All posts under "Player Commentary" - Page 108

Nick Swisher (OF - Yankees) - Swisher broke-out on Thursday with a 2-for-4 performance including 4 RBI's and a walk. I'm hoping we look back on this day as the day he turned his season around. I've written about Swisher...

Bartolo Colon- NYY- Hot- Colon had perhaps his best start yet of his comeback. He needed only 87 pitches to throw 8 shutout innings in which he gave up 3 hits and a walk while striking out 7. Colon keeps...

1. Albert Pujols (1B - Cardinals) - The homerun drought for Albert Pujols continues. His last homerun came on April 23rd, over 87 AB ago. This is from a guy who has a career AB/HR of 14.2 since 2001. I...

National League 32 Jaff Decker SD OF B+ 1.000 OPS a result of hot April. Cooled way off in May - .208 avg and 9 BB in 53 at-bats. 33 Trayvon Robinson LAD OF B HR #8 on Monday and...

Brian McCann- ATL- Hot- On a day that he was supposed to be taking off, McCann doubled his homer output of the season, slugging two after entering the game in the 9th as a pinch hitter. The appearance also broke...

Michael Brantley OF (CLE) - Michael Brantley is enjoying a breakout season in large part due to his increase in EYE (from .58 to 1.13). His current EYE is being driven slightly by a reduction in strikeouts but primarily...

Vin Mazzaro - I don't know much about Vin Mazzaro, but I'm pretty certain Monday was the worst pitching performance of his career, starting from tee-ball through the majors. Summoned into duty after Kyle Davies was injured in the...

Welcome to a special Florida Marlins addition of the NL Player Notes! Anibal Sanchez - It's safe to say Anibal Sanchez is on fire right now. At least against the Nationals, that is. Less than a week after shutting out...

Ryan Dempster (SP--Cubs) Usually one of the more consistent pitchers, Ryan Dempster has been struggling through his first eight starts with a 1-4 record and a 7.20 ERA going into Friday's game against the Giants. But Dempster seems to have...

1. Eric Hosmer (1B - Royals) - A ton has been written about Hosmer's fantasy value over the past week. Claims of overpaying for him and an attempt to rank him among the league's other first baseman moving forward...

Homer Bailey (SP - CIN): With two strong starts since being activated off of the DL it's time to change gears from "watching" to "investing" in Homer Bailey. I mentioned in this space a week ago that Bailey's strong...

Scott Baker- MIN- Cold- After 4 consecutive quality starts, Baker had his worst outing of the season so far. He allowed 5 runs on 6 hits and 5 walks while striking out 6 in 4.1 IP. Baker's control overall wasn't...

1. Edinson Volquez (SP - Reds) - Another shaky outing led to an early departure for Volquez on Wednesday. He lasted 4.0 IP and allowed 3 ER, 3 H, and 5 BB. He is now only 1-for-9 in QS for...

Josh Tomlin SP (CLE) - Tomlin posted yet another quality start last night - 6 IP, 6 H, 1 BB, 3 K, 2 ER. I'm still not sold, though. The fact of the matter is Tomlin has been REALLY...

Roy Halladay (SP--Phillies) In what amounted to baseball's version of Clash of the Titans, Roy Halladay and Josh Johnson locked horns in a battle that saw arguably the two best pitchers in the N.L. match up. With Johnson getting nicked...

Jeff Francoeur (OF - KC): I'm still waiting for the prolonged strikeout prone slump that obliterates the hot start from Jeff Francoeur but he keeps staving it off. Looking at Francoeur's peripherals the only significant improvement that stands out...

Ian Desmond SS (WAS) - Desmond is struggling in his sophomore season, hitting just .223/.256/.393. However, I think there's reason to be optimistic that things will be much better from here on out. For starters, Desmond's ISO has risen...

Ian Desmond SS (WAS) - Desmond is struggling in his sophomore season, hitting just .223/.256/.393. However, I think there's reason to be optimistic that things will be much better from here on out. For starters, Desmond's ISO has risen...

Jaime Garcia (SP--Cardinals) Jaime Garcia was practically perfect on Friday but going into the 8th inning with one out against the Brewers, he allowed a walk to Casey McGhee and then Yuniesky Betancourt followed with a single to left field...

Eduardo Sanchez (RP - STL): After Sanchez blew the save opportunity on Wednesday night, I figured Tony LaRussa would simply turn to the next man down the line and we'd be stuck in a closer-by-committee; but after the Cardinals...

Chone Figgins - The underperforming infielder was scratched from Thursday's lineup due to an illness. It didn't sound too serious so expect Figgins back in the lineup this weekend. Figgins continues to struggle in Seattle, posting just a .217/.260/.304 slash...

Ike Davis (1B - Mets) - It was the best of time, it was the worst of times. After reaching an average of .352 as of April 29th, Davis has gone into a slump, dropping to .312 by going just...

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Alex Avila C (DET) - Avila continued his hot hitting into May as he hit 2 homers off of Bartolo Colon the other night. What was so impressive about the two homers is that both cleared the fence in...

Mike Stanton - Stanton singled, homered, and tripled last night in the Marlins' 6-5 win in St. Louis. Stanton is still striking out at a prodigious rate, but the massive power that he offers could trump that. People said Ryan...

Mike Aviles (2B/3B - KC): After an extremely slow start to the season, Mike Aviles has gotten it going again. Aviles went 3-5 with a HR and 4 RBI's on Sunday improving his 2011 line to .250/.289/.539. Just from...

NL Quick Pitch: A pitching-heavy focus in today's NL notes. Ian Kennedy posted another quality start. Take out that one bad outing against the Cardinals and you're looking at ace-like numbers. Wandy Rodriguez has flip-flopped his way through the season...

AL Quick Pitch: A few rehab appearances have fantasy owners hopeful for the return of Jake Peavy, Andrew Bailey, and Aaron Hill, but I wouldn't hold your breath for fantasy week #5. The catchers had a big night on...

Jason Marquis (SP--Nationals) Not an easy feat to knock off the world champion Giants, much less shut them out altogether. And it's particularly noteworthy when your name is not Roy Halliday or Josh Johnson, but rather Jason Marquis. But that's...

Brett Wallace (1B - HOU): I've never been enamored with Brett Wallace as a fantasy option, but with his strong start to the season I figured it was time to pay a little respect to the early season improvements...

Jeremy Guthrie- BAL- Hot- Guthrie tossed 6 shutout innings against the Red Sox, but didn't factor in the decision, leaving his record at 1-3 while his ERA is a sparkling 2.53. Guthrie gave up 7 hits and 1 walk while...

NL Quick Pitch: Here's a quick look at today's National League daily notes. Ian Desmond returns to the lineup after paternity leave. He's good for stolen bases right now and nothing else, so he remains an upside candidate at...

* Please note that this isn't a comprehensive list of my top prospects - it's merely a sampling. For the complete lists, please don't hesitate to subscribe... We provide 70+ updates each week. Here is a sample of 20: American...

Delmon Young OF (MIN) - I haven't lost faith in Young despite his slow start. In fact, I'm encouraged last year was not a fluke. Young is getting loft on his swing (38.8FB%), which is very important for his...

AL Quick Pitch: Max Scherzer out-dueled John Danks on Sunday as the White Sox continued to spiral downward. Within the notes this morning we'll take a look at some alarming indicators surrounding Scherzer's early season success. We'll also dig...

Hanley Ramirez (SS-FLA) - Ramirez was passed this year in fantasy drafts by Troy Tulowitzki as fantasy's #1 shortstop (at least we did here at Fantistics), but the disparity is growing by the at-bat. Tulo leads the NL in slugging...