All posts under "Player Commentary" - Page 137

Anthony Reyes: Supposedly there were such major philosophical differences on the art of pitching between Reyes and former pitching coach Dave Duncan that a change of scenery for Reyes was absolutely needed. At first glance, it looks like it is...

J. J. Putz- SEA- Cold- Putz had a blown save last night, giving up a game tying homer to Mark Teixeira in the 9th inning. He has not thrown a 1-2-3 inning since July 20th, which was his first game...

American League 15 Chris Carter OAK 1B B+ 34 HR and excellent 55% XBH%.127 K in 117 games but we'll overlook that for now. 19 Carlos Triunfel SEA SS B .357 since the end of June. 6 HR in July...

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...

Chad Tracy: Tracy could wind up being the big loser in playing time with the acquisition of Adam Dunn. For the time being he is safe, but once Justin Upton returns, it would take the longshot move of putting Mark...

First Pitch – August 13th – Value Picks: We’re back to the usual schedule and the usual format this week for our Value Picks column. It will be a bit of an abridged version since I’m travelling in the Pellston,...

Brandon Backe- HOU- Hot- Talk about bouncing back. Backe did a 180 degree turn from his last start, when he was charged with 11 runs on 9 hits and 6 walks in 3-1/3 IP. Last night he gave up just...

Denard Span - Span just keeps hitting, adding a double and a steal to his tally last night against the Yanks. He has looked every bit the leadoff man in August, hitting 325/400/525 with three steals in three tries. The...

Max Scherzer: It’s time to start paying attention to Max Scherzer again. Scherzer’s returned from a brief stint on the minor league DL with shoulder issues and is being stretched out with the anticipation of being used as a starter....

Omar Infante - Infante is tearing it up right now, showing huge jumps in LD%, BB rate, and contact% this year with the Braves. This is a guy that had 52 extra-base hits in Comerica Park as a 22 year...

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...

Eddie Guardado: Although his numbers look good, 3.02 ERA and a perfect 3 for 3 in saves, Guardado is a disaster waiting to happen as the new Rangers closer. He has a pedestrian 5.2 K/9; plus his 55% FB% is...

Johnny Damon- NYA- Hot- Damon went 2-for-5 to extend his current hitting streak to 7 games and has hit safely in 12 of his last 13. He has definitely benefited from good luck, with a .290 BHIPx, but he also...

American League 1 Matt Wieters BAL C A Think he wants a Sept. call-up? .441 in last 10 games. For the year: 1.03 EYE, 1.041 OPS. 5 Matt LaPorta CLE OF A- Just .212 in 52 at-bats for CLE before...

Yoslan Herrera: After posting a 9.82 ERA in five starts, the Pirates mercifully sent Herrera back to the minors. Considering that he was not exactly blowing Double-A hitters away; 5.2 K/9 and a 3.1 BB/9, his lack of success in...

Marlon Byrd - Byrd was the hero last night with a walk-off grand slam against the Yanks, bringing his post-All Star break line to 283/406/528 in nearly every-day play. Byrd is posting career highs in walk rate, K rate (in...

Prince Fielder- MIL- Hot- Lost in last night’s brouhaha (or is that a “brewhaha” when it involves Milwaukee?) was Fielder extending his current hitting streak to 8 games, in which he has gone 11-for-28 with 5 homers. He has not...

First Pitch – August 5th – Value Picks: For the first Tuesday in August we’re going to switch things up a bit and take a break from the traditional Sabermetric Tuesdays to provide you with a more comprehensive set of...

Matt Kemp: Kemp’s putting up one of the more underrated fantasy seasons quietly making a run at a 20-30 season. Kemp knocked out his 13th HR of the season in a 3-5 effort that also yielded 3 runs and 2...

Barry Zito I’m pretty sure it was Barry Zito tossing eight scoreless innings against the Padres on Saturday, but with the lineup San Diego is rolling out there these days, it may as well have been horse trainer Nick Zito....

Esteban German: With Mark Grudzielanek going on the 15 day DL, German gets a boost in value as he slides over into the everyday 2B role. I’ve always liked German and thought he deserved more of a shot at the...

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...

Tim Lincecum was robbed of a win as he put together yet another brilliant start for the offensively inept Giants. Lincecum allowed 1 ER on just 3 H with 3 BB and 11 K and if he were on a...

Anibal Sanchez: Marlins fans went to the stadium, err… couch, angry last night at the missed opportunity to acquire Manny Ramirez but probably went to bed excited about Anibal Sanchez’s return. Sanchez looked great on Thursday night through the first...

Zack Greinke: After spending a good part of 2007 as a reliever, Greinke has pitched exclusively as a starter this year with good results, 8-7 with a 3.98 ERA. He is still just 24 years of age and with his...

Arthur Rhodes- SEA- Cold- Rhodes showed a lack of control in more ways than one during his appearance against the Rangers last night. Besides the angry flare up that got him ejected, he also tossed a ball in the direction...

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...

Crazy times for me right now with the prospect spreadsheet. As I type this, the Manny Ramirez / Jason Bay / Jeremy Hermida deal has yet to go through, with multiple prospects rumored to be included in this one. Also,...

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...

First Pitch – July 30th – Value Picks: Welcome to another edition of Value Picks! This week we’ll get back to the usual bag of tricks, scoping the waiver wire for golden nuggets that can help your team make a...

Mark Teixeira: If Teixeira is traded; Arizona would be the best place for the switch-hitter to land for fantasy purposes. Turner Field, his current home stadium decreases left-handed batting power by 17% and is neutral for right-handed batting power where...

C. C. Sabathia- MIL- Caution- Yesterday’s 124-pitch effort is the third time this month Sabathia has cracked the 120 pitch mark. Even though he does not have a trend of ill effects from lengthy outings, that kind of workload is...

Adam Jones - Jones has been hot since about the 20th of May, and after last night's 3-6 performance he is virtually assured of putting up his second straight month with a better than .800 OPS. He still swings at...

Jeff Samardzija: Those in holds leagues or deep dynasty formats may want to take notice of Jeff Samardzija who was called up earlier this week when the Cubs placed Kerry Wood on the DL. Samardzija picked up his first major...

Alex Rios has certainly warmed up since mid-July and he continued the trend last night with a 2-2 performance with 2 HR, 3 RBI and 2 R. Rios is batting .366 (11-30) with 3 HR, 8 RBI, 7 R and...

John Van Benschoten There are some guys you see in box scores and wonder, “Him again? Why?” I had that sort of feeling when I saw that Van Benschoten was going to get the start on Saturday. Predictably (though apparently...