The Rays James Shields

[red_sox_fan]

He is legit in my view, at least in the sense that he is a guy who should be rostered in even in leagues that are not very deep. There was even a modest level of hype around him in the pre-season, so his success so far is not something that was completely unforeseen.

He will not be a 2.00 ERA guy all season - he plays in a tough divsion where even the best SPs get lit up now and again. However, he should be a good bet to turn in an ERA of 4.00 or hopefully a little less and a really nice K rate. Interestingly, this is more or less what can be expected of some higher profile guys, for example Bonderman - so it is not unreasonble to assert that a more Ws is the only difference between Shields and Bonderman, who is at least a consensus top 20 fantasy SP.

what is wrong with TB that they cant get wins, is the bullpen just really bad, cause if Shields is for real they have him and kazmir, and there hitting is really good

I think people are underestimating the ability of TB to get Shields wins. Their offense is much better this year and they now have a closer. If Shields can keep his ERA around 4.00 then he should be in a good position to get a bunch of wins. So far the outlook looks pretty good

[deerayfan072]

what is wrong with TB that they cant get wins, is the bullpen just really bad, cause if Shields is for real they have him and kazmir, and there hitting is really good

They can probably win somewhere around 70-75 games this year. Their offense is good even though it is young and will struggle at times. They have 2 pretty solid starting pitchers, but what they lack is SP #3-5 and a bullpen. They have absolutely the worst pen in the majors, even though Reyes has been outstanding so far this year.

Thats b/c outisde of Reyes most of them should be in minor ball

[jlm53089]

during the game last night they were talking about his change up
and how it drops like a sinker looks like a fast ball but is a change up.
lets just hope from a rays fan he can keep it up.

[deerayfan072]

during the game last night they were talking about his change up
and how it drops like a sinker looks like a fast ball but is a change up.
lets just hope from a rays fan he can keep it up.

Which chagneup he has 5

[alchemy]

I love the guys who write captions on CBS Sportsline:

Analysis: All those who thought Shields was going to breakout in 2007 please raise your hand. Yeah, nobody will be raising their hand. No one could have seen this coming, but Shields has certainly been a welcome addition in all Fantasy leagues. His next scheduled start is for Wednesday against the Orioles.

I'd say there were a healthy number of Shields supporters in these forums. I know I drafted him expecting a reasonably good year. I thought he had some good numbers last year for a rookie.

[Yoda]

during the game last night they were talking about his change up
and how it drops like a sinker looks like a fast ball but is a change up.
lets just hope from a rays fan he can keep it up.

Well that is what a change up is supposed to be. A pitch that looks like a fastball but obviously isn't.

[Field]

I like this guy a lot. Last night a fastball that clocked 88 looked like it was 95 because of all the off-speed stuff he throws.

The bullpen is horrid. Camp almost blew the game yesterday for Shields, and Camp added 2 ERs to Shields' line because he can't strand a dead mule .

[dod959]

I picked him up in my keeper league last year around this time lol. When someone has a pitch like his changeup, you take notice.

[deerayfan072]

I love the guys who write captions on CBS Sportsline:

Analysis: All those who thought Shields was going to breakout in 2007 please raise your hand. Yeah, nobody will be raising their hand. No one could have seen this coming, but Shields has certainly been a welcome addition in all Fantasy leagues. His next scheduled start is for Wednesday against the Orioles.

I'd say there were a healthy number of Shields supporters in these forums. I know I drafted him expecting a reasonably good year. I thought he had some good numbers last year for a rookie.

Someone in here predicted a CY young, i forget who that was, while not going that far, i def said he would produce good numbers a be a viable options for any league

[alchemy]

I love the guys who write captions on CBS Sportsline:

Analysis: All those who thought Shields was going to breakout in 2007 please raise your hand. Yeah, nobody will be raising their hand. No one could have seen this coming, but Shields has certainly been a welcome addition in all Fantasy leagues. His next scheduled start is for Wednesday against the Orioles.

I'd say there were a healthy number of Shields supporters in these forums. I know I drafted him expecting a reasonably good year. I thought he had some good numbers last year for a rookie.

Someone in here predicted a CY young, i forget who that was, while not going that far, i def said he would produce good numbers a be a viable options for any league

Yep, the guy who predicted a Cy Young got blasted plenty. He's active I think so he'll be back... I don't think we're looking at a Cy Young here but I think a Wade Miller-style breakout from a few years ago is in the cards. (Opposite MO though - great changeup versus nasty fastball).