Random Thoughts from the First Month of the Season

May 1, 2009

The first month of the 2009 baseball season is complete. Feels like this first month has lasted an eternity. Maybe because the first month of this fantasy baseball season has been filled with so many ups and downs. There is the initial period right after you have selected your team where you are either utterly thrilled with your squad or absolutely mortified with what you are putting out there. Then there is the first week of the season where young guys come out of nowhere, old stalwarts continue to impress and creaky old players start showing their age. Finally, there is that period around the 25th of the month where, despite the feeble attempt of convincing yourself that selecting Derek Jeter in the 3rd round made sense, you come to grips with the fact that your team might really stink this year.

So with this in mind, I thought it would be an appropriate time to offer some of my random thoughts from the first month of 2009 fantasy baseball. The players discussed below may interest you, they may not. But, if nothing else, know that writing this article was extremely therapeutic for me because the majority of these individuals have either caused me immense joy or deep sorrow during this first month. On with it……..

David Wright: what is wrong with this guy? His numbers probably don’t look so bad to the average fan, but as a loyal Mets fan, his numbers, particularly in the power department, are an absolute embarrassment. Not just any type of embarrassment; I am talking like first day of freshman year in high school and tripping on the stairs and falling flat on your face in front of the cool senior girls. One measly HR going into May.

Albert Pujols: his exploits have reached the point of silliness. The guy is stupid good; like so good that when you think that you chose Jose Reyes over him in the draft, you feel stupid.

Zack Greinke: I mean, we thought he would be a top 20 pitcher, but who could have seen this. Unreal. Lets see if he keeps it up with KC stitched to his hat.

Chad Billingsley: ready to move into that elite group of fantasy starters.

Nick Markakis: the Chad Billingsley of hitters.

Evan Longoria: he really is that good.

Brandon Phillips: maybe it’s me, but he really isn’t that good.

Derek Lee: he just simply isn’t good.

Kevin Youklis: is there a cooler, more professional hitter in the game? And have you ever seen him during a game? He is the baseball equivalent of Patrick Ewing; guy sweats like crazy.

J.D. Drew: probably the most miserable human being in the league.

Aaron Hill: quietly having an extremely productive year; flying under the Doppler Radar

Jorge Cantu: his year is better and even quieter than Hill’s; he is flying under the advanced active electronically scanned array radar.

Dexter Fowler: not only one of the faster players in the league, but probably has the coolest first name in the game. There is something about the name Dexter which makes me want to root for the guy.

Prince Fielder: who said he lost weight this offseason? Are you kidding? Have you seen the size of his pants?

Adrian Gonzalez: seriously, how does this guy continue to produce? San Diego puts out a worse every-day lineup than the Rockford Peaches.

Chien-Ming Wang & Oliver Perez: if I gave you the choice, which pitcher would you rather have right now? Despite sporting an ERA of 34.50, the clear answer is Wang. Shows how pathetic Perez has been (and how ridiculously stupid Omar Minaya was to give him $12 million per year).

Justin Morneau: all he does is hit. And hit for power. Stuck in Minnesota, he does not get the fanfare other often-injured, less talented players do (yes I am talking about you Joe Mauer), but he is a special hitter.

Heath Bell: can you believe he was a perfect 8-8 in save chances in the first month? A former Met (insert knife into chest) who looks like he is better suited playing rugby for a local team in the UK, than throwing a fastball in the mid-90’s.

Written by Jordan Wigdor · Filed Under Miscellaneous | 3 Comments 

Sabremetricians Express Concern About Papelbon

May 1, 2009

There is growing speculation in the fantasy baseball community that Red Sox closer Jonathan Papelbon will have a less than stellar year.  That concern has been expressed despite Paplebon’s strong start.  In ten games, Papelbon has a  1.74 ERA, six saves, and 10 K’s in 10 innings pitched. 

Papelbon, universally listed as one of the top closers in baseball, tinkered with his windup in the offseason, which has apparently effected some of his peripheral numbers.  He is throwing more pitches than in past years, and fewer batters are swinging and missing at his pitches.  See a chart detailing this here.  For pictures comparing Papelbon’s windup from this season to previous seasons, go here.

I don’t think you should be concerned about Papelbon just yet.  His ERA, hits-to-innings pitched and strikeouts all look good.  Delving into the number of pitches he throws per innings or a batter’s contact rate against him is a futile exercise at this point in the season.  Papelbon has only thrown 10 innings, which is too small a sample size to make rash judgments. 

Nonetheless, it is unusual for a dominant pitcher to change his windup.  The Mets forced Dwight Gooden to change his windup in the late 80’s to try and make it harder for base runners to steal off of him, and it backfired badly.   Keep an eye on the situation, but for now, Papelbon maintains his place as an elite fantasy baseball closer.

What do you think?  Have you noticed a difference in Papelbon’s windup and/or performance?

 

Special thanks to Jim Plunkett for informing me of the speculation surrounding Papelbon.

Written by Evan Rosen · Filed Under Player News | 1 Comment