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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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,...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Welcome to a “tax-free” edition of Fantistics’ weekly article on Value Picks! Hopefully by now everyone out there is squared away with the IRS, so instead of crunching numbers to avoid sending out money, you can start playing with numbers...

I really believe that Chone Figgins deserves the great player status, and as Figgins has posted a ridiculous 1.06 FPI to start the season, it‘s hard to argue anything else. He is the biggest on base threat in the major...

Jeff Weaver: The Brewers signed Jeff Weaver to a contract. He will need some time in the minor leagues to get into shape. Depending on how some of the younger Brewer pitchers and Weaver perform will determine if he goes...

Ervin Santana - Santana posted his third straight quality start, allowing three runs over seven innings to the Rangers last night. Santana was very unlucky on balls hit into play last year, and that fact, combined with his excellent stuff,...

Mark Teixeira- ATL- Stats- A good part of Teixeira’s slow start can be placed at the foot of an uncharacteristically horrid .136 batting average against lefties. Normally, the switch hitter does far better against them than against righties (splits of...

According to research by Fantistics.com only 10% of batters have a favorable control of balls hit into play. Such a low number means that many of the leaders in BHIP% (and thus batting average) are there only due to good...

Howie Kendrick: Much has been made around this site about Kendrick’s anemic EYE last season and how as a result he’s been overvalued heading into the season. While I fancy myself a numbers man, I have to go against my...

Wandy Rodriguez: While we’re at it, let’s give a little hat tip to my man Joe Ribando for his recommendation of Wandy Rodriguez as a two start pickup this week. If you listened to Joe you ended up snagging a...

Jay Bruce OF Cincinnati Reds Jay Bruce may be the best offensive prospect in baseball right now. He combines tremendous physical skills, and very good baseball instincts, with a strong work ethic to produce the total prospect package …...

Jim Thome - This isn't the Jim Thome we're used to in April. He's only 6-for-38 this season (.158, with two of those hits coming as HR). In April 2007, Thome got off to a great start, hitting .340 with...

Ted Lilly Lilly was awful yet again on Saturday, allowing five runs over 4 1/3 innings against the Phillies. Lilly is now 0-2 in three starts, having allowed 14 runs in 12 2/3 innings with an 8:4 K:BB and an...

It certainly doesn’t look like Albert Pujols’ elbow is causing him any discomfort. Pujols went 2-5 last night with a 3-run homer and a run-scoring double, boosting his totals to .378, 3 HR and 8 RBI. His early season success...

Shaun Marcum – With the top three starters in Toronto’s rotation garnering so much attention, it is easy for Marcum to get overlooked, but he is certainly worth a look in all fantasy formats. Last year was a semi-breakout season...

Geovany Soto: Soto finally saw some results after spraying line drives and deep fly balls all over the field early in the season. Thursday night Soto went 4-5 with 2 2B’s and his 2nd HR of the season. Soto was...

Miguel Olivo: When Olivo was starting for the Marlins, his low batting average, .237 last year, was tolerable in NL-only leagues because he brought some power to the table, 16 home runs in 452 AB in 2007. Now that he...

Jason Bulger- LAA- Rise Value- With KRod nursing a sprained ankle, someone else will have to handle the save situations for the Angels until he is ready to return. Manager Mike Scioscia has said he would use the dreaded “closer...

Ryan Braun - With many first and early second round draft picks slumping to start the season (I'm looking at you A-Rod, Jose Reyes, and Ryan Howard), Ryan Braun is at least displaying a power stroke similar to his incredible...

Week of 4/14 to 4/20 Favorable Matchups, teams facing: Josh Bard San Diego (7% Caught Stealing in 2006): 3 games against Colorado (Willy Taveras, Scott Podsednik, Jayson Nix), 3 games against Arizona (Chris Burke, Eric Byrnes, Chris Young) Greg Zaun...

One of the early surprises so far has been Jake Westbrook. We all know Westbrook has good stuff but not dominating by any means. However, he’s now 1-1 with a 2.76 ERA after two very good outings, including his complete...

It’s good ole “hump day” for those of you enjoying your first cup of coffee this morning and that means its “Value Picks Day” here at Fantistics. Each Wednesday we’ll be touching on the somewhat generic concept of Value. One...

Mike Gonzalez: Gonzalez, who has been out since the middle of last season after undergoing elbow surgery, could be ready to rejoin the Braves’ pen by the first week of June. His K/9, 2005/2006 #’s of 10.4/10.7, is worthy of...

  Good morning everyone!!  Welcome to Insiderbaseball.com's Coaches Meeting for Week #2...and the opening day for Fantistics Regular Season reporting! American League In the Field It appears as if Brian Roberts is determined to repeat last year’s 50 steals...

Huston Street - It's hard to believe that there isn't something wrong with Street. After allowing only 12 homers in 199 innings from 2005-2007, he's allowed 3 in 3 2/3 innings this year - one in each appearance. There are...

Pat Burrell- PHI- Hot- Burrell smacked 2 of the 4 Philadelphia homers yesterday, giving him a total of 3 in this young season. His overall 2-for-4 at the plate raised his average to .435. Burrell tends to be a fast...

Sabermetric Tuesdays: The Quality StartIts baseball season and its a Tuesday.  You know what that means?  Its "Sabermetric Tuesday" here at Fantistics.  Last week, Drew taught us the "ins-and-outs" of the GB/FB and its importance in determining pitcher fantasy value. ...

Robinson Cano is just one of many fantasy players in an early season slump to start the 2008 campaign. At .174, he has just 4 hits and one extra base hit through 6 games with the Yankees. Cano , who...

Jeff Keppinger For those that haven’t noticed, Jeff Keppinger is for real. Keppinger put together a nice 2nd half last year as a utility player for the Reds hitting .332/.400/.477 in 276 PA’s. In that time Keppinger, showed an elite...

Clayton Kershaw - SP LA Dodgers The Dodgers were impressed with Clayton Kershaw's 13 scoreless IP in spring training this March and so were we. Kershaw allowed just 5 hits and 3 walks while striking out 15 but the...

Michael Bourn The big question surrounding Bourn coming into the season was not his speed or ability to hit for a decent average, but his ability to get on base enough to enable him to stay in the leadoff spot...

Nate McLouth - I really think that Nate McLouth is one of those rare players that has changed their game at the major league level. In the minors McLouth was a speed guy, slapping singles and doubles and racking up...

John Danks: Danks allowed an ER in 6.2 innings in a no decision against Cleveland yesterday. On the negative side he had just 2 strike outs while also walking a pair. In his rookie season last year, Danks pitched better...

John Danks: Danks allowed an ER in 6.2 innings in a no decision against Cleveland yesterday. On the negative side he had just 2 strike outs while also walking a pair. In his rookie season last year, Danks pitched better...

Oliver Perez - A great start for Oliver Perez. He was one of my key "watch" guys in this year's drafts of having the potential to post a big season. Granted, last night's game was against one of the weaker...

Favorable matchups for the week of April 7th to April 13th: San Diego: Josh Bard and Michael Barrett were ranked 33rd and 29th in catching runners, so anyone playing San Diego should have a field day. This is great news...

First Pitch - April 2, 2008 - "Value Picks"Good morning!  In today's edition of First Pitch, we will take a look at value picks.  With a couple of games in the books and our fantasy teams up and running, its...

Joel Pineiro: Pineiro, who has been out of action with an inflamed left shoulder, could pitch in a minor league game by the end of this week. If that happens it would put him on schedule for a major league...

Jeremy Guthrie - One look at Guthrie's splits from last season (and the rest of his pro career, if you want to get technical about it) leads you to believe that one game might actually mean something this time. As...

New Page 1 Sabermetric Tuesdays: Analyzing Splits Ground Balls vs. Fly Balls   It’s Sabermetric Tuesday here at Fantistics! Each Tuesday we’ll dive into some of the deeper statistics we use to forecast and analyze the game of baseball....

Kosuke Fukodome- CHN- Hot- The optimist would look at Fukodome’s Major League debut and go, “Wow! What a great game!” The pessimist would see the 3-for-3 with a walk effort (that was a triple short of a cycle) and say,...