Draft Day Challenge, April 9

Daily baseball is all the rage in the fantasy sports world, so I will be covering the game a couple of times a week here at BaseballGuys.com. To that end, I’ve partnered with DraftDay.com to give all my wonderful followers, that’s you, the chance to play the game on a daily basis. On Tuesday and Thursday’s here at the site, I’ll also be giving you some insight into the mind of The Oracle as I will give you some of my best plays for the day – even if I’m willing to admit that daily games are a bit of a crap shoot given the difficulty in predicting how a handful of at-bats will work out. With that, here are some of the better plays for Tuesday, April 9th.

To join a daily league remember to visit DraftDay.com by clicking on the link to their site.

CATCHERS
1. John Buck
2. Wilin Rosario

Not only does Buck have three homers and 12 RBIs in just seven games (the most RBIs in Mets history over the first seven games of the season), but he’s facing Cliff Lee, a pitcher who he has hit .292 with three homers against in 48 at-bats.

The Rockies’ backstop is hitting .350 with three homers on the year, and Rosario also has four hits, including a home run, in nine at-bats against Tim Lincecum.

FIRST BASE
1. Todd Helton
2. Adrian Gonzalez

Helton is broken down, old, and generally ineffective. However, he’s always risen to the occasion against Tim Lincecum who he is hitting .359 with a .479 OBP against across 39 at-bats.

I don’t know how this is possible, but in eight at-bats against Clayton Richard A-Gone has only gone back to the dugout once without reaching base. That’s right, he’s got seven hits in eight at-bats (.875 with all the hits being singles). He’s not playing, but Hanley Ramirez has been even better with nine hits in 10 at-bats against Richard.

SECOND BASE
1. Chase Utley
2. Donovan Solano

Utley is only 2-for-8 against Dillon Gee, but he’s hit .301 with a .918 OPS at home in his career and he’s also managed a .297 average and .888 OPS against righties in his career.

Solano has six hits in his last five games and is batting .292 on the young season. He’s also produced four hits, including two homers, in seven at-bats against Kris Medlen.

THIRD BASE
1. Juan Uribe
2. Chris Johnson

Uribe flat out kills it against Clayton Richard as he’s hit .385 with a 1.159 OPS, including two homers, against the lefty in 26 at-bats.

Johnson is only 1-for-3 against Wade LeBlanc in his career, but he had three hits Monday and his career numbers against lefties say he would produce about 78 RBIs over 550 at-bats.

SHORTSTOP
1. Jed Lowrie
2. Ruben Tejada

Tejada has a hit in three of his last four games, and on the year he has five walks versus four strikeouts. He’s also had a bunch of success against Cliff Lee with six hits in 13 at-bats (.462).

According to ESPN, Lowrie hasn’t sung and missed the last five games covering a total of 31 swings. He’s also produced nine line drives in the 19 balls he’s put into play.

OUTFIELD
1. Jon Jay
2. Jeff Francoeur

Jay is hitting .242 on the young season, but he’s a career .299 hitter who is about to face Bronson Arroyo, a hurler who he has 10 hits in 25 at-bats against (.400).

Francoeur has hit .316 in 19 at-bats against Mike Pelfrey. Frenchie has also been mildly effective at Kauffman Stadium in his career hitting .271 with 17 homers and 67 RBIs over 569 at-bats.

STARTING PITCHERS
1. Wily Peralta vs. Cubs
2. Kris Medlen vs. Marlins
3. Andy Pettitte vs. Indians
4. Brandon Maurer vs. Astros

Peralta faces the Cubs, and the Cubbies are hitting .186. One-eighty-six, with an OPS of 540 folks. Last season Tim Hudson, he’s a pitcher in case you forgot (though he used to DH in college), hit .218 with a .523 OPS. Just saying.

Medlen isn’t facing the Astros, more on that below, but he is facing an terrible Marlins club that is hitting .228 with a .295 OBP and .298 SLG. They’ve also only gone deep two times while scoring 14 runs in seven games.

Pettitte has a 2.70 ERA and 1.14 WHIP in his last 13 starts. In his last six starts against the team from Cleveland he’s also posted a 2.86 ERA.

Maurer looked pretty bad in his first outing as he allowed six runs in six innings, but at this point, how do you not consider any hurler against the Astros? The club from Houston is hitting .201 with a .234 OBP and .275 SLG. Honestly, you can’t be a professional club and do any worse.

To join a daily league remember to visit DraftDay.com by clicking on the link to their site.

By Ray Flowers

Friday’s Fantasy Flight

No, I won’t be sampling wines for you on this day, I’ll just be taking a look around the league touching on Ryan Braun’s suspension, CC Sabathia’s lack of girth, Phil Hughes hype, Tim Wakefield’s retirement and more. I know, how exciting.

There is still no resolution in the Ryan Braun PED case. I don’t know about you, but I get the feeling that the longer this drags on the more likely it is that the 50 game suspension is going to be reduced.

Gary Carter passed away yesterday at age 57. Carter finished his career with 324 homers, 1,225 RBI, 2,092 hits, 11 All-Star game appearances and a spot in the Hall of Fame. The world is worse off with his passing.

I’m still sitting on that A.J. Burnett article I wrote a week ago. Yankees, trade the guy so that I can finally post this sucker (apparently the Yankees will pay $20 of the $33 million left on his deal, but because there is money involved the Commissioners Office has to get involved before the deal with the Pirates can become official).

Don’t buy the Phil Hughes hype that is already coming out of Yankees beat writers. For my thoughts on the hurler see his Player Profile.

Did you see this insane story that the Jim Leyland plans on getting Brandon Inge some work at second base this spring? Jimmy, you are kidding right? Inge, at one time a plus defender at third base, has never played second base as a professional. I understand that the Tigers might be non-plussed by guys like Danny Worth, Ramon Santiago and Ryan Raburn, but Brandon Inge? Over the last five seasons Inge has hit better than .240 just a single time and he batted .197 last year proving that he simply isn’t a major league caliber hitter any more. As for Raburn, he too has issues, but he finished on a tear last year hitting .341 with a .967 OPS over his last 45 games. Why the team wouldn’t give him a shot instead of Inge is beyond me. Don’t look for Inge to play second base — this story seems like sheer folly to me.

Last night went great by the way. There’s no telling what the weekend might hold. If I didn’t tell you all, 2012 is the Year of Ray…

Craig Kimbrel and Jonny Venters both focused more on training their bodies than throwing this offseason. Both felt that after they made 79 and 85 appearances that building up their stamina an bodies was as important as anything. Venters reportedly gained about seven pounds of muscle. In a related news story I curled a 10 lbs. weight yesterday in my garage.

It’s that time of year, and we’re getting the ‘he reported in great shape’ reports again. Here’s one. CC Sabathia has lost a lot of weight this offseason according to Buster Olney. That’s good news as he was threatening to play Godzilla in the remake with only green paint on since his girth wasn’t in need of a costume.

THE AARP CROWD

Jason Varitek hasn’t decided if he will retire. Let me make it easy for you Jason – hang em up. You’re still a highly respected signal caller, but your defensive acumen is on the wane, and the last time you hit .240 was 2007. Varitek has hit .256 in his career with 193 homers and 757 RBI in more than 1,500 games played.

Tim Wakefield has decided to retire. Wakefield won 200 games in his career and saved 22 in over 3,200 innings. He was never an elite fantasy option, but he won 16 games twice, on two other occasions he also won 17 games, and from 1995 through 2011 he tossed less than 140 innings just one time (129.2 in 2009). I wish someone would teach me the knuckleball. Let’s hope that scouts don’t push knucklers out of the game forever – they give us hope that we could pitch in the big leagues.

Brandon Webb is throwing off flat ground. I wish him the best, but he’s through. Webb threw four innings in 2009 then none in 2010 and 2011. It’s a sad end to what was shaping up to be an excellent career. From 2005-08 an average Webb season resulted in 18 wins, a 3.23 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 181 Ks and 232 innings pitched. To say that he was a fantasy beast is a vast understatement.

By Ray Flowers

Thursday Has a Feel

Thursday is an odd day. It’s the middle of the week and it certainly has a palpable feel to it as the anticipation of the potential fun of the weekend starts to seep into ones consciousness. Maybe that’s why I’m all over the map today.

NL Playoff Thoughts

So sad to see the Dodgers fail to advance to the World Series. Not. I said it all along – there was no way a team that was counting on guys like Randy Wolf and Vincente Padilla could make the World Series. For the sake of Philly fans hopefully my other prediction that they wouldn’t be able to win the World Series with Brad Lidge pitching the ninth won’t come true. We’ll certainly have a chance to find out.

That Shane Victorino kid is a player. Did you see that sweet stroke on that long home run he hit last night? Beautiful.

Thank goodness the offense for the Phillies is so strong, because for all his production, that Jimmy Rollins is an out making machine of epic proportions. I know he produces strong fantasy 5×5 numbers each year, but my goodness does he rack up the outs. He owns a .286 OBP in 120 plate appearances in his playoff career, and this season he posted a simply hideous .296 OBP. Since he was awarded a full-time job in 2001, Rollins leads baseball with 4,496 outs, 219 more than the next guy (Orlando Cabrera). Last time I checked getting on base and avoiding outs was the name of the game for a leadoff hitter. Averaging 109 runs per 162 games in his career, can you imagine how many runs Rollins would have scored if he merely gotten on base at a league average rate?

Random Baseball Thoughts

At least we know that The Sporting News isn’t populated by idiots as they awarded Tim Lincecum and Zack Greinke their NL and AL Pitcher of the Year awards. I expressed the same views a while back in my NL Cy Young Race and AL Cy Young Race pieces. Now we’ll have to wait and see if those that vote for the Cy Young award are as smart as TSN and myself.

Steve Phillips of ESPN was recently outed in the press for having an affair. I know we are all about 24 hour news nowadays, but really, is that any of our business? I say we leave the guy and his poor family alone.

The Mets finally got some good news after a dreadful season where seemingly everyone on their roster spent at least a night in the hospital. It’s official, the Mets actually made money off the Bernie Madoff Ponzi scheme, $48 million worth to be exact. Finally, some good news.

If Bobby Valentine ends up returning to the States to manage the Indians, will he bring with him his Super Mario Brothers’ disguise?

Brandon Inge, a tremendous human being who goes out of his way all the time to help pretty much any charity that contacts him, fell flat on his face in the second half this year because of a wonky knee as he hit just .186 after the All-Star game. Turns out things were worse than we thought. Both of his knees were hurt. In fact, Inge will have to undergo surgery on both knees this offseason, though he should be ready by the start of the season. This is one guy who is in your corner Mr. Inge, even if I would be extremely reluctant to place my faith in you in standard mixed leagues.

Football Thoughts

Darrius Heyward-Bey is ninth in receptions — on the Raiders. He has two receptions on the season. Another stellar draft selection by the Raiders.

My over/under on Michael Crabtree this week, his first NFL game, is 27 yards. Any takers?

Am I the only one that found it laughable that during the Patriots annihilation of the Titans over the weekend that they actually put a “countdown to the Super Bowl” clock on the television screen? It was something like 111 days. How dumb is that?

Why is there a rule that NFL teams have to share injuries with the public/press, a rule they openly flaunt? Have the Patriots ever been truthful with their list? If you think they have, guess what, I got this new fangled elixir that helps to attract hot ladies to average looking guys. How many bottles you want?

By Ray Flowers

All-Star Festivities

All is right in the world of baseball after last night’s Home Run Derby. Well maybe not, and you know me, I’ve always got something stuck in my craw to complain about, that’s why you all love me isn’t it?

The Game Contestants

What is the point of having a set roster if half the guys are going to pull out with some injury resulting in a replacement being added? I don’t know, guess I’m just bitter that Pablo Sandoval didn’t make it despite all the late additions. Have I mentioned that bitterness before? Think I have. Gotta tell you though, the additions of Carlos Pena and Nelson Cruz just don’t make any sense to me at all.

Pena leads the NL in home runs with 24, but he also is second in the league with 111 Ks while his batting average of .228 is 76th amongst qualifiers. The homers are great, and sure his team did a great job last year making it to the Series, but seriously? Just an awful choice.

Cruz doesn’t deserve to be in the All-Star game, and I’ll prove that in a second. Still, the man can rip it in BP so he was certainly a welcomed edition to the HR Derby. Why doesn’t he deserve to be on the team? Let’s compare his work to another AL outfielder who didn’t make the game.

Cruz: .263-22-53
Dye: .302-20-55

Dye is clearly ahead. The distance between the two only enlarges when we look deeper.

Cruz: .326 OBP, .539 SLG
Dye: .375 OBP, .567 SLG

Again Dye is ahead, and overall his OPS is .077 points higher. Does anyone really think the 13 stolen base advantage Cruz enjoys overcomes that? Not me, especially when we note that Cruz has hit all of .212 over his last 118 ABs.

Home Run Derby

Don’t know if anyone bothered to add it up, but we all know that the AL’s foursome in the HR Derby is a bit of a joke. Entering the contest the four, Joe Mauer, Nelson Cruz, Carlos Pena and Brandon Inge, have a total of 407 career home runs. Over in the NL, Albert Pujols has hit 351 just by himself.

Anyone besides me think that Chris Berman and his “back, back, back” call should go all the way back to the bench? Once upon a time it was cute, not it’s just annoying.

I wonder how much MLB is selling those special “gold balls” for (the money ball the players were hitting when they got down to their last out)? A quick check of MLB’s website shows that they only cost $34.99. You can either buy one of them or take your girlfriend out for a couple of drinks to loosen her up. I know how I would spend my 35 bucks.

What the hell is that yellow/green line that ESPN was using to track the baseball’s flight? Is it me or did that bring back nightmares of the NHL’s attempt with the glowing red puck a couple years back. Silly me, I thought I was watching a major league baseball event and not playing an interactive video game.

How long should a HR Derby last? Seems to me that 14 hours, or however long it went, is too much.

Erin Andrews is the perfect combination of the blonde bombshell looks, the voice, and the knowledge of the game. It certainly doesn’t hurt that she is beautiful, but she knows her stuff. Unfortunately she might need to hire a new wardrobe consultant. What was that bumble bee colored get up she was wearing at the Derby? Not that I really cared mind you.

Having recently been in St. Louis I can speak to the great atmosphere of the park and the interest of the fans who were great. How is it that baseball hasn’t had an All-Star game there in 43 years? I’d throw out the word pathetic, but you know what I think about Mr. Selig and his cronies – I’m never really shocked at what they fail to do.
I can’t help it. For some reason every time I hear Steve Phillips I come away impressed. I know Mets fans are throwing tomatoes at me right now.

What’s the deal with the running foot marker for the balls while in flight? What is this, a video game? Wait, didn’t I already make this point? Baseball isn’t meant to be “cute” guys, so leave it be.

By Ray Flowers

Finding Their Way

Apparently I have no sway with anyone. Yesterday I gave my thoughts on who the fans should vote for the final spot for the AL and NL All-Star team’s in The Last Man, but I guess no one ha any faith in my analytical abilities. Of course, there were nearly 69 million votes cast, and I’m willing to bet that at least 7.3 million of those votes came from people who have never read my work which must be the reason my choices weren’t the winner. In case you were wondering, the winners were Shane Victorino, who I had fourth, and Brandon Inge who I had third.

Chad Ocho Cinco made some comments about how he was going to revolutionize the “Twitter” craze from the sidelines this season, that is before the NFL stepped up and squashed that one before it got started. “We already have a rule that prohibits the use of cell phones or other hand held devices in the bench area during games,” spokesman Greg Aiello said. Too bad. I was really looking forward to the pearls of wisdom this buffoon was likely to share from the sidelines. I could just see a string of things like “I shook that guy out of his jock with that move” or “I look pretty when I score.” If only the NFL would have let him go forward with it.

Reports have the Reds heavily interested in adding Garret Atkins to their club. Two things. (1) That wouldn’t be bad news at all for Atkins as Cincinnati is still a great hitter’s park as his current home in Colorado also is. (2) With Joey Votto locked in at first, does that mean that Edwin Encarnacion would be the part of any potential deal, and if not, where would they both play if they were on the Reds? There isn’t a rover in baseball like softball – unless Mr. Selig decided to add it for the good of the game.

Pedro Martinez is one step closer to returning to the big leagues as he apparently is nearing an agreement with the Phillies. Good. Baseball needs Pedro. Let’s just hope he is healthy.

Manny Parra, banished to the minors after posting a 7.52 ERA and a 7.65 BB/9 mark in 13 starts, returned triumphantly on Thursday as he held the Cardinals scoreless for seven innings to lower his ERA to 6.78. Parra struck out seven, allowed only three hits, and most importantly walked only a single batter. I’m not ready to give up on the lefty, but even with today’s performance it’s not like you should be running to the waiver-wire to pick him up. Make the kid earn it.

Joel Pineiro continues to dazzle with a 3.20 ERA and a 1.11 WHIP after a complete game three hitter against the Brewers in which he allowed only one run while needing just 100 pitches. The man has 48 strikeouts in 115.1 innings or the same total as David Aardsma in his 38.1 innings. Still, he is proving to the world that he should have been selected as a starter for Team Puerto Rico in the World Baseball Classic over Jonathan Sanchez who has 68 Ks but a 2-8 record along with a 5.30 ERA.

Chris Shelton has been recalled to the Mariners. It’s about time isn’t it? I mean he hit .460 in Spring Training and then has blasted Triple-A pitching to the tune of a .319 mark with a .906 OPS through 76 games. I know Mike Sweeney is a great clubhouse guy, but come on, the man is hitting .250 with three home runs and a .678 OPS in 120 at-bats with the Mariners this season (he is on the DL now). That doesn’t seem like that type of performance should have kept Shelton down does it? Oh, in other Mariners news, Ichiro is still hitting .356 with a .388 OBP yet he is on pace for 80 runs, and Russell Branyan is on pace to push 40 home runs, he has 21, though his average has dipped to .287 thanks to a mere .237 average over his last 114 at-bats.

With a home run on Thursday, Mark Teixeira ended a 96 at-bat stretch without a home run. How in the world can a guy who has hit at least 30 home runs in each of the last five seasons go a sixth of the year without hitting one? Even crazier, how can he have gone that long and still be on pace to reach the upper 30′s (he has 21)?

By Ray Flowers

The Last Man

I have nothing to say about the Dodgers or Kim Kardashian, I just like to look at her so I put her picture at the top of this piece.

There is one day left to vote on for the final player to be added to each league’s All-Star team for next week in St. Louis. If you need a little bit of perspective on who are the best choices in each league, here are my thoughts.

Note: I’m purely addressing who is the most qualified option paying no attention to position or what the All-Star squads may or may not need given how the rosters are configured.

AMERICAN LEAGUE

Chone Figgins, 3B, LAA: .310-1-27-63-24 in 318 ABs
Figgins has produced the average that he didn’t last season (.276), and he is on pace to return to the 40-steal plateau that he reached in 2005-07. He isn’t hitting well against lefties (.227) but he is smoking righties to the tune of a .342 mark. He ranks 11th in the AL in average, fourth in steals and he leads the junior circuit in runs scored.

Brandon Inge, 3B/C, DET: .267-19-54-48-2 in 285 ABs
Really scuffing of late hitting just .205 with a .655 OPS the past two weeks, Inge has been a life saver for the Tigers, and for those fantasy leaguers who have been running him out there as a catcher eligible player. Though he has played exclusively third this season, if we compare his numbers to the other catchers he leads the way in home runs and is second in RBI to Victor Martinez (57). As is, he leads third sackers in homers and his 54 RBI are second to Evan Longoria (64).

Ian Kinsler, 2B, TEX: .252-20-54-60-17 in 333 ABs
Never has a potential 30/30 season from a second basemen looked so bad. The reason is that .252 average. Kinsler, who hit .322 in April, has hit .226 over his last 60 games. Still, he is tied for the position lead with Aaron Hill in home runs, is second to Hill in RBI (59), is second in runs (Brian Roberts has 62) and he is tied with Roberts for first at the position with 17 steals. That’s a whole lot of top shelf work, minus the batting average.

Adam Lind, OF, TOR: .308-18-57-49-1 in 321 ABs
He has been a breakout star all year, and he just keeps hitting. Still, his numbers don’t really stand out until you compare him to other AL outfielders and realize that he has more homers than Torii Hunter (17) while he has knocked in more runs than all but two others (Jason Bay has 71, Hunter 65).

Carlos Pena, 1B, TB: .228-23-55-59-1 in 294 ABs
Leads the AL in home runs, but other than that, his performance has been awful including being second in the league with 106 Ks, and don’t even get me started about how absurd it is to be considering a man who is hitting .228 for the All-Star team.

5. Pena
4. Lind
3. Inge
2. Figgins
1. Kinsler

NATIONAL LEAGUE

Cristian Guzman. SS, WAS: .310-3-21-41-3 in 297 ABs
The opposite of Pena above, this man’s value is totally batting average driven as he has as many home runs this season as Paul Konerko hit on Tuesday night. Guzman also has no speed at all – those three steals are the same as Tyler Greene who has only seen the field enough for 104 at-bats with the Cardinals.

Matt Kemp, OF, LAD: .307-10-45-44-19 in 306 ABs
Kemp still hasn’t developed the power that some believe he one day will, but it’s tough to down a guy who is hitting over .300 with a pace that would result in 85 runs, 85 RBI and 35 steals. Oh, and you want to make sure he is always in the lineup if there is a lefty on the hill as he simply murders them (.384/.483/.630 in 73 ABs).

Mark Reynolds, 3B, ARI: .265-24-62-53-14 in 309 ABs
Yes he strikeouts out at an embarrassing rate (114 Ks or one per 2.71 ABs), but the man still produces as he leads the position in home runs and RBI while he is third in steals behind Wright (20) and Emilio Bonifacio (18). Not many players go 25/25 with 120 RBI (it’s only happened 16 times in big league history).

Pablo Sandoval, 3B, SF: .328-13-48-38-3 in 287 ABs
This is exactly the type of guy the league should be looking to publicize. Portly, a free spirit quick with a smile, and one hell of a young hitter, the Kung Fu Panda has it all. He has a better batting average, more home runs, more RBI and a higher OPS than David Wright (.322-5-42 with a .878 OPS). Nuff said.

Shane Victorino, OF, PHI: .306-6-39-60-13 in 330 ABs
Pains me to list this guy fourth in the NL, but others have been more impressive. Still, he is the only outfielder in the NL who is hitting at least .300 with 60 runs, 10 steals and 100 hits. That should result in some love shouldn’t it?

5. Guzman
4. Victorino
3. Kemp
2. Reynolds
1. Sandoval

By Ray Flowers