July 2007 Archives

July 31, 2007

First Pitch - August 1, 2007 - Underperforming Hitters Who Are Coming Around

    Underperforming Hitters Who Are Coming Around   Good morning everybody.  Today we are going to look at players who have generally not met our expectations this season, but who have been showing signs of life lately.  Even though...

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AL Player Profiles

Joe Blanton - Joe Blanton has been whining about the presence of rookie Kurt Suzuki behind the plate for his last few starts, but there are a few other factors at work in his last five starts that aren't likely...

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Dumpster Diving for Starts

It is time to dumpster dive for starts! Want to know how I can tell? Congratulate me, I am now the proud owner of Jesse Litsch! My league has 5 reserves and currently all 5 of my reserves, Carlos Beltran,...

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NL Player Spotlight - July 31, 2007

Ron Mahay- TEX- Trade- Although his 2.77 ERA and K/9 of 7.38 look nice, Mahay has little fantasy value even after being traded to the Braves. His WHIP of 1.38 and BB/9 ratio of 4.85 are mediocre. Combine that with...

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July 30, 2007

NL Player Spotlight: July 30, 2007

Derrek Lee: Two weeks back I suggested Lee's power numbers were suffering from a bit of bad luck with the # of fly balls he's seen leave the yard. Well... Lee's making me look like a genius these days as...

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AL Player Spotlight - July 30, 2007

It continues to be one of those years for Richie Sexson and his owners. He showed some signs of breaking out last week, hitting his only two homeruns of the month, but is still hitting just .178 in July and...

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July 28, 2007

AL Player Spotlight- July 29, 2007

Nelson Cruz: Cruz celebrated his return to the bigs with a 2-3 effort on Saturday night with 2 HR's and 5 RBI's. This is what Cruz does, he has incredible raw power and has been a big time power threat...

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AL Player Spotlight - July 28, 2007

Texas Rangers- TEX- Trade- The fire sale has begun in the Metroplex. The Rangers received minor league catcher Max Ramirez from the Indians in exchange for Kenny Lofton. Ramirez has potential with the bat, as shown by his .303 average...

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NL Player Spotlight - July 28th - 2007

Dontrelle Willis, of the Florida Marlins, is a first half pitcher and that is no secret. Over his career Willis is 42-24 in the first half and 23-25 in the second half so it should come as no surprise that...

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July 27, 2007

AL Player Spotlight - July 27, 2007

Luis Castillo: Castillo's constantly sore legs prevent him from being a force on the basepaths, 9 steals in 13 attempts. Without the steals and with a .299 BHIP%, there is plenty of downside with his powerless .306 batting average. Josh...

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First Pitch - July 27, 2007 - The Elusive Hold

The Elusive Hold   The Hold is a relatively new metric that attempts to measure the effectiveness of a middle relief pitcher. The growing popularity of fantasy baseball has given the hold a little more air time in recent...

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July 26, 2007

AL Player Spotlight - July 26, 2007

Chris Ray- BAL- Inj Update- Reading between the lines of what's coming out of Baltimore, don't expect Ray to be back this season. He is not going to be even picking up a baseball for the next three weeks and...

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A Closer Look - July 26, 2007

The big news at the end of the bullpen this week comes from Baltimore where closer Chris Ray was felled by a bone spur in his elbow.  He is gone for at least a month it would appear. The...

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NL Player Spotlight - July 26, 2007

Josh Johnson looked good in a rehab start, throwing three perfect innings in a Class A game on Wednesday. The Marlins are considering bringing Johnson back to pitch on Tuesday against the Rockies, which would make him a two-start pitcher...

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July 25, 2007

Prospect Spreadsheet Updates - July 26, 2007

American League 39 Chris Lubanski KC OF B- Needs to hit better than his .179 AAA mark if he wants to be team's LF next year. 42 Jeff Clement SEA C B- Strange...after a .370 June, Clement is batting just...

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AL PLayer Spotlight - July 25, 2007

John Rheinecker went 7 innings against the M's on Tuesday in his second MLB start of the season, allowing one unearned run on 6 hits and a walk while striking out 4. He earned his first win of the year,...

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NL Player Spotlight - July 25, 2007

Jarrod Saltalamacchia: In his first 137 career AB, Saltalamacchia is off to a nice start, 4/12/.285. At just 22 years of age, there are a few warning signs that suggest some rough spots in the near future. An inflated .290%...

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July 24, 2007

AL Player Profiles

Coco Crisp - Crisp had four more hits last night, giving him ten in his last three games, and also boosting his July line to 366/430/606. This last flurry has bumped his 2007 line above last year's totals, and although...

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NL Player Spotlight - July 24, 2007

Chad Billingsley- LAN- Hot- Billingsley, besides having the most preppie sounding name in the majors, now has his first complete game to his credit. He was far more efficient than his last start, when he needed 113 pitches to get...

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July 23, 2007

AL Player Spotlight - July 23, 2007

Manager Joe Torre stole my thunder yesterday. I was really excited to compare Shelly Duncan to Shane Spencer in today's column and then Torre decided to drop Spencer's name in his post-game show. Well anyway, Duncan joined the Yankees late...

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NL Player Commentary: July 23, 2007

Kaz Matsui: It's been a tale of two Matsui's over the last few weeks as Hideki has put on a show while Kaz has struggled mightily. Matsui's gone 3-28 since the Rockies hit the road and this only emphasizes his...

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July 22, 2007

Prospect Central - July 22, 2007

Today we are going to take a look at some of the players we haven't profiled yet that show up on Baseball America's mid-season Top 25 (or so) prospects. Jacob McGee  - Rays Starter - Throws Left - 6-3,...

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AL Player Spotlight - July 22, 2007

Jhonny Peralta: After an off-year, it may appear that Peralta's power is back to 2005 levels, 2005/2006/2006 home run totals of 24/13/14 and doubles of 35/28/17, but Peralta will have trouble maintaining this pace with his GB% trending in the...

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NL Player Spotlight- July 22, 2007

Scott Olsen Just a kid being a kid, or is there something more here? After getting suspended for reportedly arguing with teammates and a clubhouse attendant, Olsen came out and pitched brilliantly for seven innings in beating the Reds on...

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July 21, 2007

AL Player Spotlight - July 21, 2007

Eric Bedard, of the Baltimore Orioles, has been on his game in July and as a matter of fact most of the season. Bedard was awesome on Friday night against the Oakland Athletics, twirling seven innings of one hit shutout...

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NL Player Spotlight - July 21

All this talk about Brandon Webb's control has failed to mention one thing-it's improving. Yesterday he enjoyed his best start in almost a month, going seven strong innings, in which he surrendered three runs, two of which were earned, on...

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July 20, 2007

NL Player Spotlight - July 20, 2007

Keep your eyes open for the most predicable injury in sports history. With two phony baloney homers yesterday Barry B*nds moves to within two homers of a tying Hank Aaron on the All-Time homerun list, the most predictable sham...

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AL Player Spotlight - July 20, 2007

Jermaine Dye: With 5 home runs in his last 33 AB, Dye is showing signs of breaking out his season-long slumber. He battled a quad strain in the first-half and could finally be healthy. The lingering quad problem could have...

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July 19, 2007

AL Player Spotlight - July 19, 2007

Bartolo Colon- LAA- Cold- The former Cy Young Award winner is not coming anywhere near that level of performance this year. After last night's subpar performance (5 IP, 3 ER, 5 H, 4 BB, 7 K) Colon has thrown only...

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NL Player Spotlight - July 19, 2007

While Carlos Zambrano earned his 12th win in the opposing dugout, Matt Cain watched his record drop to 3-11. Of course, Cain didn't help his cause this time around, giving up 6 ER in just 4.0 IP against the Cubbies....

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A Closer Look - July 19, 2007

A couple of returns highlight this week’s Closer Look.   In Tampa Al Reyes returned from his rotator cuff strain on the first day he was eligible. He returns to the closer’s role in Tampa replacing veteran Gary Glover...

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July 18, 2007

Prospect Spreadsheet Updates - July 19, 2007

American League 16 Adam Jones SEA OF B+ Official call-up hasn't come yet, but reportedly team just wants him comfortable with RF first. 30 Josh Fields CHW 3B B Has raised AVG 30 points in July and is cutting down...

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AL Player Spotlight - July 18, 2007

It was a great pitching duel at the Dome on Tuesday as Nate Robertson and the Tigers beat Matt Garza and the Twins 1-0. Nate went 7 shutout IP allowing just 3 hits and 2 walks while striking out 5....

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NL Player Spotlight - July 18, 2007

Russell Martin: While the 11 home runs and 21 doubles is impressive, it is hard to believe that Martin can keep up that kind of power with a 49% GB rate. Add in the rigors of catching as the season...

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July 17, 2007

First Pitch - July 18, 2007 - Pitching Category Mashup Revisited (K/BB and QS%)

Pitching Category Mashup Revisited (K/BB and QS%)   Good morning everybody.  For today's First Pitch we are going to revisit some analysis we did earlier in the year.  Back in May, we were looking for another way to help identify...

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AL Player Profiles

Matt Garza - Garza has been overlooked a bit this year, both by the Twins and by most fantasy players, after a poor MLB debut last season. The fact remains, however, that Garza has managed a strikeout rate of 10.36...

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NL Player Spotlight - July 17, 2007

Chris Young- ARI- Hot- For the first time since the middle part of May, Young has consecutive multi-hit games. He followed up a 2-for-2 effort Sunday (in which he entered the game as part of a double switch) with a...

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First Pitch - July 19, 2007

I have often felt that fantasy baseball presents a good analogy to financial investing. The players of course would be the stocks and our teams would be our portfolios. I know next to nothing about evaluating a stock but I...

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July 16, 2007

NL Player Spotlight: July 16, 2006

Buddy Carlyle: For those in some deeper leagues out there, I think Buddy Carlyle deserves a look and could be the guy that helps solidify the backend of the Braves rotation. Carlyle's a 29 year old journeyman who's an extreme...

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AL Player Spotlight - July 16, 2007

Games against the Royals can boost a young pitcher's confidence. Fausto Carmona pitched a solid 7.0 IP, 2 ER game to earn his 11th win of the season. He struck out 4 and walked two in the outing as well....

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July 15, 2007

Prospect Central - July 15, 2007

(Editors Note: This is not the complete Prospect Central Report that is e-mailed to  Insiderbaseball.com's subscribers today. It is an edited version.) This week my son and I attended the Eastern League (AA) All-Star Fogfest at Dodd Stadium in...

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NL Player Commentary - July 15 ,2007

Andruw Jones That sound you hear is Scott Boras breathing a sigh of relief. After getting off to a .199/.299/.377 start through June, including 80 strikeouts, Jones is a different hitter this month. He was 1-for-3 with a walk and...

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July 14, 2007

AL Player Spotlight- July 15, 2007

Joe Blanton: Blanton picked up his 6th loss of the season last night allowing 4 ER's in his 7 2/3 innings of work. Blanton gave up 10 hits and walked 1 while only striking out 2. Blanton's an interesting case...

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AL Player Spotlight - July 14, 2007

Erik Bedard- BAL- Hot- Bedard's first start after the All Star break was a good sign, particularly the 7 Ks in 7 IP. He is throwing fewer pitches per inning than he did last year, so fatigue may not be...

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July 13, 2007

NL Player Spotlight - July 14

Luke Scott's dismal July keeps getting worse after he went 0-for-3 with two more strikeouts against the Cubs yesterday. Scott is hitting .050/.174/.200 in 20 July at-bats and he's now gone six straight games without a hit. In fact, going...

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AL Player Spotlight - July 13, 2007

Reed Johnson: Johnson returned to the active roster after a two-month stint on the DL with a back problem. His 2006 career year, 12/49/.319, was more the product of good fortune, .298 BHIP%, than an improvement his average skill set,...

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NL Player Spotlight, July 13th, 2007

Brandon Phillips: Well I mentioned Dan Uggla last week as "one of"the 2b I missed on this season, the other one I was referring to was Brandon Phillips. Phillips was similar to Uggla in that they each came seemingly out...

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July 9, 2007

NL Player Spotlight, July 9, 2007

Dan Uggla: I was just commenting to a friend the other day that there were a few 2B in the NL I couldn't have been more wrong about coming into the season and one of the guys I was referencing...

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AL Player Notes - July 9, 2007

Maybe I'm going down with the ship here, but I continue to claim that Raul Ibanez is a buy-low option for the latter half of the season. His 6 hits and 4 RBI in the last four games give Ibanez...

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July 8, 2007

Parity comes to MLB

If all teams maintain their current winning percentages there will be no teams that either win or lose 100 games. Did the last collective bargaining agreement usher in an era of parity or were all the cries of "there are...

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Second Half Rankings - Pitchers Edition

Second Half Rankings Hitters Edition Second Half Rankings Pitchers Edition (Posted 7/07/07) Every season we come across players who unexplainably perform at higher or lower levels during certain periods of the season.  One possible explanation behind the phenomena: second...

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Prospect Central - July 8, 2007

  Manny Parra – Brewers Starter – Throws Left – 6-3, 200 – 10/30/1982   Manny caught everyone’s attention on June 25th when he retired 27 straight hitters against the Round Rock Express to record the 8th perfect game...

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AL Player Spotlight - July 8, 2007

Billy Butler: With Mike Sweeney out for at least six weeks, Butler will get a chance to show that he is ready to hit in the major leagues. In his first go around with the Royals earlier this season, he...

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July 7, 2007

NL Player Profiles

Chris Duncan - Chris Duncan didn't start again last night, but he did come in as a pinch-hitter in the ninth inning and singled home two runs to make the game tight at the finish. Duncan is leading the Cardinals...

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AL Player Spotlight - July 7th 2007

James Shields of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays appears to b