Beyond the Boxscore–Fantasy MLB News and Notes 4/19/08; Hochevar, Greinke, Lincecum, Cueto, more
The player who has created the biggest buzz so far this year in fantasy baseball has been Johnny Cueto, and so far he hasn’t disappointed. His owners had to be very curious how he would do after giving up five runs in his previous start. Would he bounce back? Or was he doomed to start to struggle like most pitchers in his situation? Cueto answered today with another great outing. He went seven innings, gave up just two earned runs and struck out five. He wasn’t around for the decision, but it was a good answer after being roughed up for the first time in the majors.
Another young fireballer, Tim Lincecum looks like he is putting it all together this year. He has yet to give
up more than two runs in any of his four starts, and he shut down the St. Louis Cardinals for the second consecutive time on Saturday. During that time he has also struck out 16 batters in just 13 innings, and he is now 3-0. This is about the most that you could expect from Tiny Tim, you have to expect him to be the victim of poor run support pitching in San Francisco, but so far that hasn’t bothered him.
Mentioning this for possibly the last time in an article, two more guys hit their first homers of the year. In San Francisco their latest bad contract, Aaron Rowand finally went deep for the first time. Rowand has at least been hitting for a good average when he has been healthy, but to expect him to repeat his numbers from 2007 is just crazy. If you own him, hope that he goes on a hot streak and you can get someone to bite on him. While Chipper Jones is lighting it up in Atlanta, the Jones they let go, Andruw Jones is floundering badly in LA. Jones has been moved to 7th in the lineup, and finally hit his first homer today. How the mighty have fallen! He hit just .222 with 26 HRs last year, and he got his average up to .182 with just three RBI so far in 2008. Once one of the more feared hitters in the NL, Jones is getting close to being on the chopping block of many fantasy rosters.
Zach Greinke also has caused a great deal of talk in fantasy baseball this season, and I stand by my opinion that he will not have a great season. I admit, I have been starting to worry that I may be way off on this guy, but today he gave me some of my confidence back. Not saying he was bad, but at least he took a step back. He did just give up two runs over five innings, but it was the four walks that caught my eye. That is what does in young pitchers every time, the walks. Greinke didn’t factor in the decision, so he remains at 3-0, and his ERA rose to 1.24. I still say “sell high” he won’t keep this up all year.
More from Kansas City, the number one overall pick in 2006 will be on the mound on Sunday. Luke Hochevar will be making his season debut for the injured John Hale (who?), and should be a two start pitcher this week. He is 1-1 in the minors this season with a 2.60 ERA and 12 Ks in 17.1 innings. He is one of the elite pitching prospects in the game, and if you are looking for pitching, definitely give him a chance, he could be dominant. Normally, I wouldn’t suggest picking up a Royals pitcher so strongly, but with the success of Zach Greinke (ugh) and Brian Bannister, it looks like you can win games as a pitcher for the Royals.
The Yankees came into the season depending heavily on a couple of young arms they refused to trade for Johan Santana. So far, it isn’t looking like that was a good move. A day after Phil Hughes fell to 0-3 with an 8+ ERA, Ian Kennedy couldn’t get out of the third inning. Kennedy gave up four runs and walked five in just 2.2 innings, and his ERA is approaching ten. While I still have some faith in Hughes, Kennedy has only gotten out of the fifth inning once, and has been a pretty big disappointment so far, and I believe it is time to cut ties with him.
Derrek Lee is trying his best to make me look like an idiot. I have been preaching to move him while he is putting up good numbers, and he just keeps going out and fills up the box score. Lee went and hit his league leading seventh homer today, and is now hitting over .350. Like Greinke, I will stand by my opinions, and spin it to say, Lee is just giving you more time to make that trade. See if you can package him in a deal that maybe lands you someone like Prince Fielder who is off to a terrible start, but will turn it around.
Rays’ second year pitcher Andy Sonnanstine had himself quite a night on Saturday. Andy had not only his first career complete game, but a shut out to boot, allowing just three hits and striking out four. Unfortunately for Mr. Sonnanstine, that lowered his ERA to a still robust 5.55. He was 40-18 in his minor league career, and had a good K/IP ratio so it is possible that he could still be a viable fantasy option. Be careful who you might drop for him, but he is definitely worth a look. Think quickly though, when a young guy throws a shutout, he doesn’t usually last long on the waiver wire.
Like Cliff Lee, who we wrote about yesterday, it looks like Ervin Santana has put his putrid 2007 behind him, is back on track to keeping his career on the upswing. Santana went eight strong shutout innings Saturday night against the Mariners, allowing only three hits, didn’t walk a batter, and whiffed eight. Santana is off to the best start of his career, and I’m officially on his bandwagon to win 13-15 games and keep his ERA at around 3.50.
Quick Hitters
Joey Votto continues to get playing time, and he keeps making the most of it. Getting another start on Saturday, Votto was just 1-4, but that one was his third homer of the season. He is now hitting .326 and it is making it tough for Dusty Baker to keep him out of the lineup.
Kosuke Fukudome went 1-3 with his ninth ribbie of the season, and his third stolen base. It was obvious that he wasn’t going to hit .450 all year, so this slump that he has been in is expected. He is still performing above my expectations, but see if the last couple of games is the Fukur getting back on his groove.
B.J. Ryan collected his second save since returning from Tommy John surgery on Saturday. Ryan did allow a hit, but also struck out three batters. I haven’t been able to see him pitch just yet, but by the numbers he is putting up, it is looking like he is returning to his old form. Definitely start him if he is on your roster.
Not that this is really fantasy relevant, but the game between the Marlins and Nationals featured SEVEN ERRORS! There should be some rules against these owners tearing down their teams, there is some ugly baseball being played.
Oliver Perez was impressive again today for the Mets. I tapped him as one of my guys who would take the
next step to stardom, and outside of one bad start, he looks ready to take that step. He did have some control issues today (five walks in 5.2 innings), but was able to work through them. He is now 2-0 with a 2.49 ERA and 21 Ks in 21.2 innings.
More from the Mets, Jose Reyes is starting to play like the guy you thought you picked in the first round of your draft. Reyes hit his fourth double, second homer (second in four games), and stole his third base of the season. Reyes now has 12 hits in his last five games, and he is poised to put up some big numbers this season.
After blowing two of his first three save chances, Eric Gagne has now put together five in a row as he saved Saturday’s game for the Brewers. Gagne hasn’t allowed a run during this span, and has only allowed two hits. Can’t say I’m confident this will continue, and if you own him, has he done enough to have some trade value in your league? I think it’s time to test it out.
A’s rookie Daric Barton was a homer away from the cycle as his up and down first year continued. Barton will go through a few games where he gets no hits, and then look great for a few days. He is kind of frustrating to own, but he’s hitting .276 with five doubles and three triples, so he’s worth adding if you have the room.
Twins rookie Nick Blackburn was very good again on Saturday. Nick went 7.2 shutout innings, although he only struck out one. He isn’t striking out a bunch of batters, but hasn’t had an awful start yet. If you are playing the merry go round of pitchers, give Blackburn a try the next time his turn comes up.
Highly touted Dodgers’ rookie Chad Billingsley has had an awful start to 2008, and it continued Saturday. Billingsley was only able to last five innings, giving up four runs, and walking five, whiffing nine. He has struck out 17 in his last two starts, but his walks and ERA are a problem. If you have him, I would say try to ride this out because he has a world of talent, but it has got to have you concerned.
Dustin McGowan hasn’t allowed more than three runs in any of his starts so far this season. He continued his nice (not great, but nice) start to the year and collected his first win. McGowan has been lacking in the strikeout department, but the way he has been able to stay consistent makes him worthy of a spot on your roster.
As always, your questions (adds, drops, trades, etc) and comments are welcome at fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com. I guarantee a response within 18 hours.
I don’t see D Lee flaming out. He is finally fully healthy and he should be back to the triple crown type production we’ve grown accostumed to seeing out of him.
Also, it’s John Bale, not John Hale of the Royals.
I just don’t expect Lee to be the guy we once watched. He will either get injured or slow way down, just a hunch, he certainly can’t keep this pace up.