h2h Corner ~ Knowing ADP – How To Win Your League Before the Season Even Starts IX
March 15, 2010
Maximizing every drop of value in every pick is hugely important. Taking a player in the fifth round that you could just as easily have taken in the sixth round is a major mistake. To avoid this, you need to know all about Average Draft Position (ADP). Read more
h2h Corner ~ Knowing ADP – How To Win Your League Before the Season Even Starts VII
March 12, 2010
Maximizing every drop of value in every pick is hugely important. Taking a player in the fifth round that you could just as easily have taken in the sixth round is a major mistake. To avoid this, you need to know all about Average Draft Position (ADP). Read more
h2h Corner ~ Knowing ADP – How To Win Your League Before the Season Even Starts VI
March 10, 2010
Maximizing every drop of value in every pick is hugely important. Taking a player in the fifth round that you could just as easily have taken in the sixth round is a major mistake. To avoid this, you need to know all about Average Draft Position (ADP). Read more
h2h Corner ~ Knowing ADP – How To Win Your League Before the Season Even Starts V
March 9, 2010
Maximizing every drop of value in every pick is hugely important. Taking a player in the fifth round that you could just as easily have taken in the sixth round is a major mistake. To avoid this, you need to know all about Average Draft Position (ADP). Read more
h2h Corner ~ Knowing ADP – How To Win Your League Before the Season Even Starts IV
March 8, 2010
Maximizing every drop of value in every pick is hugely important. Taking a player in the fifth round that you could just as easily have taken in the sixth round is a major mistake. To avoid this, you need to know all about Average Draft Position (ADP). Read more
h2h Corner ~ Knowing ADP – How To Win Your League Before the Season Even Starts III
March 8, 2010
Maximizing every drop of value in every pick is hugely important. Taking a player in the fifth round that you could just as easily have taken in the sixth round is a major mistake. To avoid this, you need to know all about Average Draft Position (ADP). Read more
h2h Corner ~ Knowing ADP – How To Win Your League Before the Season Even Starts II
March 6, 2010
Maximizing every drop of value in every pick is hugely important. Taking a player in the fifth round that you could just as easily have taken in the sixth round is a major mistake. To avoid this, you need to know all about Average Draft Position (ADP). Read more
h2h Corner ~ Knowing ADP – How To Win Your League Before the Season Even Starts
March 5, 2010
Maximizing every drop of value in every pick is hugely important. Taking a player in the fifth round that you could just as easily have taken in the sixth round is a major mistake. To avoid this, you need to know all about Average Draft Position (ADP). Read more
Nasty Boys, Part Deux
March 4, 2010
In the early 90’s, the Reds boasted one of the best bullpens in the Bigs. Rob Dibble, Norm Charlton, and Randall “K” Myers, collectively known as the Nasty Boys, instilled fear into the heart of opposing batters, and ensured that late innings leads led to a notch in the win column.
Fast forward to 2010, and a new group of pitchers, this time in the starting rotation, are poised to make a name for themselves. Longtime stalwarts Aaron Harang and Bronson Arroyo are joined by young bucks Johnny Cueto and Homer Bailey. Throw Cuban sensation Aroldis Chapman and Edinson Volquez into the mix, and the Reds have an arsenal of six flamethrowers for their rotation.
From a fantasy perspective, all six pitchers have tremendous upside, with Harang occupying a spot toward the top of most draft day pitching boards. Still only 31 years old, Harang should continue to rack up the K’s in 2010, while maintaining a sound WHIP and respectable ERA.
Of the five pitchers, Cueto is perhaps the most likely to have a breakout season. After an up and down rookie year in 2008, Cueto put in a solid 2009 campaign with a 4.41 ERA and 11 wins. Cueto has good control and several strong pitches. The 24-year old should take another big step forward this season.
Arroyo is a 33-year old veteran who has tossed 200 or more innings five seasons in a row. His 3.84 ERA in 2009 was his best since 2006, but his strikeouts were significantly down, illustrating a more economical method to pitching. He routinely posts 14-15 wins, but isn’t exactly the best WHIP pitcher in the league. If Volquez is healthy, don’t be shocked if Arroyo is traded. A trade may even enhance his value, especially if he moves to a pitcher friendly stadium which will cut down on his propensity for giving up the long ball.
Homer Bailey was routinely rated one of the top prospects in baseball, but all that talk fizzled out after opposing hitters manhandled him in 2007 and 2008 to the tune of a 5.76 and 7.93 ERA. But he made significant improvement in 2009, posting a 4.53 ERA with an impressive K/IP ratio. Perhaps most telling is his 6-1 record and 1.70 ERA over his final nine starts of the season. He is another potential sleeper because many fantasy baseball owners will look at his season ERA’s and either yawn or steer clear. Don’t be that guy! In NL-only leagues, get him at a low price. In mixed leagues, consider him for a reserve spot, or keep a close eye on him as a potential free agent pickup.
Edinson Volquez burst onto the scene in 2008, piling up 17 wins with a flurry of strikeouts. Unfortunately, he missed most of 2009 with a significant elbow injury and underwent Tommy John surgery. When healthy, he dominates hitters with a mid-90’s heater and a deceptive changeup that is 20 mph slower. Early reports out of Spring Training indicate that his rehab is going well, and he is expected back in mid-July. It typically takes 18 months or longer to fully recover from Tommy John surgery, but he is such an immense talent that he should be considered a draft day sleeper, or a prime candidate to watch on the free agent wire early in the year.
And that leads us to Chapman, the man many are watching this spring. For those unfamiliar with Chapman, he is a young left-handed pitcher with a 100 mph fastball that recently defected from Cuba. So far his main problem is control, which may lead to him starting the year in the minors. We’ll see if he improves in that arena when he makes his major league debut on Monday. Even so, it shouldn’t be long until he makes his major league debut. The Reds need someone to draw in the fans and he could be just what they need to fill up the seats. From a fantasy perspective, he can help with strikeouts, but expect to take a hit in WHIP. Nonetheless, he’s a great choice if you’re playing for the longterm.
Studs and Duds Part I: Hey I’m on a new team edition
March 3, 2010
By Bobby Holt
Sure it’s early, sure the first spring training game was only yesterday, but now is the time to start planning out your team for this upcoming fantasy baseball season. I know I’m excited and I hope you are too. The first thing I would like to say is remember last year when I said A-rod would still hit 30HRs and 100 RBis and I got a ton of hate, boy I love being right. Enough gloating, time for this years first installment of Studs and Duds. For this two part edition I am going to take six players that will be suiting up for a new team this year and choose three that will thrive and three that will under perform. Part one will be Studs.
Studs:
1. Roy Halladay P, PHI
So what happens when you take one of the most dominant pitchers in the American League and move him to the National League, he tears it up, that’s what. Once out of Toronto and onto a real team (sorry, but at least the Blue Jays have really nice hats) he could easily win 18+ games. Unlike his previous years, he also doesn’t have to hold the opposing team to under three runs to get a win. With a real offense surrounding him, Halladay could have one of his best seasons ever. Okay, there’s not much more to say about one of the best pitchers in baseball, but I had to get one right. Now that I got my one gimmie out of the way, time for two more.
2. Javier Vazquez P, NYY
Normally when a pitcher goes from the National League to the American League, they struggle and their stats fall off a bit. However, I think Vazquez has a real chance to improve upon his dominant 2008-2009 season. Let me explain and before all the “Vazquez was bad already on the Yankees” talk, I will get to that too.
First, new Yankee Stadium (it’s not new people, you can stop saying that) is now a notorious hitters park where pitchers who live on ground balls and contact, cough Chien Ming GONE cough, struggle. Vazquez is a power pitcher will excellent stuff. He has the ability to make hitters miss and that will help him tremendously now that Yankee Stadium plays like a Little League field. His K’s should stay around the 200 mark, his ERA should be about four but his win totals should increase to about 17 0r 18. This makes him a very viable number 3 starter on your team.
Next, Javier Vazquez had the best first few months of his career as a Yankee. Everyone seems to forget that Vazquez made his one and only All-Star team as a member of the Yankees. He was hurt for the majority of the second half of the season which caused his production to drop, drastically. I could go on further, but you get the point.
3. Jason Bay OF, NYM
Jason Bay said he wanted to play in New York, and by New York, he didn’t mean the Mets. Funny how things work out. The Mets however were able to get Bay on a pretty reasonable contract for the All-Star outfielder and added a much needed power hitter to their lineup. The first month and a half of the season could be ugly for Bay, depending on where he hits in the order.
With Beltran out for a “month or so” Bay will have no protection. Assuming that the Mets bat Bay 4th, he won’t see a single good pitch with runners in scoring position. I mean, is anyone really scared of Gary Matthew’s Jr. potentially in the 5 spot. Manager Jerry Maneul could flip and put Wright fourth and Bay third, which would result in Bay seeing good pitches to hit. Unfortunately for Bay, I don’t think that will happen. Once Beltran returns to the lineup and offers Bay protection, his numbers will drastically rise. HRs will likely drop a little, but with so much space in the outfield in Citi field, his average, hits and RBI totals should increase. Making the Bay signing a very good one.
Stay tuned for the next part where I will go over the duds.
Questions or comments? Leave one below or email me at robertholtjr@gmail.com
Did You Know…?
Did you know that Joey Votto finished fourth in the majors in OPS last season with a .981 OPS?
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