Week 11

A typical week in Antelope. I had the best hitting of the week, with a massive advantage over everyone but the Fantasy Tools (the best team in the league)... and I had the worst pitching of the week (being easily doubled by all but 1 team).

The net result was a wash, and my overall points for the season remained the same. Here is a look at the top of the current standings.


1 ~ Fantasy Tools 84.5
2 ~ Wheats N Raisins 77.5
3 ~ Antelope Crusaders 77.0
4 ~ Lynnwood Legacy 68.0
5 ~ Balls Deep 65.0


While my total stayed the same, a team did indeed break from the pack and jump ahead of me into second place. The Raisins certainly have a roster that could hold second place too. The massive hitting / no pitching make up of my team is a formula for Third Place. In order to avoid that reality, I need to do a little something in pitching.

Looking at the stats, there is no where positive for me to go in the hitting categories. I am in second place in each of the 5 categories... behind the Tools in 4 of them with little chance of catching him. Could maybe gain a point in Batting Average, but that's it. I'd be THRILLED to no lose any hitting points.

Pitching wise, I'm already in first in Wins... and in a pitched battle to hold that. I am second in Strikeout and in another battle to hold on (with no chance at gaining). ERA and Ratio are wastelands... second to last in both. Can't see gaining there. That leaves Saves as the one place I have a chance to pick up some points. Right now I have two closers and have a legitimate chance at gaining 4 to 5 points. Probably going to need to get at least some of that... while largely holding serve elsewhere... to win Second Place. That will be a challenge.

Here is a recap of the week.


Hitting (80 for 296, .270ba, 11hr, 47rbi, 39rs, 8sb)
My ABs dropped this week but I still was able to post excellent numbers. Most of my star players posted solid weeks... A Pujols (7 for 18, 3rbi, 4r), J Upton (7 for 23, 1hr, 4rbi, 5r, 1sb), J Braun (9 for 24, 1hr, 5rbi, 3r) and H Ramirez (5 for 17, 2hr, 7rbi, 4r, 1sb) were all solid. N Morgan (5 for 21, 1rs, 3sb) and T Glaus (3 for 19, 1hr, 6rbi, 3r) didn't have good batting average weeks, but they contributed elsewhere.

But hands down the biggest star of the week was Ryan Howard (8 for 24, 4hr, 8rbi, 6r). He did the majority of that damage in a 5 at-bat stretch, but that's often the way he rolls. The best news of the week though was Roger Bernadina (6 for 22, 1hr, 2rbi, 1r, 1sb). The Nationals have named him their everyday starting Right Fielder. So, no more lost ABs to Willie Harris, Mike Morse and the rest of that scrubbly crew.

On the bad side of things the list is pretty small this week. Matt Kemp (5 for 26, 4rbi, 2r, 1sb) continues to disappoint. I wonder if the Dodgers shouldn't bump him down to 7th or even 8th in the order... maybe he'll press less. He's not been close to the player I was hoping for.

The goat of the week goes to my catchers though... all 3 of them. George Kottaras (4 for 9, 1rbi, 3r) actually had a good week, but the 9 ABs shows his biggest problem. He has lost his starting job. Well, actually his BIGGEST problem is that he sucks. Can't hit and can't throw (1 for 27 catching base stealers).

Bengie Molina (3 for 12) and Rod Barajas (2 for 14, 1r) are close to being in the same boat too. It's already borderline to call them starters. They've both drifted into splitting ABs... and that's cutting into my overall team ABs (and injuries to O Infante and H Ramirez didn't help).

I've always looked to have two starting and productive catchers. That creates a very nice advantage. Just not working out this year though. Fact is, even if they do play... these catchers don't produce much.


Pitching (63.1ip, 6.96era, 1.63ratio, 41k, 1w, 1s)
A week long nightmare that was very reminiscent of my entire 2009 season. Ely, Atilano, Narveson, Duke, Correia, Myers and A Sanchez all had one start this week... and they all lost. 0-7 in 7 starts. Jon Garland lost his first start too... for 0 wins and 8 loses... before he closed the week with 6 shutout innings in a win.

Extremely ugly and hard to pick a worst out of the bunch. John Ely (4.1ip, 13.50era, 2.36ratio, 3k) was the worst of the worst though. After such an incredible start, he is starting to crash. He has started to walk more batters... and it looks to me like a control problem is the issue (more within the strikezone than out of it). That's something that can be turned around... or... it can get worse (especially in a young pitcher).

On the positive side... yuck... not much. My relief pitchers did okay. Matt Capps tossed two perfect innings, so maybe he is over his recent slump. Nick Masset was perfect this week too. Of course, he only pitched a single inning (and it was a meaningless inning). Think the Reds have finally tired of his poor pitching.

Aaron Heilman (2.2ip, 3er, 6on, 2k, 1s) went 1 for 1 in save chances in his first week as the Arizona closer. He did give up a run getting that save though, and was hammered in his other outing (mop up work). And, for that effort... lol... he is my pitcher of the week!


Other News
Vicente Padilla did indeed come of the DL. He pitched decently in Boston too. Not sure he's a positive, but as long as he is in the Dodgers rotation I'll keep him active.

To make room for him I ultimately decided to reserve cut Zack Duke... which allowed me to keep Luis Atilano. Duke hasn't won in a month (and has only 1 win since the first week of the season). He's given up 20 runs in his last 21 innings and has a 1.72ratio on the season. He has been BAD. He also pitches for the worst team in baseball. The Pirates score few runs... and they made 6 (SIX!) errors his last start.

Add to that an elbow injury that has Duke missing (at least) his next start... and yea... his upside looks "limited." I'd say it's a good bet that he ends the year with 5 or 6 wins. I actually think he has more talent that Luis Atilano... but Atilano pitches for a better team and he is healthy. He at least has a reasonable chance at picking up some wins.

Duke goes straight to my reserve squad, and I'll bring him back if he turns things around.

Week 10

An ugly week. For the scoring period I finished in 9th place. I was strong in Steals and Saves and mediocre to bad in the other 8 categories. Despite the awful week, I maintained 2nd Place in the overall standings and in fact I managed to gain 1 overall point. Several categories have tightened though. Here is a look at the top of the current standings.

1 ~ Fantasy Tools 83.0
2 ~ Antelope Crusaders 77.0
3 ~ Wheats N Raisins 71.5
4 ~ Lynnwood Legacy 67.5
5 ~ Balls Deep 64.0

Got a little closer to 1st, and a little closer to 3rd. Eventually one of the 3 or 4 teams below me is going to make a serious run and 2nd... and my team is going to need to play a lot better to hold them off.

Now a closer look at Week 10...


Hitting (80 for 322, .248ba, 8hr, 37rbi, 27rs, 9sb)
It was a bad week, but I'm going to start with the positive. My team has caught fire in Stolen Bases. 21 in the last two weeks. This despite the fact that Nyjer Morgan has lost his leadoff spot... and largely doesn't run... and gets caught when he does. Wait, this is supposed to be POSITIVE!

Roger Bernadina (7 for 17, 1hr, 3rbi, 3r, 1sb) was a big positive and has been for most of the year. He has a 798ops in 117ab on the year with 4 steals and excellent defensive play. Despite his success though, he's not getting any starts vs LHP and he is still losing some ABs to RHP. 17 ABs in a week isn't enough. He is doing well with his 17ab a week though (positive!)

Hanley Ramirez (6-20, 1hr, 4rbi, 3r, 3sb) had a solid week and he indeed is running more. He's back to hitting third too. Would be great to see him pick up the pace in HR/RBI... since, you know... I paid $50 for him! He is stealing bases though (positive!). Bengie Molina (6-19, 1hr, 5rbi) had a good week. Finally had a good week after well over a month of hitting like a fat slug. Maybe fatso can cling to his starting job (positive!). Omar Infante (6 for 17) was solid again and did indeed get starts in LF. Of course, he got hurt and that's going to cost him 5 or so games, many of which would have been starts (keep it positive!).

One player that has been a true positive is Troy Glaus (11 for 27, 2hr, 5rbi, 5r). After a slow April, he has been my best player. Said it before, but the guy hits the ball hard... and he does so as consistently as any player I see. A 30hr/125rbi season is easily within his grasp.

On the negative side... there is plenty not going right. George Kottaras (0 for 10) is on the verge of losing his starting job. He's gone 6 for 41 for me and looks like a total bust. Ryan Braun (3 for 23) has been even worse. His stats for my team have basically been the same as Ryan Spilborghs were... and Spilborghs was bad enough that I dumped him (and he was a $1 player... not a legit MVP candidate).

Justin Upton (4 for 23) has been even worse than Braun. He is 10 for 57 since I picked him up... and he has been dropped to 7th in the Dbacks order. He's bad enough that his starting job could be threatened. UGLY. Rod Barajas (2 for 14) has started to lose playing time. After a fast 10hr start... he's hit 1 for me and turned into a liability. David Eckstein has stunk too. All these players were picked up in trades.

Meanwhile, a couple of throw-ins that I traded away... Tony Gwynn and Ryan Spilborghs... have gone a combined 30 for 75, 5hr, 10rbi, 13r, 1sb. You have to figure that Ryan Braun and Justin Upton are better than Gwynn and Spilborghs... and they were by MASSIVE amounts up until I traded for them. I guess the "positive!" here is it ~has~ to turn around... right?

The bad play doesn't end with players I traded for though. Nyjer Morgan (3 for 20) is looking like a should-be bench player. He has a .312 on-base percentage and is 12 for 22 in steal attempts. Matt Kemp (2 for 20) looks like no more than an above average player. And Albert Pujols (3 for 22) is the worst of them all though. He's the goat of the week... and is well-well on his way to the worst season of his career.

It is amazing that my team is doing as well as it is given all these players having off years. MVP candidates are performing like all-stars... all-stars like good players... good players like mediocre players... mediocre players like AAA players. Troy Glaus is the only established player that is doing better than I expected. It boils down to the fact that I have thrown SO MUCH hitting at the wall, that even though it is vastly under-performing... I still have enough to post the best hitting team in the league.

That's not going to last is some of the worst of the under-performers... Upton, Braun, Morgan... don't start to pick up the pace though.


Pitching (65.1ip, 4.41era, 1.50ratio, 41k, 3w, 3s)
While the ERA doesn't look scary... and it wasn't... this was a bad pitching week. Will again start with the positive though. Matt Capps and Tyler Clippard pitched 5.2 combined shutout innings with 2on, 6k and 3 saves. And, let's see... Chris Narveson (7ip, 2er, 8on, 4k, 1w) was likely pitching for his spot in rotation and posted a solid effort. He gets the pitcher of the week.

Most of my other pictures were below average. Didn't give up a ton of runs, but lots of men on and not a lot of Ks.

The only pitcher that was really bad was Nick Masset (3.2ip, 4er, 10on, 1k). He now has a 7.07era. Not bad for a jet... not so good for the so-called set-up man. He has a 2.04 ratio now too, ~double~ what it was last season. The Reds have a good looking team and one that would provide value to a quality set-up man. Masset is a long ways from quality though.

He's no longer the setup man... he's been pitching a lot more meaningless innings lately. The Red fans are loudly booing him... and... he's not getting the Ks he was (1 in 3.2 this week). If I need to open up a spot, I have to seriously look at Masset going.

The big pitching news for me this week comes from Arizona. It looks like the D-Backs have finally given up on Chad Qualls. He has a 8.46era and 2.10ratio so "finally" is the operative word. I viewed him as a suspect closer from the start, which is why I drafted Juan Gutierrez. He looked like a the best bet to move from set-up role to closer. Well, I read the Qualls thing right... but... Gutierrez turned out to be even worse. I was forced to dump him (and he is now a really-really bad mop up man).

A couple of weeks ago though, I picked up free agent Aaron Heilman. While he is a mediocre pitcher with average stuff... he was the only Arizona reliever with decent stats. He's also is veteran pitcher (8 major league seasons). He seemed like the best bet to get a chance to close when Qualls finally had the plug pulled.

Looks like that's what has happened too. So, VERY good news.

Not that I expect Heilman to thrive and rack up lots of saves. It's possible he blows a chance or two early on and someone else steps up. He's 10 for 34 in career save chances and has a career 4.15era and 1.33ratio (550ip). So again, he's nothing more than a mediocre pitcher.

But, I had another mediocre D-Backs pitcher back in 2008... Brandon Lyon. He posted a 4.72era and 1.49 ratio. 44 Ks in 59ip... mediocre would actually be generous. But, he picked up 26 saves. Fact is, even a poor closer is going to be able to protect a one run lead half the time... and 2 and 3 run leads far more often than that. It really is about getting ~the chances~. As bad as Qualls has been... and he's been the worst RP in the NL... he still has 12 saves.

Heilman is going to get those chances for now (at least it certainly looks that way). If he can get off to a decent start... he has a chance to save 15 or so games for me. This is going to be a big week for him.


Other News
No moves this week. Vicente Padilla could be activated mid-week... which would release Luis Atilano back to the free agent pool. I could keep Atilano... who is in the starting rotation of a decent team... by getting rid of someone else. Nick Masset, Chad Durbin or even Zack Duke. Could even cut Padilla. He was terrible before he got hurt... he got hammered in his last rehab start... and he is scheduled to face the Red Sox in Boston.

Or, I could just let Atilano go. He has 5 wins and a 4.33era which aren't bad totals. But, just 24 Ks in 56ip and a 1.48ratio are bad signs. He's no lock to hold his rotation spot for the year either. Boils down to a lot of bad pitchers and I have to try and pick the worst of the bunch. I am used to decisions like this though... lol.

68 ABs and Stephen Strasburg

I have 17 active hitters on my roster. Here is what they did yesterday:

Omar Infante 3 for 5
Hanley Ramirez 2 for 5
David Eckstein 1 for 5
Ryan Howard 2 for 4
Randy Winn 2 for 4
Justin Upton 1 for 4
Bengie Molina 1 for 4
Placido Polanco 1 for 4
Nyjer Morgan 1 for 4
Laynce Nix 1 for 4
Rod Barajas 0 for 4
Ryan Braun 0 for 4
Roger Bernadina 0 for 4
Albert Pujols 0 for 4
Troy Glaus 1 for 3
Matt Kemp 0 for 3
George Kottaras 0 for 3
16 for 68 (.235 batting average)

All 17 batters started... which is an all-time record for me. Of course, in the early days of playing fantasy baseball (back in the 1980s) rosters only had 13 or 14 hitters. Then for 20+ years it was 14 or 15. Roster size was expanded to allow for 17 or 18 hitter this season... to cover for a couple of owners bailing out of the league.

Still, getting all 17 hitters in the starting lineup is pretty cool. A few lucky breaks helped that happen. Randy Winn... the newest member of my team... was playing because of an injury to Colby Rasmus. Rasmus has a calf injury and is likely out until at least Friday. Winn is the 4th OF and has played well since joining the Cardinals (6 for 12 with a SB).

Omar Infante got the start at 2B. He was giving Martin Prado the night off. No one is beating Prado out of his job... but Infante has now started 6 games in a row (and is 13 for 34 with 5rbi, 5r, 1 sb and 4 walks). So, he has been earning playing time. There well might be more in the OF too (where he has now started a couple of times).

Laynce Nix also got a start. He probably is my least likely player to start. He gets into the lineup once or maybe twice a week... he's mainly a power hitting pinch-hitter. Last night he was giving Johnny Gomes a rest.

Roger Bernadina got the start against a RHP... both my catchers started... and then my other 11 hitters are slam-dunk 150 starts a year type players. The 68 At-Bats netted me 3hr, 8rbi, 6r and 3sb.

I have gotten more than 68 ABs in a day. I recall a Dodgers-Astros game in the late 80s that went 20+ innings... in which John Shelby went 0 for 10 and Mike Davis went 0 for 8 for me. Had a few other hitters in that game too and ended up with something like 45 ABs in a single game. Sure I had 70+ ABs in that day. Cool thing about the game though was... I got 10 shutout innings of relief pitching (8 from Orel Hershiser).

Anyway... 17 stats in a day... nice!

_______________

Watched Stephen Strasburg last night, as I am sure many did. And... wow! I'd seen him pitch a few times before, but didn't pay very close attention. Knew he threw the ball hard. Pretty much watched every pitch last night on the big screen though... and, again... WOW. Great-great movement and control.

He actually was squeezed a bit by the ump. Several more pitches could have been... and should have been... called strikes. Now, it was just against the Pirates and it was at home. Have to wonder how he'll do on the road against a good team... especially when he doesn't have his best stuff. But, from what I saw the dude looks totally 100% for real. He's an elite pitcher right now. And in a rotis format that counts Ks... seriously... who would you take over him right now?

U Jimenez, R Halladay, T Lincecum and C Carpenter are the only no-doubters in my mind. I think there are about a half dozen more that would be tough decisions. Right here and now though... after a single start... Stephen Strasburg is at least a top 10 Starting Pitcher.

That helps me because I have Matt Capps (and Tyler Clippard). The National replacing their worst starting pitcher with a top 10 guy has to mean more save chances. However, Stephen Strasburg is on the first place teams roster (the Fantasy Tools). My slim-slim chance of beating him likely depends on passing him in ERA... and, yea... that just got way slimmer. Plus, he is now only 5 wins behind me and closing fast. I imagine Matt Capps will blow at least a few Strasburg wins though, so at least I have that going for me... lol.

Week 9

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.

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.

Win & Save... out the window

Amazing. Tyler Clippard has his 8th win in the bag and Matt Capps has the save... if Christian Guzman can catch a fly ball in right-field. And then to quote the Nationals announcer... "Guzman, MISSED THE BALL!" This is the same announcer that had previously said, "Guzman moves from SS to RF... how many SS can do that?" Well, they ALL can do that... of course... but how many can ~catch a flyball~ once there might have been the better question. Roger Bernadina... who has had clutch hits in back to back games now... had made a circus catch early in the game too. Nice move, Jim Riggleman.

A couple of pitches after the error, Matt Capps gives up a 2 run HR to end the game.

Capps been a complete and total disaster since I got him. For my team, he's now pitched 4.1 innings and given up 12 hits... and he's 0-2 with 3 blown saves. He's been a nightmare... which is a good word to describe today's Nationals game.

Wednesday at the Ballpark

Jim Joyce
A tip of the cap to umpire Jim Joyce. Watched the 9th inning of Armando Galarraga's should have been perfect game (whom I had on my last AL team). Joyce blew a call... badly... as everyone knows. I thought watching the game that Joyce might be claiming that Galarraga bobbled the ball, because really... how could you argue the throw was late or he missed the bag?

But, no... Joyce just flat blew the call.

A few things though. Joyce took a verbal lashing from Tigers 1B Miguel Cabrera. Cabrera was actually walking over to Joyce ~between pitches~ and SCREAMING at him. 9 out of 10 umps run him for that. But, the right thing to do is take it... because the call was blown.

Then after the game... Joyce stayed on the field and took even more verbal abuse. Again, 9 out of 10 umps... maybe more... sprint off the field. Or worse, they start screaming back. Joyce took it though, because again... he blew the call.

Then later, he admitted to the press that he blew the call. That he had "cost that kid a perfect game."

Folks, he manned up... and good for him. A perfect game means the ump has to be perfect too... and that didn't happen. That's how baseball has worked for over 130 years now.


Troy Glaus and the Braves
May was a heck of a month for the Atlanta Braves. They went 20-8 to take over first place in the NL East, and they're now 2-0 in June and have won 8 in a row. They are scorching hot! I never had the slightest doubt they'd turn things around... ;)

A big reason for that turn around has been Troy Glaus, who was named the National League hitter of the month. He went 34 for 103 (.330), 6hr, 28rbi, 17r. Great month, and it has continued into June. A lot of his outs are hard hit balls too. He is not an easy out for pitchers.

Slow as they come... slower than I realized... but he's a solid power hitter and an RBI machine in the 5th slot in the Braves order.

And btw... isn't baseball a cool game? Wednesday night and look at all the stories (sure-fire Hall of Famer Ken Griffey Jr retired tonight too... never had him on a team of mine... though did have his dad for a couple of seasons... and he was a heck of a player in his own right).

Week 8

A slow start to the week saw me fall all the way down to 4th place (clinging to 4th place) until a solid weekend pushed me back into Second Place. For the weekly scoring period, I finished in 7th place... so actually not a very good week. My main competitors just happened to do worse. Glad to be back in 2nd, but that wont last unless things start to turn around.

Here is a look at the top of the overall standings.

1 ~ Fantasy Tools 83.5
2 ~ Antelope Crusaders 70.0
3 ~ Balls Deep 67.0
4 ~ Wheats N Raisins 65.0
4~ Lynnwood Legacy 65.0

First place remains a distant dream, but as you can see... there are teams right on my heels. Here is a more in-depth look at how things went in week 8.


Hitting (60 for 284, .211ba, 9hr, 33rbi, 29rs, 6sb)
Hard to believe that my team has fallen into a batting slump, but that is definitely what has happened. After hitting a pretty sad .250 last week... things got truly pathetic this week with a .211 effort. As a team last season, the collection of players I have hit .289.

While the batting average was extremely poor this week, the other numbers weren't too bad. Albert Pujols hitting 3 HRs on Sunday (and 1 on Saturday) had a lot to do with that. It shows the impact a star player getting hot can have. The big weekend made Pujols (8 for 22, 4hr, 9rbi, 6r) my player of the week. The Machine can make a huge difference.

Hanley Ramirez (6 for 21, 1hr, 3rbi, 3r, 3sb) looks like he might be heating up too. He talked about running more this week, and backed that up with 3 steals. Certainly hoping that lasts. Troy Glaus (5 for 19, 1hr, 7rbi, 4r) continues to sting the ball. He's been streaking for most of May. Rod Barajas (5 for 14, 4rbi) had a solid week too... which might have been better had he not gotten a little dinged up. Placido Polanco (5 for 12) got more of a ding, and it looked like he might miss a couple of ~months~ at one point... but it sounds like it instead will just be a few games. Good news there.

There wasn't a lot of good hitting news to be found though. Bengie Molina went 1 for 18, and the Giants have now called up Buster Posey. Molina still has his job... for now... but the dude better start hitting. Roger Bernadina went 1 for 15, putting his playing time back in jeopardy. Ryan Howard (4 for 21, 1rbi) isn't going to lose any time, but he all of a sudden looks lost at the plate. Matt Kemp (5 for 24) isn't doing much better.

The new guys from my most recent trade all sucked. J Upton (1 for 14), D Eckstein (3 for 15) G Kottaras (2 for 10) and L Nix (0 for 3) combined to go 6 for 42... ugly.

Lots and lots of candidates for 'goat of the week' and no one could argue if Bengie Molina was given the goat. But, I think Nyjer Morgan (2 for 23, 1r) was even worse. He's striking out way too much, not drawing walks or getting extra base hits... he is just 9 for 17 in SB... he isn't scoring runs... and now, he's lost his leadoff spot (he's been moved down to second). He's getting ready to lose playing time too.

Can understand a guy like Bengie Molina getting into a slump. He never-ever gets an infield hit and drawing walks has never been a part of his game. If he's not hitting the ball hard, than he almost has to be slumping. Morgan though... he ~should~ be able to get some bunt hits... he ~should~ get infield hits... he ~should~ reach enough to steal some bases and score some runs... he ~should~ be able to be halfway decent even when he isn't hitting the ball. Yet... he has been slumping for a solid month now.

I'm hoping June is a better month in Antelope. This team is built around finishing First and Second in the hitting categories... and the current 4th and 5th spots aren't going to cut it.


Pitching (75ip, 3.00era, 1.40ratio, 59k, 4w, 1s)
Pretty solid pitching week by most standards... and here in Antelope... wow... look at that ERA! This does NOT feel like my team... lol... so-so hitting and good pitching.

There was lots of good pitching this week though. Jon Garland (14ip, 1.29era, 1.00ratio, 11k, 2w) was brilliant. Jon Ely (7.1ip, 1er, 6on, 4k, 1w) continues to post great numbers... Luis Atilano had a solid start... Kevin Correia threw 6 shutout innings... and Tyler Clippard (5ip, 0er, 3on, 7k) got back on track.

Lots of good news there. The best of it though comes from Anibal Sanchez (13ip, 1.39era, 1.15ratio, 13k, 2w). His control is far better than it has been, and he's not giving up the long ball (just 1 hr in 63 innings). He has become a dependable pitcher for me.

On the negative side... Chris Narveson (4ip, 4er, 10on, 2k) got hammered. That trade has NOT worked out thus far. Have hopes for the hitters, but Narveson isn't likely to last. Matt Capps (1ip, 1er, 5on, 1s) all of a sudden can't get an out... a trend that started when I traded for him. He only pitches 1 inning all week... and gives up 5 hits... come on.

Nick Masset (2ip, 2er, 5 on, 4k) continues to get 2 Ks an inning... while giving up a run. Those Ks have me hanging on, but I honestly don't understand why the Reds continue to let him pitching tight innings. I'd move him to middle relief if I were Dusty Baker. He's not going to get any wins or saves giving up runs like he does, so it doesn't much matter what his role is to me.

The goat of the week though is Zack Duke (5.1ip, 7er, 14on, 4k). An ugly start for a pitcher that gives up too many hits. Would like to find a way to upgrade Duke. He isn't much of a K pitcher and the few wins he gets aren't much help to me. Starting to think I'd be better of with a Relief Pitcher. Not thrilled with Mr Duke.


Other News
Didn't have any moves other than the big trade I blogged about earlier in the week. Can do some more tweaking here and there... like dumping Zack Duke for a less harmful ERA and Ratio pitcher. Really though, it's about my hitters hitting now. That needs to start happening.