changed today more than at any time since Texas discovered that pitching is part of baseball. The Rangers optioned underperforming Cs Taylor Teagarden and Salty to Triple-A Oklahoma City, removing Salty from his injury-rehab assignment with the Redhawks early and taking him off the disabled list. C Max Ramirez, a far better offensive threat than any of the other three backstops Texas has used this season, was recalled. With RF Nelson Cruz going on the DL, the Rangers recalled OF Craig Gentry from OK City. He’s primarily a center fielder, and Texas could give the overachiever from the University of Arkansas an extended trial to decide whether to send slumping CF Julio Borbon back to the minors to straighten himself out. Here’s another indictment of the free-swinging Rangers: Rookie 1B Justin Smoak set a team record for the longest streak with at least one walk in a game to start a major league career by walking in each of the first four games after he was recalled to replace 1B Chris Davis.
Another shakeup is taking place in Colorado, where the Rockies put two starting pitchers, LHP Jorge De La Rosa (torn flexor band in his middle finger) and RHP Jason Hammel (strained right groin muscle), on the disabled list. They also demoted a catcher, Chris Iannetta, to Triple-A Colorado Springs. Joining the major league team are RHPs Jhoulys Chacin, who will take De La Rosa’s rotation spot, and Juan Rincon, who will go to the bullpen, and journeyman C Paul Phillips.
We’re especially disappointed to see De La Rosa injured. We always like any player who makes us look good, and he has been our greatest hit since LHP Johan Santana in 1995. Since we recommended DLR as “a pitcher to seek” when he was 0-6 last season, he has won 19 games, more than any other pitcher in the majors. We also really like Chacin, who was part of one of the best group of pitchers to graduate from the Double-A Texas League since who knows when. He has begun the season 3-0 with a 1.69 ERA at Colorado Springs.
In closing
This is a regular feature of our Emails and blog posts. It lets you know who’s getting saves. Equally important is telling you who’s blowing saves or putting his job in jeopardy by getting shaky saves. There’s also a FREE Article on the old fantasybaseballscout.com web site letting you know which pitcher or pitchers each team is using to close games. It will be updated whenever there’s a change or speculation about a change in a team’s closer.
If you’re looking for even more change in Texas as the result of RHP Frank Francisco’s first save this season, forget it – at least for now. Rangers manager Ron Washington said that RHP Neftali Feliz remained their closer, but that he had pitched in two consecutive games (blowing a save himself) and needed a day off. As a result, Francisco, who began the season as Texas’ closer, pitched the ninth inning of Texas’ 4-2 victory over the White Sox.
Similarly, Red Sox RHP Ramon Ramirez received his first save of 2010 in a 2-1 win at Toronto. Boston’s closer, RHP Jonathan Papelbon, had pitched in five of its previous seven games.
Another unfamiliar name earning a save was that of Cardinals RHP Jason Motte. He entered their game against the Braves in the eighth inning and picked up his first save this season with a pitching line of 1 2/3 00020. St. Louis’ closer, RHP Ryan Franklin, wasn’t available because he had pitched each of the two previous days.
The Orioles haven’t really established a closer, and RHP Alfredo Simon doesn’t seem to be the man despite his first save in a 5-4 victory over the Yankees. Shortstop Julio Lugo’s error led to two unearned runs in the top of the ninth, leading to a line of 122012. Baltimore manager said that at least until the nominal closer, LHP Mike Gonzalez, returns from the disabled list the team’s closer would be “whoever can get outs.”
Other saves went to Nationals RHP Matt Capps, ninth, 3-1 at Wrigley Field; Twins RHP Jon Rauch, seventh, 2-0 at Detroit; Mariners RHP David Aardsma, seventh, 3-2 at Kansas City; Padres RHP Heath Bell, fifth, 4-1 at Florida, and Rays RHP Rafael Soriano, fifth, 8-6 against the Athletics.
The most notable blown save was Brewers RHP Trevor Hoffman’s third this season. Milwaukee led 3-2 when he entered the game to begin the ninth inning against the Pirates. Hoffman gave up a game-tying home run to SS Ronny Cedeno and C Ryan Doumit’s grand slam to take a 7-3 loss.
Promotion
Email us at lary@fantasybaseballscout.com. Include your name, address and phone number so we could contact you with any questions, and (most important) tell us the Email address where you would like to receive the Emails. You then would receive an invoice from PayPal, which you could pay by following simple instructions within that Email. Once we receive your payment, we’ll add you to the subscription list so you would receive all of this year’s Emails and have access to any other features from fantasybaseballscout.com.
Subscriptions will include Articles such as our “Pitchers (and Hitters) to Keep and Avoid.” Last year, our recommendation of Rockies LHP Jorge De La Rosa in itself was worth the cost of what you’d pay, and he was only one of our picks that were on the money. Choosing him was inspired; he was 0-6 when we recommended him, and 16-3 thereafter.
You also would have access to whatever content we’re able to get on to the fantasybaseballscout.com web site.
Subscribers will be able to ask questions specific to their fantasy teams and leagues, and receive answers through these Emails, the web site or personal Emails.
1. We have received payments from a number of you and are in the process of adding you to a new Email list for this season.
2. PayPal has sent out requests for payment for those of you who have expressed interest in subscribing to our Emails. We are adding to our new mailing list those of you who have made the payment.
3. Because the new mailing list hasn’t been set up entirely, we still are sending out free Emails to everyone on our preseason mailing list. That free lunch will end soon. We encourage all of you who have been receiving our Emails to subscribe for the remainder of this year.
You or any of your friends – or even you signing friends as gifts to them – can subscribe. You can see below how to do that.
In our normal schedule, the Tuesday Emails contain Minor League updates, letting you know which players you could look for to move up from the minors or up through an organization.
Players of the Week
Class League, Team (Organization)
Pos. Name H-AB BA HR-RBI SB
Triple-A International, Harrisburg (Nationals)
OF Roger Bernadina 13-28 .464 1-6 3
Triple-A Pacific Coast, Iowa (Cubs)
OF Brad Snyder 12-25 .480 3-7 1
Double-A Eastern, Bowie (Orioles)
DH Paco Figueroa 13-27 .481 1-7 2
Double-A Southern, West Tenn (Mariners)
CF Carlos Peguero 8-24 .333 3-6 0
Double-A Texas, Northwest Arkansas (Royals)
3B Mike Moustakas 8-17 .471 3-8 0
High Class A California, Inland Empire (Dodgers)
RF Kyle Russell 9-24 .375 2-6 0
High Class A Carolina, Salem (Red Sox)
SS Oscar Tejeda 11-25 .440 3-7 1
High Class A Florida State, Tampa (Yankees)
2B Corban Joseph 10-26 .385 2-6 0
Low Class A Midwest, Great Lakes (Dodgers)
CF Jerry Sands 9-20 .450 5-7 0
Low Class A South Atlantic, Greenville (Red Sox)
C Daniel Butler 9-20 .450 2-7 0
Bernadina raised his season average to .377 with eight RBI and seven stolen bases in 14 games, earning a promotion to Washington.
Sands repeated as the winner of both Midwest League Player of the Week awards for this season.
Moustakas and Russell both were first-round draft choices. Moustakas hadn’t played before last week because of a strained oblique muscle. Russell and Sands both represent part of the Dodgers’ future.
Pitchers of the Week
Class League, Team (Organization)
Hand Name IP W-L ERA WHIP K/W
Triple-A International, Durham (Rays)
RHP Aneury Rodriguez 14.0 2-0 0.00 0.57 10:3
Triple-A Pacific, Portland (Padres)
RHP Radhames Liz 6.0 1-0 1.56 0.83 11:2
Double-A Eastern, Reading (Phillies)
RHP Phillippe Aumont 17.0 2-0 0.53 0.47 11:6
Double-A Southern, Huntsville (Brewers)
RHP Amaury Rivas 13.0 2-0 0.69 0.85 9:6
Double-A Texas, Northwest Arkansas (Royals)
LHP Edgar Osuna 7.0 1-0 0.00 0.86 6:0
High Class A California, Visalia (Diamondbacks)
RHP Joshua Collmenter 5.0 0-0 0.00 0.40 9:1
High Class A Carolina, Wilmington (Royals)
LHP Michael Montgomery 12.2 1-0 1.42 1.03 14:3
High Class A Florida State, Clearwater (Phillies)
RHP Austin Hyatt 11.0 2-0 0.82 0.91 15:5
Low Class A Midwest, Beloit (Twins)
LHP Daniel Osterbrock 13.1 1-0 1.35 0.83 14:3
Low Class A South Atlantic, Charleston (Yankees)
RHP Graham Stoneburner 14.0 0-0 1.29 1.00 16:3
Rodriguez was making his first two starts in Triple-A.
Osuna made it through the first 2 ½ weeks of this season with an 0.00 ERA. He succeeded as Texas League Pitcher of the Week Federico Castaneda, who already has moved up to Triple-A Omaha. We already told you he’s likely to be pitching out of Kansas City’s bullpen during this season.
Montgomery has won both Carolina Pitcher of the Week awards this season. He, Osuna and Castaneda show there is pitching talent in the Royals organization.
News and Notes
The face of the Rangers’ farm system changed today more than at any time since Texas discovered that pitching is part of baseball. The Rangers optioned underperforming Cs Taylor Teagarden and Salty to Triple-A Oklahoma City, removing Salty from his injury-rehab assignment with the Redhawks early and taking him off the disabled list. C Max Ramirez, a far better offensive threat than any of the other three backstops Texas has used this season, was recalled. With RF Nelson Cruz going on the DL, the Rangers recalled OF Craig Gentry from OK City. He’s primarily a center fielder, and Texas could give the overachiever from the University of Arkansas an extended trial to decide whether to send slumping CF Julio Borbon back to the minors to straighten himself out. Here’s another indictment of the free-swinging Rangers: Rookie 1B Justin Smoak set a team record for the longest streak with at least one walk in a game to start a major league career by walking in each of the first four games after he was recalled to replace 1B Chris Davis.
Another shakeup is taking place in Colorado, where the Rockies put two starting pitchers, LHP Jorge De La Rosa (torn flexor band in his middle finger) and RHP Jason Hammel (strained right groin muscle), on the disabled list. They also demoted a catcher, Chris Iannetta, to Triple-A Colorado Springs. Joining the major league team are RHPs Jhoulys Chacin, who will take De La Rosa’s rotation spot, and Juan Rincon, who will go to the bullpen, and journeyman C Paul Phillips.
We’re especially disappointed to see De La Rosa injured. We always like any player who makes us look good, and he has been our greatest hit since LHP Johan Santana in 1995. Since we recommended DLR as “a pitcher to seek” when he was 0-6 last season, he has won 19 games, more than any other pitcher in the majors. We also really like Chacin, who was part of one of the best group of pitchers to graduate from the Double-A Texas League since who knows when. He has begun the season 3-0 with a 1.69 ERA at Colorado Springs.
In closing
This is a regular feature of our Emails and blog posts. It lets you know who’s getting saves. Equally important is telling you who’s blowing saves or putting his job in jeopardy by getting shaky saves. There’s also a FREE Article on the old fantasybaseballscout.com web site letting you know which pitcher or pitchers each team is using to close games. It will be updated whenever there’s a change or speculation about a change in a team’s closer.
If you’re looking for even more change in Texas as the result of RHP Frank Francisco’s first save this season, forget it – at least for now. Rangers manager Ron Washington said that RHP Neftali Feliz remained their closer, but that he had pitched in two consecutive games (blowing a save himself) and needed a day off. As a result, Francisco, who began the season as Texas’ closer, pitched the ninth inning of Texas’ 4-2 victory over the White Sox.
Similarly, Red Sox RHP Ramon Ramirez received his first save of 2010 in a 2-1 win at Toronto. Boston’s closer, RHP Jonathan Papelbon, had pitched in five of its previous seven games.
Another unfamiliar name earning a save was that of Cardinals RHP Jason Motte. He entered their game against the Braves in the eighth inning and picked up his first save this season with a pitching line of 1 2/3 00020. St. Louis’ closer, RHP Ryan Franklin, wasn’t available because he had pitched each of the two previous days.
The Orioles haven’t really established a closer, and RHP Alfredo Simon doesn’t seem to be the man despite his first save in a 5-4 victory over the Yankees. Shortstop Julio Lugo’s error led to two unearned runs in the top of the ninth, leading to a line of 122012. Baltimore manager said that at least until the nominal closer, LHP Mike Gonzalez, returns from the disabled list the team’s closer would be “whoever can get outs.”
Other saves went to Nationals RHP Matt Capps, ninth, 3-1 at Wrigley Field; Twins RHP Jon Rauch, seventh, 2-0 at Detroit; Mariners RHP David Aardsma, seventh, 3-2 at Kansas City; Padres RHP Heath Bell, fifth, 4-1 at Florida, and Rays RHP Rafael Soriano, fifth, 8-6 against the Athletics.
The most notable blown save was Brewers RHP Trevor Hoffman’s third this season. Milwaukee led 3-2 when he entered the game to begin the ninth inning against the Pirates. Hoffman gave up a game-tying home run to SS Ronny Cedeno and C Ryan Doumit’s grand slam to take a 7-3 loss.
Promotion
Email us at lary@fantasybaseballscout.com. Include your name, address and phone number so we could contact you with any questions, and (most important) tell us the Email address where you would like to receive the Emails. You then would receive an invoice from PayPal, which you could pay by following simple instructions within that Email. Once we receive your payment, we’ll add you to the subscription list so you would receive all of this year’s Emails and have access to any other features from fantasybaseballscout.com.
Subscriptions will include Articles such as our “Pitchers (and Hitters) to Keep and Avoid.” Last year, our recommendation of Rockies LHP Jorge De La Rosa in itself was worth the cost of what you’d pay, and he was only one of our picks that were on the money. Choosing him was inspired; he was 0-6 when we recommended him, and 16-3 thereafter.
You also would have access to whatever content we’re able to get on to the fantasybaseballscout.com web site.
Subscribers will be able to ask questions specific to their fantasy teams and leagues, and receive answers through these Emails, the web site or personal Emails.
Tuesday, April 27, 2010
Morales, Reynolds named Players of the Week
We haven’t been able to get out all of the PayPal payment requests to subscribers yet. Therefore, all of you are getting any extra day’s Email. It’s our usual Monday Email containing a Weekend Update and who’s Hot and Not.
If you haven’t already, you still can subscribe at a reduced rate for the remainder of 2010. See below to find out how.
Subscriptions will include Articles such as our “Pitchers (and Hitters) to Keep and Avoid.” Last year, our recommendation of Rockies LHP Jorge De La Rosa in itself was worth the cost of what you’d pay, and he was only one of our picks that were on the money. Choosing him was inspired; he was 0-6 when we recommended him, and 16-3 thereafter.
You also would have access to whatever content we’re able to get on to the fantasybaseballscout.com web site.
Subscribers will be able to ask questions specific to their fantasy teams and leagues, and receive answers through these Emails, the web site or personal Emails.
Hot
The weekly Hot and Not for batters is based on 20 at-bats for batting average, and at least a .280 BA for the other categories.
Pos. Player, Team H-AB BA HR-RBI SB
1B Kendry Morales, Angels 13-24 .542 3-10 0
SS Ryan Theriot, Cubs 14-28 .500 0-6 1
OF Marlon Byrd, Cubs 12-24 .500 0-5 1
1B Justin Morneau, Twins 10-21 .476 2-7 0
3B/1B Pablo Sandoval, Giants 10-22 .455 1-2 0
1B Paul Konerko, White Sox 9-20 .450 4-6 0
C Matt Wieters, Orioles 10-23 .435 0-4 0
2B Robinson Cano, Yankees 9-21 .429 1-4 1
OF Johnny Damon, Tigers 11-26 .423 0-3 1
OF Vladimir Guerrero, Rangers 8-20 .400 1-6 2
Home runs – Konerko and Diamondbacks 2B Kelly Johnson 4; Morales, White Sox OF Andruw Jones, Diamondbacks 3B Mark Reynolds and Athletics C Kurt Suzuki 3.
RBI – Reynolds 11; Morales 10; Dodgers 3B/1B Casey Blake, Brewers OF Ryan Braun, Tigers 1B Miguel Cabrera and Rangers 3B Michael Young 8; Johnson, Morneau, Suzuki, Blue Jays OF/3B Jose Bautista, Twins OF/1B Michael Cuddyer, Royals OF Jose Guillen and Rays OF B.J. Upton 7. Reynolds was the National League Player of the Week, and Morales won the same award in the American League.
Stolen bases – Astros OF Michael Bourn 7; Rangers OF Nelson Cruz and Padres 3B/OF Chase Headley 5; Dodgers SS Rafael Furcal 4; Braun, Rangers OF Julio Borbon, Padres SS Everth Cabrera and OF Will Venable, Pirates OF Andrew McCutchen and Mets SS Jose Reyes 3.
Runs – Reds 3B Scott Rolen 8; Braun, Cano, Damon, Morales, Reds OF Jay Bruce and Rays 3B Evan Longoria 7.
Repeaters on a Hot list are Theriot, Cuddyer and Guillen. Cruz and Reyes were on a Not list a week earlier.
Requirements for pitchers to make these lists are 7 innings pitched for ERA and WHIP, 10 strikeouts in K:W ratio and an ERA under 4.00 for the other categories.
Hand Pitcher, Team IP W-L ERA WHIP K:W
RHP Mike Pelfrey, Mets 12.0 2-0 0.00 1.33 9:8
RHP Roy Halladay, Phillies 9.0 1-0 0.00 0.67 7:1
RHP Felix Hernandez, Mariners 9.0 1-0 0.00 1.00 6:0
LHP Barry Zito, Giants 8.0 1-0 0.00 0.75 10:3
LHP Francisco Liriano, Twins 8.0 1-0 0.00 1.00 6:2
RHP Ubaldo Jimenez, Rockies 7.1 1-0 0.00 0.95 5:2
RHP Mat Latos, Padres 7.0 1-0 0.00 0.71 2:1
LHP Jon Niese, Mets 11.0 0-0 0.82 1.91 13:8
LHP Andy Pettitte, Yankees 8.0 1-0 1.13 0.75 8:0
RHP Ricky Nolasco, Marlins 8.0 1-0 1.13 0.88 9:0
Wins – Pelfrey, White Sox LHP John Danks and Cardinals RHP Brad Penny 2.
Saves – Astros RHP Matt Lindstrom 4-for-4; Nationals RHP Matt Capps, Reds RHP Francisco Cordero and Mets RHP Francisco Rodriguez 3-3; Cardinals RHP Ryan Franklin, Blue Jays RHP Kevin Gregg, Red Sox RHP Jonathan Papelbon, Angels RHP Francisco Rodney, Royals RHP Joakim Soria, Tigers RHP Jose Valverde and Giants RHP Brian Wilson 2-2.
WHIP – Yankees RHP Phil Hughes 0.41; Royals RHP Zack Greinke 0.43; White Sox RHP Freddy Garcia, Twins RHP Carl Pavano and Giants LHP Jonathan Sanchez 0.57.
K:W ratio – Nationals RHP Tyler Clippard 10:1; Danks 14:2; Cubs RHP Randy Wells 11:2; Hughes and Cardinals RHP Chris Carpenter 10:2; Braves RHP Tommy Hanson 12:3; Twins RHP Kevin Slowey 11:3; Sanchez, Zito and Brewers RHP Yovani Gallardo 10:3.
Repeaters on pitching Hot lists were Pettitte, Pelfrey, Rodney, Carpenter and Sanchez.
Not
Pos. Player, Team H-AB BA HR-RBI SB
OF Carlos Quentin, White Sox 1-20 .050 1-2 0
3B Aramis Ramirez, Cubs 2-25 .080 0-1 0
2B Akinori Iwamura, Pirates 2-23 .087 0-0 0
3B/2B Chone Figgins, Mariners 2-21 .095 0-1 0
OF Angel Pagan, Mets 3-24 .125 1-2 0
1B Mark Teixeira, Yankees 3-23 .130 1-2 0
SS Erick Aybar, Angels 3-22 .136 0-0 1
OF Cody Ross, Marlins 3-22 .136 0-2 0
OF Adam Lind, Blue Jays 3-22 .136 1-3 0
2B Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox 4-29 .138 0-0 0
This week’s (dis)honorable mention goes to Rays C Dioner Navarro, who was 0-for-10.
W:K ratio – OF Austin Jackson, Tigers 3:15; Mets 3B David Wright 2-10.
Caught stealing – Nationals OF Nyjer Morgan 1-for-4; Dodgers OF Matt Kemp 0-2; Rays OF Carl Crawford 2-4.
Repeating a place on a Not list last week were Quentin, Navarro and Wright. Crawford was on a Hot list a week earlier.
Hand Pitcher, Team IP W-L ERA WHIP K:W
RHP Charlie Morton, Pirates 4.0 0-2 22.50 4.00 3:5
RHP Rick Porcello, Tigers 8.1 0-2 12.96 2.64 8:4
RHP Justin Masterson, Indians 8.0 0-2 10.13 2.75 10:9
RHP John Lackey, Red Sox 10.1 1-1 9.58 2.13 6:3
RHP Chris Volstad, Marlins 10.1 0-1 8.71 1.55 2:4
RHP Javier Vazquez, Yankees 9.0 1-1 8.00 1.89 9:6
RHP Homer Bailey, Reds 11.1 0-0 7.15 1.68 13:4
RHP Brian Bannister, Royals 11.2 1-1 6.17 1.89 6:6
LHP Scott Olsen, Nationals 9.0 1-1 6.00 1.67 9:2
RHP David Bush, Brewers 10.2 1-1 5.91 1.78 4:6
The pitchers eligible for this list all started twice during the week
Losses – Masterson, Morton, Porcello, Orioles RHP Matt Albers and Blue Jays LHP Scott Downs 2.
Blown saves – Royals LHP John Parrish 0-for-2.
News and Notes
Pelfrey is 4-0 with an 0.69 ERA after a rain-shortened five-inning, 1-0 shutout of the
Braves Sunday. The loser in the duel was Atlanta RHP Tommy Hanson, who allowed only an unearned run. Danks is 3-0 with a 1.55 ERA. Pelfrey and Danks were two of the pitchers we recommended most highly in the April 18 Weekend Update/Hot and Not report.
Apparently preceding Rangers RHP Colby Lewis to the mound in Arlington, Texas, Sunday was Mr. Hyde. The pitcher in Lewis’ uniform allowed the Tigers’ first 11 batters to bat .700 (7-for-10). After that, Detroit was 0-for-15 against him.
The Phillies and 1B Ryan Howard agreed on a five-year contract extension through 2016 that will pay him at least 4125 million.
The Marlins put LHP Daniel Meyer on the disabled list because of an injured left calf. Taking his place on the active roster is RHP Brian Sanches, coming off the DL from a strained right hamstring.
Padres 1B Adrian Gonzalez hit a home run in four consecutive games; White Sox 1B Paul Konerko had a three-game homer streak going.
Athletics 1B Daric Barton suffered a fractured right middle finger and left the game after sliding into the visitors’ dugout in Oakland to catch a foul ball in the seventh inning.
In closing
This is a regular feature of our Emails and blog posts. It lets you know who’s getting saves. Equally important is telling you who’s blowing saves or putting his job in jeopardy by getting shaky saves. There’s also a FREE Article on the old fantasybaseballscout.com web site letting you know which pitcher or pitchers each team is using to close games. It will be updated whenever there’s a change or speculation about a change in a team’s closer.
Nationals RHP Matt Capps took over the major league lead with his eighth save in a 1-0 victory over the Dodgers Sunday. We took you before last week that a good showing in a week with seven home games could tell us something about Washington. The Nats went 4-3 to improve their record to 10-9. That’s not enough to say they could be a .500 team this season, but they’ve shown that they’re not going to lose 100 games either.
The fifth save for Royals RHP Joakim Soria didn’t come easily. His pitching line was 121102. After entering the game with a 4-2 lead, he and Kansas City emerged with a 4-3 victory. Orioles RHP Cla Meredith rescued their nominal closer, RHP Jim Johnson, who had allowed two runs and put two other runners on base with one out in the bottom of the 10th inning. Meredith finished with a line of 2/3 00000 for his first save this season, 7-6 at Boston.
Others receiving saves were Reds RHP Francisco Cordero, seventh, 5-4 over the Padres; Cardinals RHP Ryan Franklin, sixth, 2-0 at San Francisco; White Sox RHP Bobby Jenks, fourth, 3-2 against Seattle, and Diamondbacks RHP Chad Qualls, fourth, 8-6 vs. the Phillies.
I think I forgot to mention to you that I’ve now seen Rangers RHP prospect three or four times for Double-A Frisco. He has reached 98 mph on the stadium radar gun. In his last two appearances, he has struck out nine batters in four innings and allowed just a scratch single. He’s ready for a promotion to Triple-A Oklahoma City, and probably to the majors before long.
If you haven’t already, you still can subscribe at a reduced rate for the remainder of 2010. See below to find out how.
Subscriptions will include Articles such as our “Pitchers (and Hitters) to Keep and Avoid.” Last year, our recommendation of Rockies LHP Jorge De La Rosa in itself was worth the cost of what you’d pay, and he was only one of our picks that were on the money. Choosing him was inspired; he was 0-6 when we recommended him, and 16-3 thereafter.
You also would have access to whatever content we’re able to get on to the fantasybaseballscout.com web site.
Subscribers will be able to ask questions specific to their fantasy teams and leagues, and receive answers through these Emails, the web site or personal Emails.
Hot
The weekly Hot and Not for batters is based on 20 at-bats for batting average, and at least a .280 BA for the other categories.
Pos. Player, Team H-AB BA HR-RBI SB
1B Kendry Morales, Angels 13-24 .542 3-10 0
SS Ryan Theriot, Cubs 14-28 .500 0-6 1
OF Marlon Byrd, Cubs 12-24 .500 0-5 1
1B Justin Morneau, Twins 10-21 .476 2-7 0
3B/1B Pablo Sandoval, Giants 10-22 .455 1-2 0
1B Paul Konerko, White Sox 9-20 .450 4-6 0
C Matt Wieters, Orioles 10-23 .435 0-4 0
2B Robinson Cano, Yankees 9-21 .429 1-4 1
OF Johnny Damon, Tigers 11-26 .423 0-3 1
OF Vladimir Guerrero, Rangers 8-20 .400 1-6 2
Home runs – Konerko and Diamondbacks 2B Kelly Johnson 4; Morales, White Sox OF Andruw Jones, Diamondbacks 3B Mark Reynolds and Athletics C Kurt Suzuki 3.
RBI – Reynolds 11; Morales 10; Dodgers 3B/1B Casey Blake, Brewers OF Ryan Braun, Tigers 1B Miguel Cabrera and Rangers 3B Michael Young 8; Johnson, Morneau, Suzuki, Blue Jays OF/3B Jose Bautista, Twins OF/1B Michael Cuddyer, Royals OF Jose Guillen and Rays OF B.J. Upton 7. Reynolds was the National League Player of the Week, and Morales won the same award in the American League.
Stolen bases – Astros OF Michael Bourn 7; Rangers OF Nelson Cruz and Padres 3B/OF Chase Headley 5; Dodgers SS Rafael Furcal 4; Braun, Rangers OF Julio Borbon, Padres SS Everth Cabrera and OF Will Venable, Pirates OF Andrew McCutchen and Mets SS Jose Reyes 3.
Runs – Reds 3B Scott Rolen 8; Braun, Cano, Damon, Morales, Reds OF Jay Bruce and Rays 3B Evan Longoria 7.
Repeaters on a Hot list are Theriot, Cuddyer and Guillen. Cruz and Reyes were on a Not list a week earlier.
Requirements for pitchers to make these lists are 7 innings pitched for ERA and WHIP, 10 strikeouts in K:W ratio and an ERA under 4.00 for the other categories.
Hand Pitcher, Team IP W-L ERA WHIP K:W
RHP Mike Pelfrey, Mets 12.0 2-0 0.00 1.33 9:8
RHP Roy Halladay, Phillies 9.0 1-0 0.00 0.67 7:1
RHP Felix Hernandez, Mariners 9.0 1-0 0.00 1.00 6:0
LHP Barry Zito, Giants 8.0 1-0 0.00 0.75 10:3
LHP Francisco Liriano, Twins 8.0 1-0 0.00 1.00 6:2
RHP Ubaldo Jimenez, Rockies 7.1 1-0 0.00 0.95 5:2
RHP Mat Latos, Padres 7.0 1-0 0.00 0.71 2:1
LHP Jon Niese, Mets 11.0 0-0 0.82 1.91 13:8
LHP Andy Pettitte, Yankees 8.0 1-0 1.13 0.75 8:0
RHP Ricky Nolasco, Marlins 8.0 1-0 1.13 0.88 9:0
Wins – Pelfrey, White Sox LHP John Danks and Cardinals RHP Brad Penny 2.
Saves – Astros RHP Matt Lindstrom 4-for-4; Nationals RHP Matt Capps, Reds RHP Francisco Cordero and Mets RHP Francisco Rodriguez 3-3; Cardinals RHP Ryan Franklin, Blue Jays RHP Kevin Gregg, Red Sox RHP Jonathan Papelbon, Angels RHP Francisco Rodney, Royals RHP Joakim Soria, Tigers RHP Jose Valverde and Giants RHP Brian Wilson 2-2.
WHIP – Yankees RHP Phil Hughes 0.41; Royals RHP Zack Greinke 0.43; White Sox RHP Freddy Garcia, Twins RHP Carl Pavano and Giants LHP Jonathan Sanchez 0.57.
K:W ratio – Nationals RHP Tyler Clippard 10:1; Danks 14:2; Cubs RHP Randy Wells 11:2; Hughes and Cardinals RHP Chris Carpenter 10:2; Braves RHP Tommy Hanson 12:3; Twins RHP Kevin Slowey 11:3; Sanchez, Zito and Brewers RHP Yovani Gallardo 10:3.
Repeaters on pitching Hot lists were Pettitte, Pelfrey, Rodney, Carpenter and Sanchez.
Not
Pos. Player, Team H-AB BA HR-RBI SB
OF Carlos Quentin, White Sox 1-20 .050 1-2 0
3B Aramis Ramirez, Cubs 2-25 .080 0-1 0
2B Akinori Iwamura, Pirates 2-23 .087 0-0 0
3B/2B Chone Figgins, Mariners 2-21 .095 0-1 0
OF Angel Pagan, Mets 3-24 .125 1-2 0
1B Mark Teixeira, Yankees 3-23 .130 1-2 0
SS Erick Aybar, Angels 3-22 .136 0-0 1
OF Cody Ross, Marlins 3-22 .136 0-2 0
OF Adam Lind, Blue Jays 3-22 .136 1-3 0
2B Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox 4-29 .138 0-0 0
This week’s (dis)honorable mention goes to Rays C Dioner Navarro, who was 0-for-10.
W:K ratio – OF Austin Jackson, Tigers 3:15; Mets 3B David Wright 2-10.
Caught stealing – Nationals OF Nyjer Morgan 1-for-4; Dodgers OF Matt Kemp 0-2; Rays OF Carl Crawford 2-4.
Repeating a place on a Not list last week were Quentin, Navarro and Wright. Crawford was on a Hot list a week earlier.
Hand Pitcher, Team IP W-L ERA WHIP K:W
RHP Charlie Morton, Pirates 4.0 0-2 22.50 4.00 3:5
RHP Rick Porcello, Tigers 8.1 0-2 12.96 2.64 8:4
RHP Justin Masterson, Indians 8.0 0-2 10.13 2.75 10:9
RHP John Lackey, Red Sox 10.1 1-1 9.58 2.13 6:3
RHP Chris Volstad, Marlins 10.1 0-1 8.71 1.55 2:4
RHP Javier Vazquez, Yankees 9.0 1-1 8.00 1.89 9:6
RHP Homer Bailey, Reds 11.1 0-0 7.15 1.68 13:4
RHP Brian Bannister, Royals 11.2 1-1 6.17 1.89 6:6
LHP Scott Olsen, Nationals 9.0 1-1 6.00 1.67 9:2
RHP David Bush, Brewers 10.2 1-1 5.91 1.78 4:6
The pitchers eligible for this list all started twice during the week
Losses – Masterson, Morton, Porcello, Orioles RHP Matt Albers and Blue Jays LHP Scott Downs 2.
Blown saves – Royals LHP John Parrish 0-for-2.
News and Notes
Pelfrey is 4-0 with an 0.69 ERA after a rain-shortened five-inning, 1-0 shutout of the
Braves Sunday. The loser in the duel was Atlanta RHP Tommy Hanson, who allowed only an unearned run. Danks is 3-0 with a 1.55 ERA. Pelfrey and Danks were two of the pitchers we recommended most highly in the April 18 Weekend Update/Hot and Not report.
Apparently preceding Rangers RHP Colby Lewis to the mound in Arlington, Texas, Sunday was Mr. Hyde. The pitcher in Lewis’ uniform allowed the Tigers’ first 11 batters to bat .700 (7-for-10). After that, Detroit was 0-for-15 against him.
The Phillies and 1B Ryan Howard agreed on a five-year contract extension through 2016 that will pay him at least 4125 million.
The Marlins put LHP Daniel Meyer on the disabled list because of an injured left calf. Taking his place on the active roster is RHP Brian Sanches, coming off the DL from a strained right hamstring.
Padres 1B Adrian Gonzalez hit a home run in four consecutive games; White Sox 1B Paul Konerko had a three-game homer streak going.
Athletics 1B Daric Barton suffered a fractured right middle finger and left the game after sliding into the visitors’ dugout in Oakland to catch a foul ball in the seventh inning.
In closing
This is a regular feature of our Emails and blog posts. It lets you know who’s getting saves. Equally important is telling you who’s blowing saves or putting his job in jeopardy by getting shaky saves. There’s also a FREE Article on the old fantasybaseballscout.com web site letting you know which pitcher or pitchers each team is using to close games. It will be updated whenever there’s a change or speculation about a change in a team’s closer.
Nationals RHP Matt Capps took over the major league lead with his eighth save in a 1-0 victory over the Dodgers Sunday. We took you before last week that a good showing in a week with seven home games could tell us something about Washington. The Nats went 4-3 to improve their record to 10-9. That’s not enough to say they could be a .500 team this season, but they’ve shown that they’re not going to lose 100 games either.
The fifth save for Royals RHP Joakim Soria didn’t come easily. His pitching line was 121102. After entering the game with a 4-2 lead, he and Kansas City emerged with a 4-3 victory. Orioles RHP Cla Meredith rescued their nominal closer, RHP Jim Johnson, who had allowed two runs and put two other runners on base with one out in the bottom of the 10th inning. Meredith finished with a line of 2/3 00000 for his first save this season, 7-6 at Boston.
Others receiving saves were Reds RHP Francisco Cordero, seventh, 5-4 over the Padres; Cardinals RHP Ryan Franklin, sixth, 2-0 at San Francisco; White Sox RHP Bobby Jenks, fourth, 3-2 against Seattle, and Diamondbacks RHP Chad Qualls, fourth, 8-6 vs. the Phillies.
I think I forgot to mention to you that I’ve now seen Rangers RHP prospect three or four times for Double-A Frisco. He has reached 98 mph on the stadium radar gun. In his last two appearances, he has struck out nine batters in four innings and allowed just a scratch single. He’s ready for a promotion to Triple-A Oklahoma City, and probably to the majors before long.
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Lefties Lee, Francis finally return to rotations
Here is our Weekly Preview and Pitching Chart for the coming week.
We’re getting back toward our five-Emails-per-week regular-season schedule, which would send you News and Notes each Thursday.
The scheduled free period for these Emails has ended. After this, the Emails would go only to those who subscribe.
The good news is that you now CAN subscribe. See below to find out how.
Subscriptions will include Articles such as our “Pitchers (and Hitters) to Keep and Avoid.” Last year, our recommendation of Rockies LHP Jorge De La Rosa in itself was worth the cost of what you’d pay, and he was only one of our picks that were on the money. Choosing him was inspired; he was 0-6 when we recommended him, and 16-3 thereafter.
You also would have access to our blog and whatever content we’re able to get on to the fantasybaseballscout.com web site.
Subscribers will be able to ask questions specific to their fantasy teams and leagues, and receive answers through these Emails, the web site or personal Emails.
Projected starting pitchers, April 26-May 2, 2010
AL Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun
Bal --- NYY-Millwood NYY-Guthrie NYY-Matusz Bos-Hernandz Bos-Berken* Bos-Mlwod2
Bos @Tor-Beckett @Tor-Buchholz @Tor-Lester --- @Bal-Lackey @Bal-Mtszka** @Bal-Beckett2
CWS --- @Tex-Buehrle @Tex-Peavy @Tex-Floyd @NYY-Garcia @NYY-Danks @NYY-Buehrle2
Cle @LAA-Huff @LAA-Talbot @LAA-Wstbrook --- Min-Carmona Min-Mastrson Min-Huff2
Det @Tex-Bondrmn Min-Verlander Min-Scherzer Min-Willis*** LAA-Porcello LAA-Bndrmn2 LAA-Verlandr2
KC Se-Davies Se-Greinke Se-Meche @TB-Hochevar @TB-Bannister @TB-Davies2 @TB-Greinke2
LAA Cle-Weaver Cle-Saunders Cle-Santana --- @Det-Pineiro @Det-Kazmir @Det-Weaver2
Min --- @Det-Liriano @Det-Baker @Det-Pavano @Cle-Blakburn @Cle-Slowey @Cle-Liriano2
NYY --- @Bal-Hughes @Bal-Sabathia @Bal-Burnett CWS-Pettitte CWS-Vazquez CWS-Hughes
Oak --- @TB-Sheets @TB-Braden @Tor-Duchschr @Tor-Adrsn-4* @Tor-Gonzalez @Tor-Sheets2
Se @KC-Hernandz @KC-Snell @KC-Rld-Smth --- Tex-Lee-5* Tex-Fister Tex-Hrnandz2
TB --- Oak-Davis Oak-Shields KC-Garza KC-Niemann KC-Price KC-Davis2
Tex Det-Harrison CWS-Wilson CWS-Hardn-6* CWS-Feldman @Se-Lewis @Se-Harrison2 @Se-Wilson2
Tor Bos-Eveland Bos-Marcum Bos-Cecil-7* Oak-Romero Oak-Morrow Oak-Eveland2 Oak-Marcum2
*-RHP Jason Berken is likely to make a spot start Saturday for the Orioles, who are trying to go with a four-man rotation as much as possible. They’d be better off cloning LHP Brian Matusz.
**-As we indicated in Thursday’s Email, RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka is expected to replace RHP Tim Wakefield in the Red Sox rotation.
***-LHP Dontrelle Willis didn’t make his scheduled start at Texas Saturday because he was sick. He pitched an inning in relief today, walking three and giving up two runs on 3B Michael Young’s single.
4*-Athletics LHP Brian Anderson left his most recent start after six innings because of soreness in his forearm and elbow, but said he expects to make his next scheduled start. Watch him closely; similar symptoms have resulted in Tommy John surgery for other pitchers.
5*-Mariners LHP Cliff Lee pitched six shutout innings in an injury-rehab start today for Triple-A Tucson, putting him on schedule to return to Seattle’s rotation Friday. He would replace RHP Ian Snell or possibly LHP Jason Vargas.
6*-RHP Rich Harden’s wildness and high pitch counts could knock him out of the Rangers’ rotation. Wednesday’s start also would be on schedule for LHP Derek Holland to be recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City for a major league start.
7*-LHP Brett Cecil won his first start back in the majors – replacing LHP Brian Tallet, who went on the disabled list. Cecil would be on schedule to start again Wednesday.
AL Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun
Ari @Col-Haren @Col-Jackson @Col-Benson @ChC-Kennedy @ChC-Lopez @ChC-Haren2 @ChC-Jackson2
Atl @StL-Hudson @StL-Lowe @StL-Kawkami @StL-Jurrjens Ho-Hanson Ho-Hudson2 Ho-Lowe2
ChC Was-Silva Was-Gorzlany Was-Dempster Ari-Lilly Ari-Wells Ari-Silva2 Ari-Grzlany2
Cin --- @Ho-Harang @Ho-Leake @Ho-Arroyo @StL-Cueto @StL-Bailey @StL-Harang2
Col Ari-Hammel Ari-Jimenez Ari-Francis* --- @SD-Smith @SD-Cook @SD-DeLaRsa
Fla SD-Johnson SD-Sanchez SD-Rbrtsn** --- Was-Nolasco Was-Volstad Was-Johnson2
Ho --- Cin-Norris Cin-Paulino Cin-Oswlt*** @Atl-Rdriguez @Atl-Myers @Atl-Norris2
LAD @NYM-Kuroda @NYM-Towrs-4* @NYM-Haeger Pit-Kershaw Pit-Bilngsley Pit-Kuroda2 Pit-Towers2
Mil Pit-Gallardo Pit-Wolf Pit-Nrvsn-5* @SD-Davis @SD-Bush @SD-Gallardo2 @SD-Wolf2
NYM LAD-Perez LAD-Santana LAD-Maine --- @Phi-Niese @Phi-Pelfrey @Phi-Perez2
Phi @SF-Halladay @SF-Moyer @SF-Hamels --- NYM-Fgroa-6* NYM-Hlladay2 NYM-Kendrick
Pit @Mil-Duke @Mil-McCn-7* @Mil-Maholm @LAD-Hart-8* @LAD-Morton @LAD-Duke @LAD-McCtcn2
StL Atl-Lohse Atl-Carpenter Atl-Garcia Atl-Wainright Cin-Penny Cin-Lohse2 Cin-Carpentr2
SD @Fla-Latos @Fla-Garland @Fla-Correia Mil-LeBlanc Mil-Richard Mil-Latos2 Mil-Garland2
SF Phi-Sanchez Phi-Wlemeyr Phi-Lincecum --- Col-Zito Col-Cain Col-Sanchez2
Was @ChC-Lannan @ChC-Hernandz @ChC-Atilno-9* --- @Fla-Stammen @Fla-Olsen @Fla-Lannan2
*-Rockies LHP Jeff Francis is expected to return from the disabled list for his first major league appearance this season Wednesday. He could replace RHP Jason Hammel or LHP Greg Smith in Colorado’s rotation.
**-After Friday’s game at Colorado was postponed because of rain and snow – the first postponement this season – LHP Nate Robertson and RHP Ricky Nolasco started in Saturday’s doubleheader. Florida indicated that Robertson would start Wednesday on three days’ rest.
***-Astros RHP Roy Oswalt might not be available to start Thursday. He has gone to Weir, Miss., where a tornado destroyed his family’s home. The off-day Monday makes it so that LHP Wandy Rodriguez and RHP Brett Myers could slide ahead a day and still pitch on their usual rest. Thus, Oswalt wouldn’t be needed until Saturday.
4*-The Dodgers put RHP Vicente Padilla on the disabled list. His replacement in the rotation could be RHP Josh Towers from Triple-A Albuquerque or Jesus Castillo from Double-A Chattanooga.
5*-The Brewers have replaced RHP Jeff Suppan in their rotation with LHP Chris Narveson.
6*-Well traveled RHP Nelson Figueroa replaced injured LHP J.A. Happ in the Phillies’ rotation Saturday, and would be scheduled to start next on Friday.
7*-Pirates RHP Daniel McCutchen hasn’t made it past the fifth inning in his last three starts. He could be replaced by LHP Brian Burres.
8*-However, McCutchen doesn’t represent the only hole in Pittsburgh’s rotation. RHP Chris Jakubauskas, who replaced injured RHP Ross Ohlendorf, went on the disabled list himself after Astros 1B Lance Berkman’s line drive struck the back of Jakubauskas’ head Saturday. Pittsburgh could recall RHP Kevin Hart from Triple-A Indianapolis, or could use McCutchen or Burres to start Thursday.
9*-RHP Luis Atilano was promoted to a starting role for Washington because of an injury to RHP Garrett Mock. Atilano allowed the dodgers only one run in six innings Friday, and would be scheduled to pitch again Wednesday.
Schedule notes
Half of the National League is scheduled for seven games this week, but just four American League teams – the Tigers, Royals, Rangers and Blue Jays – would play every day, giving their batters and relief pitchers 17 per cent more potential playing time than those on the AL’s other 10 rosters. Toronto, along with the Cubs and Cardinals in the NL, is scheduled to play all seven at home.
Wrigley Field would be the most hitter-friendly park in play all week (three games against the Nationals, four with the Diamondbacks). St. Louis (Braves four games, Reds three) would favor pitchers the most of those three everyday stadiums. Overall, the American League could slightly favor batters, with the Orioles and Rays each home for six games. The National League could be kinder to pitchers, with the Marlins and Giants home for six games.
For the record, the other NL teams playing seven games are the Diamondbacks, Braves, Dodgers, Brewers, Pirates and Padres.
Pitchers scheduled to start twice at home are RHPs Kevin Millwood, Justin Verlander, Wade Davis, Shaun Marcum, Carlos Silva, Josh Johnson, Kyle Lohse and Chris Carpenter, and LHPs Dana Eveland, Tom Gorzelanny and Jonathan Sanchez. Our highest recommendations are Marcum, Johnson, Carpenter and Sanchez, with Verlander and Marcum live longshots.
Injuries
Rangers 2B Ian Kinsler was to play in a four-inning “live batting practice” game today in Arizona, then fly back to Texas to begin a three-game injury-rehab assignment at Double-A Frisco. GM Jon Daniels said Kinsler might be the DH in one game, but would play primarily and possibly exclusively at second base.
OOO Tigers SS Adam Everett left Saturday’s game at Texas in the third inning because of a right hamstring injury. With OF/3B Carlos Guillen going on the disabled list, Detroit has used OF Brennan Boesch in its lineup for the first three games of its series against the Rangers.
OOO Royals CF Rick Ankiel has been out because of a strained quadriceps.
OOO The Angels put C Bobby Wilson on the disabled list because of a concussion and ankle injury caused when Yankees 1B Mark Teixeira ran over the catcher on a play at home plate.
OOO Athletics C Kurt Suzuki sat out because of a sore left side he injured during a workout. 3b Kevin Kouzmanoff fouled a pitch off his left foot.
OOO Braves 3B Chipper Jones left Saturday’s game because of a hip injury but returned for tonight’s game.
OOO The Rockies put OF Brad Hawpe (groin injury) on the disabled list.
News and notes
The Padres’ improvement shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone who saw their Double-A farm team at San Antonio frequently during the past two years. The names in San Diego – 3B/OF Chase Headley, OF Will Venable, C Nick Hundley, LHP Wade LeBlanc, RHP Mat Latos – would be very familiar. They were among the Texas League’s best players. During the eight-game winning streak that ended with today’s 5-4 loss to the Reds, the Padres’ starters had a 1.04 ERA. LeBlanc pitched six scoreless innings to win Saturday.
OOO On Saturday, the Orioles started rookie Rhyne Hughes at first base instead of 1B/3B Garrett Atkins.
OOO To help their injury-depleted outfield, the Red Sox reacquired OF Jonathan Van Every from the Pirates’ organization.
OOO Fox announcer Joe Buck betrayed his man love for the Yankees during Saturday’s telecast. We’ll take factual or perceptual issues with two of his comments. 1. That New York had made “only” six errors. I didn’t see much of the Rangers’ series at Yankee Stadium, but Texas’ announcers indicated that on judgment calls that could have gone either way, hits were being given away like Halloween candy. 2. That the Yanks had had two “near no-hitters” this season. Granted, hardly anyone pitches nine innings anymore, but we’d really prefer to see a guy go more than eight hitless innings or pitch a complete-game one-hitter before we hear about near no-hitters.
OOO Marlins 1B/3B Jorge Cantu had his hitting streak stopped at 21 games.
In closing
This is a regular feature of our Emails and blog posts. It lets you know who’s getting saves. Equally important is telling you who’s blowing saves or putting his job in jeopardy by getting shaky saves. There’s also a FREE Article on the old fantasybaseballscout.com web site letting you know which pitcher or pitchers each team is using to close games. It will be updated whenever there’s a change or speculation about a change in a team’s closer.
Two closers blew saves Saturday. Mariners RHP David Aardsma had the more explosive collapse. He entered their game on the south side of Chicago with a 4-2 lead, and left with a blown save, a loss and a pitching line of 2/3 23311. 1B Paul Konerko pulled the White Sox within a run with a solo home run, and OF Alex Rios won the game with a two-run homer. Twins RHP Jon Rauch blew a save with a line of 231110. He stayed around to pitch the bottom of the 12th inning and was the winning pitcher in Minnesota’s 9-7 victory.
Red Sox RHP Jonathan Papelbon had a shaky fifth save. Boston led the Orioles 7-3 entering the ninth inning, but Baltimore scored once and had a runner on base when Papelbon entered with one out. He allowed that runner, plus one of his own, to escape despite a line of 2/3 31102.
Other saves were by Astros RHP Matt Lindstrom, his sixth (among seven Houston victories), 5-2 over the Pirates; Marlins RHP Leo Nunez, fourth, 4-1 at Colorado; Phillies RHP Ryan Madson, fourth, 3-2 at Arizona; Giants RHP Brian Wilson, fourth, 2-0 against the Cardinals, and Mets RHP Francisco Rodriguez, third, 3-1 vs. Atlanta.
Promotion
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We’re getting back toward our five-Emails-per-week regular-season schedule, which would send you News and Notes each Thursday.
The scheduled free period for these Emails has ended. After this, the Emails would go only to those who subscribe.
The good news is that you now CAN subscribe. See below to find out how.
Subscriptions will include Articles such as our “Pitchers (and Hitters) to Keep and Avoid.” Last year, our recommendation of Rockies LHP Jorge De La Rosa in itself was worth the cost of what you’d pay, and he was only one of our picks that were on the money. Choosing him was inspired; he was 0-6 when we recommended him, and 16-3 thereafter.
You also would have access to our blog and whatever content we’re able to get on to the fantasybaseballscout.com web site.
Subscribers will be able to ask questions specific to their fantasy teams and leagues, and receive answers through these Emails, the web site or personal Emails.
Projected starting pitchers, April 26-May 2, 2010
AL Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun
Bal --- NYY-Millwood NYY-Guthrie NYY-Matusz Bos-Hernandz Bos-Berken* Bos-Mlwod2
Bos @Tor-Beckett @Tor-Buchholz @Tor-Lester --- @Bal-Lackey @Bal-Mtszka** @Bal-Beckett2
CWS --- @Tex-Buehrle @Tex-Peavy @Tex-Floyd @NYY-Garcia @NYY-Danks @NYY-Buehrle2
Cle @LAA-Huff @LAA-Talbot @LAA-Wstbrook --- Min-Carmona Min-Mastrson Min-Huff2
Det @Tex-Bondrmn Min-Verlander Min-Scherzer Min-Willis*** LAA-Porcello LAA-Bndrmn2 LAA-Verlandr2
KC Se-Davies Se-Greinke Se-Meche @TB-Hochevar @TB-Bannister @TB-Davies2 @TB-Greinke2
LAA Cle-Weaver Cle-Saunders Cle-Santana --- @Det-Pineiro @Det-Kazmir @Det-Weaver2
Min --- @Det-Liriano @Det-Baker @Det-Pavano @Cle-Blakburn @Cle-Slowey @Cle-Liriano2
NYY --- @Bal-Hughes @Bal-Sabathia @Bal-Burnett CWS-Pettitte CWS-Vazquez CWS-Hughes
Oak --- @TB-Sheets @TB-Braden @Tor-Duchschr @Tor-Adrsn-4* @Tor-Gonzalez @Tor-Sheets2
Se @KC-Hernandz @KC-Snell @KC-Rld-Smth --- Tex-Lee-5* Tex-Fister Tex-Hrnandz2
TB --- Oak-Davis Oak-Shields KC-Garza KC-Niemann KC-Price KC-Davis2
Tex Det-Harrison CWS-Wilson CWS-Hardn-6* CWS-Feldman @Se-Lewis @Se-Harrison2 @Se-Wilson2
Tor Bos-Eveland Bos-Marcum Bos-Cecil-7* Oak-Romero Oak-Morrow Oak-Eveland2 Oak-Marcum2
*-RHP Jason Berken is likely to make a spot start Saturday for the Orioles, who are trying to go with a four-man rotation as much as possible. They’d be better off cloning LHP Brian Matusz.
**-As we indicated in Thursday’s Email, RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka is expected to replace RHP Tim Wakefield in the Red Sox rotation.
***-LHP Dontrelle Willis didn’t make his scheduled start at Texas Saturday because he was sick. He pitched an inning in relief today, walking three and giving up two runs on 3B Michael Young’s single.
4*-Athletics LHP Brian Anderson left his most recent start after six innings because of soreness in his forearm and elbow, but said he expects to make his next scheduled start. Watch him closely; similar symptoms have resulted in Tommy John surgery for other pitchers.
5*-Mariners LHP Cliff Lee pitched six shutout innings in an injury-rehab start today for Triple-A Tucson, putting him on schedule to return to Seattle’s rotation Friday. He would replace RHP Ian Snell or possibly LHP Jason Vargas.
6*-RHP Rich Harden’s wildness and high pitch counts could knock him out of the Rangers’ rotation. Wednesday’s start also would be on schedule for LHP Derek Holland to be recalled from Triple-A Oklahoma City for a major league start.
7*-LHP Brett Cecil won his first start back in the majors – replacing LHP Brian Tallet, who went on the disabled list. Cecil would be on schedule to start again Wednesday.
AL Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun
Ari @Col-Haren @Col-Jackson @Col-Benson @ChC-Kennedy @ChC-Lopez @ChC-Haren2 @ChC-Jackson2
Atl @StL-Hudson @StL-Lowe @StL-Kawkami @StL-Jurrjens Ho-Hanson Ho-Hudson2 Ho-Lowe2
ChC Was-Silva Was-Gorzlany Was-Dempster Ari-Lilly Ari-Wells Ari-Silva2 Ari-Grzlany2
Cin --- @Ho-Harang @Ho-Leake @Ho-Arroyo @StL-Cueto @StL-Bailey @StL-Harang2
Col Ari-Hammel Ari-Jimenez Ari-Francis* --- @SD-Smith @SD-Cook @SD-DeLaRsa
Fla SD-Johnson SD-Sanchez SD-Rbrtsn** --- Was-Nolasco Was-Volstad Was-Johnson2
Ho --- Cin-Norris Cin-Paulino Cin-Oswlt*** @Atl-Rdriguez @Atl-Myers @Atl-Norris2
LAD @NYM-Kuroda @NYM-Towrs-4* @NYM-Haeger Pit-Kershaw Pit-Bilngsley Pit-Kuroda2 Pit-Towers2
Mil Pit-Gallardo Pit-Wolf Pit-Nrvsn-5* @SD-Davis @SD-Bush @SD-Gallardo2 @SD-Wolf2
NYM LAD-Perez LAD-Santana LAD-Maine --- @Phi-Niese @Phi-Pelfrey @Phi-Perez2
Phi @SF-Halladay @SF-Moyer @SF-Hamels --- NYM-Fgroa-6* NYM-Hlladay2 NYM-Kendrick
Pit @Mil-Duke @Mil-McCn-7* @Mil-Maholm @LAD-Hart-8* @LAD-Morton @LAD-Duke @LAD-McCtcn2
StL Atl-Lohse Atl-Carpenter Atl-Garcia Atl-Wainright Cin-Penny Cin-Lohse2 Cin-Carpentr2
SD @Fla-Latos @Fla-Garland @Fla-Correia Mil-LeBlanc Mil-Richard Mil-Latos2 Mil-Garland2
SF Phi-Sanchez Phi-Wlemeyr Phi-Lincecum --- Col-Zito Col-Cain Col-Sanchez2
Was @ChC-Lannan @ChC-Hernandz @ChC-Atilno-9* --- @Fla-Stammen @Fla-Olsen @Fla-Lannan2
*-Rockies LHP Jeff Francis is expected to return from the disabled list for his first major league appearance this season Wednesday. He could replace RHP Jason Hammel or LHP Greg Smith in Colorado’s rotation.
**-After Friday’s game at Colorado was postponed because of rain and snow – the first postponement this season – LHP Nate Robertson and RHP Ricky Nolasco started in Saturday’s doubleheader. Florida indicated that Robertson would start Wednesday on three days’ rest.
***-Astros RHP Roy Oswalt might not be available to start Thursday. He has gone to Weir, Miss., where a tornado destroyed his family’s home. The off-day Monday makes it so that LHP Wandy Rodriguez and RHP Brett Myers could slide ahead a day and still pitch on their usual rest. Thus, Oswalt wouldn’t be needed until Saturday.
4*-The Dodgers put RHP Vicente Padilla on the disabled list. His replacement in the rotation could be RHP Josh Towers from Triple-A Albuquerque or Jesus Castillo from Double-A Chattanooga.
5*-The Brewers have replaced RHP Jeff Suppan in their rotation with LHP Chris Narveson.
6*-Well traveled RHP Nelson Figueroa replaced injured LHP J.A. Happ in the Phillies’ rotation Saturday, and would be scheduled to start next on Friday.
7*-Pirates RHP Daniel McCutchen hasn’t made it past the fifth inning in his last three starts. He could be replaced by LHP Brian Burres.
8*-However, McCutchen doesn’t represent the only hole in Pittsburgh’s rotation. RHP Chris Jakubauskas, who replaced injured RHP Ross Ohlendorf, went on the disabled list himself after Astros 1B Lance Berkman’s line drive struck the back of Jakubauskas’ head Saturday. Pittsburgh could recall RHP Kevin Hart from Triple-A Indianapolis, or could use McCutchen or Burres to start Thursday.
9*-RHP Luis Atilano was promoted to a starting role for Washington because of an injury to RHP Garrett Mock. Atilano allowed the dodgers only one run in six innings Friday, and would be scheduled to pitch again Wednesday.
Schedule notes
Half of the National League is scheduled for seven games this week, but just four American League teams – the Tigers, Royals, Rangers and Blue Jays – would play every day, giving their batters and relief pitchers 17 per cent more potential playing time than those on the AL’s other 10 rosters. Toronto, along with the Cubs and Cardinals in the NL, is scheduled to play all seven at home.
Wrigley Field would be the most hitter-friendly park in play all week (three games against the Nationals, four with the Diamondbacks). St. Louis (Braves four games, Reds three) would favor pitchers the most of those three everyday stadiums. Overall, the American League could slightly favor batters, with the Orioles and Rays each home for six games. The National League could be kinder to pitchers, with the Marlins and Giants home for six games.
For the record, the other NL teams playing seven games are the Diamondbacks, Braves, Dodgers, Brewers, Pirates and Padres.
Pitchers scheduled to start twice at home are RHPs Kevin Millwood, Justin Verlander, Wade Davis, Shaun Marcum, Carlos Silva, Josh Johnson, Kyle Lohse and Chris Carpenter, and LHPs Dana Eveland, Tom Gorzelanny and Jonathan Sanchez. Our highest recommendations are Marcum, Johnson, Carpenter and Sanchez, with Verlander and Marcum live longshots.
Injuries
Rangers 2B Ian Kinsler was to play in a four-inning “live batting practice” game today in Arizona, then fly back to Texas to begin a three-game injury-rehab assignment at Double-A Frisco. GM Jon Daniels said Kinsler might be the DH in one game, but would play primarily and possibly exclusively at second base.
OOO Tigers SS Adam Everett left Saturday’s game at Texas in the third inning because of a right hamstring injury. With OF/3B Carlos Guillen going on the disabled list, Detroit has used OF Brennan Boesch in its lineup for the first three games of its series against the Rangers.
OOO Royals CF Rick Ankiel has been out because of a strained quadriceps.
OOO The Angels put C Bobby Wilson on the disabled list because of a concussion and ankle injury caused when Yankees 1B Mark Teixeira ran over the catcher on a play at home plate.
OOO Athletics C Kurt Suzuki sat out because of a sore left side he injured during a workout. 3b Kevin Kouzmanoff fouled a pitch off his left foot.
OOO Braves 3B Chipper Jones left Saturday’s game because of a hip injury but returned for tonight’s game.
OOO The Rockies put OF Brad Hawpe (groin injury) on the disabled list.
News and notes
The Padres’ improvement shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone who saw their Double-A farm team at San Antonio frequently during the past two years. The names in San Diego – 3B/OF Chase Headley, OF Will Venable, C Nick Hundley, LHP Wade LeBlanc, RHP Mat Latos – would be very familiar. They were among the Texas League’s best players. During the eight-game winning streak that ended with today’s 5-4 loss to the Reds, the Padres’ starters had a 1.04 ERA. LeBlanc pitched six scoreless innings to win Saturday.
OOO On Saturday, the Orioles started rookie Rhyne Hughes at first base instead of 1B/3B Garrett Atkins.
OOO To help their injury-depleted outfield, the Red Sox reacquired OF Jonathan Van Every from the Pirates’ organization.
OOO Fox announcer Joe Buck betrayed his man love for the Yankees during Saturday’s telecast. We’ll take factual or perceptual issues with two of his comments. 1. That New York had made “only” six errors. I didn’t see much of the Rangers’ series at Yankee Stadium, but Texas’ announcers indicated that on judgment calls that could have gone either way, hits were being given away like Halloween candy. 2. That the Yanks had had two “near no-hitters” this season. Granted, hardly anyone pitches nine innings anymore, but we’d really prefer to see a guy go more than eight hitless innings or pitch a complete-game one-hitter before we hear about near no-hitters.
OOO Marlins 1B/3B Jorge Cantu had his hitting streak stopped at 21 games.
In closing
This is a regular feature of our Emails and blog posts. It lets you know who’s getting saves. Equally important is telling you who’s blowing saves or putting his job in jeopardy by getting shaky saves. There’s also a FREE Article on the old fantasybaseballscout.com web site letting you know which pitcher or pitchers each team is using to close games. It will be updated whenever there’s a change or speculation about a change in a team’s closer.
Two closers blew saves Saturday. Mariners RHP David Aardsma had the more explosive collapse. He entered their game on the south side of Chicago with a 4-2 lead, and left with a blown save, a loss and a pitching line of 2/3 23311. 1B Paul Konerko pulled the White Sox within a run with a solo home run, and OF Alex Rios won the game with a two-run homer. Twins RHP Jon Rauch blew a save with a line of 231110. He stayed around to pitch the bottom of the 12th inning and was the winning pitcher in Minnesota’s 9-7 victory.
Red Sox RHP Jonathan Papelbon had a shaky fifth save. Boston led the Orioles 7-3 entering the ninth inning, but Baltimore scored once and had a runner on base when Papelbon entered with one out. He allowed that runner, plus one of his own, to escape despite a line of 2/3 31102.
Other saves were by Astros RHP Matt Lindstrom, his sixth (among seven Houston victories), 5-2 over the Pirates; Marlins RHP Leo Nunez, fourth, 4-1 at Colorado; Phillies RHP Ryan Madson, fourth, 3-2 at Arizona; Giants RHP Brian Wilson, fourth, 2-0 against the Cardinals, and Mets RHP Francisco Rodriguez, third, 3-1 vs. Atlanta.
Promotion
To subscribe for our five-times-weekly Emails and anything else we're able to provide this season, Email us at lary@fantasybaseballscout.com. Through Sunday, May 2, you can subscribe for just $20, a 20 per cent savings from our established price of $25.
Include your name, address, phone number and the Email address where you would like to receive the Emails. PayPal then would send you an invoice that would allow you to pay in one step.
If you already have expressed interest in subscribing, you should receive an Email asking you to pay for a subscription. If not, please be sure to follow the process above.
Matsuzaka to take Wakefield's spot
We’re getting back toward our five-Emails-per-week regular-season schedule, which would send you News and Notes each Thursday.
The free period for these Emails is scheduled to end Sunday, April 25. After that, the Emails would go only to those who subscribe.
The good news is that you now CAN subscribe. See below to find out how.
Subscriptions will include Articles such as our “Pitchers (and Hitters) to Keep and Avoid.” Last year, our recommendation of Rockies LHP Jorge De La Rosa in itself was worth the cost of what you’d pay, and he was only one of our picks that were on the money. Choosing him was inspired; he was 0-6 when we recommended him, and 16-3 thereafter.
You also would have access to whatever content we’re able to get on to the fantasybaseballscout.com web site.
Subscribers will be able to ask questions specific to their fantasy teams and leagues, and receive answers through these Emails, the web site or personal Emails.
Pirates fall 20 short of 20-20
The Red Sox will bring RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka back from his injury-rehab assignment. He will replace RHP Tim Wakefield in their rotation. That might be a greater indictment of Boston’s catchers, who are having great difficulty throwing out base stealers, than of Wakefield. The Sox might not be able to afford having his slow pitching motion and slow pitches giving opposing runners even greater chances to steal.
OOO The Brewers became the first team in major league history to win a game 20-0 to complete a three-game sweep in Pittsburgh during which they outscored the Pirates 36-1. LF Ryan Braun hit his fifth homer, and 1B Prince Fielder finally hit his first. OF Jim Edmonds and C George Kottaras also connected for the first time this season.
OOO Filling in for injured SS Jimmy Rollins, Phillies SS/2B Juan Castro went 3-for-5 with two runs and an RBI in an 8-3 victory over the Braves.
OOO Mets rookie 1B Ike Davis had three hits and scored two runs.
OOO On the flip side, Angels 3B Brandon Wood’s average slipped to .087.
OOO White Sox RHP Jake Peavy allowed seven earned runs in 4 1/3 innings, causing his ERA to expand to 7.66.
OOO The Rays and OF/2B Ben Zobrist agreed on a contract extension through 2013, with team options for ’14 and ’15.
OOO In an episode reminiscent of how the Rays established themselves as a presence two years ago against the Yankees, Athletics LHP Dallas Braden engaged in a war of words with New York 3B Alex Rodriguez. Braden took offense when A-Rod ran across the mound after a foul ball. Rodriguez said, “He just told me to get off his mound. I’d never heard of that, especially from a guy that has a handful of wins in his career.” Braden said he hopes the Yankees realize “We’re not the doormat anymore.” A collision at home plate in a 2008 exhibition game that injured Yankees C Francisco Cervelli was Tampa Bay’s way of letting New York know the Rays had arrived.
Minor matters
3B Mike Moustakas, the Royals’ first-round draft pick in 2007, made his first Double-A appearance at Northwest Arkansas, and hit two home runs. Another prospect for the Naturals, OF Tim Smith, went on the disabled list because of a quadriceps injury.
The pitching-prospect twins, Reds LHP prospect Aroldis Chapman and Nationals RHP prospect Stephen Strasburg, again pitched on the same day. Chapman had control problems, with half a dozen walks and a pitching line of 5 1/3 31068 for Triple-A Louisville. Strasburg has a 2-0 record and 0.73 ERA for Double-A Harrisburg following a line of 510017, and should be ready to move up to Triple-A Syracuse.
Indians C prospect Carlos Santana left Wednesday’s game after fouling a pitch off his right knee, and is considered day to day.
When 1BJustin Smoak left Triple-A Oklahoma City’s game, speculation was that he had hurt himself by fouling a ball off his foot. After the game, though, the Rangers said they would recall Smoak and option struggling 1B Chris Davis to the Redhawks.
Injuries
Tigers OF/3B Carlos Guillen could go on the disabled list because of a hamstring injury.
OOO LF Manny Ramirez left the Dodgers’ game at Cincinnati in the sixth inning because of a strained right calf muscle. He expected to miss at least two games. RHP Jeff Weaver (back injury) has gone on the disabled list.
OOO The Red Sox learned that LF Jacoby Ellsbury’s injury is four fractured left ribs. He’s eligible to come off the DL Tuesday, and Ellsbury still is optimistic that that could happen.
OOO Nationals 3B Ryan Zimmerman is doubtful for this weekend’d games because of a hamstring injury.
OOO Rangers C Salty, rehabbing a left shoulder injury at Oklahoma City, made a throwing error on a stolen base. That could indicate that his throwing still isn’t good enough to have him playing in the majors.
OOO The Athletics fear that OF Travis Buck could be out until mid-May because of an oblique injury.
In closing
This is a regular feature of our Emails and blog posts. It lets you know who’s getting saves. Equally important is telling you who’s blowing saves or putting his job in jeopardy by getting shaky saves. There’s also a FREE Article on the old fantasybaseballscout.com web site letting you know which pitcher or pitchers each team is using to close games. It will be updated whenever there’s a change or speculation about a change in a team’s closer.
Rockies LHP Franklin Morales’ third save came in a 2-0 victory at Washington, where bigger news was that RHP Ubaldo Jimenez improved to 4-0 with an 0.95 ERA by pitching another 7 1/3 scoreless innings on the heels of his no-hitter.
LHP Darren Oliver picked up his first save – since 1994! – as the Rangers won in Boston 3-0. Texas’ closer, Neftali Feliz, wasn’t able to pitch, and RHPs Frank Francisco and Dustin Nippert had lost games the previous two nights, so Oliver apparently was the best option.
Mets RHP Francisco Rodriguez finally received his first save, an easy one in a 5-2 win over the Cubs.
Other saves went to Reds RHP Francisco Corderon, sixth, 8-5 over the Dodgers; Tigers RHP Jose Valverde, fifth, 5-4 at LA/Anaheim, and Athletics RHP Andrew Bailey, second, 4-2 against the Yankees.
Promotion
To subscribe for our five-times-weekly Emails and anything else we're able to provide this season, Email us at lary@fantasybaseballscout.com. Through Sunday, May 2, you can subscribe for just $20, a 20 per cent savings from our established price of $25.
Include your name, address, phone number and the Email address where you would like to receive the Emails. PayPal then would send you an invoice that would allow you to pay in one step.
If you already have expressed interest in subscribing, you should receive an Email asking you to pay for a subscription. If not, please be sure to follow the process above.
The free period for these Emails is scheduled to end Sunday, April 25. After that, the Emails would go only to those who subscribe.
The good news is that you now CAN subscribe. See below to find out how.
Subscriptions will include Articles such as our “Pitchers (and Hitters) to Keep and Avoid.” Last year, our recommendation of Rockies LHP Jorge De La Rosa in itself was worth the cost of what you’d pay, and he was only one of our picks that were on the money. Choosing him was inspired; he was 0-6 when we recommended him, and 16-3 thereafter.
You also would have access to whatever content we’re able to get on to the fantasybaseballscout.com web site.
Subscribers will be able to ask questions specific to their fantasy teams and leagues, and receive answers through these Emails, the web site or personal Emails.
Pirates fall 20 short of 20-20
The Red Sox will bring RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka back from his injury-rehab assignment. He will replace RHP Tim Wakefield in their rotation. That might be a greater indictment of Boston’s catchers, who are having great difficulty throwing out base stealers, than of Wakefield. The Sox might not be able to afford having his slow pitching motion and slow pitches giving opposing runners even greater chances to steal.
OOO The Brewers became the first team in major league history to win a game 20-0 to complete a three-game sweep in Pittsburgh during which they outscored the Pirates 36-1. LF Ryan Braun hit his fifth homer, and 1B Prince Fielder finally hit his first. OF Jim Edmonds and C George Kottaras also connected for the first time this season.
OOO Filling in for injured SS Jimmy Rollins, Phillies SS/2B Juan Castro went 3-for-5 with two runs and an RBI in an 8-3 victory over the Braves.
OOO Mets rookie 1B Ike Davis had three hits and scored two runs.
OOO On the flip side, Angels 3B Brandon Wood’s average slipped to .087.
OOO White Sox RHP Jake Peavy allowed seven earned runs in 4 1/3 innings, causing his ERA to expand to 7.66.
OOO The Rays and OF/2B Ben Zobrist agreed on a contract extension through 2013, with team options for ’14 and ’15.
OOO In an episode reminiscent of how the Rays established themselves as a presence two years ago against the Yankees, Athletics LHP Dallas Braden engaged in a war of words with New York 3B Alex Rodriguez. Braden took offense when A-Rod ran across the mound after a foul ball. Rodriguez said, “He just told me to get off his mound. I’d never heard of that, especially from a guy that has a handful of wins in his career.” Braden said he hopes the Yankees realize “We’re not the doormat anymore.” A collision at home plate in a 2008 exhibition game that injured Yankees C Francisco Cervelli was Tampa Bay’s way of letting New York know the Rays had arrived.
Minor matters
3B Mike Moustakas, the Royals’ first-round draft pick in 2007, made his first Double-A appearance at Northwest Arkansas, and hit two home runs. Another prospect for the Naturals, OF Tim Smith, went on the disabled list because of a quadriceps injury.
The pitching-prospect twins, Reds LHP prospect Aroldis Chapman and Nationals RHP prospect Stephen Strasburg, again pitched on the same day. Chapman had control problems, with half a dozen walks and a pitching line of 5 1/3 31068 for Triple-A Louisville. Strasburg has a 2-0 record and 0.73 ERA for Double-A Harrisburg following a line of 510017, and should be ready to move up to Triple-A Syracuse.
Indians C prospect Carlos Santana left Wednesday’s game after fouling a pitch off his right knee, and is considered day to day.
When 1BJustin Smoak left Triple-A Oklahoma City’s game, speculation was that he had hurt himself by fouling a ball off his foot. After the game, though, the Rangers said they would recall Smoak and option struggling 1B Chris Davis to the Redhawks.
Injuries
Tigers OF/3B Carlos Guillen could go on the disabled list because of a hamstring injury.
OOO LF Manny Ramirez left the Dodgers’ game at Cincinnati in the sixth inning because of a strained right calf muscle. He expected to miss at least two games. RHP Jeff Weaver (back injury) has gone on the disabled list.
OOO The Red Sox learned that LF Jacoby Ellsbury’s injury is four fractured left ribs. He’s eligible to come off the DL Tuesday, and Ellsbury still is optimistic that that could happen.
OOO Nationals 3B Ryan Zimmerman is doubtful for this weekend’d games because of a hamstring injury.
OOO Rangers C Salty, rehabbing a left shoulder injury at Oklahoma City, made a throwing error on a stolen base. That could indicate that his throwing still isn’t good enough to have him playing in the majors.
OOO The Athletics fear that OF Travis Buck could be out until mid-May because of an oblique injury.
In closing
This is a regular feature of our Emails and blog posts. It lets you know who’s getting saves. Equally important is telling you who’s blowing saves or putting his job in jeopardy by getting shaky saves. There’s also a FREE Article on the old fantasybaseballscout.com web site letting you know which pitcher or pitchers each team is using to close games. It will be updated whenever there’s a change or speculation about a change in a team’s closer.
Rockies LHP Franklin Morales’ third save came in a 2-0 victory at Washington, where bigger news was that RHP Ubaldo Jimenez improved to 4-0 with an 0.95 ERA by pitching another 7 1/3 scoreless innings on the heels of his no-hitter.
LHP Darren Oliver picked up his first save – since 1994! – as the Rangers won in Boston 3-0. Texas’ closer, Neftali Feliz, wasn’t able to pitch, and RHPs Frank Francisco and Dustin Nippert had lost games the previous two nights, so Oliver apparently was the best option.
Mets RHP Francisco Rodriguez finally received his first save, an easy one in a 5-2 win over the Cubs.
Other saves went to Reds RHP Francisco Corderon, sixth, 8-5 over the Dodgers; Tigers RHP Jose Valverde, fifth, 5-4 at LA/Anaheim, and Athletics RHP Andrew Bailey, second, 4-2 against the Yankees.
Promotion
To subscribe for our five-times-weekly Emails and anything else we're able to provide this season, Email us at lary@fantasybaseballscout.com. Through Sunday, May 2, you can subscribe for just $20, a 20 per cent savings from our established price of $25.
Include your name, address, phone number and the Email address where you would like to receive the Emails. PayPal then would send you an invoice that would allow you to pay in one step.
If you already have expressed interest in subscribing, you should receive an Email asking you to pay for a subscription. If not, please be sure to follow the process above.
Saturday, April 24, 2010
Red Sox have turnaround despite injuries
We’re getting back toward our regular schedule for our five weekly Emails, including the Wednesday evening Injury Updates.
The free period for these Emails will end Sunday, April 25. After that date, the Emails would go only to those who subscribe.
The good news is that you now CAN subscribe. Here’s how:
Email us at lary@fantasybaseballscout.com. Include your name, address and phone number so we could contact you with any questions, and (most important) tell us the Email address where you would like to receive the Emails. You then would receive an invoice from PayPal, which you could pay by following simple instructions within that Email. Once we receive your payment, we’ll add you to the subscription list so you would receive all of this year’s Emails and have access to any other features from fantasybaseballscout.com.
Subscriptions will include Articles such as our “Pitchers (and Hitters) to Keep and Avoid.” Last year, our recommendation of Rockies LHP Jorge De La Rosa in itself was worth the cost of what you’d pay, and he was only one of our picks that were on the money. Choosing him was inspired; he was 0-6 when we recommended him, and 16-3 thereafter.
You also would have access to whatever content we’re able to get on to the fantasybaseballscout.com web site.
Subscribers will be able to ask questions specific to their fantasy teams and leagues, and receive answers through these Emails, the web site or personal Emails.
Willis, Blackburn expected to make next start
The Red Sox have been struggling at or below .500 in part because of injuries to starting OFs Mike Cameron (strained lower abdominal muscle) and Jacoby Ellsbury. That hasn’t mattered the last two nights as prospect Josh Reddick and especially journeyman Darnell McDonald have been producing at bat. McDonald arrived from Triple-A Pawtucket Tuesday in time to hit a game-tying home run and a game-winning single. Against the Rangers He homered again in a game Boston won in 12 innings. Don’t run out and pick up McDonald figuring he’s some phenom. His total major league experience before this year was fewer than 150 at-bats and just two homers.
OOO Diamondbacks 3B Mark Reynolds (quadriceps) is questionable for this weekend’s series against the Phillies. OF/1B Conor Jackson (knee) is eligible to come off the disabled list May 4.
OOO Also questionable for the weekend is Marlins C Ronny Paulino (quad). RHP Brian Sanches (hamstring) could go on an injury-rehab assignment Monday.
OOO Despite a finger injury, Tigers LHP Dontrelle Willis is expected to be able to start Saturday’s game at Texas.
OOO Also likely to start Saturday is Twins RHP Nick Blackburn (back). 2B/3B Nick Punto (groin) is questionable for the weekend series in Kansas City.
OOO Phillies RHP Joe Blanton (strained oblique muscle) is scheduled to make a rehab start for Double-A Reading Friday.
OOO Mariners LHP Cliff Lee could make a rehab start Sunday at Tacoma. If that goes well, he could start at home Friday, April 30, against the Rangers.
OOO The Rangers are hoping 2B Ian Kinsler (high ankle sprain) could be back “next week.” But then, they’ve been saying that every week since he was hurt during spring training.
Due dates
This is a rough idea of when teams expect to have some injured players back.
Thursday – Blue Jays 2B Aaron Hill (hamstring).
Friday – Cubs LHP Ted Lilly (shoulder, knee, back).
Late April – Phillies SS Jimmy Rollins (calf), Pirates RHP Ross Ohlendorf (back), Orioles RHP Koji Uehara (hamstring).
Early May – Orioles 2B Brian Roberts (abdominal muscle), Indians RHP Kerry Wood (back), Rockies LHP Jeff Francis (shoulder), Royals 3B Josh Fields (hip) and 2B Chris Getz (oblique), Athletics OF Coco Crisp (finger) and 2B Mark Ellis (hamstring), Phillies LHP J.A. Happ (elbow), Padres RHP Chris R. Young (shoulder), Blue Jays 3B Edwin Encarnacion (shoulder) and LHP Brian Tallet (forearm) and Twins C Jose Morales (wrist) and LHP Jose Mijares (elbow).
Mid-May – Mets CF Carlos Beltran (knee), 1B/OF Daniel Murphy (knee) and RHPs Sean Green (rib) and Ryota Igarishi (hamstring); Giants CF Aaron Rowand (head) and 2B Freddy Sanchez (shoulder, knee); Braves OF Jordan Schafer (hand) and LHP Jo-Jo Reyes (knee); Orioles LHP Mike Gonzalez (shoulder); Red Sox CF Mike Cameron (abdomen); Rockies RHP Huston Street (shoulder); Rays LHP J.P. Howell (shoulder) and OF Matt Joyce (elbow); Rangers RHP Tommy Hunter (a very large oblique muscle); Blue Jays LHP Marc Rzepczynski (finger); Nationals RHPs Garrett Mock (neck) and Jason Marquis (elbow); Astros 3B Chris Johnson (side); Angels RHP Anthony Ortega (triceps), and Brewers 3B/2B Mat Gamel (shoulder).
Late May – Diamondbacks C Miguel Montero (knee surgery), Angels C Jeff Mathis (wrist), Mariners LHP Erik Bedard (shoulder) and Nationals LHP Ross Detwiler (hip).
Early June – Diamondbacks RHP Brandon Webb (shoulder), Blue Jays RHP Dustin McGowan (shoulder, knee), Nationals RHP Chien-ming Wang (shoulder), Tigers LHP Bobby Seay (arm), Twins RHP Clay Condrey (elbow), Mets RHP Kelvim Escobar (shoulder) and Rays C Kelly Shoppach (knee).
Mid-June – Red Sox SS/3B Jed Lowrie (mononucleosis), Giants SS/2B Emmanuel Burriss (foot), Blue Jays RHP Scott Richmond (shoulder), Nationals C Jesus Flores (shoulder), Rockies RHP Taylor Buchholz (elbow) and Pirates RHP Jose Ascanio (shoulder).
Late June – Dodgers RHP Cory Wade (shoulder) and Rangers RHP Eric Hurley (shoulder).
Early July – Brewers RHP David Riske (elbow) and Blue Jays RHP Jesse Litsch (forearm).
Late July – Orioles LF Felix Pie (shoulder), Indians RHP Anthony Reyes (elbow), Reds RHP Edinson Volquez (serving a suspension while rehabbing his elbow) and Athletics LHP Josh Outman (elbow).
Early August – Dodgers C Brad Ausmus (back).
Mid-August – Nationals RHP Jordan Zimmerman (elbow).
Smoakin’ hot
Much more than a year ago when fans clamored for his promotion, Rangers 1B prospect Justin Smoak has been showing that he’s ready for a major league trial. With 1B Chris Davis struggling to make contact and producing very little, Smoak has presented an attractive alternative. In his first 12 games this season at Triple-A Oklahoma City, he batted .333 (13-for-39). More important, he had a whopping .509 on-base percentage, with 14 walks and just five strikeouts. The one reason keeping Davis in Texas’ lineup has been his superior defense.
OOO Rays 2B Sean Rodriguez, who had a power surge during spring training, hit his first regular-season homer in a 12-0 victory over the White Sox. If he hits more than a homer every two weeks or so, consider that a bonus.
OOO Dodgers OF Matt Kemp has been on fire. His seventh homer helped LA outscore the runs its pitching staff gave up in a 14-6 win over the Reds.
OOO There’s no pitching problem for Phillies RHP Roy Halladay. He improved to 4-0 with an 0.82 ERA by shutting out the Braves 2-0 with a pitching line of 950017.
In closing
This is a regular feature of our Emails and blog posts. It lets you know who’s getting saves. Equally important is telling you who’s blowing saves or putting his job in jeopardy by getting shaky saves. There’s also a FREE Article on the old fantasybaseballscout.com web site letting you know which pitcher or pitchers each team is using to close games. It will be updated whenever there’s a change or speculation about a change in a team’s closer.
The blowups were far more spectacular than the saves.
Angels LHP Brian Fuentes returned from the disabled list, assumed a 3-2 lead in the top of the ninth against the Tigers and left with a 4-3 loss, a blown save and a pitching line of 2/3 22221. Included was a home run by Detroit 1B Miguel Cabrera. RHP Fernando Rodney saved five games for LA/Anaheim while Fuentes was out, so his job might not be safe.
Diamondbacks RHP Chad Qualls entered with a 4-4 tie in the top of the ninth against the Cardinals. The line in his loss was 1/3 33300, including OF Colby Rasmus’ second homer of the game. RHP Bob Howry, a potential candidate to replace Qualls as closer, finished the game with a line of 2/3 22200, including a homer by 2B Skip Schumaker.
Earning saves were Nationals RHP Matt Capps, seventh, 6-4 over the Rockies; Yankees RHP Mariano Rivera, sixth, 3-1 at Oakland, and fourth saves for Royals RHP Joakim Soria, 4-3 in 10 innings at Toronto; Tigers RHP Jose Valverde in the game at LA/Anaheim, and Astros RHP Matt Lindstrom, 5-4 against the Marlins.
Promotion
To subscribe for our five-times-weekly Emails and anything else we’re able to provide this season, Email us at lary@fantasybaseballscout.com. Through Sunday, May 2, you can subscribe for just $20, a 20 per cent savings from our established price of $25.
Include your name, address, phone number and the Email address where you would like to receive the Emails. PayPal then would send you an invoice that would allow you to pay in one step.
The free period for these Emails will end Sunday, April 25. After that date, the Emails would go only to those who subscribe.
The good news is that you now CAN subscribe. Here’s how:
Email us at lary@fantasybaseballscout.com. Include your name, address and phone number so we could contact you with any questions, and (most important) tell us the Email address where you would like to receive the Emails. You then would receive an invoice from PayPal, which you could pay by following simple instructions within that Email. Once we receive your payment, we’ll add you to the subscription list so you would receive all of this year’s Emails and have access to any other features from fantasybaseballscout.com.
Subscriptions will include Articles such as our “Pitchers (and Hitters) to Keep and Avoid.” Last year, our recommendation of Rockies LHP Jorge De La Rosa in itself was worth the cost of what you’d pay, and he was only one of our picks that were on the money. Choosing him was inspired; he was 0-6 when we recommended him, and 16-3 thereafter.
You also would have access to whatever content we’re able to get on to the fantasybaseballscout.com web site.
Subscribers will be able to ask questions specific to their fantasy teams and leagues, and receive answers through these Emails, the web site or personal Emails.
Willis, Blackburn expected to make next start
The Red Sox have been struggling at or below .500 in part because of injuries to starting OFs Mike Cameron (strained lower abdominal muscle) and Jacoby Ellsbury. That hasn’t mattered the last two nights as prospect Josh Reddick and especially journeyman Darnell McDonald have been producing at bat. McDonald arrived from Triple-A Pawtucket Tuesday in time to hit a game-tying home run and a game-winning single. Against the Rangers He homered again in a game Boston won in 12 innings. Don’t run out and pick up McDonald figuring he’s some phenom. His total major league experience before this year was fewer than 150 at-bats and just two homers.
OOO Diamondbacks 3B Mark Reynolds (quadriceps) is questionable for this weekend’s series against the Phillies. OF/1B Conor Jackson (knee) is eligible to come off the disabled list May 4.
OOO Also questionable for the weekend is Marlins C Ronny Paulino (quad). RHP Brian Sanches (hamstring) could go on an injury-rehab assignment Monday.
OOO Despite a finger injury, Tigers LHP Dontrelle Willis is expected to be able to start Saturday’s game at Texas.
OOO Also likely to start Saturday is Twins RHP Nick Blackburn (back). 2B/3B Nick Punto (groin) is questionable for the weekend series in Kansas City.
OOO Phillies RHP Joe Blanton (strained oblique muscle) is scheduled to make a rehab start for Double-A Reading Friday.
OOO Mariners LHP Cliff Lee could make a rehab start Sunday at Tacoma. If that goes well, he could start at home Friday, April 30, against the Rangers.
OOO The Rangers are hoping 2B Ian Kinsler (high ankle sprain) could be back “next week.” But then, they’ve been saying that every week since he was hurt during spring training.
Due dates
This is a rough idea of when teams expect to have some injured players back.
Thursday – Blue Jays 2B Aaron Hill (hamstring).
Friday – Cubs LHP Ted Lilly (shoulder, knee, back).
Late April – Phillies SS Jimmy Rollins (calf), Pirates RHP Ross Ohlendorf (back), Orioles RHP Koji Uehara (hamstring).
Early May – Orioles 2B Brian Roberts (abdominal muscle), Indians RHP Kerry Wood (back), Rockies LHP Jeff Francis (shoulder), Royals 3B Josh Fields (hip) and 2B Chris Getz (oblique), Athletics OF Coco Crisp (finger) and 2B Mark Ellis (hamstring), Phillies LHP J.A. Happ (elbow), Padres RHP Chris R. Young (shoulder), Blue Jays 3B Edwin Encarnacion (shoulder) and LHP Brian Tallet (forearm) and Twins C Jose Morales (wrist) and LHP Jose Mijares (elbow).
Mid-May – Mets CF Carlos Beltran (knee), 1B/OF Daniel Murphy (knee) and RHPs Sean Green (rib) and Ryota Igarishi (hamstring); Giants CF Aaron Rowand (head) and 2B Freddy Sanchez (shoulder, knee); Braves OF Jordan Schafer (hand) and LHP Jo-Jo Reyes (knee); Orioles LHP Mike Gonzalez (shoulder); Red Sox CF Mike Cameron (abdomen); Rockies RHP Huston Street (shoulder); Rays LHP J.P. Howell (shoulder) and OF Matt Joyce (elbow); Rangers RHP Tommy Hunter (a very large oblique muscle); Blue Jays LHP Marc Rzepczynski (finger); Nationals RHPs Garrett Mock (neck) and Jason Marquis (elbow); Astros 3B Chris Johnson (side); Angels RHP Anthony Ortega (triceps), and Brewers 3B/2B Mat Gamel (shoulder).
Late May – Diamondbacks C Miguel Montero (knee surgery), Angels C Jeff Mathis (wrist), Mariners LHP Erik Bedard (shoulder) and Nationals LHP Ross Detwiler (hip).
Early June – Diamondbacks RHP Brandon Webb (shoulder), Blue Jays RHP Dustin McGowan (shoulder, knee), Nationals RHP Chien-ming Wang (shoulder), Tigers LHP Bobby Seay (arm), Twins RHP Clay Condrey (elbow), Mets RHP Kelvim Escobar (shoulder) and Rays C Kelly Shoppach (knee).
Mid-June – Red Sox SS/3B Jed Lowrie (mononucleosis), Giants SS/2B Emmanuel Burriss (foot), Blue Jays RHP Scott Richmond (shoulder), Nationals C Jesus Flores (shoulder), Rockies RHP Taylor Buchholz (elbow) and Pirates RHP Jose Ascanio (shoulder).
Late June – Dodgers RHP Cory Wade (shoulder) and Rangers RHP Eric Hurley (shoulder).
Early July – Brewers RHP David Riske (elbow) and Blue Jays RHP Jesse Litsch (forearm).
Late July – Orioles LF Felix Pie (shoulder), Indians RHP Anthony Reyes (elbow), Reds RHP Edinson Volquez (serving a suspension while rehabbing his elbow) and Athletics LHP Josh Outman (elbow).
Early August – Dodgers C Brad Ausmus (back).
Mid-August – Nationals RHP Jordan Zimmerman (elbow).
Smoakin’ hot
Much more than a year ago when fans clamored for his promotion, Rangers 1B prospect Justin Smoak has been showing that he’s ready for a major league trial. With 1B Chris Davis struggling to make contact and producing very little, Smoak has presented an attractive alternative. In his first 12 games this season at Triple-A Oklahoma City, he batted .333 (13-for-39). More important, he had a whopping .509 on-base percentage, with 14 walks and just five strikeouts. The one reason keeping Davis in Texas’ lineup has been his superior defense.
OOO Rays 2B Sean Rodriguez, who had a power surge during spring training, hit his first regular-season homer in a 12-0 victory over the White Sox. If he hits more than a homer every two weeks or so, consider that a bonus.
OOO Dodgers OF Matt Kemp has been on fire. His seventh homer helped LA outscore the runs its pitching staff gave up in a 14-6 win over the Reds.
OOO There’s no pitching problem for Phillies RHP Roy Halladay. He improved to 4-0 with an 0.82 ERA by shutting out the Braves 2-0 with a pitching line of 950017.
In closing
This is a regular feature of our Emails and blog posts. It lets you know who’s getting saves. Equally important is telling you who’s blowing saves or putting his job in jeopardy by getting shaky saves. There’s also a FREE Article on the old fantasybaseballscout.com web site letting you know which pitcher or pitchers each team is using to close games. It will be updated whenever there’s a change or speculation about a change in a team’s closer.
The blowups were far more spectacular than the saves.
Angels LHP Brian Fuentes returned from the disabled list, assumed a 3-2 lead in the top of the ninth against the Tigers and left with a 4-3 loss, a blown save and a pitching line of 2/3 22221. Included was a home run by Detroit 1B Miguel Cabrera. RHP Fernando Rodney saved five games for LA/Anaheim while Fuentes was out, so his job might not be safe.
Diamondbacks RHP Chad Qualls entered with a 4-4 tie in the top of the ninth against the Cardinals. The line in his loss was 1/3 33300, including OF Colby Rasmus’ second homer of the game. RHP Bob Howry, a potential candidate to replace Qualls as closer, finished the game with a line of 2/3 22200, including a homer by 2B Skip Schumaker.
Earning saves were Nationals RHP Matt Capps, seventh, 6-4 over the Rockies; Yankees RHP Mariano Rivera, sixth, 3-1 at Oakland, and fourth saves for Royals RHP Joakim Soria, 4-3 in 10 innings at Toronto; Tigers RHP Jose Valverde in the game at LA/Anaheim, and Astros RHP Matt Lindstrom, 5-4 against the Marlins.
Promotion
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Include your name, address, phone number and the Email address where you would like to receive the Emails. PayPal then would send you an invoice that would allow you to pay in one step.
Friday, April 23, 2010
Look for hot pitchers Holland, Hellickson in majors
We’re getting back toward our normal schedule, when the Tuesday Emails will contain Minor League updates, letting you know which players you could look for to move up from the minors or up through an organization.
The free period for these Emails will end Sunday, April 25. After that date, the Emails would go only to those who subscribe.
NEW!
The good news is that you now CAN subscribe. Here’s how:
Email us at lary@fantasybaseballscout.com. Include your name, address and phone number so we could contact you with any questions, and (most important) tell us the Email address where you would like to receive the Emails. You then would receive an invoice from PayPal, which you could pay by following simple instructions within that Email. Once we receive your payment, we’ll add you to the subscription list so you would receive all of this year’s Emails and have access to any other features from fantasybaseballscout.com.
Subscriptions will include Articles such as our “Pitchers (and Hitters) to Keep and Avoid.” Last year, our recommendation of Rockies LHP Jorge De La Rosa in itself was worth the cost of what you’d pay, and he was only one of our picks that were on the money. Choosing him was inspired; he was 0-6 when we recommended him, and 16-3 thereafter.
You also would have access to whatever content we’re able to get on to the fantasybaseballscout.com web site.
Subscribers will be able to ask questions specific to their fantasy teams and leagues, and receive answers through these Emails, the web site or personal Emails.
Leading the way
The first group of minor league Players of the Week and Pitchers of the Week include the usual overaged suspects and inconsistent or previously underachieving prospects.
Seven of the 10 minor leagues that have started their season used the entire season since Opening Day, April 8, as the basis for these first awards. The Triple-A International League and Double-A Southern and Texas leagues based their awards on the calendar week April 12-18.
The shining stars on the list are two of baseball’s best young pitchers, who won the weekly awards from the two Triple-A leagues: LHP Derek Holland (Oklahoma City, Rangers organization, Pacific Coast League) and our Best Arm from the Farm, RHP Jeremy Hellickson (Durham, Rays, IL).
Holland spent most of last season with Texas. Even though he could be a better pitcher than anyone currently in the Rangers’ rotation, he began this season with the 89ers again and has gone 2-0 with an 0.46 ERA and 15:3 strikeout/walk ratio in 19 2/3 innings during three starts. Hellickson improved to 3-0 in a week when he was 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA and 15:2 K/W ratio in 14 innings.
The biggest surprise among the award winners was that three catchers had big weeks at bat. They were 25-year-old Robinson Chirinos (Tennessee, Cubs, Southern League), who batted .444 (8-for-18) with three homers, eight RBI and four runs; Ryan Lavarnway (Salem, Red Sox, high Class A Carolina League), .462 (18-39), three homers, 15 RBI, 13 runs, and Travis d’Arnaud (Dunedin, Blue Jays, high Class A Florida State League), .425 (17-40), three homers, 10 RBI, seven runs and a stolen base. D’Arnaud was one of the prospects Toronto received from the Phillies in the Roy Halladay trade.
Other than 24-year-old Nick Evans, who already has played in the major leagues, the Triple-A and Double-A award winners are at least 25 and thus marginal prospects at best. The PCL Player of the Week, 1B John Lindsey of Albuquerque (Dodgers) is 33! He batted .538 (21-39) with two homers, 13 RBI and 13 runs in a hitters’ home park. OF John Mayberry, 26, of Lehigh Valley (Phillies) had an 11-for-21 (.538) week with a homer, five RBI and eight runs.
In Double-A, 25-year-old 1B Andrew Brown began the Texas League season 3-for-18, but last week batted .423 (11-26) with three homers, 11 RBI and five runs for Springfield (Cardinals). In the two games where I saw him play, he was 1-for-8 (a home run) and didn’t impress me as a prospect. Evans began the season 16-for-43 (.372) with three homers, 10 RBI and 11 runs.
The other Players of the Week were LF Dan Robertson of Lake Elsinore (Padres, high Class A California League), .400 (16-40), one homer, eight RBI, eight runs and a stolen base); RF Jerry Sands of Great Lakes (Dodgers, low A Midwest League), .439 (18-41), two homers, 12 RBI, 11 runs, two steals, and 3B Tyler Kolodny of Delmarva (Orioles, low Class A South Atlantic League), .386 (17-44), six homers, 11 RBI, 11 runs and two stolen bases.
The Double-A Pitchers of the Week also were older than the prime age for a prospect – 25-year-old LHP Luis Perez of New Hampshire (Blue Jays, Eastern League), 2-0, 0.53, 11:6 K/w ratio in 17 innings; 27-year-old Tom Cochran, a former independent-league pitcher now with Carolina (Reds, Southern League), 2-0, 0.75, 15:3 K/W ratio in 12 innings, and 26-year-old RHP Federico Castaneda of Northwest Arkansas (Royals, Texas League), 0-0 with an 0.00 ERA and 11:1 K/W ratio in 9 2/3 relief innings. Castaneda, who has spent five years in the Mexican League, could find a spot in Kansas City’s bullpen this season.
Another Royals farmhand, 2008 first-round draft pick Michael Montgomery, was the Carolina League Pitcher of the Week at Wilmington. The lefty was 1-0 with an 0.75 ERA and 19:1 K/W ratio in 12 innings, including a 17-strikeout game against Kinston (Indians). He’ll also get to the major leagues, though not likely this year.
Other Class A Pitchers of the Week were RHP Juan Nicasio of Modesto (Rockies, California League), 1-0, 2.65 ERA, 13:2 K/W ratio in 17 innings; RHP Hector Noesi of Tampa (Yankees, FSL), 2-0, 1.50, 16:1 K/W ratio in 12 innings; Australian RHP Lian Hendriks of Beloit (Twins, Midwest League), 0-0, 0.00, 20:1 K/W ratio in 17 innings, and LHP Nick Hernandez of Lakewood (Phillies, Sally League), 2-0, 1.29, 20:1 K/W ratio in 21 innings.
In closing
This is a regular feature of our Emails and blog posts. It lets you know who’s getting saves. Equally important is telling you who’s blowing saves or putting his job in jeopardy by getting shaky saves. There’s also a FREE Article on the old fantasybaseballscout.com web site letting you know which pitcher or pitchers each team is using to close games. It will be updated whenever there’s a change or speculation about a change in a team’s closer.
Padres RHP Heath Bell earned his fourth save in the day’s best-pitched game, a 1-0 victory over the Giants in which the winning pitcher, RHP Mat Latos, had a pitching line of 740012.
The only save with any kind of trouble was by Astros Lindstrom, whose third save came in a game he entered with a 7-4 lead against the Marlins and left with a line of 121100.
The other saves were by Reds RHP Francisco Cordero, fifth, 11-9 vs. the Dodgers; Angels RHP Fernando Rodney, fifth, 6-5 over the Tigers; Blue Jays RHP Kevin Gregg, fourth, 4-3 against the Royals; White Sox RHP Bobby Jenks, third, 4-1 vs. the Rays, and Diamondbacks RHP Chad Qualls, second, 9-7 over the Cardinals.
The free period for these Emails will end Sunday, April 25. After that date, the Emails would go only to those who subscribe.
NEW!
The good news is that you now CAN subscribe. Here’s how:
Email us at lary@fantasybaseballscout.com. Include your name, address and phone number so we could contact you with any questions, and (most important) tell us the Email address where you would like to receive the Emails. You then would receive an invoice from PayPal, which you could pay by following simple instructions within that Email. Once we receive your payment, we’ll add you to the subscription list so you would receive all of this year’s Emails and have access to any other features from fantasybaseballscout.com.
Subscriptions will include Articles such as our “Pitchers (and Hitters) to Keep and Avoid.” Last year, our recommendation of Rockies LHP Jorge De La Rosa in itself was worth the cost of what you’d pay, and he was only one of our picks that were on the money. Choosing him was inspired; he was 0-6 when we recommended him, and 16-3 thereafter.
You also would have access to whatever content we’re able to get on to the fantasybaseballscout.com web site.
Subscribers will be able to ask questions specific to their fantasy teams and leagues, and receive answers through these Emails, the web site or personal Emails.
Leading the way
The first group of minor league Players of the Week and Pitchers of the Week include the usual overaged suspects and inconsistent or previously underachieving prospects.
Seven of the 10 minor leagues that have started their season used the entire season since Opening Day, April 8, as the basis for these first awards. The Triple-A International League and Double-A Southern and Texas leagues based their awards on the calendar week April 12-18.
The shining stars on the list are two of baseball’s best young pitchers, who won the weekly awards from the two Triple-A leagues: LHP Derek Holland (Oklahoma City, Rangers organization, Pacific Coast League) and our Best Arm from the Farm, RHP Jeremy Hellickson (Durham, Rays, IL).
Holland spent most of last season with Texas. Even though he could be a better pitcher than anyone currently in the Rangers’ rotation, he began this season with the 89ers again and has gone 2-0 with an 0.46 ERA and 15:3 strikeout/walk ratio in 19 2/3 innings during three starts. Hellickson improved to 3-0 in a week when he was 2-0 with a 1.29 ERA and 15:2 K/W ratio in 14 innings.
The biggest surprise among the award winners was that three catchers had big weeks at bat. They were 25-year-old Robinson Chirinos (Tennessee, Cubs, Southern League), who batted .444 (8-for-18) with three homers, eight RBI and four runs; Ryan Lavarnway (Salem, Red Sox, high Class A Carolina League), .462 (18-39), three homers, 15 RBI, 13 runs, and Travis d’Arnaud (Dunedin, Blue Jays, high Class A Florida State League), .425 (17-40), three homers, 10 RBI, seven runs and a stolen base. D’Arnaud was one of the prospects Toronto received from the Phillies in the Roy Halladay trade.
Other than 24-year-old Nick Evans, who already has played in the major leagues, the Triple-A and Double-A award winners are at least 25 and thus marginal prospects at best. The PCL Player of the Week, 1B John Lindsey of Albuquerque (Dodgers) is 33! He batted .538 (21-39) with two homers, 13 RBI and 13 runs in a hitters’ home park. OF John Mayberry, 26, of Lehigh Valley (Phillies) had an 11-for-21 (.538) week with a homer, five RBI and eight runs.
In Double-A, 25-year-old 1B Andrew Brown began the Texas League season 3-for-18, but last week batted .423 (11-26) with three homers, 11 RBI and five runs for Springfield (Cardinals). In the two games where I saw him play, he was 1-for-8 (a home run) and didn’t impress me as a prospect. Evans began the season 16-for-43 (.372) with three homers, 10 RBI and 11 runs.
The other Players of the Week were LF Dan Robertson of Lake Elsinore (Padres, high Class A California League), .400 (16-40), one homer, eight RBI, eight runs and a stolen base); RF Jerry Sands of Great Lakes (Dodgers, low A Midwest League), .439 (18-41), two homers, 12 RBI, 11 runs, two steals, and 3B Tyler Kolodny of Delmarva (Orioles, low Class A South Atlantic League), .386 (17-44), six homers, 11 RBI, 11 runs and two stolen bases.
The Double-A Pitchers of the Week also were older than the prime age for a prospect – 25-year-old LHP Luis Perez of New Hampshire (Blue Jays, Eastern League), 2-0, 0.53, 11:6 K/w ratio in 17 innings; 27-year-old Tom Cochran, a former independent-league pitcher now with Carolina (Reds, Southern League), 2-0, 0.75, 15:3 K/W ratio in 12 innings, and 26-year-old RHP Federico Castaneda of Northwest Arkansas (Royals, Texas League), 0-0 with an 0.00 ERA and 11:1 K/W ratio in 9 2/3 relief innings. Castaneda, who has spent five years in the Mexican League, could find a spot in Kansas City’s bullpen this season.
Another Royals farmhand, 2008 first-round draft pick Michael Montgomery, was the Carolina League Pitcher of the Week at Wilmington. The lefty was 1-0 with an 0.75 ERA and 19:1 K/W ratio in 12 innings, including a 17-strikeout game against Kinston (Indians). He’ll also get to the major leagues, though not likely this year.
Other Class A Pitchers of the Week were RHP Juan Nicasio of Modesto (Rockies, California League), 1-0, 2.65 ERA, 13:2 K/W ratio in 17 innings; RHP Hector Noesi of Tampa (Yankees, FSL), 2-0, 1.50, 16:1 K/W ratio in 12 innings; Australian RHP Lian Hendriks of Beloit (Twins, Midwest League), 0-0, 0.00, 20:1 K/W ratio in 17 innings, and LHP Nick Hernandez of Lakewood (Phillies, Sally League), 2-0, 1.29, 20:1 K/W ratio in 21 innings.
In closing
This is a regular feature of our Emails and blog posts. It lets you know who’s getting saves. Equally important is telling you who’s blowing saves or putting his job in jeopardy by getting shaky saves. There’s also a FREE Article on the old fantasybaseballscout.com web site letting you know which pitcher or pitchers each team is using to close games. It will be updated whenever there’s a change or speculation about a change in a team’s closer.
Padres RHP Heath Bell earned his fourth save in the day’s best-pitched game, a 1-0 victory over the Giants in which the winning pitcher, RHP Mat Latos, had a pitching line of 740012.
The only save with any kind of trouble was by Astros Lindstrom, whose third save came in a game he entered with a 7-4 lead against the Marlins and left with a line of 121100.
The other saves were by Reds RHP Francisco Cordero, fifth, 11-9 vs. the Dodgers; Angels RHP Fernando Rodney, fifth, 6-5 over the Tigers; Blue Jays RHP Kevin Gregg, fourth, 4-3 against the Royals; White Sox RHP Bobby Jenks, third, 4-1 vs. the Rays, and Diamondbacks RHP Chad Qualls, second, 9-7 over the Cardinals.
Monday, April 19, 2010
Jeter, Podsednik, Garza, Jimenez stay hot
The Monday morning updates review what happened over the weekend and indicates which batters and pitchers are hot – and which are not.
NOTE: We have extended the free period for these Emails again – through Sunday, April 25. After that date, the Emails would go only to those who subscribe.
Before then, we’ll tell you how you can subscribe to receive these Emails five or more times per week, along with timely Articles and other information that will be added to the fantasybaseballscout.com web site.
Subscriptions will include Articles such as our “Pitchers (and Hitters) to Keep and Avoid.” Last year, our recommendation of Rockies LHP Jorge De La Rosa in itself was worth the cost of what you’d pay, and he was only one of our picks that were on the money. Choosing him was inspired; he was 0-6 when we recommended him, and 16-3 thereafter.
You also would have access to whatever content we’re able to get on to the fantasybaseballscout.com web site.
Let us know of your interest and what you’d like to see by Emailing lary@fantasybaseballscout.com.
Subscribers will be able to ask questions specific to their fantasy teams and leagues, and receive answers through these Emails, the web site or personal Emails.
Hot
The weekly Hot and Not for batters is based on 20 at-bats for batting average, and at least a .280 BA for the other categories.
Pos. Player, Team H-AB BA HR-RBI SB
SS Derek Jeter, Yankees 11-22 .500 3-7 0
C Ivan Rodriguez, Nationals 10-21 .476 0-7 1
2B Dan Uggla, Marlins 13-28 .464 2-7 0
OF Jose Guillen, Royals 12-26 .462 3-5 1
SS Yuniesky Betancourt, Royals 11-24 .458 1-3 0
1B James Loney, Dodgers 11-24 .458 0-0 1
3B/2B Casey McGehee, Brewers 10-22 .455 2-6 0
OF Ryan Ludwick, Cardinals 11-25 .440 1-3 0
OF Andre Ethier, Dodgers 11-26 .423 3-9 0
OF Ryan Braun, Brewers 11-26 .423 2-8 1
The two .458 batters present a contrast. Betancourt isn’t likely to be on this list often. Loney is a high-average threat, but LA no doubt would want more run production from its first baseman.
Home runs – Phillies 2B Chase Utley 5; Dodgers OF Matt Kemp and Orioles 3B/1B Ty Wigginton 4; Ethier, Guillen, Jeter, Indians OF Shin-soo Choo, White Sox OF/1B Andruw Jones and Rays 1B Carlos Pena 1.
RBI – Choo 11; Wigginton 10; Ethier, Pena and Twins OF/1B Michael Cuddyer 9; Braun, Kemp, Utley and Royals 3B/2B Alberto Callaspo 8.
Stolen bases – Yankees OF Brett Gardner, White Sox OF Juan Pierre, Cubs SS Ryan Theriot and Reds 1B Joey Votto 4; Podsednik, Rays OF Carl Crawford, White Sox OF Alex Rios and Twins OF Denard Span 3.
Runs – Kemp, Span and Utley 8; Guillen, Rodriguez, Uggla, Giants 1B/3B Aubrey Huff, Rays 3B Evan Longoria and Nationals OF Josh Willingham 7.
Gardner, Jeter and Podsednik were on a Hot list for the second consecutive week.
Requirements for pitchers to make these lists are 7 innings pitched for ERA and WHIP, 10 strikeouts in K:W ratio and an ERA under 4.00 for the other categories.
Hand Pitcher, Team IP W-L ERA WHIP K:W
RHP Justin Duchscherer, Athletics 13.0 1-0 0.00 1.00 9:4
RHP Livan Hernandez, Nationals 9.0 1-0 0.00 0.67 3:2
RHP Ubaldo Jimenez, Rockies 9.0 1-0 0.00 0.67 7:6
RHP Doug Fister, Mariners 8.0 1-0 0.00 0.38 4:0
LHP Jonathan Sanchez, Giants 8.0 1-0 0.00 0.75 11:3
LHP Joe Saunders, Angels 8.0 1-0 0.00 0.75 2:1
RHP Mike Pelfrey, Mets 8.0 1-0 0.00 0.88 6:1
RHP Brad Penny, Cardinals 7.0 1-0 0.00 0.43 4:0
RHP Roy Oswalt, Astros 7.0 1-0 0.00 0.71 6:0
RHP Carlos Silva, Cubs 7.0 1-0 0.00 0.71 5:0
Of the 121 pitchers with an 0.00 ERA for the week, 16 threw at least seven innings. Pelfrey also earned a save for pitching a scoreless 20th inning in Saturday’s 2-1 victory over the Cardinals
Wins – Rays RHPs Lance Cormier and Matt Garza, Padres RHP Kevin Correia, Yankees LHP Andy Pettitte and Cardinals RHP Adam Wainwright.
Saves – Mariners RHP David Aardsma, Yankees RHP Mariano Rivera, Angels RHP Fernando Rodney and Rays RHP Rafael Soriano 3-for-3.
WHIP – Fister 0.38; Penny and Cardinals LHP Jaime Garcia 0.43; Yankees LHP C.C. Sabathia 0.50; Indians LHP David Huff 0.56.
K:W ratio – Phillies LHP Cole Hamels 14:1; Marlins RHP Josh Johnson 10:1; Wainwright 16:3; Blue Jays LHP Davis Romero 18:4; Sanchez 11:3; Cardinals RHP Chris Carpenter 10:3; Angels RHP Ervin Santana 13:5; Rangers RHP Colby Lewis 10:4/
Pitchers repeating n a Hot list were Aardsma; Garza; Jimenez, who pitched a no-hitter Saturday, and Oswalt. Saunders jumped from the Not list to Hot in a week’s time.
Not
Pos. Player, Team H-AB BA HR-RBI SB
1B Lyle Overbay, Blue Jays 2-27 .074 0-2 0
OF Carlos Lee, Astros 2-25 .080 0-0 0
OF Dexter Fowler, Rockies 2-25 .080 0-0 1
SS Jason Bartlett, Rays 2-23 .087 0-0 0
C Dioner Navarro, Rays 2-21 .095 0-0 0
1B Mark Teixeira, Yankees 2-20 .100 1-3 0
OF Carlos Quentin, White Sox 3-27 .111 1-8 0
SS Edgar Renteria, Giants 3-24 .125 0-1 0
OF Rajai Davis, Athletics 4-31 .129 0-1 3
SS Jose Reyes, Mets 4-31 .129 0-2 1
This week’s (dis)honorable mention goes to Marlins OF/2B Chris Coghlan 0-for-19, Pirates 1B Jeff Clement 0-15, Astros 2B Kazuo Matsui 0-11, and Tigers SS Ramon Santiago 0-10. Receiving a special dishonorable mention is Rangers C Taylor Teagarden. He was just 0-for-6 for the week, but all six at-bats were strikeouts, giving him a season total of 0-for-18 with 13 Ks.
W:K ratio – Rangers OF Nelson Cruz and Diamondbacks OF Justin Upton 1:10; Mets OF Jason Bay 2:11; Marlins OF Cameron Maybin 3:10; Mets 3B David Wright 9:10.
Caught stealing – Dodgers OF Matt Kemp 1-for-3.
Teagarden has been on a Not list three consecutive weeks (including spring training), and Overbay has been cold two weeks in a row. Cruz, Davis, Quentin and Renteria all were on a Hot list the previous week. Quentin wasn’t a total washout during the last week; he managed to drive in eight runs with just three hits.
Hand Pitcher, Team IP W-L ERA WHIP K:W
RHP Jason Marquis, Nationals 4.1 0-2 27.00 3.00 1:3
RHP Gavin Floyd, White Sox 7.0 0-2 14.14 3.00 7:6
LHP Doug Davis, Brewers 8.0 0-1 12.38 2.63 9:3
RHP John Maine, Mets 8.0 0-1 12.38 2.50 8:7
LHP Jon Lester, Red Sox 11.0 0-2 9.00 2.00 10:6
RHP Jair Jurrjens, Braves 11.1 0-1 8.74 1.59 10:5
LHP Brian Tallet, Blue Jays 11.0 0-1 8.18 1.45 6:3
RHP Joel Pineiro, Angels 9.1 1-1 7.71 1.71 6:1
RHP Bronson Arroyo, Reds 12.0 0-1 7.50 1.25 10:4
RHP Johnny Cueto, Reds 10.0 0-0 6.30 1.90 6:5
The pitchers eligible for this list all started twice during the week
Losses – Floyd, Lester, Marquis and Brewers RHP LaTroy Hawkins 2.
Blown saves – Hawkins, Diamondbacks RHPs Aaron Heilman and Chad Qualls, and Rockies LHP Franklin Morales 0-for-2; Orioles RHP Jim Johnson 1-3.
In closing
This is a regular feature of our Emails and blog posts. It lets you know who’s getting saves. Equally important is telling you who’s blowing saves or putting his job in jeopardy by getting shaky saves. There’s also a FREE Article on the old fantasybaseballscout.com web site letting you know which pitcher or pitchers each team is using to close games. It will be updated whenever there’s a change or speculation about a change in a team’s closer.
There were some sloppy and unorthodox saves Sunday.
Indians RHP Chris Perez relieved LHP Tony Sipp with one out in the top of the ninth inning against the White Sox with Cleveland ahead 7-3. Perez allowed one inherited runner to score but retired two batters for his fourth save. Pirates RHP Octavio Dotel’s third save came even though he allowed Reds OF Jay Bruce’s second home run of the game and season. Pittsburgh won at home 5-3. Padres RHP Heath Bell had his third save despite a pitching line of 121102 in a 5-3 victory at Arizona.
Royals RHP Joakim Soria entered their game at Minnesota with two out and a runner on base with KC leading 7-5 in the eighth inning. The Royals finished with a 10-5 win, and Soria received his third save with a line of 1 1/3 00002. Orioles RHP had a 6-3 lead when RHP Jim Johnson entered the game to start the bottom of the eighth inning at Oakland. Baltimore scored twice to win 8-3, and Johnson earned his first save of 2010 with a line of 210002.
Others credited with saves were Yankees RHP Mariano Rivera, fifth, 5-2 over the Rangers; the third saves for Marlins RHP Leo Nunez (1-0 at Philadelphia) and Tigers RHP Jose Valverde (4-2 at Seattle); Astros RHP Matt Lindstrom’s second, 3-2 at Wrigley Field in 10 innings, and Dodgers RHP Jonathan Broxton’s first, 2-1 against the Giants.
NOTE: We have extended the free period for these Emails again – through Sunday, April 25. After that date, the Emails would go only to those who subscribe.
Before then, we’ll tell you how you can subscribe to receive these Emails five or more times per week, along with timely Articles and other information that will be added to the fantasybaseballscout.com web site.
Subscriptions will include Articles such as our “Pitchers (and Hitters) to Keep and Avoid.” Last year, our recommendation of Rockies LHP Jorge De La Rosa in itself was worth the cost of what you’d pay, and he was only one of our picks that were on the money. Choosing him was inspired; he was 0-6 when we recommended him, and 16-3 thereafter.
You also would have access to whatever content we’re able to get on to the fantasybaseballscout.com web site.
Let us know of your interest and what you’d like to see by Emailing lary@fantasybaseballscout.com.
Subscribers will be able to ask questions specific to their fantasy teams and leagues, and receive answers through these Emails, the web site or personal Emails.
Hot
The weekly Hot and Not for batters is based on 20 at-bats for batting average, and at least a .280 BA for the other categories.
Pos. Player, Team H-AB BA HR-RBI SB
SS Derek Jeter, Yankees 11-22 .500 3-7 0
C Ivan Rodriguez, Nationals 10-21 .476 0-7 1
2B Dan Uggla, Marlins 13-28 .464 2-7 0
OF Jose Guillen, Royals 12-26 .462 3-5 1
SS Yuniesky Betancourt, Royals 11-24 .458 1-3 0
1B James Loney, Dodgers 11-24 .458 0-0 1
3B/2B Casey McGehee, Brewers 10-22 .455 2-6 0
OF Ryan Ludwick, Cardinals 11-25 .440 1-3 0
OF Andre Ethier, Dodgers 11-26 .423 3-9 0
OF Ryan Braun, Brewers 11-26 .423 2-8 1
The two .458 batters present a contrast. Betancourt isn’t likely to be on this list often. Loney is a high-average threat, but LA no doubt would want more run production from its first baseman.
Home runs – Phillies 2B Chase Utley 5; Dodgers OF Matt Kemp and Orioles 3B/1B Ty Wigginton 4; Ethier, Guillen, Jeter, Indians OF Shin-soo Choo, White Sox OF/1B Andruw Jones and Rays 1B Carlos Pena 1.
RBI – Choo 11; Wigginton 10; Ethier, Pena and Twins OF/1B Michael Cuddyer 9; Braun, Kemp, Utley and Royals 3B/2B Alberto Callaspo 8.
Stolen bases – Yankees OF Brett Gardner, White Sox OF Juan Pierre, Cubs SS Ryan Theriot and Reds 1B Joey Votto 4; Podsednik, Rays OF Carl Crawford, White Sox OF Alex Rios and Twins OF Denard Span 3.
Runs – Kemp, Span and Utley 8; Guillen, Rodriguez, Uggla, Giants 1B/3B Aubrey Huff, Rays 3B Evan Longoria and Nationals OF Josh Willingham 7.
Gardner, Jeter and Podsednik were on a Hot list for the second consecutive week.
Requirements for pitchers to make these lists are 7 innings pitched for ERA and WHIP, 10 strikeouts in K:W ratio and an ERA under 4.00 for the other categories.
Hand Pitcher, Team IP W-L ERA WHIP K:W
RHP Justin Duchscherer, Athletics 13.0 1-0 0.00 1.00 9:4
RHP Livan Hernandez, Nationals 9.0 1-0 0.00 0.67 3:2
RHP Ubaldo Jimenez, Rockies 9.0 1-0 0.00 0.67 7:6
RHP Doug Fister, Mariners 8.0 1-0 0.00 0.38 4:0
LHP Jonathan Sanchez, Giants 8.0 1-0 0.00 0.75 11:3
LHP Joe Saunders, Angels 8.0 1-0 0.00 0.75 2:1
RHP Mike Pelfrey, Mets 8.0 1-0 0.00 0.88 6:1
RHP Brad Penny, Cardinals 7.0 1-0 0.00 0.43 4:0
RHP Roy Oswalt, Astros 7.0 1-0 0.00 0.71 6:0
RHP Carlos Silva, Cubs 7.0 1-0 0.00 0.71 5:0
Of the 121 pitchers with an 0.00 ERA for the week, 16 threw at least seven innings. Pelfrey also earned a save for pitching a scoreless 20th inning in Saturday’s 2-1 victory over the Cardinals
Wins – Rays RHPs Lance Cormier and Matt Garza, Padres RHP Kevin Correia, Yankees LHP Andy Pettitte and Cardinals RHP Adam Wainwright.
Saves – Mariners RHP David Aardsma, Yankees RHP Mariano Rivera, Angels RHP Fernando Rodney and Rays RHP Rafael Soriano 3-for-3.
WHIP – Fister 0.38; Penny and Cardinals LHP Jaime Garcia 0.43; Yankees LHP C.C. Sabathia 0.50; Indians LHP David Huff 0.56.
K:W ratio – Phillies LHP Cole Hamels 14:1; Marlins RHP Josh Johnson 10:1; Wainwright 16:3; Blue Jays LHP Davis Romero 18:4; Sanchez 11:3; Cardinals RHP Chris Carpenter 10:3; Angels RHP Ervin Santana 13:5; Rangers RHP Colby Lewis 10:4/
Pitchers repeating n a Hot list were Aardsma; Garza; Jimenez, who pitched a no-hitter Saturday, and Oswalt. Saunders jumped from the Not list to Hot in a week’s time.
Not
Pos. Player, Team H-AB BA HR-RBI SB
1B Lyle Overbay, Blue Jays 2-27 .074 0-2 0
OF Carlos Lee, Astros 2-25 .080 0-0 0
OF Dexter Fowler, Rockies 2-25 .080 0-0 1
SS Jason Bartlett, Rays 2-23 .087 0-0 0
C Dioner Navarro, Rays 2-21 .095 0-0 0
1B Mark Teixeira, Yankees 2-20 .100 1-3 0
OF Carlos Quentin, White Sox 3-27 .111 1-8 0
SS Edgar Renteria, Giants 3-24 .125 0-1 0
OF Rajai Davis, Athletics 4-31 .129 0-1 3
SS Jose Reyes, Mets 4-31 .129 0-2 1
This week’s (dis)honorable mention goes to Marlins OF/2B Chris Coghlan 0-for-19, Pirates 1B Jeff Clement 0-15, Astros 2B Kazuo Matsui 0-11, and Tigers SS Ramon Santiago 0-10. Receiving a special dishonorable mention is Rangers C Taylor Teagarden. He was just 0-for-6 for the week, but all six at-bats were strikeouts, giving him a season total of 0-for-18 with 13 Ks.
W:K ratio – Rangers OF Nelson Cruz and Diamondbacks OF Justin Upton 1:10; Mets OF Jason Bay 2:11; Marlins OF Cameron Maybin 3:10; Mets 3B David Wright 9:10.
Caught stealing – Dodgers OF Matt Kemp 1-for-3.
Teagarden has been on a Not list three consecutive weeks (including spring training), and Overbay has been cold two weeks in a row. Cruz, Davis, Quentin and Renteria all were on a Hot list the previous week. Quentin wasn’t a total washout during the last week; he managed to drive in eight runs with just three hits.
Hand Pitcher, Team IP W-L ERA WHIP K:W
RHP Jason Marquis, Nationals 4.1 0-2 27.00 3.00 1:3
RHP Gavin Floyd, White Sox 7.0 0-2 14.14 3.00 7:6
LHP Doug Davis, Brewers 8.0 0-1 12.38 2.63 9:3
RHP John Maine, Mets 8.0 0-1 12.38 2.50 8:7
LHP Jon Lester, Red Sox 11.0 0-2 9.00 2.00 10:6
RHP Jair Jurrjens, Braves 11.1 0-1 8.74 1.59 10:5
LHP Brian Tallet, Blue Jays 11.0 0-1 8.18 1.45 6:3
RHP Joel Pineiro, Angels 9.1 1-1 7.71 1.71 6:1
RHP Bronson Arroyo, Reds 12.0 0-1 7.50 1.25 10:4
RHP Johnny Cueto, Reds 10.0 0-0 6.30 1.90 6:5
The pitchers eligible for this list all started twice during the week
Losses – Floyd, Lester, Marquis and Brewers RHP LaTroy Hawkins 2.
Blown saves – Hawkins, Diamondbacks RHPs Aaron Heilman and Chad Qualls, and Rockies LHP Franklin Morales 0-for-2; Orioles RHP Jim Johnson 1-3.
In closing
This is a regular feature of our Emails and blog posts. It lets you know who’s getting saves. Equally important is telling you who’s blowing saves or putting his job in jeopardy by getting shaky saves. There’s also a FREE Article on the old fantasybaseballscout.com web site letting you know which pitcher or pitchers each team is using to close games. It will be updated whenever there’s a change or speculation about a change in a team’s closer.
There were some sloppy and unorthodox saves Sunday.
Indians RHP Chris Perez relieved LHP Tony Sipp with one out in the top of the ninth inning against the White Sox with Cleveland ahead 7-3. Perez allowed one inherited runner to score but retired two batters for his fourth save. Pirates RHP Octavio Dotel’s third save came even though he allowed Reds OF Jay Bruce’s second home run of the game and season. Pittsburgh won at home 5-3. Padres RHP Heath Bell had his third save despite a pitching line of 121102 in a 5-3 victory at Arizona.
Royals RHP Joakim Soria entered their game at Minnesota with two out and a runner on base with KC leading 7-5 in the eighth inning. The Royals finished with a 10-5 win, and Soria received his third save with a line of 1 1/3 00002. Orioles RHP had a 6-3 lead when RHP Jim Johnson entered the game to start the bottom of the eighth inning at Oakland. Baltimore scored twice to win 8-3, and Johnson earned his first save of 2010 with a line of 210002.
Others credited with saves were Yankees RHP Mariano Rivera, fifth, 5-2 over the Rangers; the third saves for Marlins RHP Leo Nunez (1-0 at Philadelphia) and Tigers RHP Jose Valverde (4-2 at Seattle); Astros RHP Matt Lindstrom’s second, 3-2 at Wrigley Field in 10 innings, and Dodgers RHP Jonathan Broxton’s first, 2-1 against the Giants.
Saturday, April 17, 2010
A's pay Anderson as ace of surprising rotation
Weekly Preview/Pitching Chart
April 17, 2010
A’s pay Anderson as ace of surprising rotation
Here is our Weekly Preview and Pitching Chart for the coming week.
NOTE: We have extended the free period for these Emails again – through Sunday, April 25. After that date, the Emails would go only to those who subscribe.
Before then, we’ll tell you how you can subscribe to receive these Emails five or more times per week, along with timely Articles and other information that will be added to the fantasybaseballscout.com web site.
Subscriptions will include Articles such as our “Pitchers (and Hitters) to Keep and Avoid.” Last year, our recommendation of Rockies LHP Jorge De La Rosa in itself was worth the cost of what you’d pay, and he was only one of our picks that were on the money. Choosing him was inspired; he was 0-6 when we recommended him, and 16-3 thereafter.
You also would have access to whatever content we’re able to get on to the fantasybaseballscout.com web site.
Let us know of your interest and what you’d like to see by Emailing lary@fantasybaseballscout.com.
Thanks for your continuing interest in and support of Fantasy Baseball Scout. Thanks also to those who have made suggestions as to content they’d like to see. A reminder: Subscribers will be able to ask questions specific to their fantasy teams and leagues, and receive answers through these Emails, the web site or personal Emails.
Projected starting pitchers, April 19-25, 2010
AL Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun
Bal @Se-Bergesen @Se-Hernandz @Se-Millwood --- @Bos-Guthrie @Bos-Matusz @Bos-Bergesn2
Bos TB-Lackey Tex-Wakfield Tex-Beckett Tex-Buchholz Bal-Lester Bal-Lackey2 Bal-Wkfield2
CWS --- TB-Danks TB-Buehrle* TB-Peavy Se-Floyd Se-Garcia Se-Danks2
Cle --- @Min-Mastersn @Min-Huff @Min-Talbot @Oak-Wstbrook @Oak-Carmona @Oak-Mastrsn2
Det @LAA-Willis @LAA-Porcello @LAA-Bondrmn @LAA-Verlander @Tex-Scherzer @Tex-Willis2 @Tex-Porcello2
KC @Tor-Bannister @Tor-Davies @Tor-Greinke --- Min-Meche Min-Hochevar Min-Bannistr2
LAA Det-Pineiro Det-Kazmir Det-Weaver Det-Saunders NYY-
Santana NYY-Pineiro2 NYY-Kazmir2
Min --- Cle-Slowey Cle-Liriano Cle-Baker @KC-Blckburn @KC-Pavano @KC-Slowey2
NYY --- @Oak-Vzquez** @Oak-Sbthia-3* @Oak-Beckett @LAA-Pettitte @LAA-Hughes @LAA-Vazquez2
Oak --- NYY-Gonzalez NYY-Sheets NYY-Braden Cle-Dchschrr Cle-Adrsn-4* Cle-Gonzalz2
Se Bal-Fister Bal-Vargas Bal-Hernandz --- @CWS-Rld-Smth @CWS-Snell @CWS-Fister2
TB @Bos-Niemann @CWS-Price @CWS-Davis @CWS-Shields Tor-Garza Tor-Niemnn2 Tor-Price2
Tex --- @Bos-Lewis @Bos-Harrison @Bos-Wilson Det-Feldman Det-Harden Det-Lewis2
Tor KC-Morrow KC-Eveland KC-Marcum --- @TB-Tallet @TB-Romero @TB-Morrow2
*-The White Sox are skipping their fifth starter, RHP Freddy Garcia, and using their Opening Day starter, LHP Mark Buehrle, on his usual four days’ rest following a day off. Garcia pitched so poorly Thursday against the Blue Jays that there’s media speculation that Chicago could soon bring up RHP Daniel Hudson to go into its rotation.
**-We thought it was strange when the same Yankees fans who booed RHP Javier Vazquez out of New York in 2004 were excited that he was coming back. Those same fans booed him again when his first 2010 start at Yankee Stadium didn’t go well. Through it all, Vazquez has remained the stand-up guy he has been going back to his days in Montreal.
3*-Following Monday’s off day, it seems likely that the Yankees will move up LHP C.C. Sabathia, RHP Josh Beckett and LHP Andy Pettitte one day each, ahead of their fifth starter, RHP Phil Hughes. It’s almost certain that Sabathia would pitch on four days’ rest because his winning start Friday night ended after just six innings because of rain.
4*-LHP Brett Anderson has been the leader of an Athletics rotation that has a 6-0 record. The 22-year-old was rewarded Friday, possibly as much for his improved conditioning as for his pitching, with a new four-year contract worth $12.5-million and including team options for 2014 and ’15.
AL Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun
Ari StL-Lopez StL-Haren StL-Jackson --- Phi-Benson Phi-Kennedy Phi-Lopez2
Atl --- Phi-Hanson Phi-Hudson Phi-Lowe @NYM-Kawkmi* @NYM-Jurrjens @NYM-Hanson2
ChC @NYM-Wells @NYM-Zmbrano @NYM-Silva @NYM-Grzlny** @Mil-Dempster @Mil-Wells2 @Mil-Zmbrno2
Cin --- LAD-Bailey LAD-Harang LAD-Leake SD-Cueto SD-Arroyo SD-Bailey2
Col @Was-Cook @Was-DeLaRsa @Was-Hammel @Was-Jimenez Fla-Smith Fla-Cook2 Fla-DLaRsa2
Fla --- @Ho-Volstad @Ho-Johnson @Ho-Sanchez @Col-Nolasco @Col-Robertsn @Col-Volstad2
Ho --- Fla-Myers Fla-Norris Fla-Paulino Pit-Oswalt Pit-Rdriguez Pit-Myers2
LAD --- @Cin-Bilngsley @Cin-Kuroda @Cin-Padilla @Was-Haeger @Was-Kershaw @Was-Bilngsly2
Mil --- @Pit-Bush @Pit-Gllrdo-3* @Pit-Wolf ChC-Davis ChC-Suppan ChC-Bush2
NYM ChC-Niese ChC-Pelfrey ChC-Perez ChC-Santana Atl-Maine Atl-Niese2 Atl-Pelfrey2
Phi --- @Atl-Kendrick @Atl-Hllday-4* @Atl-Happ @Ari-Moyer @Ari-Hamels @Ari-Kndrick2
Pit --- Mil-Morton Mil-Duke Mil-Olndrf-5* @Ho-Maholm @Ho-McCtchn @Ho-Morton2
StL @Ari-Penny @Ari-Lohse @Ari-Carpenter --- @SF-Garcia @SF-Wanright @SF-Penny2
SD SF-Richard SF-Latos SF-Garland --- @Cin-Correia @Cin-LeBlc-6* @Cin-Richard2
SF @SD-Cain @SD-Sanchez @SD-Wlemeyr --- StL-Lincecum StL-Zito StL-Cain2
Was Col-Stammen Col-Olsen-7* Col-Lannan Col-Hernandz LAD-Marquis LAD-Stammn2 LAD-Olsen2
*-Braves RHP Kenshin Kawakami has pitched better this year. The credit for his improvement has gone to replacing a cut fastball with a sinking fastball.
**-Cubs LHP Tom Gorzelanny is considered day to day after leaving today’s game when Astros 3B/1B Pedro Feliz hit a line drive off Gorzelanny’s left shoulder. An alternative for Thursday’s game could be LHP Ted Lilly, currently scheduled to make his final injury-rehab start in the minor leagues Monday. It also seemed possible that Lilly could replace RHP Carlos Silva in the rotation, but Silva allowed no earned runs Friday against the Astros.
3*-With an off day Monday, the Brewers are skipping fifth starter Jeff Suppan in their rotation, moving him from Wednesday to Saturday.
4*-If you had RHP Roy Halladay in your rotation, you’d also probably move him ahead of LHP J.A. Happ to pitch on Halladay’s customary four days’ rest.
5*-The Pirates skipped RHP Ross Ohlendorf’s most recent start because of back spasms. If he couldn’t pitch Thursday, a possible replacement would be LHP Brian Burres. Pittsburgh also is moving LHP Zach Duke ahead in the rotation to pitch on four days’ rest after Monday’s day off.
6*-It would be recently recalled LHP Wade LeBlanc’s turn to pitch Saturday, but … well, there are two buts. One is that the Padres could skip LeBlanc and move LHP Clayton Richard and RHP Mat Latos ahead one day to pitch on their usual rest following Thursday’s off day. The other is that RHP Chris R. Young, who has had a tight shoulder, is eligible to come off the disabled list in time for the weekend series in Cincinnati.
7*-The Nationals recalled LHP Scott Olsen from Triple-A Syracuse to move into their rotation Thursday. His next turn would be Tuesday.
Schedule notes
Four teams in each league are scheduled for seven games this week, which would give their hitters and relief pitchers 17 per cent more chances to perform well (or poorly) than the players on the other 22 teams. Those teams are the Red Sox, Tigers, Angels and Rays in the American League and the Cubs, Rockies, Mets and Nationals in the National League. Boston, LA/Anaheim, the Cubs and Washington will have the added advantage of playing all seven games at home.
It appears that batters could have a slight edge in the NL. Even though the seven games each in New York and Washington might favor pitchers, six games are scheduled in very good hitters’ parks at Arizona and Cincinnati, and another six in a pretty good hitters’ park in Houston. In the American League, seven games in Boston and six on the south side of Chicago, where batters have the upper hand, are balanced by seven at LA/Anaheim and six at Oakland’s extreme pitchers’ park.
Washington’s seven home games could give us an idea of whether the Nationals (currently 6-5) are becoming a legitimate major league team. They’re definitely better than the Orioles up I-95 a little way and the Astros in Washington’s own league.
Pitchers scheduled to start twice at home are RHPs John Lackey, Tim Wakefield, Joel Pineiro, Rodrigo Lopez, Homer Bailey, Brett Myers, Jon Niese, Mike Pelfrey and Craig Stammen, and LHPs John Danks, Scott Kazmir, Gio Gonzalez and Scott Olsen. Our highest recommendations are Lackey and Danks, with Pelfrey a live longshot. Rodrigo Lopez? Come on! Do the Diamondbacks actually have a home-field advantage over Philadelphia with RHPs Kris Benson, Ian Kennedy and Lopez as their starters?
News and notes
Today, these are primarily observations made while researching teams’ rotations.
OOO The Orioles put LF Felix Pie (shoulder injury) on the disabled list and recalled OF Lou Montanez from Triple-A Norfolk. Expect to see Baltimore in last place for the remainder of the season, and for manager Dave Trembley to be the scapegoat instead of team president Andy MacPhail.
OOO Yankees RHP Chan Ho Park (hamstring) went on the DL, with LHP Boone Logan up from Triple-A Scranton as a replacement.
OOO Athletics 2B Mark Ellis has missed five games because of a sore hamstring.
OOO A few suggestions for the Rangers: 1. Before merely shipping CF Julio Borbon, a leadoff batter who hasn’t drawn a walk, back to Triple-A Oklahoma City for more seasoning, drop him to eighth in the lineup. The current No. 9 batter, SS Elvis Andrus, has reached base multiple times in multiple games. Treat C Taylor Teagarden, currently in the 8 hole, as a pitcher and have him bat ninth. He doesn’t have a hit yet, and if he did get on base at least he wouldn’t be slowing down Borbon if he also reached safely. 2. Make a deal for a real major league catcher. 3. Last year, suggestions to replace 1B Chris Davis with 1B prospect Justin Smoak were premature. This season, the time might be right. Again Davis has started slowly at bat, but he isn’t even playing good defense in 2010.
OOO The Rockies have returned RHP Esmil Rogers to Triple-A Colorado Springs, where he might be able to work as a starter and return to replace RHP Jason Hammel in the rotation. LHP Joe Beimel came up from Air Force Academy Land to assume a relief/setup role. RHP Manny Corpas might become a long reliever after 2 1/3 effective innings in his most recent appearance.
In closing
This is a regular feature of our Emails and blog posts. It lets you know who’s getting saves. Equally important is telling you who’s blowing saves or putting his job in jeopardy by getting shaky saves. There’s also a FREE Article on the old fantasybaseballscout.com web site letting you know which pitcher or pitchers each team is using to close games. It will be updated whenever there’s a change or speculation about a change in a team’s closer. In fact, there’s an update there today.
Just five saves were recorded Friday, but the biggest impact on a team’s closer situation came at San Diego, where Diamondbacks RHP Juan Gutierrez blew a save. He was trying to close the game because Arizona’s closer, RHP Chad Qualls, had pitched – and blown saves – each of the two previous nights. Gutierrez entered the game in the bottom of the ninth with a 3-2 lead. He left with a pitching line of 2/3 24421 after giving up a game-winning three-run home run to Padres 3B/OF Chase Headley. Other options to close games for the D-backs are RHPs Bob Howry and Blaine Boyer. You might remember that earlier this week we told you that the Blue Jays have a surplus at the position with RHPs Jason Frasor and Kevin Gregg. Toronto already has noted that it is willing to trade, having acquired OF Fred Lewis from the Giants, and could be willing to deal for another hitter.
Cardinals RHP Ryan Franklin turned an easy fourth save into an adventure. He entered with a 4-1 lead in the top of the ninth, then escaped with a 4-3 victory over the Mets and a line of 132200 that shot his ERA up to 7.20. We wouldn’t consider Franklin a sure thing; last year was the only time he was very effective in any major league role. If he’s on your fantasy roster, keep an eye on him and look for an alternative.
The Phillies seemed to have an even easier win when they led the Marlins 8-2 after eight innings. However, RHP David Herndon allowed three runs while retiring only one batter, and left two runners on base for RHP Ryan Madson. He allowed one of the runners to score, but with a line of 2/3 10000 Madson picked up his third save.
Other saves went to RHP Matt Capps, a big reason for the Nationals’ success with saves in their first five victories, 5-3 over the Brewers; Angels RHP Fernando Rodney, second, 7-5 at Toronto, and Athletics RHP Andrew Bailey, first, 4-2 against the Orioles. That’s how good Oakland’s starting pitching has been; Bailey has been needed for only one save.
April 17, 2010
A’s pay Anderson as ace of surprising rotation
Here is our Weekly Preview and Pitching Chart for the coming week.
NOTE: We have extended the free period for these Emails again – through Sunday, April 25. After that date, the Emails would go only to those who subscribe.
Before then, we’ll tell you how you can subscribe to receive these Emails five or more times per week, along with timely Articles and other information that will be added to the fantasybaseballscout.com web site.
Subscriptions will include Articles such as our “Pitchers (and Hitters) to Keep and Avoid.” Last year, our recommendation of Rockies LHP Jorge De La Rosa in itself was worth the cost of what you’d pay, and he was only one of our picks that were on the money. Choosing him was inspired; he was 0-6 when we recommended him, and 16-3 thereafter.
You also would have access to whatever content we’re able to get on to the fantasybaseballscout.com web site.
Let us know of your interest and what you’d like to see by Emailing lary@fantasybaseballscout.com.
Thanks for your continuing interest in and support of Fantasy Baseball Scout. Thanks also to those who have made suggestions as to content they’d like to see. A reminder: Subscribers will be able to ask questions specific to their fantasy teams and leagues, and receive answers through these Emails, the web site or personal Emails.
Projected starting pitchers, April 19-25, 2010
AL Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun
Bal @Se-Bergesen @Se-Hernandz @Se-Millwood --- @Bos-Guthrie @Bos-Matusz @Bos-Bergesn2
Bos TB-Lackey Tex-Wakfield Tex-Beckett Tex-Buchholz Bal-Lester Bal-Lackey2 Bal-Wkfield2
CWS --- TB-Danks TB-Buehrle* TB-Peavy Se-Floyd Se-Garcia Se-Danks2
Cle --- @Min-Mastersn @Min-Huff @Min-Talbot @Oak-Wstbrook @Oak-Carmona @Oak-Mastrsn2
Det @LAA-Willis @LAA-Porcello @LAA-Bondrmn @LAA-Verlander @Tex-Scherzer @Tex-Willis2 @Tex-Porcello2
KC @Tor-Bannister @Tor-Davies @Tor-Greinke --- Min-Meche Min-Hochevar Min-Bannistr2
LAA Det-Pineiro Det-Kazmir Det-Weaver Det-Saunders NYY-
Santana NYY-Pineiro2 NYY-Kazmir2
Min --- Cle-Slowey Cle-Liriano Cle-Baker @KC-Blckburn @KC-Pavano @KC-Slowey2
NYY --- @Oak-Vzquez** @Oak-Sbthia-3* @Oak-Beckett @LAA-Pettitte @LAA-Hughes @LAA-Vazquez2
Oak --- NYY-Gonzalez NYY-Sheets NYY-Braden Cle-Dchschrr Cle-Adrsn-4* Cle-Gonzalz2
Se Bal-Fister Bal-Vargas Bal-Hernandz --- @CWS-Rld-Smth @CWS-Snell @CWS-Fister2
TB @Bos-Niemann @CWS-Price @CWS-Davis @CWS-Shields Tor-Garza Tor-Niemnn2 Tor-Price2
Tex --- @Bos-Lewis @Bos-Harrison @Bos-Wilson Det-Feldman Det-Harden Det-Lewis2
Tor KC-Morrow KC-Eveland KC-Marcum --- @TB-Tallet @TB-Romero @TB-Morrow2
*-The White Sox are skipping their fifth starter, RHP Freddy Garcia, and using their Opening Day starter, LHP Mark Buehrle, on his usual four days’ rest following a day off. Garcia pitched so poorly Thursday against the Blue Jays that there’s media speculation that Chicago could soon bring up RHP Daniel Hudson to go into its rotation.
**-We thought it was strange when the same Yankees fans who booed RHP Javier Vazquez out of New York in 2004 were excited that he was coming back. Those same fans booed him again when his first 2010 start at Yankee Stadium didn’t go well. Through it all, Vazquez has remained the stand-up guy he has been going back to his days in Montreal.
3*-Following Monday’s off day, it seems likely that the Yankees will move up LHP C.C. Sabathia, RHP Josh Beckett and LHP Andy Pettitte one day each, ahead of their fifth starter, RHP Phil Hughes. It’s almost certain that Sabathia would pitch on four days’ rest because his winning start Friday night ended after just six innings because of rain.
4*-LHP Brett Anderson has been the leader of an Athletics rotation that has a 6-0 record. The 22-year-old was rewarded Friday, possibly as much for his improved conditioning as for his pitching, with a new four-year contract worth $12.5-million and including team options for 2014 and ’15.
AL Mon Tue Wed Thu Fri Sat Sun
Ari StL-Lopez StL-Haren StL-Jackson --- Phi-Benson Phi-Kennedy Phi-Lopez2
Atl --- Phi-Hanson Phi-Hudson Phi-Lowe @NYM-Kawkmi* @NYM-Jurrjens @NYM-Hanson2
ChC @NYM-Wells @NYM-Zmbrano @NYM-Silva @NYM-Grzlny** @Mil-Dempster @Mil-Wells2 @Mil-Zmbrno2
Cin --- LAD-Bailey LAD-Harang LAD-Leake SD-Cueto SD-Arroyo SD-Bailey2
Col @Was-Cook @Was-DeLaRsa @Was-Hammel @Was-Jimenez Fla-Smith Fla-Cook2 Fla-DLaRsa2
Fla --- @Ho-Volstad @Ho-Johnson @Ho-Sanchez @Col-Nolasco @Col-Robertsn @Col-Volstad2
Ho --- Fla-Myers Fla-Norris Fla-Paulino Pit-Oswalt Pit-Rdriguez Pit-Myers2
LAD --- @Cin-Bilngsley @Cin-Kuroda @Cin-Padilla @Was-Haeger @Was-Kershaw @Was-Bilngsly2
Mil --- @Pit-Bush @Pit-Gllrdo-3* @Pit-Wolf ChC-Davis ChC-Suppan ChC-Bush2
NYM ChC-Niese ChC-Pelfrey ChC-Perez ChC-Santana Atl-Maine Atl-Niese2 Atl-Pelfrey2
Phi --- @Atl-Kendrick @Atl-Hllday-4* @Atl-Happ @Ari-Moyer @Ari-Hamels @Ari-Kndrick2
Pit --- Mil-Morton Mil-Duke Mil-Olndrf-5* @Ho-Maholm @Ho-McCtchn @Ho-Morton2
StL @Ari-Penny @Ari-Lohse @Ari-Carpenter --- @SF-Garcia @SF-Wanright @SF-Penny2
SD SF-Richard SF-Latos SF-Garland --- @Cin-Correia @Cin-LeBlc-6* @Cin-Richard2
SF @SD-Cain @SD-Sanchez @SD-Wlemeyr --- StL-Lincecum StL-Zito StL-Cain2
Was Col-Stammen Col-Olsen-7* Col-Lannan Col-Hernandz LAD-Marquis LAD-Stammn2 LAD-Olsen2
*-Braves RHP Kenshin Kawakami has pitched better this year. The credit for his improvement has gone to replacing a cut fastball with a sinking fastball.
**-Cubs LHP Tom Gorzelanny is considered day to day after leaving today’s game when Astros 3B/1B Pedro Feliz hit a line drive off Gorzelanny’s left shoulder. An alternative for Thursday’s game could be LHP Ted Lilly, currently scheduled to make his final injury-rehab start in the minor leagues Monday. It also seemed possible that Lilly could replace RHP Carlos Silva in the rotation, but Silva allowed no earned runs Friday against the Astros.
3*-With an off day Monday, the Brewers are skipping fifth starter Jeff Suppan in their rotation, moving him from Wednesday to Saturday.
4*-If you had RHP Roy Halladay in your rotation, you’d also probably move him ahead of LHP J.A. Happ to pitch on Halladay’s customary four days’ rest.
5*-The Pirates skipped RHP Ross Ohlendorf’s most recent start because of back spasms. If he couldn’t pitch Thursday, a possible replacement would be LHP Brian Burres. Pittsburgh also is moving LHP Zach Duke ahead in the rotation to pitch on four days’ rest after Monday’s day off.
6*-It would be recently recalled LHP Wade LeBlanc’s turn to pitch Saturday, but … well, there are two buts. One is that the Padres could skip LeBlanc and move LHP Clayton Richard and RHP Mat Latos ahead one day to pitch on their usual rest following Thursday’s off day. The other is that RHP Chris R. Young, who has had a tight shoulder, is eligible to come off the disabled list in time for the weekend series in Cincinnati.
7*-The Nationals recalled LHP Scott Olsen from Triple-A Syracuse to move into their rotation Thursday. His next turn would be Tuesday.
Schedule notes
Four teams in each league are scheduled for seven games this week, which would give their hitters and relief pitchers 17 per cent more chances to perform well (or poorly) than the players on the other 22 teams. Those teams are the Red Sox, Tigers, Angels and Rays in the American League and the Cubs, Rockies, Mets and Nationals in the National League. Boston, LA/Anaheim, the Cubs and Washington will have the added advantage of playing all seven games at home.
It appears that batters could have a slight edge in the NL. Even though the seven games each in New York and Washington might favor pitchers, six games are scheduled in very good hitters’ parks at Arizona and Cincinnati, and another six in a pretty good hitters’ park in Houston. In the American League, seven games in Boston and six on the south side of Chicago, where batters have the upper hand, are balanced by seven at LA/Anaheim and six at Oakland’s extreme pitchers’ park.
Washington’s seven home games could give us an idea of whether the Nationals (currently 6-5) are becoming a legitimate major league team. They’re definitely better than the Orioles up I-95 a little way and the Astros in Washington’s own league.
Pitchers scheduled to start twice at home are RHPs John Lackey, Tim Wakefield, Joel Pineiro, Rodrigo Lopez, Homer Bailey, Brett Myers, Jon Niese, Mike Pelfrey and Craig Stammen, and LHPs John Danks, Scott Kazmir, Gio Gonzalez and Scott Olsen. Our highest recommendations are Lackey and Danks, with Pelfrey a live longshot. Rodrigo Lopez? Come on! Do the Diamondbacks actually have a home-field advantage over Philadelphia with RHPs Kris Benson, Ian Kennedy and Lopez as their starters?
News and notes
Today, these are primarily observations made while researching teams’ rotations.
OOO The Orioles put LF Felix Pie (shoulder injury) on the disabled list and recalled OF Lou Montanez from Triple-A Norfolk. Expect to see Baltimore in last place for the remainder of the season, and for manager Dave Trembley to be the scapegoat instead of team president Andy MacPhail.
OOO Yankees RHP Chan Ho Park (hamstring) went on the DL, with LHP Boone Logan up from Triple-A Scranton as a replacement.
OOO Athletics 2B Mark Ellis has missed five games because of a sore hamstring.
OOO A few suggestions for the Rangers: 1. Before merely shipping CF Julio Borbon, a leadoff batter who hasn’t drawn a walk, back to Triple-A Oklahoma City for more seasoning, drop him to eighth in the lineup. The current No. 9 batter, SS Elvis Andrus, has reached base multiple times in multiple games. Treat C Taylor Teagarden, currently in the 8 hole, as a pitcher and have him bat ninth. He doesn’t have a hit yet, and if he did get on base at least he wouldn’t be slowing down Borbon if he also reached safely. 2. Make a deal for a real major league catcher. 3. Last year, suggestions to replace 1B Chris Davis with 1B prospect Justin Smoak were premature. This season, the time might be right. Again Davis has started slowly at bat, but he isn’t even playing good defense in 2010.
OOO The Rockies have returned RHP Esmil Rogers to Triple-A Colorado Springs, where he might be able to work as a starter and return to replace RHP Jason Hammel in the rotation. LHP Joe Beimel came up from Air Force Academy Land to assume a relief/setup role. RHP Manny Corpas might become a long reliever after 2 1/3 effective innings in his most recent appearance.
In closing
This is a regular feature of our Emails and blog posts. It lets you know who’s getting saves. Equally important is telling you who’s blowing saves or putting his job in jeopardy by getting shaky saves. There’s also a FREE Article on the old fantasybaseballscout.com web site letting you know which pitcher or pitchers each team is using to close games. It will be updated whenever there’s a change or speculation about a change in a team’s closer. In fact, there’s an update there today.
Just five saves were recorded Friday, but the biggest impact on a team’s closer situation came at San Diego, where Diamondbacks RHP Juan Gutierrez blew a save. He was trying to close the game because Arizona’s closer, RHP Chad Qualls, had pitched – and blown saves – each of the two previous nights. Gutierrez entered the game in the bottom of the ninth with a 3-2 lead. He left with a pitching line of 2/3 24421 after giving up a game-winning three-run home run to Padres 3B/OF Chase Headley. Other options to close games for the D-backs are RHPs Bob Howry and Blaine Boyer. You might remember that earlier this week we told you that the Blue Jays have a surplus at the position with RHPs Jason Frasor and Kevin Gregg. Toronto already has noted that it is willing to trade, having acquired OF Fred Lewis from the Giants, and could be willing to deal for another hitter.
Cardinals RHP Ryan Franklin turned an easy fourth save into an adventure. He entered with a 4-1 lead in the top of the ninth, then escaped with a 4-3 victory over the Mets and a line of 132200 that shot his ERA up to 7.20. We wouldn’t consider Franklin a sure thing; last year was the only time he was very effective in any major league role. If he’s on your fantasy roster, keep an eye on him and look for an alternative.
The Phillies seemed to have an even easier win when they led the Marlins 8-2 after eight innings. However, RHP David Herndon allowed three runs while retiring only one batter, and left two runners on base for RHP Ryan Madson. He allowed one of the runners to score, but with a line of 2/3 10000 Madson picked up his third save.
Other saves went to RHP Matt Capps, a big reason for the Nationals’ success with saves in their first five victories, 5-3 over the Brewers; Angels RHP Fernando Rodney, second, 7-5 at Toronto, and Athletics RHP Andrew Bailey, first, 4-2 against the Orioles. That’s how good Oakland’s starting pitching has been; Bailey has been needed for only one save.
Early standings could reveal some weaknesses
We’re getting back toward our five-Emails-per-week regular-season schedule, which would send you News and Notes each Thursday.
NOTE: We have extended the free period for these Emails through Sunday, April 18. After that date, the Emails would go only to those who subscribe.
Before then, we’ll tell you how you can subscribe to receive these Emails five or more times per week, along with timely Articles and other information that will be added to the fantasybaseballscout.com web site.
Subscriptions will include Articles such as our “Pitchers (and Hitters) to Keep and Avoid.” Last year, our recommendation of Rockies LHP Jorge De La Rosa in itself was worth the cost of what you’d pay, and he was only one of our picks that were on the money. Choosing him was inspired; he was 0-6 when we recommended him, and 16-3 thereafter.
You also would have access to whatever content we’re able to get on to the fantasybaseballscout.com web site.
Let us know of your interest and what you’d like to see by Emailing lary@fantasybaseballscout.com.
Subscribers will be able to ask questions specific to their fantasy teams and leagues, and receive answers through these Emails, the web site or personal Emails.
We told you about Benson
There are some surprises among the teams currently leading the major leagues’ division, but the most interesting position is fourth place in four of the six divisions.
The American League leaders are Toronto (7-3) in the East, Minnesota (7-3) in the Central and Oakland (7-4) in the West. In the National League, Philadelphia leads the East at 7-2, with Florida not far behind at 6-4; St. Louis tops the Central at 6-3, and San Francisco (7-2) is first in the West.
But look at who’s fourth in the AL divisions – the Red Sox (4-5) in the East, White Sox (4-6) in the Central and Angels (3-7) in the West. All were considered playoff teams going into the season, and all still could be. Our thinking is that that the team in the greatest jeopardy is Boston, which really is beginning to show its age. It didn’t help that CF Mike Cameron couldn’t play because of a strained lower abdomen, which the Sox were checking to make sure it wasn’t appendicitis. With bruised ribs also sidelining LF Jacoby Ellsbury, another 30-something, Bill Hall, played center field and committed an error. Don’t even get us started about Jason Varitek, Mike Lowell, Tim Wakefield and Big Grandpapi.
In the National League, the Dodgers are fourth at 4-5, and it could be difficult for them to finish the season above .500. Their pitching staff is a mess. Is that Russ Ortiz or Ramon Ortiz on the roster? Both? Oh, no!
LA did win, with its 2009 hero, OF Andre Ethier, driving in the winnng run with a walk-off single.
The current order of the NL Central (separating the three teams tied for third) could easily be the way it finishes. It’s also possible that St. Louis could be the division’s only team to finish above .500.
OOO It was getaway day in Cleveland, and the Indians’ 3-2 victory over the Rangers took just 2 hours, 3 minutes to play. It helped that Tribe LHP David Huff pitched a complete-game four-hitter. Texas LHP Matt Harrison was about as good, but was victimized because two errors preceded Indians OF Shin-soo Choo’s three-run homer in the eighth inning.
OOO Hey! We told you the Diamondbacks would bring up RHP Kris Benson to start Saturday’s game, and the team now has announced that fact.
OOO We also told you Blue Jays LF Travis Snider’s current stint in the majors could be short. It won’t help him that Toronto traded cash or a player to be named to the Giants for OF Fred Lewis, who just completed an injury-rehab assignment at Triple-A Fresno. For now, the Jays have optioned OF Jeremy Reed to Triple-A Las Vegas and put RHP Dustin McGowan on the 60-day disabled list to make a roster spot for Lewis.
Cantu can
Marlins 1B/3B Jorge Cantu set a major league record with his 10th consecutive game with at least one hit and one RBI. That performance actually stretched his streak to 14 games over last year and this, four short of the major league record for H/RBI games at any point in a season. Ray Grimes established that mark for the 1922 Cubs. His streak no doubt has helped Florida OF Cameron Maybin score at least one run in each of his last nine games. It hasn’t helped Cantu that LF Chris Coghlan has been out for two games because of bruised left ribs. He could play Friday. OF Brett Carroll started in Coghlan’s place Wednesday and hit a home run.
Another streaking player is Phillies 2B Chase Utley, with four home runs in the last three games. And then there’s Astros LF Carlos Lee, in an 0-for-18 slump. Without his help, Houston won for the first time in 2010 – with the winning pitcher, RHP Bud Norris, striking out nine Cardinals in five innings.
Injuries
LF Felix Pie left the Orioles’ game in the seventh inning, holding his left shoulder. He also had injured it making a throw during Baltimore’s opening game. RHP Koji Uehara (strained left hamstring) threw on the side and could pitch batting practice Saturday.
OOO Yankees RHP Chan Ho Park suffered a right hamstring injury while warming up, so he was unable to pitch in relief.
OOO Phillies RHP Joe Blanton (strained left oblique) is scheduled to throw in the bullpen Friday and could begin an injury-rehab assignment Tuesday.
OOO The Diamondbacks scratched 1B Adam LaRoche (tight right quadriceps). They moved OF/1B Conor Jackson to first base and started OF Gerardo Parra in left field.
OOO RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka (strained neck) could return to the Red Sox soon. In his second injury-rehab start for Triple-A Pawtucket, he had a line of 630002 against Buffalo (Mets organization). He has given up five hits in 11 scoreless innings, and is eligible to come off the disabled list Sunday.
In closing
This is a regular feature of our Emails and blog posts. It lets you know who’s getting saves. Equally important is telling you who’s blowing saves or putting his job in jeopardy by getting shaky saves. There’s also a FREE Article on the old fantasybaseballscout.com web site letting you know which pitcher or pitchers each team is using to close games. It will be updated whenever there’s a change or speculation about a change in a team’s closer.
The biggest news about closers is that the Orioles have put LHP Mike Gonzalez on the disabled list because of a strained shoulder, and moved RHP Jim Johnson into the closer’s role. They also recalled RHP Kam Mickolio, who might have some save opportunities. Gonzalez isn’t expected back for 3-4 weeks. And, by the way, we also told you that Gonzalez appeared to be hurting and that Johnson might replace him.
Yankees RHP Mariano Rivera’s fourth save wasn’t difficult. He entered the game with two out and two runners on base, with New York leading the Angels 6-2. Rivera retired the only batter he faced to end the game.
Nationals RHP Matt Capps also received his fourth save, but had to work harder. In 1 2/3 innings of Washington’s 7-5 victory over the Phillies, he allowed three hits and one run on CF Shane Victorino’s homer.
In the Brewers’ 8-6 win over the Cubs, RHP Trevor Hoffman picked up his third save, but gave up a run tainted by a hit awarded when RF Corey Hart and 2B Rickie Weeks allowed a popup to fall safely.
NOTE: We have extended the free period for these Emails through Sunday, April 18. After that date, the Emails would go only to those who subscribe.
Before then, we’ll tell you how you can subscribe to receive these Emails five or more times per week, along with timely Articles and other information that will be added to the fantasybaseballscout.com web site.
Subscriptions will include Articles such as our “Pitchers (and Hitters) to Keep and Avoid.” Last year, our recommendation of Rockies LHP Jorge De La Rosa in itself was worth the cost of what you’d pay, and he was only one of our picks that were on the money. Choosing him was inspired; he was 0-6 when we recommended him, and 16-3 thereafter.
You also would have access to whatever content we’re able to get on to the fantasybaseballscout.com web site.
Let us know of your interest and what you’d like to see by Emailing lary@fantasybaseballscout.com.
Subscribers will be able to ask questions specific to their fantasy teams and leagues, and receive answers through these Emails, the web site or personal Emails.
We told you about Benson
There are some surprises among the teams currently leading the major leagues’ division, but the most interesting position is fourth place in four of the six divisions.
The American League leaders are Toronto (7-3) in the East, Minnesota (7-3) in the Central and Oakland (7-4) in the West. In the National League, Philadelphia leads the East at 7-2, with Florida not far behind at 6-4; St. Louis tops the Central at 6-3, and San Francisco (7-2) is first in the West.
But look at who’s fourth in the AL divisions – the Red Sox (4-5) in the East, White Sox (4-6) in the Central and Angels (3-7) in the West. All were considered playoff teams going into the season, and all still could be. Our thinking is that that the team in the greatest jeopardy is Boston, which really is beginning to show its age. It didn’t help that CF Mike Cameron couldn’t play because of a strained lower abdomen, which the Sox were checking to make sure it wasn’t appendicitis. With bruised ribs also sidelining LF Jacoby Ellsbury, another 30-something, Bill Hall, played center field and committed an error. Don’t even get us started about Jason Varitek, Mike Lowell, Tim Wakefield and Big Grandpapi.
In the National League, the Dodgers are fourth at 4-5, and it could be difficult for them to finish the season above .500. Their pitching staff is a mess. Is that Russ Ortiz or Ramon Ortiz on the roster? Both? Oh, no!
LA did win, with its 2009 hero, OF Andre Ethier, driving in the winnng run with a walk-off single.
The current order of the NL Central (separating the three teams tied for third) could easily be the way it finishes. It’s also possible that St. Louis could be the division’s only team to finish above .500.
OOO It was getaway day in Cleveland, and the Indians’ 3-2 victory over the Rangers took just 2 hours, 3 minutes to play. It helped that Tribe LHP David Huff pitched a complete-game four-hitter. Texas LHP Matt Harrison was about as good, but was victimized because two errors preceded Indians OF Shin-soo Choo’s three-run homer in the eighth inning.
OOO Hey! We told you the Diamondbacks would bring up RHP Kris Benson to start Saturday’s game, and the team now has announced that fact.
OOO We also told you Blue Jays LF Travis Snider’s current stint in the majors could be short. It won’t help him that Toronto traded cash or a player to be named to the Giants for OF Fred Lewis, who just completed an injury-rehab assignment at Triple-A Fresno. For now, the Jays have optioned OF Jeremy Reed to Triple-A Las Vegas and put RHP Dustin McGowan on the 60-day disabled list to make a roster spot for Lewis.
Cantu can
Marlins 1B/3B Jorge Cantu set a major league record with his 10th consecutive game with at least one hit and one RBI. That performance actually stretched his streak to 14 games over last year and this, four short of the major league record for H/RBI games at any point in a season. Ray Grimes established that mark for the 1922 Cubs. His streak no doubt has helped Florida OF Cameron Maybin score at least one run in each of his last nine games. It hasn’t helped Cantu that LF Chris Coghlan has been out for two games because of bruised left ribs. He could play Friday. OF Brett Carroll started in Coghlan’s place Wednesday and hit a home run.
Another streaking player is Phillies 2B Chase Utley, with four home runs in the last three games. And then there’s Astros LF Carlos Lee, in an 0-for-18 slump. Without his help, Houston won for the first time in 2010 – with the winning pitcher, RHP Bud Norris, striking out nine Cardinals in five innings.
Injuries
LF Felix Pie left the Orioles’ game in the seventh inning, holding his left shoulder. He also had injured it making a throw during Baltimore’s opening game. RHP Koji Uehara (strained left hamstring) threw on the side and could pitch batting practice Saturday.
OOO Yankees RHP Chan Ho Park suffered a right hamstring injury while warming up, so he was unable to pitch in relief.
OOO Phillies RHP Joe Blanton (strained left oblique) is scheduled to throw in the bullpen Friday and could begin an injury-rehab assignment Tuesday.
OOO The Diamondbacks scratched 1B Adam LaRoche (tight right quadriceps). They moved OF/1B Conor Jackson to first base and started OF Gerardo Parra in left field.
OOO RHP Daisuke Matsuzaka (strained neck) could return to the Red Sox soon. In his second injury-rehab start for Triple-A Pawtucket, he had a line of 630002 against Buffalo (Mets organization). He has given up five hits in 11 scoreless innings, and is eligible to come off the disabled list Sunday.
In closing
This is a regular feature of our Emails and blog posts. It lets you know who’s getting saves. Equally important is telling you who’s blowing saves or putting his job in jeopardy by getting shaky saves. There’s also a FREE Article on the old fantasybaseballscout.com web site letting you know which pitcher or pitchers each team is using to close games. It will be updated whenever there’s a change or speculation about a change in a team’s closer.
The biggest news about closers is that the Orioles have put LHP Mike Gonzalez on the disabled list because of a strained shoulder, and moved RHP Jim Johnson into the closer’s role. They also recalled RHP Kam Mickolio, who might have some save opportunities. Gonzalez isn’t expected back for 3-4 weeks. And, by the way, we also told you that Gonzalez appeared to be hurting and that Johnson might replace him.
Yankees RHP Mariano Rivera’s fourth save wasn’t difficult. He entered the game with two out and two runners on base, with New York leading the Angels 6-2. Rivera retired the only batter he faced to end the game.
Nationals RHP Matt Capps also received his fourth save, but had to work harder. In 1 2/3 innings of Washington’s 7-5 victory over the Phillies, he allowed three hits and one run on CF Shane Victorino’s homer.
In the Brewers’ 8-6 win over the Cubs, RHP Trevor Hoffman picked up his third save, but gave up a run tainted by a hit awarded when RF Corey Hart and 2B Rickie Weeks allowed a popup to fall safely.
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