Felix Hernandez - Hernandez was brilliant last night, allowing just three hits and a walk to the A's over 7 2/3 innings, striking out 8. There has been a lot of talk about Felix's declining velocity over the past few years, and rightfully so: he's basically failed to miss a start since he came up in 2005. People have talked a lot about C.C. Sabathia for years as well, and he has managed to keep the same pace for another five years past where Hernandez is currently. Health is a skill, and both of them seem to have it. That's certainly not to say that durable players can't get hurt....sooner or later age catches up to everyone. Derek Jeter is a perfect example of a player that was extremely durable, and now is dealing with his second major injury in the past three seasons. Still, you'll get a lot further as far as accurate expectations go if you expect durable players to play while expecting brittle players to miss time. That being said, if you expect Hernandez to play, this could easily be his best year since 2009. The Mariners actually have a little bit of an offense this year, and that could be worth an extra five wins from what he's had to work with the past three seasons. I'd be all in on King Felix this season, valuing him even with Strasburg just behind Verlander in the SP rankings.
Chris Iannetta - Iannetta singled and homered yesterday, driving in all three runs in the Opening Day win over Cincinnati. He also fanned three times, making the game a microcosm of Iannetta's positives and negatives. He has a touch of speed for a catcher to go along with excellent power and the ability to draw a walk, but his persistent contact issues prevent him from being one of the top-flight backstops. Finally healthy again after a wrist injury cost him three months of 2012, Iannetta should be expected to provide #1 catcher value in 2013 despite the continued presence of Hank Conger as the backup. The AVG will be a bit of a millstone for you, but in my mind 20 HR are a distinct possibility.
Aaron Hicks - I'd expect to see quite a few of these 0-4, BB, 3 K lines out of Hicks this season, and as such I'm not quite as enamored with his 2013 potential as many seem to be. Don't get me wrong: Hicks has developing power that could end up better than average, he has excellent speed, and he'll likely end up getting on base at a clip that might justify a position atop the lineup. For now, however, he's a 23 year making the jump from AA to the bigs, fresh off three years at Lo-A, High-A, and AA in which he struck out more than 20% of the time. If Hicks is able to start the whole year in CF, and I'm not sure that will be the case since he's likely to hit 100 K's by late July, I'd expect 10-15 HR and 20-25 SB out of him. The AVG probably won't be atrocious, but I doubt it'll be a help. His OBP should be adequate, just not for a leadoff man. He does have enormous potential, and perhaps he will adjust quicker than I expect, but since most people are higher on him than I am I'm more of a seller than a buyer.
Phil Coke - Phil Coke got the first save opportunity for Detroit in their 2013 CBC, finishing off the last two outs against the Twins to preserve Verlander's Opening Day victory. After watching how Leyland handled yesterday's final four innings, I am convinced that at least six Tiger pitchers will get save opportunities this year, and probably all of them will do so before the All-Star Break. It looks like Leyland is most set on using Benoit in the 8th inning when he can, which limits his value of course despite the fact that he is likely the most reliable of the bunch, so as far as I can tell that accentuates the value of Coke and likely Octavio Dotel (possibly Brayan Villareal....perhaps Game 2 will give us more insight there). For all of the talk about a bullpen by committee, I think Leyland will focus on Coke and one of the two that didn't throw today depending on RHB or LHB matchups, although all five (plus Rondon at some point) will likely see some chances. All in all, it reduces everyone's value for fantasy purposes, though most have some value in points-based leagues and deeper formats, while probably none have much value in shallow 5X5 leagues.
Eric Sogard - Sogard got the nod as the Opening Day 2B for Oakland, further solidifying the playing time picture for the A's. It looks like Lowrie will play SS with Nakajima on the DL and then quite possibly heading to AAA, Sizemore and Sogard will platoon at 2B with Josh Donaldson at 3B, while Moss and Frieman will likely platoon at 1B. Chris Young may only play against LHP and as a late-game defensive replacement, while Seth Smith is at least going to get ABs against RHP it seems. It's a mess that reduces a lot of people's value to be sure, but Sogard is one player that appears to have more value now than he did a few weeks back. He's hit .293 or better in each of the last five seasons in the minors, but each time he's come to the majors he has trouble cracking the Mendoza line. He's still just 26 despite being a 2007 college draftee, and he has double-digit steal speed and perhaps enough power to hit 10 homers as well. He strikes me as a bit of a sleeper in deep leagues, and would definitely be on my roster in formats of any depth that value OBP, as he will absolutely take a walk. I still believe that Sizemore is the better value, so there's playing time risk here as well, but Sogard isn't a bad gamble in deep leagues right now.
