Michael Leone - Page 6

Choosing relief pitchers is extremely difficult to do because of both the difficulty in projecting saves and the lack of job security that a lot of closers face. So, it is good to take a couple solid guys (hopefully without...

The must haves Tim Lincecum 1310 – Lincecum is our top ranked pitcher and a no-brainer in this contest. At his price he’s probably a must play almost every week. Yovani Gallardo 670 – Gallardo is a top 15 pitcher...

There are a lot of good 1st base options this year for the DC, and selecting the correct combination will be key towards winning a league championship. The must have Ryan Howard 1490 – With all the slugging first baseman,...

The Dodgers’ Chad Billingsley is still having problems regarding his strained groin. He will not start Sunday but will partake in a bullpen session today. Hopefully Billingsley’s groin problem won’t linger too much longer or it could impact the start...

An apology to the CDM/Fanball audience. I am on vacation, so the 1st Base preview will be posted next Monday (the 23rd) along with the Starting Pitcher preview on that day. Thanks!...

Kansas City David Dejesus – The Royals are considering shifting Dejesus from the leadoff role to the number 3 slot in the lineup. That would boost Dejesus’ values, when he seems poised to have one of his best professional seasons....

Third Base The must have Evan Longoria 970 – If Longoria comes anywhere near our projection: .290, 87 RS, 104 RBI’s, 34 HR, and 9 B, then he is a must have. In draft leagues Longoria is a bit of...

Alex Rodriguez – An update on the Alex Rodriguez hip situation: It appears this injury is more serious than originally thought. Not only did A-Rod have a cyst in his hip, but he also has a torn labrum. By moving...

MIDDLE INFIELDERS SHORTSTOP SS is a position where you are taking 3-4 players. With the high amount of quality 1B and OF (as we saw last week), I’m probably sticking with just 3. Taking that into account, it appears to...

Kyle Kendrick – Kendrick is the early frontrunner for the last spot in the Philadelphia rotation. They might be better off looking elsewhere. Kendrick has a career K rate of .422, and a terrible K/BB ratio of 1.43. If he...

Okay everyone, welcome to the first official installment of the Diamond Challenge Preview. Today, I’ll go over some very basic strategy and then analyze the OF options for this year. I will also be posting the next 5 Mondays: 1....

Hey everyone! Welcome back to Fantistics as we all gear up for another season of fantasy baseball. This year I’m going to try and reach out to the CDM/Fanball portion of our audience and write a few blogs dealing specifically...

Jed Lowrie – Lowrie was probably Boston’s MVP last night. He drove in their first 2 runs and also scored their third run. Lowrie finished the night 2-2 with 2 RBI, 2 runs scored, and a walk. Both of his...

Trevor Hoffman – Hoffman recorded his 28th save of the season, and he will most likely save at least 30 games for the 13th season out of the last 14. The only season he did not obtain 30 saves came...

Daisuke Matsuzaka – Dice-K might have a sub 3 ERA this season, but he has not pitched as well as one might think. He has a pretty atrocious walk rate, allowing 5.29 batters to reach 1st base via a free...

Gavin Floyd – Floyd won for the 14th time this season by defeating the Orioles yesterday, but I am still unconvinced that he is a good fantasy pitcher. I have not been a Floyd fan all season because I feel...

Jimmy Rollins – Rollins is having a disappointing season thus far, hitting .263/.329/.425 after an MVP season last year where he hit .296/.344/.531. The dip in Rollins’ batting average can largely be attributed to bad luck. Rollins is having the...

Charlie Zink – Charlie Zink had been tearing up the minor leagues before being added to the Boston rotation. This year at triple-A, he had a 13 – 4 record thanks to a 2.89 ERA and 1.13 WHIP. He did...

Chris Volstad – Don’t get too excited about Volstad shutting down the Phils over 6 innings yesterday. He only struck out 3, and meanwhile, he yielded 4 walks. On the season, the rookie has posted a K/BB ratio of 1.60...

Jeremy Sowers – In 2006, Sowers had a brilliant rookie season, pitching in 88.3 innings as a starter with an ERA of 3.57 and WHIP of 1.189. The Indians then expected him to be a critical part of the rotation...

Russell Martin – Martin went 2 – 4 last night, and his average now sits at .294, which is where it ended last season. I would not be surprised, though, to see Martin end this season with his average at...

Mike Aviles – When Aviles was first called up, I liked him in AL leagues because of some of the things he had done in the minor leagues, but I did not expect the level of success he is having...

Nate McLouth – McLouth has certainly shown by now that he is not a fluke, and he did that once more yesterday. McLouth finished up the day going 1 – 3 with 2 runs, and 3 RBI’s. His 1 hit...

Robinson Cano – Cano is very high on my list of bounce back players for the second half of the season. We have said it before, but the fact of the matter remains true: Cano’s current singles average is a...

David Bush – Was bush dominating or what yesterday? He allowed just one unearned run off of 3 hits, and most impressively, he struck out 13 while walking none. 5 of Bush’s last 6 starts have been quality starts, and...

Jered Weaver – Weaver has posted two straight dominant starts. His last time out he did not allow a hit while walking three batters and striking out six. He unkindly ended up with the loss, though, as he allowed one...

John Lackey – Lackey continued to dominate yesterday. He was one out away from a shutout when he was taken out of the game, and he ended up with 9 K’s and 2 BB’s. The win improved Lackey’s record to...

John Danks – John Danks added his 10th quality start in 15 games started this season last night. He allowed one run over 6 innings while striking out 5 and walking none. Posting a 2.90 ERA entering that start, Danks...

John Lackey – I said about a month ago to watch and see what Lackey’s BB rate settles down to be in order to determine if Lackey would be the top fantasy pitcher that he was last year or just...

Jason Bergmann - I was somewhat excited about Bergmann as a nice sleeper pick in deeper leagues, but he just posted his second straight very bad start. Bergmann does have a good K rate (8.79 K/9), allowing him to have...

Miguel Cabrera – Cabrera’s singles average the past 4 seasons has been .287/.293/.300/.295, but this year it sits at .255. Also, Cabrera’s ISO, which had been on an upwards trend (.201/.219/.238/.229/.245) sits at .178. At age 25 it is impossible...

Mark Teahen – Teahen, who homered last night, had a breakout season back in 2006, but he has been unable to build on that success. For one thing, Teahen’s HR rate from ’06 sticks out like a sore thumb. Here...

Jorge Campillo – Entering play yesterday, Campillo had a .86 ERA and .830 WHIP, and he was downright awesome again in his third start of the season yesterday. He allowed just one run (the only run he has allowed in...

Gavin Floyd – It seems that we are always hating on Gavin Floyd, and he keeps proving us wrong. Last night Floyd threw a complete game, allowing 3 runs. Once again, though, we witnessed a mediocre at best skill set...

John Lackey – John Lackey looked good in his second straight start after returning from the disabled list. He picked up the win against Toronto, going 7 innings and allowing just one run off of 7 hits. He also walked...

Jay Bergmann – Bergmann threw 7 innings of shutout ball yesterday picking up the win. He impressively struck out 9 along the way, while walking just 2. This start might come as a surprise because entering the game Bergmann had...