Week 13

A more typical effort this past week for my team. For the 7 day scoring period I had the best overall hitting and well below average pitching... which combined for a 5th place finish (for the week), but only 3 points out of 2nd. Overall my team lost two points, but still held on to second place. Here is a look at the top of the current standings.


1 ~ Fantasy Tools 84.5
2 ~ Antelope Crusaders 78.0
3 ~ Wheats N Raisins 73.0
4 ~ Lynnwood Legacy 70.0
5 ~ Balls Deep 65.5


While I did increase my lead over 3rd place, the race is wide open. There are lots of points in play, especially in pitching. I could pretty easily drop into third in single day. As for first place, the only way I could have a realistic chance there would be to pick up... 7hr, 32rbi, 47r and 11sb. I'm in 2nd in those 4 categories, that much behind the Tools (the first place team). While picking that amount up is seemingly possible... it is just one good everyday player... I really don't have much to offer in the way of trade. I'd have to give up current production, which would complicate things. Plus, the Tools could easily counter with trades of his own, because he does have tradable assets.

So, the focus is on holding Second Place still. Here is the recap for the week...


Hitting (83 for 309, .269ba, 13hr, 51rbi, 42rs, 8sb)
An excellent week, especially in HR and RBI. It was a strange week though, with several players going ice cold, while several were red hot.

The hottest was Albert Pujols (8-27, 4hr, 9rbi, 7r, 2sb). Great week, and love that he's stealing some bases. Matt Kemp (9-22, 3hr, 7rbi, 4r) bounced back strongly after a 3 game benching (for not backing up a throw to 2B and the arguing with a coach about it). He's a talented player and I keep waiting for something to light a fire under him. Maybe this was it.

Hanley Ramirez and Ryan Howard were solid too. So, most of my star players are hitting right now. Ryan Braun remains in a mediocre haze though. He's saying he can't see the ball in day games at home. Something is up with him for sure.

Nyjer Morgan (8 for 29, 2rbi, 3r, 2sb) had a decent week. He's back to sliding head first on steal attempts. which is fine with me. He injured himself last year on a head first slide into second on a steal attempt, so I was all for the Nationals pushing him to give up the tactic. But, he'd been getting caught so often that a change was needed. He also says he's a "second half player." Hey, whatever it takes.

On the negative side, Troy Glaus (1 for 15, 1r) isn't hitting and hasn't been in a couple of weeks now. His knee is bothering him enough that he missed two games this week too. Hoping the break helps. My catchers went 5 for 29... though George Kottaras did hit a HR (lucky me!). Randy Winn (1 for 13) is starting to look pretty worthless. The Cardinals are playing other reserve OF in front of him too. Not a good situation.

Goat of the week though was Justin Upton (2 for 20, 1r). Guess he's a streaky player, because after being a nearly impossible out last week... he looked like a poor hitting pitcher this week.


Pitching (74.1ip, 4.96era, 1.44ratio, 55k, 4w, 1s)
There are points in play for me in every pitching category, so everything matters. That's especially true in Ks and Wins.

On the good side, my Dodgers pitchers did really well... V Padilla and J Ely combined for 14ip, 2er, 12on, 10k and 2 wins. Very nice! Matt Capps was my pitcher of the week with 3 shutout innings and 2 wins. Nick Masset threw 4.1 shutout innings with 5k. He's back on track.

Aaron Heilman got a save, but gave up 2 runs in 3.1 innings. The Dbacks have a new manager now, so who knows if he's still the closer... or if he is, how long it will last given his poor pitching of late. If he clearly loses the closer job, I'll look to dump him right away. The only thing he has going for him is how bad the rest of that bullpen is. I'm guessing he isn't the closer at the All-Star break though.

And, let's see... Kevin Correia closed out the week with a good game. First one from a Padres pitcher in a while. He and Jon Garland have really struggled.

The rest is bad news. Santiago Castillo... whom I claimed because he was hot... went cold in a hurry (3ip. 3er, 7on, 5k). The guys throws 100mph, but his control is so bad that he has to aim to right down the middle of the plate. Tyler Clippard closed the week strong, but that was after giving up 3 runs in a game earlier in the week.

Then there were several poor starting efforts. Brett Myers had his worst outing of the year, then followed it up with a solid outing at the end of the way... that was ruined by his idiot SS (tossing the ball to 2B for a bang-bang safe call... instead of first for an easy out).

Chris Narveson (5ip, 4er, 7on, 4k) was decent and didn't walk anyone. But, he's battling for his spot in the rotation and that might not have been enough. I need his Ks too... so... that could really hurt.

Goat of the week was Luis Atilano. He tossed 3 shutout innings, and then a missed strike 3 call spun him out of control and out of the game in the 4th inning.


Other News
The big news this week was Bengie Molina being dealt to the Texas Rangers. For the year he went 52 for 202 (.257), 3hr, 17rbi, 17r, 0sb. That's maybe a $1 player. Maybe. And in the last month he'd picked up 1hr, 6rbi and 2r... and his playing time for July was looking even more limited. Given that I spent $17 on the guy, he was a total bust. Easily my biggest draft day mistake. I got lazy and decided he was good for 15hr and 65rbi. Had I given it some real thought though, I would have realized that was BEST CASE... and more likely was exactly what happened.

I did get a bonus 3rd round reserve pick for him... which is more than he was worth. So, that's a win. Then I picked up Travis Ishikawa to replace him. Figured he was in line for more playing time in San Francisco with Molina now gone (and Posey doing more catching)... and he was a decent enough hitter.

Had Ishikawa for two days last week and he went 3 for 8, 1hr, 5rbi, 1r. That's pretty dang close to a month's worth of production from B Molina. See that Ishikawa is starting again to day too... his third straight start. Molina getting traded was a blessing. Plus, I clear his $17 in salary.

Not such a blessing was Placido Polanco getting put on the DL. The Phillies aren't saying how long either. Could be 2 weeks... could be 2 months. He was playing with the injury, so I am hopeful it's short term. He's been a solid player for me.

To replace him I picked up Wilson Valdez (6 for 17, 1hr, 2rbi, 3r, 1sb) and... wow... so far, so good! He's playing in place of Chase Utley who is gone for 2 months. I don't think he'll hit at that pace, but he's been decent for 150ab now... so he certainly could post decent stats. Certainly playing everyday in Philadelphia is a great opportunity for some value. Ideally he'd do decent as a starter for Utley... Polanco comes back in two weeks... and I can dump Randy Winn and keep Wilson Valdez.