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by wrveres » Fri Aug 19, 2011 6:05 am Is it da football? Maybe the 7th place blues? What gives?
Maybe we should do weekly instead of daily from here on out. Personally i like the different personalities of the daily threads ... but hmmppffh!
Fresh from the Cafe Press
FoolsWide World of Waivers: Arencibia’s average is a downer, but there aren’t many catchers hitting 20 HRs out there, and Arencibia needs just one to reach that mark. Jarrod Saltalamacchia topped our catcher list last week, and I wanted to move him down but the guys at two through five are doing too well to be knocked off the list right now. Torrealba is hitting .408 over the last two weeks, which is enough to get the nod over John Buck, who has three HRs since August 8. The gap between he and Arencibia really isn’t that big.
How do you pronounce his name? Anybody know?What To Expect From Stephen Strasburg Upon His Return: When he comes back, there's just not much reason to think that Strasburg will be less than what he was before he got hurt. And since, for a lot of pitchers, the replacement ligament is stronger than the original one, Strasburg may be even less of an injury risk now than before. He could still hurt his shoulder, and he could still re-injure his elbow, but it's not like Strasburg's going to be a man of glass. What we could see is Strasburg maybe dialing things back a little. Or maybe he'll throw fewer breaking balls. He could pitch in a way so as to consciously reduce his injury risk. But that isn't a guarantee, and even if he does this, he should still be exceedingly amazing.
Big Mike.Lucas Duda: While the Mets likely weren’t planning on having Duda at first for a large portion of their season, that’s the way things have shaken out in Queens. He struggled to make a mark with the inconsistent playing time he got in the early part of the season, but since the Mets have committed to him being in the lineup nearly everyday on July 28, he has rewarded them with a solid line of .288/.364/.500. While that’s a serviceable line, Duda wasn’t providing the power typically associated with first basemen…until August rolled around.
Meet the MessBe Like Bullock And Keep Big Mike: Mike Stanton is gonna be a Hall of Famer in 25 years. Me, you and the Mayans may not be around to see it, but if a tree falls in the forest does it not make a sound? It does when Stanton bumps into said tree, picks it up and uses it as a toothpick. Stanton’s Frank Thomas without the stupid walks (no offense to real baseball) and it’s not like he can’t take a walk, but what he does is mollywhop with his pony sticks. He could hit 40 homers with ten steals as early as next year. The average may stay in the .260 to .280 range, but whatever. Next year, he’ll only be 22 years old. For keepers, that’s a slam dunk. Whether it’s 2012 fantasy baseball, 2013 fantasy baseball or 1991 fantasy baseball.
Waiver Worthy: There was a time that I was a real believer in Mike Pelfrey’s ability to turn it around. Unfortunately, he continues to show that he is simply unable to do so. Sure, he’s had a lot of poor luck in August (.350 BABIP, 59.3% strand rate), but there is no real reason to think that he’s going to show any type of significant improvement. Like Jeff Francis, he offers no upside in the strikeout department. For the year he is at a 4.88 K/9 and since 2008 his best mark is just 5.22. Considering that his groundball rate has regressed over the past three seasons (51.3% to 47.8% to 45.3%), our hope in his ability has got to be quickly diminishing. Maybe one day he will show that he can generate swings and misses (though, his fastball has also been losing zip, down to an average of 91.6 mph) as well as get opposing hitter to bury the ball into the ground. Until that happens he is going to remain a tough play.
NL Starting Pitchers: I get the sense that Vazquez has burned a lot of bridges with fantasy owners, either in previous seasons or with his first 10 starts of 2011. I can’t blame owners for dumping him in May, after all, he had more earned runs to his name than strikeouts on June 1, but things have taken a turn for the better. Since the break, Vazquez has struck out nearly a batter an inning, and has given up more than 3 ER just once: His disaster start against the Padres on July 21. That outing against the Padres — where he should have thrived instead of getting shelled — is emblematic of why Vazquez is owned in just 37 percent of Yahoo leagues and just 15 percent of ESPN leagues: All other things equal, a consistent player is vastly preferable to an inconsistent one, and Vazquez has been tremendously inconsistent. All pitchers carry some risk, but there aren’t many out there who offer the same range of possible production as he does.
If you need a spot starter for someone like Cole Hamels, Jonathan Sanchez, or Tommy Hanson, Vazquez is palatable in small doses, but recommending him for the rest of the season feels like a game of Russian roulette
