Joba the Stud

April 29, 2009

As I sit here watching the Yankee game, avoiding my homework at all costs, I ponder three things. One, why is Nick Swisher so good at life (two home runs, from each side of the plate).  Two, Johan Santana can not catch a break.  Seriously, how many times has he pitched a gem just for the bullpen to go and blow the game? He must have angered some baseball God in a previous life.  Finally, Joba Chamberlin is back.

One common gripe many people had with Chamberlin being moved into the rotation was the apparent dip in his velocity.  However, after tonight’s game against the Detroit Tigers, I am now a believer that he can be an effective starter.  

Joba has allowed two hits so far and just threw a five pitch inning (bottom of the sixth when I am writing this).  Those numbers are great, but the numbers I am concerned with is miles per hour.  As a relief pitcher, Joba was constantly hitting the high 90s with his fastball and his slider was ranging from 88-92 mph, extremely dirty stuff.

He was unable to reach those numbers in his first few starts, which was expected.  Normally when a relief pitcher, who is only used to throwing an inning or two at the most, goes into the rotation, he is unable to keep his velocity up.  Tonight, Joba changed that.  He has been consistently hitting 96 mph on his fastball with his slider being a nice compliment at 90 mph.  

With the increase in these numbers, I urge all fantasy owners to go out and get Joba.  He is about to go on a tear.  Combined with the Yankees finally figuring out how to score runs in bunches Joba will have plenty of support.  That will only increase when A-Rod returns on May 8th.  

Edit:  Robinson Cano has joined the really good at life club.

-Bobby Holt

Written by Bobby Holt · Filed Under Player News | 1 Comment 

h2h Corner ~ Keep, Trade or Drop (VI)

April 29, 2009

Time for the latest edition of the game show that is sweeping America like Who Wants to be a Millionaire did back in 1999, which was the year of Ivan Rodriguez, the New York Yankees and Livin’ La Vida Loca. You guessed it, Keep Trade or Drop (KTD). Read more

Written by Albert Lang · Filed Under H2H | 1 Comment 

The First Two Weeks – update!

April 29, 2009

Last week, I wrote a column on how you can’t ignore, or freak out about, the first two weeks of the season. (RealClearSports.com picked it up, which is very cool, so you can read it here if you missed it – http://www.fantasybaseball101.com/2009/04/17/first-two-weeksdont-freak-out-but-dont-ignore-either/)

Now, twelve days after I wrote that piece, I want to post a bit of follow up that I think proves my point:

1) In my leagues, the teams that had 20 point first place leads are now in 3rd (20.5 points behind the leader) and 5th (20 points behind the leader), respectively. That’s a 40 point swing in less than two weeks, so those owners who like to sit on their success in the early going fall victim to such changes.

2) Emilio Bonifacio’s current value is virtually non-existant; Adam Lind is still hitting very well, but has slowed a bit and seen his average fall 100 points in 2 weeks; David Ortiz has raised his average 40 points in a week (now if he’d only help us out with a homer or two…), and so on.

3) As for my teams, I was in 8th in my AL-only league and 11th in the mixed league. Today, I’m in 4th in both – early season standings, just like Evan said in his recent post, don’t mean much yet.

Written by Jesse Mendelson · Filed Under Blog | 4 Comments 

Marlon Byrd – should you pick him up?

April 29, 2009

It was reported today that with Rangers CF Josh Hamilton in extreme pain, and probably on his way to the DL (http://sports.espn.go.com/mlb/news/story?id=4108466), Marlon Byrd will take over as the Rangers starting center fielder.

As it is, Byrd plays every day against right-handed pitchers, and why wouldn’t he – he hit .308 against them last year over 113 games, and is hitting .390 against them this year in 14 games. He is decent against lefties – he hit .277 with 6 homers against them last year, but definitely worth a pick up if you need a good all-around OF. He’s not amazing at any one category, but will be a good source of runs and rbi, with the occasional stolen base and homerun thrown in there.

Considering he hits in one of the best lineups in baseball, in one of the best hitters parks in baseball, and is guaranteed to play every day for a little while, and will hit right-handers well all year, he’s definitely worth a spot in an AL-only league, and depending on your outfielders, probably worth a spot in mixed leagues too.

Written by Jesse Mendelson · Filed Under Blog | Leave a Comment 

h2h Corner ~ Red Light District IV, the Closer Carousel

April 29, 2009

They do most of their work late at night, often after most upstanding fantasy managers have gone to bed. They necessitate early checking of box scores and Fantasy Baseball 101 to see if they secured the win for the home team. They are your average, everyday closers. And that is the best way to describe this Motley Crew – average. Any average reliever, if he’s asked to record the game’s final three outs, can make a half-way decent closer. So, you never pay for saves, which oddly enough is the first rule of closers. Read more

Written by Albert Lang · Filed Under H2H | 4 Comments