Week 15

The all-star break made this a short week. Too bad, because it was probably my best week of the season. I actually won the week... the second time I've done that this year. Didn't do much in the short term to help me in the standings though. I actually lost 1.5 points overall, and barely clung on to second place. Here is a look at the top of the current overall standings...


1 ~ Fantasy Tools 86.0
2 ~ Antelope Crusaders 75.0
3 ~ Lynnwood Legacy 74.5
4 ~ Wheats N Raisins 70.0
5 ~ Balls Deep 67.0


The Legacy is just half a point out, and they actually were ahead of me for the majority of the week. I passed him in the final game on Sunday. So, that couldn't be closer. I'm just as worried about the Raisins though. Legacy has a good team, but he has more issues... especially with his pitching... than the Raisins do. I could see the race going into the last day or two with it being a coin flip between second, third and forth.

The start of the second half is a fresh start for players and I'm counting on some strong finishes. I need some hitters to bounce back... R Braun, M Kemp, N Morgan, R Howard, J Upton. They obviously can't all get better in the second half, but I need a couple of them to truly get hot. Holding what I have in the hitting categories is critical.

Then pitching wise, the focus is on piling up the starts. Starting Rotations are more unstable as the season wears on with injuries and minor leaguers getting called up. So, it's more challenging to keep every starter starting. I need the Wins and Strikeouts though... as I again just can't afford to lose what I have in those categories. It's going to be a battle.

Here is a look at the week...


Hitting (55 for 194, .284ba, 6hr, 26rbi, 25rs, 4sb)
Ryan Howard (6 for 15, 4hr, 8rbi, 4r) has slugged nearly 100 points higher in the second half in his career, and he's certainly holding to that pattern if the first week after the all-star break is any indication. J Upton and R Braun also got off to fast starts.

Rod Barajas (0 for 7) doesn't look like he'll ever hit and I have no idea why the Mets keep running him out there. Overall though, a solid start to the second half.


Pitching (36.1ip, 2.73era, 1.16ratio, 26k, 4w, 0s)
Had 5 starts in the abbreviated week and 4 of them were quality. The exception was Zack Duke, and he looked great in his start... just didn't go the needed 6 innings the stat requires (5ip, 2er, 5on, 5k). My Padres pitcher... J Garland and K Correia... got back on track too (combined 12ip, 4er, 18on, 14k, 2w). Need them in the second half.

The only negative was my D-back relievers... A Heilman and J Gutierrez. I am desperate for saves, but will have to look to dump both of them. It's still not clear who their closer is... they so rarely need one that it's hard to even guess. I know it's not Juan Gutierrez though. After a decent little run, he returned to crapsville the moment he got back on my team. Aaron Heilman might get a crack at a save, but he's been pretty bad too... so I doubt it. As bad as I need saves, I think Arizona is enough of a mess to motivate me to pull the plug on speculating... and instead look to fill those spots with starting pitchers. Need to pray Matt Capps doesn't get traded.


Other News
Placido Polanco came off the DL, which is certainly good news. I'd called up Wilson Valdez to replace him... and Valdez has become the Phillies starting 2B, a job he figures to hold until Chase Utley returns in a month or so. While he's not exactly a talented player, that starting job does give him enough value to make him worth keeping. As strong as my hitting is, I still can't throw him back.

So, I had to dump someone and the options were limited to Randy Winn or Laynce Nix. My thought process was... despite several injuries in the Cardinals outfield, Winn isn't playing much. Have to wonder if he'll even have a job when players start returning. Plus, when he does play... he doesn't do much. He could maybe steal a few bases and score some runs, but that's not worth a lot to me. Laynce Nix at least has a stable job (it seems) and he does have the ability to hit some homeruns.

I thus decided to cut Randy Winn... and, of course... he immediately began starting games and got hot, while Nix has gone 0 for 4. Next time I should just flip a freaking coin... that way I can have the coin to blame.

John Ely was sent down to the minors by the Dodgers. He was decent for me (67ip, 4.70era, 1.37ratio, 48k, 4w), but most of the positive came early on. He'd been pretty bad lately. Still have to count him as a good claim though. To replace him, I called up Zack Duke from my reserve squad. He's been really bad and I'm not thrilled to have him back. But... he is a starting pitcher that should be able to hold his spot in the rotation... and he does have the skills to bounce back in the second half. So far (one start), so good. Honestly though, if I was a 'normal' team that had more concern for ERA and Ratio... I wouldn't have taken him.

Luis Atilano was also sent down. The Nationals plan to recall him though, so keeping him was an option. He never showed the upside Ely did though... and he barely was above bad for me (75ip, 5.11era, 1.49ratio, 38k, 5w). I also worry that he'll get bumped from the rotation. The Nationals have as many as 3 starters coming back. So, I let him go and claimed Blake Hawksworth. He's been decent in the rotation after a bad start. Frankly not thrilled with him, but... I'd pretty much take any Cardinals starting pitcher and he has more upside than Atilano. He won his first start for me too.

Then I made a trade in which I gave up Tyler Clippard and Chris Narveson. I really hated to let Clippard go. He was awesome for me (52ip, 3.31era, 1,29ratio, 58k, 8w, 1s). You can't possibly ask more from a $1 middle reliever. Thing is though, he hasn't done anything in about a month... except get hammered (8ip, 10er, 23on, 6k, 0w, 0s). I think a lot of that has to do with his heavy workload early in the season. Another issue is... I don't think Washington makes him the closer, even if Matt Capps is traded (or gets hurt). So while I like his upside... he throws in the mid 90s with good off speed stuff... right now he's a slumping middle reliever that's not going to help me. His $1 contract gave him trade value, so I cashed him in.

Now losing Chris Narveson was far less painful. He's been a disaster for me (48ip, 6.70era, 1.55ratio, 37k, 3w). Besides the ERA issues, which are massive... he's not getting Ks at any sort of strong pace. Plus, the Brewers have to bump someone from the rotation this week. Of course, he went out and beat the Braves... looking good in the process... after I dumped him and will likely keep his spot in the rotation (since Manny Parra got torched). What can you do though... this is why I HATE pitchers.

I picked up Jeff Karstens to replace Narveson. He's certainly nothing special, but I'm hopeful that the Pirates keep him in the rotation. He also qualifies at RP, which should be a help. Basically he's "in the starting rotation" though... and that's why I got him.

I also... ugh... got Juan Gutierrez back. He'd been pitching well lately and had just picked up a save. Last night though... more of the same reason I dumped him in the first place. I wont wait nearly as long the second time around though. I'm already looking for a Starting Pitcher to replace him with. Did I mention I hate pitchers?