All posts under "Player Commentary" - Page 120

Gio Gonzalez - Gonzalez looked great in his 2010 debut against the Angels last night, allowing two runs on six hits over six innings, walking only one while fanning six. Gonzalez had two critical issues that primarily influenced his subpar...

Chipper Jones (3B—Braves) Let's start this blurb off on the right foot and establish that Chipper Jones is an excellent ball player. He's a career .307 hitter with 427 home runs and a lifetime OBP of .406. He will more...

Jay Bruce: Bruce is off to a tough start going just 1-12 in the first series against the Cardinals and having struck out 3 times without drawing a walk. I’m a really big believer in Bruce for 2010 and believe...

Brandon Wood: After a 0-12 with 5 K’s start, Wood was not in the starting lineup last night. In his third season in Triple-A Wood, showed some growth in his contact skills, 2007/2008/2009 Ct%’s 72%/74%/79%, but that has yet to...

Evan Longoria- TB- Hot Player- Longoria is on pace to shatter the home run record with 162 long balls this year. Yeah, it’s an old and bad joke, but someone had to do it. Longoria won’t keep up at pace...

Dallas Braden – Where did THIS come from? In his first start of the season, Braden struck out 10 Mariners in 7 innings while yielding just 1 ER on 4 Hits. With a career K/9 of 5.68 and a fastball...

Franklin Morales: It is looking like Huston Street will be out for a least the entire month of April, which gives Morales a shot to rack up some saves. No matter how good his strike out/ground ball package looks, 9.2...

Ubaldo Jimenez - After bumping up his average fastball velocity to 96.1 in 2009, Jimenez was throwing 96-99 consistently on Opening Day against the Brewers. Although he did allow a handful (plus a few) of singles, Jimenez only walked one...

Blake DeWitt (2B-LAD) – We already know DeWitt has won the second base job, beating out Ronnie Belliard and Jamey Carroll, but now we also now know that this won’t be a platoon situation, at least initially. DeWitt will get...

Alberto Callaspo: Callaspo will be on the opening day roster but with the Royals concerned about his right abdominal injury the Royals will withhold him from the opening day lineup against RH Justin Verlander. Callaspo, a switch hitter, has just...

Happy Opening Night! Hunter Pence -- With Lance Berkman on the disabled list to begin the season, Pence will hit third in Houston’s lineup instead of his usual fifth spot. The change could provide short-term gains in RBI and Runs....

Rich Harden SP (TEX) – Not that the Ballpark at Arlington does any pitcher favors, but it should especially negatively affect Harden. One of Harden’s biggest weaknesses is his propensity to give up the long ball. While his FB% for...

Blue Jays Bullpen - The season-ending injury suffered by Joe Nathan has send tsunami warnings to baseball shores far and wide this week, with waves starting to wash ashore at Jay's camp. The Twins have reportedly expressed interest in Jason...

Cardinals SS - Brendan Ryan continues to progress. Ryan will take soft toss on Monday with hopes of seeing live BP the following week. That schedule would have him seeing game action in the third week of March. Tony La...

Blue Jays Rotation : The post-Halladay era begins in Toronto with intense focus on the three prospects acquired in exchange for the face of the franchise this offseason. Pitcher Kyle Drabek, first-baseman-to-be Brett Wallace, and catcher Travis d'Arnaud are expected...

"Are all Fantasy Baseball Projections and Rankings the same and or more beneficial than ADP?" Fantistics Player Projections has utilized a time tested forecasting algorithm that has allowed it to maintain its status as a leader in fantasy baseball...

Carlos Quentin (OF—White Sox) Carlos Quentin finished off the season with a fairly strong September, hitting 6 home runs for the month. After struggling a good portion of the year with injuries, Quentin’s .239 batting average was much lower than...

Garrett Atkins: The complete decline of a power hitter to a back up or minor leaguer has been completed for Atkins, 2007/2008/2009 AB’s 605/611/351, Doubles’ 35/32/12, Home Runs’ 25/21/9, and Averages’ .301/.286/.228. Without any real change in his approach at...

David Ortiz (DH – Red Sox) After months of debating whether or not David Ortiz was cooked, he has very quietly put together 4 consecutive very strong months to finish the season. If you remove Big Papi’s remarkably futile April...

Drew Stubbs: After hitting just 3 home runs in 411 Triple-A AB, it is surprising that Stubbs has blasted 8 home runs in 172 AB. With just 5 doubles, the power does seem fluky for the soon-to-be 25-year-old, but with...

Felipe Paulino: Paulino’s stuff is always tantalizing, but his issues with command usually impede his success. This was not the case on Thursday night as Paulino walked 3 in 5 innings, but was able to pitch around the walks, allowing...

Brian Duensing: Duensing numbers’, 5-2 with a 3.66 ERA, look much better than the numbers that a rookie with his skills, 5.8 K/9, 3.4 BB/9, and a 46%GB, should be producing. A 75% Strand Rate and a depressed 7% HR/FB%...

Michael Young- TEX- Hot- Young has bounced back since returning from his latest bout of hamstring troubles. This has been the first season that he has been seriously impacted by injuries, playing only 133 games so far. Still he has...

Ricky Nolasco (SP—Marlins) Ricky Nolasco finished off the 2009 season with his most impressive game of the year, fanning 16 batters in 7.2 innings and flirted with the record for consecutive strikeouts. Despite Nolasco falling 1 strikeout shy of Tom...

Ronny Cedeno (SS – Pirates) It is looking very likely that Ronny Cedeno will not return this season due to a pair of pulled hammies. About a month ago, I made the case advocating that teams have been too quick...

Juan Pierre- LAN- Cold- With Manny Ramirez out with a sore hamstring and likely to be rested a lot in the last days of the season, Pierre has been getting some playing time. That’s the good news for Pierre owners....

Stephen Drew (SS-ARI) – I was surprised to see that we hadn’t written about Drew since June 29, but the obvious reason is that he’s taken a step back this year. After batting .291/.333/.502 a year ago, Drew has dropped...

Jarrod Washburn (SP—Tigers) Well, for once it appears that Seattle may have made a good move, trading Jarrod Washburn to Detroit when he was at the height of his value. Since arriving in the Motor City, Washburn has pretty much...

Ricky Nolasco: Nolasco continues to get victimized by a horrible Strand Rate. He allowed just 5 base-runners on Friday night over 7 innings, but 3 of them found their way across home plate on a 3 run HR by Jeff...

Carlos Quentin (OF – White Sox) I think it is important to once again point out how truly unlucky Carlos Quentin has been this season. Quentin actually increased both his LD (+1.2%) and FB (+4.6%) rates this season, but somehow...

Bronson Arroyo: Consistency is a word you don’t typically associate with Bronson Arroyo, but he spun his twelfth consecutive quality start on Thursday, limiting the Pirates to just 1 ER over 7 innings. The extended hot streak has dropped his...

Placido Polanco: It has been a typical season for Polanco, moderate power in the form of 30 doubles and 10 home runs, a little bit of speed, 7 steals, poor plate patience, 5% BB%, and outstanding contact skills, 93%. The...

Scott Kazmir- LAA- Hot- Kazmir took the loss against the Yankees last night, but still pitched decently. It was a quality start, with 3 runs allowed on 6 hits and 3 walks while striking out 4 in 6 IP. Since...

Chris Coghlan (OF—Marlins) Chris Coghlan has tossed his name into the Rookie of the Year race as he has been on fire the past couple of months. From the beginning of August, Coghlan is batting an amazing .383 in 214...

Pablo Sandoval (3B – Giants) Pablo Sandoval has experienced a true breakout in ’09, and in this season, he has adopted a much more patient approach at the plate. He has swung at 11.8% fewer pitches outside the strike zone,...

Joe Blanton- PHI- Stats- A big part of Blanton’s surge after a poor April has been a turnaround in his comparative home and road performances. He has not been effected by the hitter bias at Citizens Bank Park, posting a...