Notes from an NL Hack

First, allow me to preface this article by saying that according to MLB rule 1.01, ‘Baseball’ is a game played between two teams of nine players each. In the hierarchy of sports this would make the American League the ‘Arena League’ of baseball. It kind of plays that way too. It is helpful to know that in mixed fantasy leagues, you should generally stock up on AL batters and NL pitchers. There are a few exceptions of course… but only a few… At any rate, on to the ‘real’ baseball players…

The scene is South Florida. It is a beautiful Sunday morning. The 2003 baseball season is still young and your Dad got you and your brother tickets to the game. It’s ‘Luis Castillo Bat Day.’ (”How cool.” - “Luis is a stud.”)

The Marlins have just won four in a row, hey they beat the Braves 12-5 the previous day and 17-1 the week before. And oh my, Greg Maddux is on the mound and his arm is still on the 16th tee. “This is going to be great, Dad! Can we bring the Broom to the game? I want to get there early too, because it’s ‘Luis Castillo Bat Day’ for the first 7500 kids. This is going too be so cool…” (Fast Forward to Sunday Afternoon) “Darn Dad, that Greg Maddux really is a good pitcher huh? And Dad? How come Luis Castillo was not in the lineup on ‘Luis Castillo Bat Day?’ - HUH? Marlins manager Jeff Torborg said, “I wasn’t aware of that when I made out the lineup. I should have been.'’

How out of touch with reality do you really need to be? Here is one of your marquee players. Those funny funny Expos… I mean Marlins… no Expos… Marlins? Expos? I lose track.
Oh yeah: Florida lost 7-1.

Jesse Foppert… made his big league debut pitching two scoreless innings. He walked one but did not allow a hit while striking out two. This guy looks like a Giant. I mean really. He is 6′6″. he has very sound mechanics. He has no fear. Just like Mark Prior, but taller. To get through his first Major League inning, he only needed 10 pitches. I am not going to recommend that you pick him up; because I am sure it is too late. However, on the remote chance he is available… or maybe you play in a league where Adam Dunn was waived (as I saw posted recently)… Foppert is worth stashing away. He may not be here to stay just yet, but could easily log 100 innings this year. Barring injury, he will open as the number three starter in ‘04, and number one or two in ‘05. He is worth the investment for us keeper league guys. Oh, yeah, he will be throwing in an extreme pitcher’s park! For the next four to five years…

Injuries… Fantasy baseball veterans know all about them and understand them. Heck, we even place wagers on them with some players. “Injuries can kill a fantasy team”. Why do people draft the likes of Pedro Astacio? I guess it is just plain dumb hope. Personally, I have made it a policy of mine not to draft Larry Walker. (Please withhold your stat breakdowns). Unfortunately, we cannot plan for a majority of the injuries in baseball.

But then again, there are some we can anticipate. As I check the last box on my Ken Griffey, Jr. “I told ya so” list… I stumble upon this: “Right now, I’d say the chances are good of J.D. being back by the end of the month,” Tony LaRussa said. Now I can see it already… (2 home runs and 5 rbi vs. Cincy… 3 for 4 with two doubles against the Cubs the next day… you just ripped off some other owner swapping Xavier Nady for him. You jumped nine points in the standings this week. Life is great. Then he pulls up lame trotting to first after a walk. Well, let us go check the available players list until he gets healthy. Hmm… the best outfielder available is Quinton McCracken. Now what? The problem here, folks, is that he will never be healthy. What is so hard to understand?

All that talent on bum wheels. What a waste. I guess some people are just predetermined to be “toll booth” operators. Thankfully for me, I already have my JD Drew “I told ya so” list filled out. Larry Walker’s, too.

Felipe Lopez. The future is now. (Barry Larkin, not unlike JD Drew, has made his first of many trips to the DL.) Felipe has all the talent in the world and is gifted defensively. He had a .975 fielding percentage in 668 innings at SS for Toronto in ‘02, so you can disregard those three eaqrly errors in three games business. He is no “Barry” defensively but he will be better than 75% of NL infielders. The kicker is that he will not turn 23 until next month and is entering his third big league season, He plays at an extremely ’shallow’ position NL: SS. Lopez has five-category talent. Heck, six if you count strikeouts… That’s ok though. The fact that he has made three big league rosters by age 22 speaks volumes. He will become more comfortable at the plate once he settles in at one position and gets regular at bats. In addition, a Hall of Fame shortstop is teaching him, both offensively and defensively. Did I mention that he bats leadoff?

Greg Maddux. You drafted him for 16-18 Wins, a 3.25 era, a 1.20 whip and 130 k’s. I imagine come the end of September he will be pretty darn close. If it wasn’t for Cy Young, they would probably rename the trophy the ‘Maddux Award’. It won’t be the first time he has stumbled out of the gate. His trade value is at its low so you are stuck with him… but that’s not a bad thing. Start him like clockwork and watch those era and whip numbers trickle down week by week.

Mark Prior vs. Javier Vasquez. Are you kidding me? Dusty Baker may have Prior convinced he could win the ‘Maddux’ this year. So far this season, Prior and Vazquez have combined for 77 strikeouts, walking only 11. Prior scattered four hits and struck out 12 for his second complete game of his career, retiring 16 straight at one point. Vazquez struck out a career-high 14 in seven innings, striking out two in every inning but one. The game was well worth the season price of MLB TV. If this is even a hint of the potential of this kid, the Cubbies need to make a few high-risk investments now. They’ll need to find the next Microsoft to pay him. Let’s pray Boras is not his agent. Strikeouts really are fascist.

Xavier Nady. Speaking of Scott Boras’ boys, Nady is a prime example. He was considered a first-round talent by most clubs during the 2000 draft, but fell to the second round because several clubs, including a few larger-market franchises, considered him too expensive with Boras in the background. That plus a few injuries kept him from making a Mark Prior-esque jump to the show. The bottom line is that he is a stud and he can hit. He could be the Albert Pujols of 2003, and has to be the immediate favorite for rookie of the year. There will be learning curves though, and he plays in San Diego, for now, so don’t set your projections too high. Thirty home runs and 75-80 rbi are not out of the question, though.

 
William Veres is a regular contributor to the Fantasy Baseball Cafe forums. Always outspoken, his views are always well worth reading, even for fans of AL teams.