"April 2008" Monthly Archives

  • Entertainment
    Prospect Spreadsheet Updates - May 1, 2008

    American League 36 Carlos Triunfel SEA SS B 3-for-39 in first 9 games, 10-for-33 in last 8. Also 4 SB and 0.50 EYE. 40 Taylor Teagarden TEX C B AAA promotion came quickly and he could be TEX catcher of...

  • Entertainment
    First Pitch - April 30, 2008 - "Value Picks"

    First Pitch - "Value Picks" - April 30, 2008Welcome to Fantasy Week 5's installment of Value Picks.  As you may have realized by now, we have focused one "First Pitch" per week on identifying players on the wires that could...

  • Entertainment
    AL Player Spotlight - April 30th, 2008

    Boof Bonser – Bonser gave up only one run last night, a solo HR off the bat of Joe Crede, over 7 innings versus the White Sox. He allowed 6 hits, while striking out 8 and walking 1. That is...

  • Entertainment
    NL Player Spotlight

    Max Scherzer was absolutely filthy in his first appearance for the Diamondbacks. Edgar Gonzalez was pathetic in his 2.2 IP as he allowed 6 R and 8 H but Scherzer filled in an was phenomenal. Mad Max tossed 4.1 innings...

  • Entertainment
    Sabermetric Tuesdays: The Disaster Start

    Before we get to this week’s edition of Sabermetric Tuesday, I’d be remiss if I didn’t correct a mistake in my player blurbs earlier this week. Amidst a long-winded rant about my beloved Bears not turning in a draft card...

  • Entertainment
    AL Player Notes - April 29

    Travis Hafner - Put simply, this is just not the same guy that we watched from 2004-2006. After making only 40% of his outs on the ground during that tremendously productive three-year stretch, Hafner's GB% has increased to 49% since...

  • Entertainment
    NL Daily Notes- April 29, 2008

    Gregor Blanco- ATL- Rise Value- Blanco has been getting increased playing time as a result of his hot bat. However, his .364 average is getting some major assistance from a huge .478 BHIPx. His .78 Batting EYE is very close...

  • Entertainment
    AL Player Notes - April 28, 2008

    Chien Ming Wang - Wang's 4-hit shutout performance against the Indians on Sunday brought him to 5-0 with a 3.23 ERA and 1.18. The Yankee ace's value is higher than ever, especially now that he's added a strikeout pitch to...

  • Entertainment
    NL Daily Notes- April 28th, 2008

    Max Scherzer: The big news on Sunday was that the Diamondbacks called up top prospect Max Scherzer. Our own David Regan ranks Scherzer as the 8th best pitching prospect in baseball and rising thanks to an incredible start to 2008...

  • Entertainment
    AL Daily Player Notes, April 27th, 2008

    Joakim Soria: Save opportunities are always a difficult category to predict and for some reason most fantasy owners operate under the assumption that closers on good teams get more opportunities than those on bad teams. This usually drives down the...

  • Entertainment
    NL Player Commentary - April 27, 2008

    Odalis Perez Perez was a surprise and well, laughable Opening Day starter, but I’m starting to think he’s found new life in Washington. With no expectations, Perez has a leg up on the competition for Comeback Player of the Year,...

  • Entertainment
    AL Player Spotlight - April 26th, 2008

    Josh Hamilton – Fantistics preseason projections for Hamilton show that we thought fairly highly of him (.287/33/99), and so far he has not disappointed (.293/4/21) through the first 23 games. He also added to his totals last night, going 2-5...

  • Entertainment
    NL Player Spotlight

    As David Regan has shown all of you previously, Max Scherzer of the Arizona Diamondbacks is one of the top pitching prospects in all of baseball. To get a feel for the kind of stuff this kid has, check out...

  • Entertainment
    NL Daily Notes- April 25th, 2008

    Johnny Cueto: After allowing 5 ER’s for the 2nd time in his last 3 starts plenty of fantasy owners are going to begin to worry about Johnny Cueto hitting an adjustment period. Statistically speaking, Cueto IS hitting an adjustment period...

  • Entertainment
    AL Player Spotlight - April 25, 2008

    Eddie Guardado: Guardado is expected to return from the DL on Friday. Elbow surgery knocked out most of last season, but it has been shoulder soreness that has kept him out this year. Before he went down with the elbow...

  • Entertainment
    Prospect Spreadsheet Updates - April 24, 2008

    American League 4 Matt Wieters BAL C A .385 with 4 HRs. So far ahead of the other catching prospects it's not funny. 5 Mike Moustakas KC SS A Just .193 in the early going, but 9:6 K:BB offers some...

  • Entertainment
    AL Daily Notes- April 24, 2008

    Justin Masterson- BOS- Rookie- Last season, Masterson had an interesting stat line. He split the season between Class A Lancaster, tossing 96 innings, and AA Portland, where he threw 58. Masterson’s raw totals of both walks and strikeouts were very...

  • Entertainment
    NL Player Profiles - April 24, 2008

    Ryan Howard - Its almost laughable at this point. Your #1 pick is bringing your entire team down and there's nothing you can do about it. Another 0-for-4 with 2 K's for Howard in last nights game, bringing his season...

  • Entertainment
    SB Report for week of 4/28 to 5/4

    AL Favorable Matchups: John Buck KC (.111 CS%, 1/9): 3 games against Texas (Ian Kinsler, David Murphy), 3 games against Cleveland (Grady Sizemore) AJ Pierzynski CHW (.222 CS%, 2/9): 1 game against Baltimore (Brian Roberts, Nick Markakis), 2 games against...

  • Entertainment
    First Pitch - April 23, 2008 - "Value Picks"

    Value Picks - April 23, 2008Welcome to another edition of "Value Picks."  Once again, we'll try to focus on some players who are most likely floating around the waiver wires in your league and can be cheap value pick-ups. I'm...

  • Entertainment
    AL Player Spotlight - April 23rd, 2008

    James Shields – Shields has put up decent numbers so far this year despite a lot of bad luck. He gave up two more unearned runs last night, bringing his season total of unearned runs to 7 in just 5...

  • Entertainment
    NL Player Report - April 23, 2008

    Manny Parra: In 2007 Parra put up impressive numbers in Double-A, 9.0 K/9 and a 2.9 BB/9, and in Triple-A, 8.7 K/9 and a 2.4 BB/9, before coming up to the big leagues where he put up big K’s, 8.9...

  • Entertainment
    AL Player Notes

    Josh Hamilton - The most exciting thing about Hamilton so far this year is not that he’s basically maintained his hitting stats crossing over to the tougher league, although that’s nice in and of itself. For me, the drastic reduction...

  • Entertainment
    NL Daily Notes- April 22, 2008

    Mark Hendrickson- FLA- Hot- Hendrickson ran his record to 4-1 by allowing 3 earned runs on 8 hits and a walk in 8 IP against the Pirates. Cinderella has staved off midnight once again. A lot of factors point towards...

  • Entertainment
    AL Player Spotlight - April 21, 2008

    Gary Matthews Jr. is just one more example of an underperforming player early in the 2008 season. His huge drop-off over the last two years makes him even more unattractive from a fantasy standpoint and, for you, an opportunity to...

  • Entertainment
    NL Daily Notes- April 21st, 2008

    Jonathan Sanchez: I noted Sanchez as a deep sleeper in my pre-season projections article because of his big K potential and early on in the season he continues to flash brilliance mixed in with a lot of well… not so...

  • Entertainment
    AL Player Report - April 20, 2008

    Sean Rodriguez: The Angels called up Sean Rodriguez to replace the injured Howie Kendrick on the roster. The 22 year-old Rodriguez showed some nice pop in Double-A last year, 17 home runs and 31 doubles in 508 AB. However, he...

  • Entertainment
    NL Player Spotlight - April 20, 2008

    Johnny Cueto It’s good to see that even when Cueto doesn’t have his best stuff, as on Saturday, he can still help his team win. Cueto allowed three runs (two earned) on five hits over seven innings, walking two and...

  • Entertainment
    NL Player Spotlight

    Conor Jackson - Jackson continued his assault on the NL last night, finishing up with a single, two triples, and a homer in five trips to the plate. He is hitting 364/473/750 on the year, and Drew's prediction for a...

  • Entertainment
    AL Player Spotlight

    While C.C. Sabathia probably couldn’t throw a QS against a middle school team right now, teammate Cliff Lee is almost unhittable. Lee threw 8 innings of 2-hit ball, while striking out 8 and allowing just 1 BB in the Indians...

  • Entertainment
    NL Player Spotlight - April 18th, 2008

    Kyle Lohse – Lohse continues to dominate through 4 starts this season, as he pitched 7 innings giving up 2 earned runs off of 5 hits and walking none while striking out 3 versus the Brewers yesterday. Frankly, I’m as...

  • Entertainment
    Prospect Spreadsheet Updates - April 17, 2008

    American League 2 Evan Longoria TAM 3B A The wait is over. Aybar's injury opens the door and Longoria should be able to stick in Tampa. 5 Matt Wieters BAL C A- Only 12-for-24 with 3 HR in first 10...

  • Entertainment
    AL Player Report - April 18, 2008

    Julio Lugo: Lugo is off to a better start this year, .271 average in 59 AB, than the first half of last season, 4/34/.190. Unlike last year, he is not stealing bases, just 1 for 3. Unless his back is...

  • Entertainment
    AL Daily Notes- April 17, 2008

    Jim Thome- CHW- Hot-Those in Chicago who have been calling for Thome’s head need to subscribe to Fantistics (heck, for that matter everybody needs to subscribe to Fantistics- tell your friends, relatives and neighbors!). If they did, they could look...

  • Entertainment
    NL Player Proflie - April 17, 2008

    Adam Wainwright - Sometimes, fantasy players are just a bit too premature when assessing value in players. Alex Gordon is a prime example, as he had a rough debut year and is now looking like he's going to have the...

  • Entertainment
    SB Report - April 17, 2008

    Favorable matchups for the week of 4/21 to 4/27: John Buck KC (.143 CS%, 1/7): 3 games against Cleveland (Grady Sizemore), 3 games against Toronto (Alex Rios, Marco Scuturo) AJ Pierzynski CHW (.167 CS%, 1/6): 3 games against NYY (Johnny...