Daily Joust – Wk.2: What Did We Learn?
April 16th, 2012 | by Ray Flowers |
Monday’s I will be taking a look at the fantasy baseball game by breaking down players who have produced noteworthy performances. This week it’s all about hot starting batters and pitchers – can they keep it up?
To get your daily fantasy baseball fix make sure you head over to DailyJoust.com to set your salary cap club.
INEXPENSIVE OFFENSIVE HEROES
Mike Aviles, 2B/3B/SS ($75,000 Daily Joust salary): The Red Sox shortstop can hit. He owns a career .288 batting average and is currently batting .290 through 31 at-bats. He’s also popped two long balls, though his power upside is likely sneaking into the double digits in dingers. He also posses speed, he’s stolen 14 bags each of the last two seasons. Given his positional flexibility he’s a nice add to any lineup. His value is likely still heading up though as he appears likely to spend an awful lot of time in the leadoff spot for the Red Sox with the shoulder injury to Jacoby Ellsbury that will keep him out of action for an estimated six weeks.
Yunieksy Betancourt, SS ($68K): He’s actually played second base in five of his six games this year, he’s only played nine games at any position other than shortstop prior to this season, but it certainly hasn’t affected hit ability with the twig in his hands. Yunieksy is batting a robust .389 through 18 at-bats, but let’s not get too carried away here. He hasn’t walked a single time in six games, hasn’t stolen a base, and has scored only three times in six contests. Still, I’m not going to ignore his hot start at the plate, but I’m just trying to be realistic here with a guy who has hit .269 with a .293 OBP for his career.
Matt Carpenter, 1B ($66K): A hot pick up, Carpenter has had himself a whopper of a start to the season. Through eight games he has hit .409. That alone would be exciting. When you add in the 10 RBIs that he’s also produced it’s time to get a bit giddy. Carpenter hit .302 last year in 130 games at Triple-A, but he also hit only 12 homers not showing much pop, something you need from a corner infield option. Lance Berkman is also close to a return to the lineup, and don’t forget that Allen Craig (knee) is likely to be back in a couple of weeks making at-bats possibly hard to come by for Carpenter. There’s nothing wrong with rolling with him in the short-term though (over at Fleaflicker Carpenter has recoded the same average fantasy point total as Paul Konerko and Troy Tulowitzki).
Shelly Duncan, OF ($66K): The Indians lineup is about to get a bit crowded with the addition of Johnny Damon, and the question remains will that eat into the playing time of Duncan. If PT is determined by performance in Cleveland than Duncan shouldn’t be worried about losing any of it, at least not right now. Through eight games he has flashed his trademark power with two homers, a double and six RBI. He’s also walked an impressive eight times helping him to Bondsian .485 OBP. Given that he’s also hitting .320 right now you’d be wise to consider him for your starting lineup since he’s also working on a 5-game hitting streak.
Mark Ellis ($72K): Why am I bothering with a guy who is batting .235 with no homers and just two RBIs? Did you notice that his OBP is .366? Or how about the most interesting number in his line – 10 runs scored in nine games. Matt Kemp and Andre Either have to slow down as the season progresses, but if Ellis maintains a spot in the daily lineup, and is hitting out of the two hole, he’ll end up being a pretty valuable source of runs, and that average will certainly climb as well.
LOSER OF THE WEEK
Kendrys Morales ($110K): From April 9th through April 15th Morales had, wait for it, one hit in 18 at-bats. Given that he was also 0-for-5 on April 8th that means he has one hit in 23 at-bats. I know it’s early, and I always talk about sample size being so important, so I’m not going to hammer Morales – yet. I will say this, which is the same thing I was saying three weeks ago when people were going bonkers to add Morales after he had a hot stretch to end Spring Training, the guy is coming back from an injury after missing more than a season and a half. As great as he looked to end spring he has looked equally putrid once games started counting (.200-0-0 through 30 at-bats). The game just isn’t that easy folks.
PITCHERS WHO ARE PERFORMING
Bartolo Colon ($173K): He’s 2-1 with a 3.72 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and an extremely impressive 7.00 K/BB ratio. I’m still not buying it. In a quirk of the schedule, thanks to MLB’s desire to play in Japan, Colon has pitched against the Mariners in all three of his games. I think, on a good day, that I could get many of the Mariners batters out. Be careful not to overemphasize his early season success.
Kyle Drabek ($195K): The former 1st round draft pick has killed it in two starts as he’s learned to just relax when guys get on base versus over thinking and trying to over analyze everything. He’s 2-0 with a 1.42 ERA and 1.03 WHIP, but do two starts wipe out a miserable 2011 effort that say him post a 6.06 ERA, 1.81 WHIP an a 0.93 K/BB ratio (yes, he walked more batters than he struck out last season)? I need more than two starts for me to feel like he’s totally over the hump.
Barry Zito ($215 K): Currently the 77th most expensive SP in the DailyJoust game, Zito has pitched his brains out – so far (1-0, 1.13 ERA in 16 IP). Be honest with your assessment here though. The last time he posted an ERA under 4.00 was 2006. The last time he had a winning record was 2006. He’s also struck out only eight batters in 16 innings and his current walk rate of 0.56 per nine, well I somehow don’t think he’s going to keep that up since he’s never posted a season long mark below 3.06, and that was way back in 2002.
DAILY CONTEST
MLB – Tournament – Mon, Apr 16th – King Arthur’s $50BB Hi Cap Daily Free For All over at DailyJoust.com.
Single entry. No entry fee. $50 prize pool payable in Bonus Bucks. Bonus Bucks can be used as entry fee for an cash entry contests on Daily Joust. Top 15 places paid. Winner also gets a King Arthur badge.
Prize: Top
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etc. (it pays out down to 15th place).
Also, if you deposit $25 in your account you can get a 40% deposit bonus, and who doesn’t like free money?
By Ray Flowers
Tags: Barry Zito, Bartolo Colon, Kendrys Morales, Kyle Drabek, Mark Ellis, Matt Carpenter, Mike Aviles, Shelly Duncan, Yuniesky Betancourt
By Ron on Apr 16, 2012
2B slot Jose Altuve or Jed Lowrie?
By Joe M on Apr 16, 2012
Got room for a pickup, Drabek or Cahill?
By Mike on Apr 16, 2012
Ray- I think it’s a pretty simple answer, but the following players have been dropped and I was looking to add another 2B for depth. Starting Pedroia and Hanley as mid inf but have a 2B/SS slot being filled by JJ Hardy. I know he’s going to miss some games so who should I grab off the waiver? I have the #1 claim. Drop Bloomquist for Neil Walker, Hill, Espinoza?
By Ray Flowers on Apr 16, 2012
Ron – Altuve. Lowrie is terribly boring. His career AVG/OBP/SLG are below lg average and he never steals bases.
By Ray Flowers on Apr 16, 2012
Joe M – I’d go with Cahill, but I’m not a huge fan.
By Ray Flowers on Apr 16, 2012
Mike – I wouldn’t drop Hardy – make sure you aren’t considering that. I’m not a huge fan, but you could certainly trade him for something of value. try that first. Drop Bloomquist and add Espinosa. He’s the best combo option you mentioned. I’d also take Hill and Walker over Fast Willie in a heartbeat.
By Jeff on Apr 16, 2012
I’d love to see some Kay Adams bikini photos up on the site. Just a thought. Keep up the good work.
By Ray Flowers on Apr 16, 2012
Jeff – I’m shocked you would suggest such a thing. I’d like to see it though.
By Jeremy on Apr 16, 2012
For the record, I’m with Jeff… Ray, I have Dee Gordon at SS right now and think he could possibly equal Andrus in almost every way this year. However, in a 10 team shallow league (I know you hate them but its been going for 12 years) Jeter is on waivers and tearing the cover off the ball. I won’t drop Gordon but what do you think of dropping a guy like Freese who I took a flier on in the draft (my 3B is Lawrie) for a Minka Kelly-less Jeter?
By Bobby on Apr 16, 2012
Jeff / Jeremy are right on Kay Adams bikini shot would be awesome….
By Jeff on Apr 16, 2012
Ray- I do remember seeing a photo of Kay in a Bikini on her facebook page, it didn’t stay up there very long…but it was very very nice. I’m not sure if it was put up there on error or what.
On the fantasy baseball note, what advice would you give me on roster building? I’m in a 12 team league that rosters 25+ 1 DL spot. We have 9 starting offensive and 7 pitcher spots(SP,SP,RP,RP,P,P,P). How do you normally like to build your team? I normally only like to keep 1 or 2 extra hitters and load up on extra pitching.
Also, on my current team my closers are pretty weak (Nathan, Marmol, Capps), but I loaded up on stud relievers(Venters, Robertson, Chapman). Should I make a move to add another potential closer like S. Romo or H. Rodriguez?
I should add that there is a Relief Wins category in our league and I’d have to drop one of those Setup guys or K. Drabek, J. Sanchez or D. Bard. Also, I can only start up to 5 total relievers per day, and I currently roster 6 relievers…Theres always an odd man out.
Thanks
By friendtoall on Apr 16, 2012
You are on the record complaining that h2h is ruining fantasy baseball…
To me, this daily stuff is ruining it. I’m glad you can make some cash off the ads and whatever other bonus they offer to people who link from your site (heck, I’ve signed up and looked into it, made an effort to link from your site… I remember this hustle from the early online poker days with rakeback).
But your fantasy soul, Ray. How does daily feel to your fantasy baseball soul?
By Ray Flowers on Apr 17, 2012
Jeremy – Big fan of Jeter. Had him listed ahead of Dee Gordon in my rankings. Obviously, that hasn’t changed. I know Freese is a health risk, but how in the world are you going to drop a guy who is hitting .400 with an RBI a game? You just can’t do that. Someone in your lg would certainly offer you something for Freese, so do that before you drop him.
By Ray Flowers on Apr 17, 2012
Jeff – Yeah, there was a Vegas photo posted for a few hours….
Such a thin lg. Standard is 14 starting hitters, not nine. There will always be plenty of offensive options on waivers. With 25 roster spots, maybe 13 hitters, 12 pitchers or vice versa.
Romo is a better pitcher than Robertson. I’d go there.
HRod over Venters or Chapman only if you have to have saves right now. I think it’s pretty early to be feeling that way.
No way to know which reliever to use on any given day, so one guy is going to have to sit for you and you’ll just have to hope.
By Ray Flowers on Apr 17, 2012
FriendtoAll – Fair points. If you notice, I’m only giving recommendations on daily games on Friday. The rest of the week, I don’t do it. I still feel way more confident in my ability to be able to predict the success of a player over the course of a season, than I do in one day events. Doesn’t mean I can’t offer some thoughts, but admittedly I believe my success rate goes up the longer the period of time is that I’m looking at.
By JDW on Apr 17, 2012
I’m not embarassed by co-workers catching me peeking at fantasy baseball sites. But when they catch me peeking at a fantasy baseball site with a hawt bikini model on the page – well, that takes some awkward explaining to do.
By Jeff on Apr 17, 2012
Thanks Ray- Its definitely a thin league. The is my first year and the commish went a bit crazy with the categories (pitchers have relief wins, K/9, GIDP, Pickoffs, etc as categories) I tried to pick relief pitchers that have high K/9, low era and whip.
Morse just hit the waivers, I’m considering picking him up to slide into the DL spot since I have Upton coming off. I’d have to drop Schafer or Dunn to do it though. For steals, I have Hanley, Upton, Victorino and Ichiro. For Power, I have Fielder, Ortiz, Zimmerman and Wieters?
Good move?
By friendtoall on Apr 17, 2012
1. LOL to JDW… the boobies do make it more difficult to get peeks at work! Also, the wife has walked by and asked what I’m looking at!
2. Thanks for the clarification, Ray. You are a real pal when it comes to answering questions– one of the many reasons you are one of my fav fantasy writers/talk show dudes. I don’t know what to make of these daily leagues. I’m for it because I love to gamble but they just seem impossible. I think the guy in Detroit who made 300K is actually Prince Fielder.
By Ryan on Apr 17, 2012
Ray,
I was offered this trade:
My: Zimmerman\JUpton\Niese
for
His:Hanley\CCrawford\Youk\Latos
Thoughts?
By Ray Flowers on Apr 17, 2012
Jeff – Yeah, pickoffs = worst category ever in the history of fantasy baseball.
Activate Upton. Add Morse to DL spot. Drop Dunn. That would be my play.
By Ray Flowers on Apr 17, 2012
FriendtoAll – I try to happily distract you all.
I try to respond to everyone, hopefully in a thoughtful way. We don’t always agree, but I’m always happy to explain my thoughts.
By Ray Flowers on Apr 17, 2012
Ryan – Who do you have to drop to even out the roster since you’re getting back one extra player?
I was offered this trade:
My: Zimmerman\JUpton\Niese
for
His:Hanley\CCrawford\Youk\Latos
By Ryan on Apr 17, 2012
Ray, My squad:
C – Wieters
1B- Freeman
2B- Phillips
3B- Zimm
SS- Tulo
OF – Gordon, JUpton, Stanton
UT – Bourn
SP – Beckett, DHudson, Marcum, MMoore Danks, BNorris, Niese, Morrow
RP – Guerra, Santos, FFrancisco, Jansen
So Jansen?
By Ray Flowers on Apr 17, 2012
Ryan – I was offered this trade:
My: Zimmerman\JUpton\Niese\Jansen
for
His:Hanley\CCrawford\Youk\Latos
Zimm for Hanley = roughly equal.
Upton/Crawford both injured, but you still want Upton.
Niese or Latos? Give me Latos.
Youkilis or Jansen? Give me the hitter.
I’d do the deal.
By Jeff on Apr 17, 2012
Ray- to clarify he is giving up Justin Upton.
By Bobby on Apr 17, 2012
Hello Ray.
Were would you rank Danny Duffy in a 10 team mixed league? a top 70-80 pitcher? top 100?
By icehole on Apr 17, 2012
12 team 5×5
Could use utility/of help with removing David Murphy or Alex Rios
Nolasco and vogelsong on bench
Trade Giovanni Gonzalez for Carl Crawford?
By Ray Flowers on Apr 17, 2012
Icehole – I dont know. I’m a big fan of Crawford, but until I see him out there performing, hard to get behind dealing Gio Gonzalez for him. You can if you are certain your SPs can handle it, and you’re ok with the risk of adding Crawford.
By Ray Flowers on Apr 17, 2012
Bobby – I wrote about Duffy in my preseason Draft Guide. I mentioned him in the article about major IP increases (he nearly double his IP total from 2010 – that’s a bit scary). I ranked him 139 before the season started. I could see moving him up a bit, but he’s not in the top-100 yet.