Week 6

The season is now one quarter old... passed that mark midway through week 6. So, standings and stats are starting to mean something. Can't really say a player is merely off to a "bad start" at this point. Same goes for some teams in the Mostly Lazy Boys League. There are teams that obviously have no chance... though they haven't acted on that reality yet. No trades of note thus far. That will change over this next quarter though.

For the week 6 scoring period I finished in 4 place. Gang Green had a massive week... 90.5 points... and blew the field out. Fantasy Tools continues to cruise finishing second and Balls Deep finished just ahead of me. Can see that the big weeks propelled Gang Green and Balls Deep into third and forth place. Think that's the way it's going to go for a while too. There are several teams bunched up and batting for 3rd and 4th.

As for me, my week didn't change my place in the standings. In fact, my overall point total remained the same. Here is a look at the current standings...


1 ~ Fantasy Tools 86.5
2 ~ Antelope Crusaders 78.0
3 ~ Balls Deep 68.5
4 ~ Gang Green 68.0
5 ~ Lynnwood Legacy 63.5


It looks like I am locked into second, but that's really not the case. Take 4 HRs away from me and I lose 4 points... 2 RS and I lose a point... 3 RBI and I lose a point... and so one. The stats are tight, especially the hitting ones. A bad week... and those are easy enough to have... and I'm suddenly in a pitched battle for second. That is NOT the case for me moving into first place though. It's really hard to find the points to make that happen. Probably would need to beat Fantasy Tools in ERA and Ratio, and he's way ahead of me there right now.

On to the week in review...


Hitting (94 for 320, .294ba, 8hr, 36rbi, 42rs, 7sb)
Extremely similar stats to last week, minus an improved batting average. The frustrating thing for me is how much my star players are under-performing. Hanley Ramirez is looking like a pretty massive bust at this point. It's not that he's a bad player or anything like that, but ~no way~ has he been close to a $50 player. He was 7 for 29 with 0hr, 1rbi, 4rs, 1sb this week. I was thrilled with the steal too, because the dude has basically stopped running. Can understand that when he's winning a batting title and mashing HRs. But... come on!

Ryan Howard continues to be mediocre. Keep waiting for this hot streak to come... but I have to wonder. He only has 6hr, which paces him out to about 23hr on the year. That's way-way behind what I expected. Albert Pujols has struggled too. Bronson Arroyo said after Sunday's game that Albert Pujols looks "uncomfortable" at the plate. lol... that is not what I expect from 'The Machine.' I think he has a heal issue that's slowed him down (he doesn't run at all anymore). Matt Kemp continues to have issues too.

I keep waiting for these star players to get blistering hot, but it just aint happening.

I did have a player get crazy hot this week though. Troy Glaus (10 for 24, .417, 3hr, 7rbi, 5r) was my Player of the Week. A lot of his outs were hit hard too. He is mashing the ball right now (and the Braves are playing better). He was 1 of 4 players to hit over .400 for the week. The list included Roger Bernadina (7 for 17, 2hr, 5rbi, 3r). Weird thing there though is... he found himself sitting on the bench a couple of times this week. I don't get it?

As for the goat of the week, that's a tough call this week. Not a lot of candidates, which is a good thing. Tony Gwynn went 2 for 15, which is ugly. The guy is proving to me that he can't hit. He plays great defense and does have lots of speed... but I'm sensing that he's about to lose his playing time. He already has lost his leadoff job when he does play. He is overmatched by average fastballs, and I don't know that an adjustment can be made for that. As bad as he is, I need the steals he offers when he plays. He's quickly headed to the 5th OF job though.

Jorge Cantu is the goat of the week though. 5 for 24, 0hr, 2rbi, 2r, 0sb... and his fast start is now a distant memory. I have the Marlins #3 and #4 hitters and collected 3rbi out of them this week. The Marlins scored... 10, 7, 7, 4, 3, 3, and 2 runs this week too... that's 36 runs in 7 games. Ronnie Belliard drove in 3 runs for me this week... in 8 bats.


Pitching (77ip, 4.91era, 1.38ratio, 62k, 6w, 0s)
Kevin Correia's trip to the bereavement list hurt me twice. Not only did he have a poor start in his return, but his replacement... Brian Burres... got smacked around hard. Zack Duke had a bad start too. So, my ERA was off to a bad start.

Did have some fine performances though. My favorite came from John Ely (6ip, 3.00era, 1.00ratio, 6k, 1w). He left with runners on first and second and the bullpen let them both score, or the outing would have been even better. He looked awesome though. Excellent control with LOTS of movement, and he went right after the hitters. Mark Grace said that he "looked like Sandy Koufax"...!!! Not bad for a free agent! Will be interesting to see what this kid does when he doesn't have his best stuff. The good ones adjust and have mediocre games still. If he can do that... and not totally trash his ERA (7er in 2ip kind of stuff)... I think he has a real good chance to be a big help to me.

Anibal Sanchez and Hiroki Kuroda had excellent starts too. Luis Atilano had two starts and did a pretty good job (winning 1 of them). Decisions have to be made about him in the coming weeks. The Nationals have some pitchers coming back and will have to bump one or two pitchers out of the rotation... and I should have Vicente Padilla (my third Dodgers starting pitcher) back around that time too. Right now, I'd guess he will stick on both teams. We shall see on that though.

Most of my relief pitcher were decent too. Tyler Clippard even picked up another win (though he added 2 losses... the Nats need to rest him a bit more, I think).

Goat of the week is easy this time around though. Juan Gutierrez (1.1ip, 4er, 5on)... and he was even worse that his line shows. He is pathetic. He has two pitchers... breaking pitches that are either in the dirt or above the chin... or a fastball that is as straight as a Mormon. It's a mid-90s (or even higher) fastball, but that is ALL hitters have to look for. And, since it is going straight... they can hit it. He doesn't belong in the major leagues. If I had more cuts, he's be long-long gone. As is, I have to wait for the D-backs to send him down... which will likely come after his next game. I am already checking out free agents. And I paid TWO dollars for this chump... lol... that is a fortune to spend on a pitcher in Antelope!


Other News
I cut Brian Bruney and claimed free agent John Ely. Bruney couldn't throw strikes (20 walks in 17.2 innings) and he was in serious danger of finding himself in a mop-up role. That's too risky... and... John Ely was available. The chance to get a Dodgers starting with that much upside was too much to pass up. Nick (from the Dittoheads) is a lifelong Dodgers fan and he's always telling me how much they suck this year. I don't know that I agree with that... but this much is certain... they have a good hitting lineup, a solid closer and a good pitcher's park. So, if Ely can be good enough to stay in the rotation... he will have value.

As it turns out, the Washington Nationals came to the same conclusion I did. They put Bruney on waivers (where I am sure they'll lose him). I was surprised by that. Figured they'd bump him down in the bullpen (to that mop up role) and see if he could figure things out there... and not risk losing him (he does have a good arm, and figuring out control is possible). I don't feel bad about burning a cut though. I wouldn't have gotten Ely had I waited even one more day.

Also made the Burres/Correia move (which didn't work out).

I expect Tyler Green to get sent down to the minors early in the coming week, so I will need to pick up a hitter to replace him. Pickings are extremely thin there. Hoping to maybe get Xavier Paul... if the Dodgers place Either on the DL and call him up. That's a short term solution though (as Paul would get sent down when Either returns). Might explore dealing a pick for a mediocre hitter to fill that spot.

Also hoping the D-backs send Juan Gutierrez down.