Very nice week for me as my offense finally posted a big week. During the week, I earned 51 of a possible 55 hitting points. Can't get much better than that. My pitching was mediocre, which is a good thing... will take that given how little I spent on pitching. The strong week gained me 6 points in the overall season standings, giving me some breathing room from the rest of the pack. Here is a look at the top of the current standings.
1 ~ Fantasy Tools 86.0
2 ~ Antelope Crusaders 76.0
3 ~ Lynnwood Legacy 67.5
4 ~ Wheats N Raisins 66.5
5 ~ Balls Deep 65.5
6 ~ 5 Cent Head 58.5
While I did increase my lead over third place and the rest of the pack... I also managed to lose ground to the Fantasy Tools. Shows how slim my chances are at first place this year. Would need to catch every possible break. So, this is second place effort. Included the 6th place team to show that the pack has started to separate. Looks like a runaway winner and then a 4 team battle for 2nd to 4th place... with my team in a strong position to claim 2nd.
Hitting (103 for 367, .281ba, 12hr, 54rbi, 52rs, 12sb)
An incredible week with huge totals across the board... minus Batting Average (which was only pretty good). The 367 ABs was the most in the league. I have 17 active hitters and 13 of them are unquestionable starters... and Roger Bernardino is a platoon player that gets plenty of AB and Omar Infante tends to play a good deal (he's even started to get playing time in the OF). Lance Nix gets some ABs too. I have a lot of players that play... which obviously a big help.
A lot of those players played well this week too. Albert Pujols (8 for 21, 2hr, 6rbi, 3r, 3sb) had a huge week. He stole 3 bases, which must mean his heal is feeling better. That's a really good sign. Have to believe that he had been slowed down by that injury (which literally had him limping at times). Nyjer Morgan (11 for 31, 7r, 3sb) busted out with a nice week. Getting bumped down in the ordered seems to have motivated him. Ryan Howard (7 for 26, 1hr, 7rbi) started the week slowly, but finished with a couple of big games.
Roger Bernardino (6 for 17, 3rbi, 2r, 1sb... with a .476obp) continues to impress. The Nats leave him on the bench more than I think they should. Wouldn't start him against LHP, but should be playing in all other situations. Omar Infante (8 for 24, 4rbi, 5r) should be playing more too. It's not an issue when someone is banged up in the infield... but he should still get 15 or so ABs a week even when everyone is healthy. That might be the case now too... will have to see once Chipper Jones is healthy.
Placido Polanco and Matt Kemp had good weeks too. A lot of good news. The player of the week
is a slam dunk though. Troy Glaus (8 for 26, 4hr, 10rbi, 8r) went off. After winning the NL Player of the Month award for May, he got even hotter in the first week of June. I think I had higher expectations than most for Glaus... which is why I drafted him... but, he's exceeding even what I'd hoped for. Don't know if it will continue, but I can't name a reason it wont. The dude flat out hits the ball hard. He doesn't have many bad ABs. Even when they get him out... he stings the ball. If he does keep this up, he's a legitimate candidate for MVP. Probably wont hit for a high enough average to get it... but he could very-very easily finish as a top 10 player.
On the bad side of things, the list is small. Bengie Molina (2 for 16, 1rbi) pretty much makes this list every week. The interesting thing about his massive slump is how rarely he strikes-out. Only once this last week and only 16 times all year. He also has 12 walks. Not a big total, but given that he only had 32 walks the previous two seasons... in well over 1,000 ABs... it's a HUGE total for him. So, he is seeing the ball well enough to put it into play. He just rarely hits it with any authority. He's now been moved deeper in the lineup... batting 7th... and he is on the edge of losing his starting job (as he should be). I still hope he can snap out if this, but I certainly am not counting on it.
Someone I am counting on has been even worse though. Hanley Ramirez (5 for 27, 0hr, 3rbi, 5r, 2sb) continues to disappoint. He's drawing walks and stealing bases which is nice... but, I drafted Hanley as a #3 hitter that would hit HRs and drive in runs... with those steals being a really nice bonus. He's been so poor at driving in runs though, that the Marlins have moved him to the leadoff spot.
It's not like he sucks (like Molina does). Hanley is a good player that posts helpful number. I paid $50 for him though... and thus need closer to MVP numbers. He is a gifted athlete and maybe this move snaps him out of it. He has to be counted as a bust at this point though.
Pitching (93.1ip, 5.00era, 1.51ratio, 71k, 4w, 2s)
Had a bit of struggle pitching this week. The overall numbers are decent, but that is largely driven by the number of innings I had... because I had 5 pitchers get two starts during the week (random luck, which will even out).
Several pitchers got hammered this week though. Kevin Correia (7.2ip, 11.74era, 1.96ratio, 1w) got torched in both of his starts and he now has an ERA over 5. He could end up losing his spot in the rotation. Extremely ugly, and he was a worthy goat of the week candidate. Zack Duke was awful... again. He is a bust. Anibal Sanchez had a bad outing... but he's been rock solid most of the year, so no biggie there. Chris Narveson (11.2ip, 6.94era, 1.54ratio, 12K) continues to be erratic while striking a bunch of guys out. Wish he could out it together.
Matt Capps (3ip, 3er, 10on, 2k, 1s) was hands down the goat of the week though. While 3ip - 3er doesn't sound THAT bad... he gave up NINE hits in those innings and 5 unearned runs. In his last 10 games he has pitched 8 innings and given up 21 hits and 14 runs (9 earned). He has been far-far to hittable. In that same span Tyler Clippard has gone 10.1 innings, 4 hits and 0 runs... with 14 Ks.
The Nats have given Capps a "vote of confidence"... but, I think he is one more bad outing from losing the job (maybe 2). The good news is, I ~should~ have the new closer when that happens (and I think it will). Matt Capps has been a complete and total bust. Not happy about it. Proves though why I do not spend draft day money on pitchers.
There was good news this week though. Luis Atilano (13.2ip, 2.63era, 1.10ratio, 7k, 1w) looks like he'll hold onto his rotation spot when Stephen Strasburg gets called up later in the week. That will leave me with a decision when Vicente Padilla comes back next week. Atilano is his replacement, and I'll lose him if I don't make some sort of move to keep him (creating a spot via cut of trade). If he's in the rotation, I'll have to figure something out. Atilano is far from being a great pitcher, but he's decent enough to keep over someone like Chad Durbin (who is a million miles from the setup role I'd hoped he'd have).
John Ely (12ip, 3.00era, 1.25ratio, 7k, 0w) finally had a mediocre outing... but can't complain at the week he had. Aaron Heilman (3ip, 0er, 1.50ratio, 3k) had two wins blown by the Dbacks bullpen... including one by Chad Qualls. He's the setup man in Arizona right now, and could indeed find himself getting some save chances. If he can keep posting decent numbers, he's in a
good spot.
Nick Masset picked up a save... very cool... and didn't even give up a run this week (in 2 innings).
Best of all though... far and away... was Brett Myers (13.2ip, 1.98era, 1.17ratio, 16k, 1w). He has been solid all year. He's never GREAT, but he's never bad either. It's too bad he isn't on a good team... he'd be getting a lot more attention (and wins) if he were. And speaking of another team, I have to worry he'll be traded at some point. Think the odds of that are pretty high, actually. Need to hope it's to a NL team... Mets, Nationals, Reds and maybe even Philadelphia seem like possibilities.
Other Moves
Juan Castro and 2 6th round picks -for- 1 6th round pick
This move was made strictly to save a cut... basically 'if you take Juan Castro off my hands, I'll give you a 6th round reserve pick."
Claiming Juan Castro made sense when I did it. Gregg Zaun was going to be on the DL for a couple of weeks. And thanks to an injury to Jimmy Rollins... Juan Castro would be starting for the Phillies. While not a good hitter, those starts in the powerful Philadelphia lineup would have some value. By the time Rollins was back... pushing Castro to the bench... Zaun would be back, pushing Castro off my team.
More than a few things went wrong though... lol. First of all, Zaun's injury turned out be extremely serious. He is gone for at least a few months and most likely the year. He'd played with it... and played well... so no idea what happened there. But, Castro went from a couple of weeks on my roster to no end in sight.
Still, if he played and was anything but awful it would be okay. But... this is the more things wrong part... he didn't play much. He's only picked up around 2 starts a week since Rollins was hurt. He's been more of a utility player... not the new starting SS. He's also been awful when he did play. He has gone 4 for 27 with 2rbi and 1r since I claimed him (the day Rollins got hurt). He was less than nothing and just had to go.
1 ~ Fantasy Tools 86.0
2 ~ Antelope Crusaders 76.0
3 ~ Lynnwood Legacy 67.5
4 ~ Wheats N Raisins 66.5
5 ~ Balls Deep 65.5
6 ~ 5 Cent Head 58.5
While I did increase my lead over third place and the rest of the pack... I also managed to lose ground to the Fantasy Tools. Shows how slim my chances are at first place this year. Would need to catch every possible break. So, this is second place effort. Included the 6th place team to show that the pack has started to separate. Looks like a runaway winner and then a 4 team battle for 2nd to 4th place... with my team in a strong position to claim 2nd.
Hitting (103 for 367, .281ba, 12hr, 54rbi, 52rs, 12sb)
An incredible week with huge totals across the board... minus Batting Average (which was only pretty good). The 367 ABs was the most in the league. I have 17 active hitters and 13 of them are unquestionable starters... and Roger Bernardino is a platoon player that gets plenty of AB and Omar Infante tends to play a good deal (he's even started to get playing time in the OF). Lance Nix gets some ABs too. I have a lot of players that play... which obviously a big help.
A lot of those players played well this week too. Albert Pujols (8 for 21, 2hr, 6rbi, 3r, 3sb) had a huge week. He stole 3 bases, which must mean his heal is feeling better. That's a really good sign. Have to believe that he had been slowed down by that injury (which literally had him limping at times). Nyjer Morgan (11 for 31, 7r, 3sb) busted out with a nice week. Getting bumped down in the ordered seems to have motivated him. Ryan Howard (7 for 26, 1hr, 7rbi) started the week slowly, but finished with a couple of big games.
Roger Bernardino (6 for 17, 3rbi, 2r, 1sb... with a .476obp) continues to impress. The Nats leave him on the bench more than I think they should. Wouldn't start him against LHP, but should be playing in all other situations. Omar Infante (8 for 24, 4rbi, 5r) should be playing more too. It's not an issue when someone is banged up in the infield... but he should still get 15 or so ABs a week even when everyone is healthy. That might be the case now too... will have to see once Chipper Jones is healthy.
Placido Polanco and Matt Kemp had good weeks too. A lot of good news. The player of the week
is a slam dunk though. Troy Glaus (8 for 26, 4hr, 10rbi, 8r) went off. After winning the NL Player of the Month award for May, he got even hotter in the first week of June. I think I had higher expectations than most for Glaus... which is why I drafted him... but, he's exceeding even what I'd hoped for. Don't know if it will continue, but I can't name a reason it wont. The dude flat out hits the ball hard. He doesn't have many bad ABs. Even when they get him out... he stings the ball. If he does keep this up, he's a legitimate candidate for MVP. Probably wont hit for a high enough average to get it... but he could very-very easily finish as a top 10 player.On the bad side of things, the list is small. Bengie Molina (2 for 16, 1rbi) pretty much makes this list every week. The interesting thing about his massive slump is how rarely he strikes-out. Only once this last week and only 16 times all year. He also has 12 walks. Not a big total, but given that he only had 32 walks the previous two seasons... in well over 1,000 ABs... it's a HUGE total for him. So, he is seeing the ball well enough to put it into play. He just rarely hits it with any authority. He's now been moved deeper in the lineup... batting 7th... and he is on the edge of losing his starting job (as he should be). I still hope he can snap out if this, but I certainly am not counting on it.
Someone I am counting on has been even worse though. Hanley Ramirez (5 for 27, 0hr, 3rbi, 5r, 2sb) continues to disappoint. He's drawing walks and stealing bases which is nice... but, I drafted Hanley as a #3 hitter that would hit HRs and drive in runs... with those steals being a really nice bonus. He's been so poor at driving in runs though, that the Marlins have moved him to the leadoff spot.
It's not like he sucks (like Molina does). Hanley is a good player that posts helpful number. I paid $50 for him though... and thus need closer to MVP numbers. He is a gifted athlete and maybe this move snaps him out of it. He has to be counted as a bust at this point though.
Pitching (93.1ip, 5.00era, 1.51ratio, 71k, 4w, 2s)
Had a bit of struggle pitching this week. The overall numbers are decent, but that is largely driven by the number of innings I had... because I had 5 pitchers get two starts during the week (random luck, which will even out).
Several pitchers got hammered this week though. Kevin Correia (7.2ip, 11.74era, 1.96ratio, 1w) got torched in both of his starts and he now has an ERA over 5. He could end up losing his spot in the rotation. Extremely ugly, and he was a worthy goat of the week candidate. Zack Duke was awful... again. He is a bust. Anibal Sanchez had a bad outing... but he's been rock solid most of the year, so no biggie there. Chris Narveson (11.2ip, 6.94era, 1.54ratio, 12K) continues to be erratic while striking a bunch of guys out. Wish he could out it together.
Matt Capps (3ip, 3er, 10on, 2k, 1s) was hands down the goat of the week though. While 3ip - 3er doesn't sound THAT bad... he gave up NINE hits in those innings and 5 unearned runs. In his last 10 games he has pitched 8 innings and given up 21 hits and 14 runs (9 earned). He has been far-far to hittable. In that same span Tyler Clippard has gone 10.1 innings, 4 hits and 0 runs... with 14 Ks.
The Nats have given Capps a "vote of confidence"... but, I think he is one more bad outing from losing the job (maybe 2). The good news is, I ~should~ have the new closer when that happens (and I think it will). Matt Capps has been a complete and total bust. Not happy about it. Proves though why I do not spend draft day money on pitchers.
There was good news this week though. Luis Atilano (13.2ip, 2.63era, 1.10ratio, 7k, 1w) looks like he'll hold onto his rotation spot when Stephen Strasburg gets called up later in the week. That will leave me with a decision when Vicente Padilla comes back next week. Atilano is his replacement, and I'll lose him if I don't make some sort of move to keep him (creating a spot via cut of trade). If he's in the rotation, I'll have to figure something out. Atilano is far from being a great pitcher, but he's decent enough to keep over someone like Chad Durbin (who is a million miles from the setup role I'd hoped he'd have).
John Ely (12ip, 3.00era, 1.25ratio, 7k, 0w) finally had a mediocre outing... but can't complain at the week he had. Aaron Heilman (3ip, 0er, 1.50ratio, 3k) had two wins blown by the Dbacks bullpen... including one by Chad Qualls. He's the setup man in Arizona right now, and could indeed find himself getting some save chances. If he can keep posting decent numbers, he's in a
good spot.Nick Masset picked up a save... very cool... and didn't even give up a run this week (in 2 innings).
Best of all though... far and away... was Brett Myers (13.2ip, 1.98era, 1.17ratio, 16k, 1w). He has been solid all year. He's never GREAT, but he's never bad either. It's too bad he isn't on a good team... he'd be getting a lot more attention (and wins) if he were. And speaking of another team, I have to worry he'll be traded at some point. Think the odds of that are pretty high, actually. Need to hope it's to a NL team... Mets, Nationals, Reds and maybe even Philadelphia seem like possibilities.
Other Moves
Juan Castro and 2 6th round picks -for- 1 6th round pickThis move was made strictly to save a cut... basically 'if you take Juan Castro off my hands, I'll give you a 6th round reserve pick."
Claiming Juan Castro made sense when I did it. Gregg Zaun was going to be on the DL for a couple of weeks. And thanks to an injury to Jimmy Rollins... Juan Castro would be starting for the Phillies. While not a good hitter, those starts in the powerful Philadelphia lineup would have some value. By the time Rollins was back... pushing Castro to the bench... Zaun would be back, pushing Castro off my team.
More than a few things went wrong though... lol. First of all, Zaun's injury turned out be extremely serious. He is gone for at least a few months and most likely the year. He'd played with it... and played well... so no idea what happened there. But, Castro went from a couple of weeks on my roster to no end in sight.
Still, if he played and was anything but awful it would be okay. But... this is the more things wrong part... he didn't play much. He's only picked up around 2 starts a week since Rollins was hurt. He's been more of a utility player... not the new starting SS. He's also been awful when he did play. He has gone 4 for 27 with 2rbi and 1r since I claimed him (the day Rollins got hurt). He was less than nothing and just had to go.
So, I made the move to dump him and with the open spot I claimed Randy Winn.
The Cardinals signed Randy Winn and sent Jon Jay back to the minors... likely making Winn their new 4th OF. That's good for 8 to 12 ABs a week. Winn hadn't been very good this year in the AL (he was cut)... but he was a decent player last year for the Giants (538ab, .262ba, 2hr, 51rbi, 65r, 16sb). He hit .306 and .302 as an everyday player the two seasons before that. He has excellent speed too (65sb with 6cs over the last 3 seasons). I figure he should steal a few bases and score some runs for me and not hurt my batting average too much. That is a HUGE upgrade over Juan Castro.
Keep in mind too, it is ridiculously hard to get free agent hitters in this league.
The Cardinals signed Randy Winn and sent Jon Jay back to the minors... likely making Winn their new 4th OF. That's good for 8 to 12 ABs a week. Winn hadn't been very good this year in the AL (he was cut)... but he was a decent player last year for the Giants (538ab, .262ba, 2hr, 51rbi, 65r, 16sb). He hit .306 and .302 as an everyday player the two seasons before that. He has excellent speed too (65sb with 6cs over the last 3 seasons). I figure he should steal a few bases and score some runs for me and not hurt my batting average too much. That is a HUGE upgrade over Juan Castro.
Keep in mind too, it is ridiculously hard to get free agent hitters in this league.
No comments:
Post a Comment