April 2007 Archives

April 30, 2007

NL Player Spotlight- April 30, 2007

John Maine Maine was fantastic again on Sunday shutting out the Nationals for 7 innings. He allowed 3 hits and 3 walks while striking out a season high 8. Maine's now 4-5 in quality starts and pitching for the Mets...

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AL Player Spotlight- April 30, 2007

Richie Sexson My name is Drew and I'm a Richie Sexson owner (Hi Drew!), alright so there's not any meetings for us Sexson owners just yet that we can attend, but I'm here to help you guys through it. Sexson...

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April 29, 2007

AL Player Spotlight - April 29, 2007

Raul Ibanez is trying to get things going, but can't quite seem to turn the corner. After knocking-out 33 HR last season with 120+ RBI, he's hitting just .263 with 1 HR and 10 RBI. He's a great buy-low candidate...

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April 28, 2007

NL Player Spotlight - April 30, 2007

Chris Sampson Sampson turned in another solid effort on Saturday, going 6 1/3 innings and allowing just one run while striking out eight. This coming off a seven-run 14-hit pounding in his previous start was certainly needed from Sampson. The...

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April's Under/Over Performing Batters

April's Under/Over Performing Batters Another April is almost in the books and as typical there are quite a few players who are in our doghouse and a quite a few players who have the keys to the penthouse...but who deserves to...

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AL Player Spotlight - April 28, 2007

Steve Trachsel- BAL- Caution- The 2 runs and 5 this allowed in 5-2/3 innings yesterday was not too bad, but some other numbers in Trachsel's loss to the Indians are worrisome. His workload was stretched a bit farther than you'd...

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April 27, 2007

NL Player Spotlight - April 28th, 2007

Felix Pie of the Chicago Cubs appears to have earned his spot on the Major League team. It appears Lou Piniella has no plans of moving Jacque Jones to center when Angel Guzman is recalled on May 1st. The Cubs...

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AL Player Spotlight - April 27, 2007

Gerald Laird: Prior to his last two games in which he has gone 3 for 6 with 2 walks, Laird had been mired in a 1 for 34 slump. Laird's breakout 2006 season of 7/22/.296 was partially luck driven, .269...

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April 26, 2007

A Closer Look - April 26, 2007

The headline news in the bullpen this week comes from Texas where Eric Gagne was placed on the DL with a strained hip/glut. Akinori Otsuka returns to the closer role which he handled quite well last season, recording 32...

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AL Player Spotlight - April 26, 2007

Bartolo Colon- LAA- Inj Update- The Angels pushed back the decision on whether Colon will start until literally the last minute. They will wait and see how he does in his pre-game warm-ups before deciding whether he will pitch. Colon's...

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NL Player Spotlight - April 26, 2007

Adam Dunn is in a power drought. He has not hit a HR since April10th, 12 games ago and his HR/AB ratio has dropped to 19.3. Over the last two years, Dunn averaged a homerun for every 13.6 and 14.0...

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April 25, 2007

Pitcher Disaster Starts

As you can see by yesterday's mailbag article by Lou, we get our fair share of email around here and we try our best to get to all of it and respond. Sometimes we'll respond back through email, through our...

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AL Player Spotlight - April 25, 2007

Jorge Cantu was recalled by the Rays on Tuesday after a tumultuous spring and a limp minor league stint in which he hit .267 without a homerun. He didn't play in yesterday's game against the Yankees and it's hard...

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NL Player Spotlight - April 25, 2007

Anthony Reyes: Reyes continues to struggle, after 3 starts, his record stands at 0-3, with a 5.63 ERA. A 57% strand rate is not helping, but his K/9 of 5.6 is below the levels that he has put up in...

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April 24, 2007

First Pitch - April 24, 2007 - Mailbag

A little mailbag this morning … This subscriber didn't want his letter published so I will paraphrase his questions to protect the innocent … Dear Lou,   I enjoyed your article about the value of analyzing splits to make...

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NL Player Spotlight - April 24, 2007

Luis Gonzalez- LAN- Hot- Gonzalez is riding a 5-game hitting streak in which he has gone 6-for-15 to bring his batting average back up to .317. So far this season he has recorded an astounding Batting EYE of 1.80. Of...

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April 23, 2007

AL Player Spotlight - April 23, 2007

What would you give to have Hank Blalock to return to his 2003 and 2004 seasons? Those were the years Blalock posted 0.69 and 0.66 FPI's, HR/AB under 20.0, and OPS in the high .800's. Let's take a walk through...

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April 22, 2007

NL Player Spotlight- April 22, 2007

Scott Olsen I've been getting a lot of questions regarding Scott Olsen of late and with good reason. Olsen's off to an atrocious start this season and as Schuyler reported late last week the control issues are the obvious concern....

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Prospect Central Week #4

This week we look at some of the hottest prospects around.    Tom Gorzelanny and Adam Lind are in the majors now but the rest of these guys can best be described by Dennis Leary’s first catch phrase …...

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AL Player Spotlight - April 21, 2007

Michael Young: There is no reason to panic about Young's .171 batting average after his first 70 AB. Players with a 3-year BHIP% of .291, who currently have a BHIP% are .143, will normally bounce back. Ignore the .15 batting...

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April 21, 2007

NL Player Spotlight - April 22, 2007

Mark Hendrickson No, Mark Hendrickson isn't going to carry the Dodgers to the pennant or fantasy owners to their league title, but he's looking like a nice little bargain right now. Last season, Hendrickson lost his rotation spot due to...

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AL Player Spotlight - April 21, 2007

Daniel Cabrera is certainly posting the strikeout numbers we expected. With another 7 K's in last night's start, he now has 26 strikeouts for a K/9 of 8.9. The good news for Cabrera owners is that he's keeping his walk...

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April 20, 2007

NL Player Spotlight - April 20, 2007

On the trick or treat scale that John Patterson seems to be skipping around so far, this start landed squarely in the "Trick"  area. He allowed 3 runs, all earned, in 4 IP on 7 hits and 4 walks...

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AL Player Spotlight - April 20, 2007

Howie Kendrick: The injury-depleted Angels suffered another blow when it was learned that Kendrick suffered a broken bone in his finger. He is expected to miss anywhere from 4 to 6 weeks. Kendrick was off to a good start, going...

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April 19, 2007

First Pitch - April 20, 2007 - Adjusted Reliever ERA (R-ERA)

Hello everybody.  As I watched in horror at another craptacular performance from the Phillies bullpen, an idea rattled around in my head.  Part of the problem we have as fantasy analysts is that we are in some situations constrained by...

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"This is not the kind of move a winning team makes."

  So...the only reason you haven't seen this rant posted earlier is that I have been too stunned up till this point to even comment.  First, you have Charlie Manuel's profanity-laden tirade at an eminently unlikable reporter/talk show host. ...

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Prospect Spreadsheet Updates - April 19, 2007

An abbreviated look at this week's Prospect Spreadsheet Updates: TOP 50 HITTING PROSPECTS From the AL: 1 Alex Gordon KC 3B A+ - Very slow start, but he did hit his first big-league home run. I don't see Triple-A in...

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AL Player Spotlight - April 19, 2007

Trot Nixon- CLE- FYI- The Indians are using Nixon very sparingly, trying not to expose him as much and hoping to keep the injury bug away. Part of the handling of Nixon will be to avoid playing him in the...

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A Closer Look - Week #3 - April 19, 2007

The big ninth-inning story in baseball right now plays out north of the border in Toronto where primary closer B.J. Ryan came up with an elbow injury.  Jason Frasor is the man for the Jays for now and he...

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NL Player Spotlight - April 19, 2007

Struggles continue for Carlos Zambrano. In his game against Atlanta last night, Big Z threw 5.1 IP and gave up 5 ER, 5 BB, 8 hits, and 2 HR. Four of those runs came in the first inning and then...

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April 18, 2007

NL Player Spotlight - April 17, 2007

Juan Encarnacion: Encarnacion is scheduled to play in a few extended spring training games this week and if pain free, he should begin a minor league rehab assignment next week. At 31 years of age, Encarnacion has average power for...

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AL Player Spotlight - April 18, 2007

Gustavo Chacin out dueled Daisuke at the Roger Centre last night limiting the Red Sox to 1 earned run over 6.2 IP. He allowed 6 hits, including Wily Mo Pena's monstrous third-inning solo homerun, without a walk while striking...

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April 17, 2007

How to Evaluate a Potential Pitcher Pickup

A few weeks back we took a look at how to go about evaluating a potential Hitter when looking to make a free agent acquisition. We talked about evaluating specific statistics like EYE, BHIP%, HR Rate, etc and how to...

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NL Player Spotlight - April 17, 2007

Brad Penny- LAN- Hot- Penny ran his record to 3-0 and dropped his ERA to 0.89 by holding the Diamondbacks to 1 run on 5 hits and 3 walks in 7 innings of work. Penny's WHIP of 1.23, while solid,...

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Get to Know Me! - Scouting Your Own Starters

It's not as if we all need to wear name tags or anything, but there's a certain "getting to know you"atmosphere around most fantasy baseball teams this year. Of course, we know most of the names and the stat lines...

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April 16, 2007

AL Player Spotlight - April 16, 2007

Bartolo Colon is set to return to the big leagues this week. After missing the last two months of the season last year with a rotator cuff tear, he made a final rehab start on Sunday and threw 95 pitches,...

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April 15, 2007

NL Player Spotlight- April 16, 2007

Tim Hudson Many pundits called for a bounce back year from Tim Hudson and so far the early results look good for Hudson and his owners. After allowing only 1 earned run in 7 more innings of work on Sunday,...

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Prospect Central Week #3 - April 15, 2007

Prospect Central Week #3 Welcome to Prospect Central for Week #3. Today we will look at some players doing it … or not doing it … or sort of doing it, on the MLB level. Today it is a...

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NL Player Spotlight - April 15, 2007

Chris Snelling Snelling appears to have taken the LF job from Kory Casto, at least until Nook Logan returns. Snelling made his third straight start on Saturday, going 1-for-3 with a walk, his first homer of the year, and three...

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April 14, 2007

AL Player Spotlight- April 15, 2007

John Danks Thanks to MLB's wonderful blackout system on Saturday afternoon's I was left switching between blacked out channels until I found the White Sox-Indians game on WGN. Fortunately this gave me the opportunity to take a deeper look at...

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April 13, 2007

NL Player Spotlight - April 14th, 2007

There are not many things that are for sure in the game of baseball, but Dontrelle Willis winning in the month of April is becoming pretty close. Over the course of his career Willis is 12-1 in April. Almost the...

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Park Factor Reference Files

Hi everybody.  Just wanted to let you all know that the updated Park Factor reference files have been posted in the Fantistics Reference Toolbox.   Data for all major league ballparks is included, and is presented in two different...

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AL Player Spotlight - April 13, 2007

Joakim Soria: It didn't take Buddy Bell long to figure out that David Riske is not a closer. It looks like he is leaning towards using Soria, the rookie, Rule 5 pick, as the closer. It doesn't make much sense...

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First Pitch - April 13, 2007 - Lefty/Right Match-Ups

Lefty/Righty Match-Ups We all know about the advantage a pitcher has over a batter when the handedness is the same. It's usually tougher for a lefty hitter to hit off a lefty pitcher. The same thing goes for righties. But...

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April 12, 2007

NL Player Spotlight- April 13, 2007

Mark Prior As a Cubs fan, I can't possibly explain to you what writing this blurb feels like. I'll briefly try to describe it... imagine being the fan of a team that had 3 prized pitching prospects under the age...

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A Closer Look - Week #2 - April 12, 2007

A Closer Look - Week #2 If you had Brad Lidge in your Closer Death Pool you cashed a check this week but you may have been only days ahead of Jorge Julio in Florida. Manager Fredi Gonzalez has blown...

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AL Player Spotlight - April 12, 2007

Mark Buehrle- CHA- Idea- If any of you are A's fans, maybe you want to give Bob Geren a gift subscription to Fantistics. We noted after his last start that Buehrle has problems when hitters jump on his first pitches....

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NL Player Spotlight - April 12, 2007

Tom Gordon finally earned his first save of the season (of course, it wasn't entirely his fault that the Phillies have been so bad early this season). The 39-year-old closer has certainly had his ups and downs, but has been...

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April 11, 2007

First Pitch April 11, 2007 - Park Factor

Park Factor For my initial First Pitch of the year I thought it would be a good idea to revisit the Park Factor statistic. This should provide you with a handy reference that you can use to determine which ballparks...

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AL Player Spotlight - April 11, 2007

The new and improved Josh Beckett made his second start for the Red Sox in their home opener in Tuesday pitching very effectively against the Ms. Beckett held Seattle to 1 run in 7 IP on just two hits without...

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NL Player Spotlight - April 11, 2007

Andre Ethier: Manager Grady Little said that Ethier and Matt Kemp are in competition for the starting right field position. That comment is surprising because so far he has played them in a strict platoon. With Kemp going on the...

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April 10, 2007

First Pitch April 10, 2007 - By the Numbers

We talk about numbers all the time here ...   They are important to what we do. The key to this whole game we play is to determine which numbers more accurately indicate performance and which numbers more accurately...

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NL Player Spotlight - April 10, 2007

Ian Snell- PIT- Hot- Snell owns a WHIP of 0.92, an ERA of 2.08 and has struck out 14 in 13 IP in 2 starts this season. So, what's his record? 0-1. It just goes to show you can't have...

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April 9, 2007

"Second verse, same as the first..."

This just in from the "Team-To-Beat" Department: My very own Phightin' Phils today spoiled a fine outing by Cole Hamels (again) and lost to the Mets by allowing 8 unanswered runs after Hamels left the game with a 5 -...

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NL Player Spotlight- April 9, 2007