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 average to .177 and OBP to .305. He already has a total of 31 strikeouts on the season. His BB/K is actually a modest .484, but he has coupled that with 3.0 plate appearances for every strikeout. The good news is that last April was abysmal as well when he hit .221, 3 HR, .786 OPS, and struck out 28 times. And, he ended the season with 47 HR, 136 RBI, and a .976 OPS. So there is hope out there. Afterall , there's nothing more a fantasy owner can do than keep him in there and hope for the best. Obviously you can't trade him for equal value at this rate and as soon as you bench him, you know he's going to break out with a multi-HR game. So, to have some fun and increase the cruelty of the situation, I would like to point out that these other 1B have higher OPS that Howard so far 2008: Lyle Overbay, Ross Gload, Kevin Millar, James Loney, Nick Johnson, Richie Sexson, Jorge Cantu, and Conor Jackson (just to name a few).
Brian Fuentes - With Manny Corpas struggling to close games as the team's official closer, Brian Fuentes may get the chance to have his old job back. At one point, Fuentes definitely had the stuff of a solid closer, converting 61 saves in 70 opportunities in seasons 2005 and 2006. Of course, 2007 saw the "changing of the guard" when he lost his job toCorpas . In April and May last year, Fuentes was lights-out, converting 15-of-16 save opportunities while holding opposing hitters to a .195 and .146 BAA in those two months. Something clicked (but clicked the wrong way) in June-07 when he blew half of his save opportunities and was replaced by Corpas. He's familiar with the position and could be effective again. He should be grabbed in just about every league, especially if you have Corpas as one of your closers.
Andruw Jones - The boo-birds were out in full force on Wednesday night and they really let Jones have it after his 2nd K of the night. He now has 25 K's on the season and is averaging a strikeout for every 3.2 plate appearances. His average has dropped to .159, OPS is basically meaningless at .541, and his OBP is .266. He has 1 HR to his name and only 3 RBI. I know he's been suffering from "flu-like" symptoms recently, but for four weeks? He reported to camp out of shape, got his big paycheck from the Dodgers, and is basically rolling over as a meaningless fantasy option. While he was able to turn last season's slow-start around to a half-way respectable performance, I'm not seeing anything in his game that shows any short-term improvements. Keep the bum benched.
Todd Wellemeyer - Wellemeyer was handed a nice 4-run lead to start the game and then gave it all back to the Pirates on Wednesday night. He went 6.0 IP and gave up 4 ER, 1 BB, and struck out 5. Wellemeyer has been solid this season, posting a 2-0 record with a 3.77 ERA, 1.13 WHIP, and a K/9 of 9.0. He's 2-for-5 in QS in 2008 and has struck out at least 5 batters in each of his outings. One concerning stat is the long-ball, which tends to be served up to opposing hitters at a high rate of 1.74 HR/9. He has a couple of tough outings coming up against the Reds and the Cubs and I think both will be telling of Wellemeyer's future fantasy value in 2008.
Matt Cain - Big surprise - no run support for Cain. He bounced back from the weekend's blow-up against the Cardinals and hurled his 2nd quality start of the season on Wednesday. His line was 7.0 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, and 7 K's. He still didn't get the win and his record remains at 0-2. Its been touch-and-go for Cain this season with his BB totals dangerously high at a BB/9 of 5.93. With that said, his K's are right in line with his dominant expectations, posting a 8.56 K/9 through 27.3IP. Expect K's and hope for the occasional Win - looks like that's going to be the repeat story for 2008.
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