Three Days, Three Games, in Three Stadiums: Day One
June 15, 2009
Thursday morning my father and I left out of Newark International Airport, heading to Chicago, this year’s site for our annual baseball tour. This year’s stop was a mission (of sorts), one I would highly recommend to all devout baseball fans and fantasy ball enthusiasts – “The Holy Trinity of Baseball” or the midwestern “Trifecta.” The famed triumvirate of baseball would involve a trip to three different stadiums, for three different games, in three days. Here begins our trip, as I walk you through the experience – one day, one game, and one stadium at a time in each segment:
View walking from the El Train to US Cellular Field
Day One. Detroit Tigers at Chicago White Sox at U.S. Cellular Field (Edwin Jackson vs. Gavin Floyd)
Highlights of the Game- Bobby Jenks is brought into the game for what appears to be a routine save, and proceeds to cough up the tying runs in the top half of the 9th inning to Detroit on a homer by sweet-swinging Curtis Granderson. Then, the human flamethrower Joel Zumaya is brought in to maintain the newfound lead in the bottom of the 9th inning, reaching 102mph on the radar gun (verified by an MLB scout sitting directly in front of us). Zumaya promptly loads the bases with Sox and surrenders the game winning, walk-off hit to Scott Podsednik who becomes an unlikely hero after seasons of fourth outfielder and glorified pinch-hitter duty.
Celebration on the Field Following Walkoff Victory
The Stadium (U.S. Cellular Field) – Unremarkable, cookie-cutter, generic new ballpark. It should be called McMansion Park. Fortunately a few Sox fans with a sense of history and some serious heart were heard chanting, but lacks the historical feel, prestige, and cadre of zealous, outspoken fans that Wrigley holds so ordinary.
View From the Stands
The White Sox - Wow did this end up being an unexpected pitcher’s duel. Perhaps thoughts of Floyd and Jackson’s respective past NL mediocrity continue to haunt me, but I would have wagered a slugfest had I not seen prior statistics attesting to the “coming of age” of both hurlers. Having sat a few rows behind home plate, I can honestly say that both pitchers have truly electric stuff. Floyd was dominant throughout the game, but Jackson was firing fastballs topping out at 95 mph with great command and nice breaking stuff. Scouts aren’t always right, but they weren’t far off the mark with these two..just very prescient.
The Sox have a passable team. Missing 2008’s Quentin hurts their depth and leaves them as ordinary as their home park, though. Podsednik, for all of his late inning heroics, is no longer a big league starter in the OF (certainly no more than an AL only fifth outfielder in fantasy circles), and Alexei Ramirez, though quietly putting together a nice sophomore season, is ill-suited for the two-hole (.302 OBP, .317 in 2008). Dye, Konerko, Thome, and Quentin are your firepower and even with one out, they have a combustible middle-of-the-order, but Gordon Beckham doesn’t look ready yet, Josh Fields seems devoid of his 2007 power, and Chris Getz looks like a utilityman more than a starting middle infielder. They have their holes, and the juicy part of their order is aging trade-bait, but they are fun to watch. Buehrle, Floyd, Danks, Clayton Richard, and born-again Jose Contreras provide some depth in a starting rotation that features a nice balance of youth and experience, righties and southpaws.
Scout Salivating Over Zumaya as He Hits 102 mph
Overall: Day One was great! Day two - Minnesota Twins against the Chicago Cubs at Wrigley Field. Slowey vs. Wells. Stay Tuned.
Rangers Starting Pitchers – worth owning?
June 15, 2009
The Texas Rangers have surprised a lot of people this year, specifically with much better starting pitching than anyone expected. Kevin Millwood is having his best year since 2005 with the Indians, Scott Feldman has been a pleasant surprise, and even Brandon McCarthy and Vicente Padilla haven’t resembled their usually terrible selves. And that’s not even counting the bullpen, where Frank Francisco has given up one run all year, Darren O’Day was a waiver steal from the Mets, CJ Wilson is pitching like its 2007, and even Jason Jennings is pitching pretty well.
Lets focus on the starters. The Rangers offense is still hitting, but they’re in first place because of the starting rotation. Last year, the Rangers had the worst ERA in the American League. Dead last. A full run behind the league average and not even close to any other team. This year, they’re 9th, with a team ERA right at the league average. Last year, the team had 2 shutouts all year; this year, they already have 5. Now, these may not seem like huge jumps…except they’re doing it with virtually the exact same starting staff as last year. So the question that begs to be answered is: What Gives? And more importantly – what do I, as a fantasy baseball owner, do about it?
Last year, Rangers owner Tom Hicks hired Nolan Ryan to take over the management of the team, and he in turn hired Mike Maddux (Greg’s brother) to be the pitching coach. Maddux had been very successful as a Rangers minor league pitching coach, and then coached the Brewers staff for six seasons, including their first sub-4.00 ERA in 17 years. Its been well documented that Nolan Ryan and Mike Maddux informed the Rangers starters that they were expected to be in better shape, pitch deeper into games, throw strikes, and rely on their defense to make outs.
The Texas staff has done just that. No starter has even 50 strikeouts and they all average nearly a hit allowed per inning. But they make up for it with innings and wins – they are the only team in the American League who have five starters with at least 4 wins, and they lead the league in starters’ innings pitched – meaning they leave fewer games open to be blown by their bullpens. So…Who should you own?
To me, at this point, Kevin Millwood is a no brainer. He should be owned in all formats, and started with confidence the majority of the time. He won’t strike out many hitters, and his WHIP is not going to lead the league, but he has a 2.72 ERA and 6 wins in mid-June, which is nothing to sneeze at. And although he hit a rough patch in May, his last 3 starts have been very good – he shut down the A’s but didn’t get a decision, held the Red Sox to one run in Fenway, and shut out the Blue Jays at home, earning wins in both games. If he isn’t owned in your league, and you need some solid starting pitching help, especially in wins, grab Millwood.
Scott Feldman was converted into a starter last year, and mostly had a rough go of it, but did show signs of success – he pitched very well in Yankee Stadium in June (yours truly’s farewell to the old ballyard), and he’s only 26. He has given up more than three earned runs in a start just twice this season, and one was his first turn of the year. He shut down the Yanks again in the Bronx (I wasn’t there that time), as well as the Angels, Astros and Dodgers. He’s currently sporting a record of 5-1 record with a 3.70 ERA and 1.17 WHIP. If he’s still available, grab him.
The other options are a little more risky. Vicente Padilla pitched decently last year (14 wins, 4.74 ERA and 1.46 WHIP), and he looks to be on the same track this year – his ERA and WHIP are strikingly similar, and the wins are there too. His most recent shutout of the Dodgers notwithstanding, Padilla is too risky for me, and I don’t recommend him outside of the deepest AL-only formats.
Brandon McCarthy is the 4th starter, and currently on the DL for at least another month. He was masterful in a shutout of the Astros last month, but I wouldn’t pay him much mind. Indeed, he’s not even owned in my super-deep AL-only league.
Matt Harrison, slated to come off the DL this week, is an intriguing option. If he isn’t taken in your AL-only league, grab him. He debuted last year, winning 9 of 15 starts, but not great peripheral stats – 5.49 ERA and 1.57 WHIP. Any other format, he’s a guy I’d steer clear of – he had 3 consecutive very good starts in mid-May, and then got hurt. He’ll probably do worse to your WHIP and ERA than he will do good to your Wins.
Last but not least are the Rangers stud pitching prospects – Derek Holland and Neftali Feliz. I won’t go into too much depth re their prospect status now, but in keeper leagues, both should be owned, and in non-keeper leagues, neither one. Just 22 years old, Holland was called up in late April and pitched out of the bullpen for a month. He fared well in his first 6 outings, before getting hit hard in his final appearance, against the Angels. Put into the starting rotation, he pitched much better in his first 2 starts than his line indicated – facing the Astros and the Yankees, he got hit pretty hard. He’s faced very potent offenses – the Yankees twice, the Red Sox, the Dodgers – but still no excuse. Right now he isn’t ownable in regular formats, but is worthy of being stashed in keeper formats, especially AL-only leagues. Same with Feliz, though he’s hit a rough spot in AAA and had some shoulder troubles this year.
Overall, the Rangers rotation is good in real life, greater than the sum of their collective parts, but with a few exceptions, not as worthwhile in fantasy.
Did You Know…?
Ryan Howard was a top 10 run scorer, HR hitter, and RBI producer?
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