It's that time of the year again, Preseason Baseball is underway and we'll be carrying the pitcher box scores here every morning. Please be aware that the early preseason box scores can be deceiving. Pitchers, especially veteran pitchers, sometimes...

Player Blurbs written by Michael Leone Eric Byrnes – Last year Byrnes had one of the best fantasy seasons among outfielders, but don’t buy into the hype just yet. His singles average was 43 points higher than his three year...

Preseason Player Projections - March 28, 2008| article by Michael Berman What do a hand fracture, a chronic bad back, a broken cheek bone and a broken leg have in common? They are all injuries that have kept Nationals 1B...

Dodgers Outfield Pierre v. Ethier. A decision that Dodgers fans and fantasy owners await with bated breath. No decision has been made as of late Wednesday, but the guess here is that Ethier will open as the starting left fielder...

Johan Santana: As if he already wasn’t the best pitcher in baseball, Santana’s move to the Mets gives him two big advantages. The first is that historically lefthanders moving from the American League to the National League tend to have...

Chris Capuano Capuano was diagnosed with a Torn UCL in his left elbow and could face the dreaded Tommy John surgery if the tear is full. I mentioned earlier in the spring I thought something was wrong with Capuano last...

Rich Hill As mentioned in yesterday’s news items, Rich Hill’s horrid outing on Thursday raises some red flags. Hill’s spring has been littered with control problems, walking 14 batters in just 12 2/3 innings. Such wild control issues for pitchers...

Oliver Perez: After struggling in his first two outings, Perez looked good against the Nationals on Monday, 5 innings with 1 ER while striking out 5 and walking none. Perez has loads of talents, as evidenced by his 2003/2004/2005/2006/2007 K/9’s...

Luis Mendoza- TEX- Although he won’t make his first major league start of the year until April 12th, when the Rangers first need a fifth starter, but he has pretty much sewed up that role. Yesterday he held the A’s...

Lets start here ... there isn't too much about baseball I don't love. But there is nothing better than spending time in a minor league park, minutes from the B&M Baked Beans factory in Portland Maine, or the Brewery Exchange...

Lets start here ... there isn't too much about baseball I don't love. But there is nothing better than spending time in a minor league park, minutes from the B&M Baked Beans factory in Portland Maine, or the Brewery Exchange...

Runners Stranded Percentage (RS%) Runners Stranded Percentage: Measures the percentage of batters that reach base but do not score (more specifically, are not credited to a pitcher’s Earned Runs). The average stranded percentage for starters is .71. Pitchers with...

Runners Stranded Percentage (RS%) Runners Stranded Percentage: Measures the percentage of batters that reach base but do not score (more specifically, are not credited to a pitcher’s Earned Runs). The average stranded percentage for starters is .71. Pitchers with...

Ryan Theriot “The Riot” gets a huge boost in fantasy value if manager Lou Piniella’s decision to use him as the team’s leadoff hitter sticks. Piniella made that announcement Wednesday, and considering Theriot has a .355 career minor league OBP...

Kyle McClellan- STL- McClellan seemed to benefit from the Tommy John surgery he underwent in 2005. His fastball went from the upper 80s to 94 mph heat with movement. Last year the Cardinals converted him from a starter to a...

Matt Morris: Morris is assured of a spot in the Pirates rotation. Barring a complete disaster, it will be his big contract, not his skills that will keep him there. Morris’ K/9 has now declined in the last five seasons,...

Preseason Blog - March 7, 2008Noah Lowry - Lowry's start to the 2008 season has been about as bad as it gets.  Lowry has complained of "fatigue" in the area between his left thumb and wrist, which definitely does not...

Dodgers #5 starter Things are starting to sort themselves out a bit here. Candidate #1, the $16 million a year Jason Schmidt won’t be ready for Opening Day after undergoing serious shoulder surgery last year. This really isn’t a surprise...

Chris Carpenter- STL- Preseason- Carpenter’s lost season was the second time in 5 years he has been out an entire year (I’m not counting his 6 innings in 2007). His 2005 and 2006 were superb, with sub-3.00 ERAs. However, he...

Brad Lidge: There is a chance that Lidge, who had surgery on his knee, could be ready by opening day. He certainly has the skill set to be a successful closer, 11.8 K/9, but there also some warning flags. He...

Alex Gonzalez Gonzalez was diagnosed Friday with a “compression fracture” of his left knee, an injury that is expected to sideline him at least three weeks. Looking up “compression fracture” on the Internet (dangerous, I know), I found this on...

Jason Jennings- TEX- As a Rangers fan, I get used to things like having the big pitcher signing of the offseason being a player who is coming off a serious injury. I just have to remember Chan Ho Park and...

Looks like the dreaded "job-share" is in force for the catching position with the Padres, as both Josh Bard and Michael Barrett are likely to get substantial playing time. That, of course, relegates them to lower-tier status in just about...

Hi Guys, Here is another round of analytic notes. Again, many of the definitions for the indicators I am mentioning can also be found in our charting area as well.  This morning we take our second swing at the...

The luck of the bounce - Balls Hit into Play Success % Balls Hit into Play Success %: defined as the number of balls hit into play that are registered as hits against a pitcher. Much has been written...

News and notes from around spring training ... "If it blows out it's going to blow out, you can't control that." ... Not words that warm the hearts of the Cardinals, or their fans, or Albert Pujols owners on a...

Here's a look at the first basemen and some of the indicators used in developing their 2008 projections (these notes can be found in the software as well). In no particular order: Delgado, Carlos Eroding skill set, but decent...

Within the player projections software we have a column for player notes this season where I post a few of the technical indicators that influence the 2008 projections, here's the latest round of analytic notes. For those new to Fantistics,...

Within the player projections software we have a column for player notes this season where I post a few of the technical indicators that influence the 2008 projections, here's the latest round of analytic notes. For those new to Fantistics,...

Preseason Pitcher Box Scores   It's that time of the year again, Preseason Baseball is back and we'll be carrying the pitcher box scores here every morning. Please be aware that the preseason box scores can be deceiving. Pitchers, especially...

Tom Gordon: All that talk about Brett Myers becoming the closer was all just smoke. Despite being 39 years old, Gordon's 2006 numbers of a 10.4 K/9 and a 3.4 BB/9 are still in the upper tier of closers. His...

Before we get to the notes this morning, I wanted to give a little introduction to the subscribers out there. I'm the guy that Anthony Perri thinks looks like Zach Greinke, but most people know me as Drew Dinkmeyer. This...

It seems Bobby Jenks has gotten a bit tired of all the growing concerns within the media about where his arm is heading into the season. After firing 1 1/3 scoreless innings on Wednesday, Jenks told reporters that his location...

Reds Bullpen: There have been some rumblings that Dustin Hermanson could take over the closer role from David Weathers. Back problems caused him to miss virtually the entire 2006 season, but in 2005 he saved 34 games in 39 tries,...

Freddy Sanchez's second opinion on his knee sprain didn't provide positive news for fantasy owners. He'll likely start the season on the DL and appear back in the lineup sometime around April 7th. The reigning NL batting champion is still...

Internet problems forced me to post this late, but hopefully some of you still see it. Even if Freddy Sanchez starts the season on the DL, he will only miss the first week. It seems as if the debate within...

The D-backs Edgar Gonzalez has pitched extremely well this spring, since March 9th. Gonzalez has pitched 19 Innings, while only allowing 14 baserunners, 3 Earned Runs on 12 Ks. During his  5 year minor league career Edgar posted unspectacular...

Quick Pitches: Cubs Wade Miller likely locked a rotation spot on Saturday night when he tossed 5 innings of 3 hit ball. As we've discussed, Miller isn't the same pitcher who won 16 in 2001, his fastball is topping...

Felix Hernandez of the Seattle Mariners started and ended strong in his start on Friday, but he struggled in the middle. Hernandez retired the first six and the last six batters of his outing in order but allowed four runs...

The JJ Putz watch continues for those intrigued by the Mariners closer situation. Putz did some soft throwing on Thursday for about five minutes to see how his arm reacted and said he felt fine afterwards. Putz's breakout 2006 season...

Rays Manager Joe Maddon was very definitive yesterday when he said that Rocco Baldelli (hammy) "is going to be"in Tampa's Opening Day lineup on April 2nd. Rocco left Tuesday game with what Maddon is terming a "mild"hamstring strain and understandably...

Sure preseason box scores can be deceiving, especially when we're taking about veteran pitchers or others who are coming into camp with a secure rotation spot. However when we're dealing with young pitchers vying for a starting job, these...

Eric Gagne made his first appearance in "A"games this spring and was rudely welcomed by Kevin Frandsen with a long HR. Gagne settled down after allowing the HR getting two groundouts and a strike out to end the inning. Gagne's...

Speculation surrounding Alex Rodriguez leaving the Yankees continues, this time with rumors about a move to the west coast to join the Angels at the end of the 2007 season. This is just one of many rumors that will be...

Devil Rays Closer: It is no shock that alleged closer Seth McClung has struggled this spring with 7 ER in 4 innings. With a 2006 BB/9 of 5.9, his skills are not even major-league worthy. If the Rays break...

With 2 weeks of Spring action in the books, today we'll take a peak at how the young prospects are performing. For veteran players, spring stats are to be ingested but not digested. Veteran players typically take it easy during...

New Page 1 3/17/2007 Runs Scored - The Ugly Duckling of Fantasy Baseball Part II Earlier this week we discussed the players who led the league in Runs Scored Percentage. This morning we'll take a look at the guys...

One of the biggest knocks on Matt Murton of the Chicago Cubs in 2006 was that he wasn't showing enough power potential. As a result the Cubs acquired Cliff Floyd in the off-season to play left field (when he isn't...

Marlins Closer: The Fish still have not named a closer. There are some rumblings about importing Jorge Julio from Arizona, but as of now, it is a battle between four in-house candidates, Kevin Gregg, Taylor Tankersley, Matt Lindstrom, and Henry...

HOU Hunter Pence OF - The last thing the Astros expected coming into this spring was another outfield playing time dilemma.  With a cast that already includes Lee/ Scott / Lane / Burke / Hidalgo, Hunter Pence is making a...

Chad "Don't Call Me Barbara"Billingsley continues to be the front-runner to fill that last coveted spot in the Dodgers rotation. However, despite a solid spring of 6.3 IP without an earned run, manager Grady Little has guaranteed the 22-year-old a...

Sammy Sosa continues his march to nail down a spot on the Texas roster. After going 2-for-3 in yesterday's game, Sosa is hitting .464 with 2 homers, 2 doubles, a triple and 6 RBI. At this point it looks like...