Justin Fensterman and Trevor Ray discuss some key players that have started off the season really hot, but tell you what you can really expect from them the rest of the season.
NBA: Streaming players for the fantasy playoffs?
MLB: Justin Upton, Josh Hamilton, Coco Crisp, Wilin Rosario, Chris Heisey, Matt Harvey, Dan Straily, Clay Buchholz, Justin Masterson
Drew Stubbs was dealt from the Reds to the Indians this offseason in a deal highlighted by Shin-Soo Choo heading to Cincinnati (Trade Breakdown: D’Backs, Indians, Reds). In case you missed it, here is a Stubbs fact from that piece that many may not be aware of: over the past three seasons that Stubbs has averaged 17 homers, 86 runs scored and 33 steals. So let me ask you, how many guys do you think went 17-86-33 in 2012? Let me save you the trouble of looking it up. There weren’t’ ten guys, nor seven, nor four, nor three. The answer is one. Only one man in baseball hit 17 homers with 86 runs scored and 33 steals, numbers that Drew Stubbs has averaged the past three years. The answer is Mike Trout (Stubbs fell short with 14 homers, 75 runs and 30 steals). Should you be paying more attention to Stubbs on draft day than his current ADP in the 250 range suggests?
Stubbs is coming off his worst full season as a big leaguer. Still, he hit the same amount of homers as Alex Gordon, scored the same amount of runs as Giancarlo Stanton and stole the same amount of bases as Ryan Braun. And that was Stubbs worst effort in three years.
Stubbs isn’t a big power hitter, but he hit 22 in 2010 and clearly has show himself to be a 15-20 type of threat. The move from Cincy to Cleveland isn’t likely to help – according to Park Indices the past three years right handed batters in Cleveland have a 72 mark in the homer category (28 percent below league average) while in Cincinnati that mark is 143 (the best in the NL) – so it would be best to set exceptions at the 15 or so level this year.
Are you old enough to remember the Rubik’s Cube?
As for the steals, Stubbs has stolen at least 30 bags in each of his three full seasons (he’s one of only six players over 30 each of the last three years: Michael Bourn, Coco Crisp, Rajai Davis, Jose Reyes and B.J. Upton are the others). He’s a tremendous athlete with speed to burn, so there’s little reason to think he won’t extend his streak to four years, especially since his career success rate is over 80 percent.
The runs scored, now there is an area that he should be productive in yet again, though there is something we need to talk about despite Stubbs’ solid totals in that category (91, 92 and 75 runs the past three years), and it also happens to lead right into the biggest concern with Stubbs.
Stubbs owns a career .241 batting average and .312 OBP. Those are terrible numbers that fall well below the league average during his career as a big leaguer (.261 and .329). Given those marks his ability to steal bases and to score runs is in question. Miscast as a top of the order hitter for long stretches with the Reds, he’s hit leadoff or second in the order in 286 of 486 career games, he’s likely best suited to be a #6 hitter. If he does indeed hit lower in the order in Cleveland remember that each successive spot in the batting order that a player drops he loses 15-20 plate appearances over the course of a season. If Stubbs hits 6th all year, for example, that’s likely to lead to roughly 90 or so fewer plate appearances than if he were to bat leadoff. Fewer plate appearances mean less times to run, and likely fewer chances to cross home plate.
Now to the hulking pink elephant in the room. Stubbs’ batting average.
Who wouldn’t want an outfielder with 17 homers, 86 runs scored and 33 steals on their team? Would you still want that guy if he was a career .241 hitter?
Stubbs is never going to produce in the batting average category. Never. However, it’s not at all a stretch to think that his .213 mark from last season will be a lower water mark for his career. Just look at two simple factors to explain what happened. (1) After 3-years with a BABIP mark of at least .325 the mark fell to .290 in 2012. (2) The owner of a nearly a 19 percent line drive rate heading into last season Stubbs saw that number fall to 14.9 percent. If his BABIP and line drive rates go back up, as they should, his batting average should rebound. Now by “rebound” I’m still talking about a mark that may not reach the league average which was .255 last season. The reason is obvious – Stubbs strikes out more frequently than I do at a bar on Friday night. For his career Stubbs averages a strikeout every 3.05 at-bats. That means he’s pretty much going to average more than a strikeout a game. Last season he struck out 166 times, a three year low, but he also had fewer plate appearances than the previous two years. The truth of the matter is that his 30.5 percent K rate was a career worst (career 29.3 percent). Stubbs will never stop striking out. His average will never be impressive. He has to hope that his manager understands that and doesn’t bench him for it.
Stubbs is an elite athlete who is one year removed from 40 steals and 92 runs scored. There are certain holes in his game, there’s no way to whisk that away, but there is still value to be had here because so many have been scared off his trail. If you draft Stubbs in a mixed league you will have to augment his addition with a couple of big batting average bats, but as a fifth outfielder Stubbs profiles as a player who might just return a tidy profit this season.
By Ray Flowers
In 2011 I was the FSTA Champion even though I selected Carl Crawford in the first round (he appeared in just 130 games hitting .255 with 65 runs and 18 steals in his worst season of more than 100 games played.). In 2012 I had another first round selection fail to live up to expectations as Evan Longoria had an injury filled campaign. This time I finished in 11th out of 13 teams. Embarrassing. I’m back for blood in 2013. Here’s how the just completed draft went down in Las Vegas (I love vodka and Red Bull by the way… just thought I would share that).
13 teams, Mixed League, 5×5
14 hitters: C, C, 1B, 2B, 3B, SS, MI, CI, OF, OF, OF, OF, OF, UT
Nine pitchers (any combination of SPs and Rps)
Six bench spots
Here’s the team I selected out of the #6 hole (you can see the results of the entire draft at the RT Sports Link). The number in parenthesis is the round the player was drafted.
C: Joe Mauer (5), Russell Martin (21)
1B: Adam LaRoche (12)
2B: Howie Kendrick (10)
3B: Martin Prado (6)
SS: Hanley Ramirez (2)
MI/CI: Asdrubal Cabrera (7), Kevin Youkilis (14)
OF: Andrew McCutchen (1), B.J. Upton (3), Jay Bruce (4), Coco Crisp (18), Denard Span (19)
UT: Mark Reynolds (20)
SP: James Shields (8), Max Scherzer (9), Tim Lincecum (11), Tim Hudson (16), Wandy Rodriguez (22), Shaun Marcum (23), Edinson Volquez (25), Erasmo Ramirez (28)
RP: J.J. Putz (13), Joel Hanrahan (15), Jason Grilli (17), Sean Marshall (29)
BENCH: Chris Young (24), Jemile Weeks (26), Justin Maxwell (27)
So how did this team turn out? Let me explain how things evolved.
I almost took Joey Votto in round one, but instead went for the more well-rounded game of McCutchen.
In the second I nearly took Jose Reyes. Ultimately I went for HanRam who has more power and qualifies at two spots (SS, 3B). I worry a bit about Reyes playing on Astro Turf, the fact that he is been hurt a fair amount, and that he doesn’t steal bases like he once did.
Round three I grabbed B.J. Upton – who now gets to play with his brother Justin Upton in Atlanta. After three rounds I felt like I had three guys who could all go 20/20. I like that.
In Round four I took the power bat of Bruce, who in my eyes isn’t much different than Ginacarlo Stanton who was taken in the first round. Bruce was another strong pick, but his selection caused a problem. Ramirez/Upton/Bruce could get 1,500+ at-bats with a batting average of .260. That’s not a strong start in that category. So, in order to address that situation my next two picks were guys who should be strong batting average plays – Mauer and Prado. I don’t normally take a catcher this early, but Mauer is pretty much a lock for a .300 average. I just hope he plays 140 games. Prado, who was just dealt to Arizona (which could help his offensive game out a wee bit), is another guy with a batting average floor of about .285. He makes contact, steals a few bags, and should score a ton of runs hitting near the top of the D’backs batting order. He also qualifies at third base and the outfield as well which doesn’t hurt.
Noticing that the middle infield was getting really thin, I took Cabrera for my MI spot. I’d be happy with a slight improvement on last year’s numbers (.270-16-68-70-9). Even a repeat would be alright. Jemile Weeks is a forgotten man but just 12 months ago people thought we could be looking at a .280 hitting, 30 steal guy at second base.
Youkilis and Reynolds are my corner infield options. Neither is great, but I should be able to cobble together something solid there. LaRoche at first base is boring but he did hit 33 homers with 100 RBIs last year. I’d rather have him in the 12th round than Ryan Howard in the 5th.
My outfield has an impressive top-3 (McCutchen, Upton, Bruce). Crisp has a great fro, and he’s stolen at least 32 bases each of the last three years. Span has a .285, 95 run season in him in Washington. I’m telling ya. For support I rostered Young and Maxwell, both of whom have huge holes in their games. Still, both have the talent to make a run at a 20/20 season. I only need one to hit.
I did my normal waiting thing on starters, and I like how it turned out. Shields and Scherzer can win 30 games with 400 plus Ks. You don’t think so? Lincecum could win 15 games and strike out 200 too, even if you don’t think he can. As I noted at the draft table, I think Lincecum in the 11th has every chance of matching Yovani Gallardo who was taken in the 9th. Hudson/Wandy/Marcum might all be the same hurler, but as 4-6 starters I like a trio that is going to be solid in the ratio categories (3.50 ERA, 1.25ish WHIP). Volquez has a huge arm (see his Player Profile). No one seems to think much of my Erasmo pick. Hey, the guy pitches for the Mariners, had a 1.00 WHIP an a 4.00 K/BB ratio over 59 innings last season. I’ll take a shot on that.
In the bullpen – huge arms abound. Putz and Hanrahan, if healthy, should give me 70 saves. Those that think Putz is at the end of his rope aren’t looking at the numbers (or the contract extension he was given by the Diamondbacks). Grilli has never been a closer, but he struck out 13.8 batters per nine innings last season and had a 4.09 K/BB ratio. I like that and so should you. Marshall is the best left handed setup man in the NL. If Aroldis Chapman starts as planned, guess who is the #2 option in Cincy for 9th inning work? It’s Marshall who would only be behind Jonathan Broxton, you know the guy who struck out 6.98 batters per nine innings last season, only four batters below his career mark of 10.96. Broxton is also a year removed from a 6.39 BB/9 mark. Sure it was 12.2 innings, but that should make you nervous if you plan on counting on Mr. Broxton.
To sign up for your baseball league this year make sure you check out Fleaflicker.
By Ray Flowers
On Monday each week I take a look at the fantasy baseball game breaking down players who have produced noteworthy performances of late – not just positive outings mind you, but I’ll also delve into some of the players that have been sucking wind of late. Can you use this information to your benefit over at DailyJoust?
To get your daily fantasy baseball fix make sure you head over to DailyJoust.com to set your salary cap club.
GAINERS OF THE WEEK
Coco Crisp (+28, $110,000 in DailyJoust Salary)
The numbers aren’t very good. Oh the 26 steals are nice, but the .252 average and 42 runs runs scored are pretty boring. Still, someone has been swinging a good stick of late. Not only did Coco have a homer and five RBIs Sunday, he’s got 11 RBIs and 11 runs scored in August. Going a bit further back he has hit .282 with 17 RBIs and 19 runs scored over his last 27 games. Oh, and I’ve left out the best part. He’s running. A lot. After swiping 16 bags in the first half of the season he’s stolen 10 bases in his last 27 trips to the field including six in his last 15 games. He won’t get to the 49 steals he had last season but he’s just four steals from a 3rd straight season with 30 base thefts.
Gavin Floyd (+34, $240K)
Boring but stable. That could be the name on the back of Floyd’s jersey. One victory from his 10th, that would give him double-digit victories in 5-straight seasons, his ERA would be a five year high at 4.43, as would his WHIP at 1.38, but he’s pitched better than that of late, much better. Over his last nine outings he’s gone 5-2 with a 2.83 ERA. Now he’s still sporting a 1.43 WHIP, and his K/BB ratio has been 1.60 over those 57.1 innings, so it’s not like everything’s fantastic in his world.
Aaron Hill (+28, $116K)
Hill is on the cusp of some pretty impressive numbers. Hitting .298 with 17 homers and nine steals, that’s pretty darn close to a .300, 20/10 season, and that’s darn impressive don’t cha think? Over his last three games Hill has seven hits, including three homers, that have led to five RBIs and six runs scored. Hill has been pretty darn consistent as well. In 82 games during the first half of the season he hit .300 with a .355 OBP and .505 SLG. In 34 games in the second half of the season he’s hit .293 with a .349 OBP an a .496 SLG. That will play.
Chris Young (+24, $103K)
Young started out as just about the hottest hitter in the league (he hit .410 with five homers over his first 11 games). He then hit .158 in May, was hurt, hit .143 in June and he basically disappeared from fantasy relevant. This started to turn around a bit in July, he went deep four times with four steals, and he’s finally looking more Young-like. Over his last 28 games Young is hitting .270 with a .363 OBP and .539 SLG. That’s a .902 OPS over 28 games. Pretty good don’t ya think? He’s also hit five homers, scored 15 runs, knocked 16 in and has stolen four bases. Finally (he still only owned in 58 percent of leagues at Fleaflicker).
LOSERS OF THE WEEK
R.A. Dickey (-39, $402K)
The best value in the game on the hill this season, Dickey has had an amazing season with 15 victories, a 2.89 ERA, 1.04 WHIP and 175 Ks, in 168.1 innings mind you (a phenomenal number for a knuckleballer really). Things have taken a downturn of late though. Over his last eight outings he’s gone 3-3 with an ERA of 4.10 an a WHIP of 1.30. Given his career numbers of 4.09 and 1.34, those second half numbers certainly aren’t at all shocking. At least he’s still striking batters out with more than one an inning. Tremendous season no matter what happens from here out, but the best is likely behind him.
Eric Hosmer (-17, $60K)
There are three first basemen who have gone 10/10 this year – Paul Goldschmidt, Edwin Encarnacion and Hosmer. It’s a small victory for Hosmer who continues to struggle. His batting average is up .010 points from the first half. It’s still just .241. His OBP is up .024 points in the second second half. It still just .323. His OPS though is down two points in the second half at .668 as he’s hit only two homers with four doubles and a triple in 36 games. It’s going to end up being a completely lost season. Let’s just hope he catches fire to give him some confidence to build on for 2013.
Carlos Lee (-16, $88K)
With 57 RBIs, Lee is going to have to kick things up a bit to reach 80 RBIs for the 14th season (he has driven in 28 in his last 37 games). He’s hit that number each of the 13 seasons of his career. Lee is also hitting .286 which just so happens to be an exact match for his career mark. Hitting .297 the past 37 games, Lee has also walked more than he has struck out (19 to 15). The real issue with Lee is his total lack of pop. Lee has hit three homers since the start of June, that’s three long balls in 59 games. For a guy who has hit at least 18 homers each of the past 12 years, that’s pretty embarrassing.
Kevin Youkilis (-21, $59K)
In 42 games with the Red Sox he hit .233 with four homers and 14 RBIs. In 44 games with the White Sox he has only hit .241, but his OPS is more than .120 points up (.814), and he’s driven in 29 runners in 44 games. Youkilis is only hitting .195 over his last 31 games though and he’s also dealing with a sore knee and an arm injury. He continues to battle through, but injuries have been a huge detriment this year.
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Each week of the season you draft a team. Each week. You take Arian Foster in Week 1 and he blows out a knee. Don’t worry. You can pick up Ben Tate in Week 2. If Matt Ryan under performs, you can just go out an add Eli Manning. How interesting does that sound?
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And don’t forget, when you want to sign up, use the DailyJoust/BaseballGuys page.
By Ray Flowers
Forever immortalized for his role in helping the Red Sox to the World Series championship, Coco Crisp has been a hot topic this offseason before he settled on an unexpected return to the Athletics (Buster Olney is reporting it’s a 2-year deal for $14 million). The question we must consider in the fantasy game is how heavily do we want to lean on an outfielder who is 32 years old who last appeared in 140 games during the 2007 season.
Let’s start the analysis by focusing on the last line in the previous paragraph. Crisp hasn’t been able to stay healthy in the recent past. Not only has it been five years since he’s appeared in 140 games, it’s actually much worse than that. Sure Crisp appeared in 136 games for the Athletics last season, but in the previous two seasons he appeared in 49 and 75 games. Moreover, over his last four seasons he’s averaged just 95 games played per season or less than two thirds of a full season. To put that number into perspective the perpetually injured J.D. Drew has averaged 117 games played the past four years. Obviously you have to know that rostering Crisp comes with substantial risk because even if he performs well. He’s not someone you can count on playing every day.
Crisp also isn’t a very good hitter. The owner of a career .275 batting average, Crisp has failed to reach that level in four of the past six seasons. Given that his batting average is barely better than the league batting mark, it would be a great thing if he had a lot of power. However, he’s got about as much power as an 18 year old prom queen. Crisp has a career best of 16 homers, though that was a lifetime ago in 2005. Since that point he’s played six seasons and not a single time has he hit more than eight homers. Obviously it stands to reason that he’s not much of a run producer either, and the record bears that out. Crisp hasn’t had even 60 RBI in any of the last four seasons, and five times in the last six years he’s failed to reach that total. Does he score a bushel of runs? Think again. Crisp has scored more than 80 runs twice, but the last time he did that was 2007, as injuries simply preclude him from being on the field enough to rack up the counting numbers. Over the past four years the fleet of foot outfielder has averaged a mere 51 runs scored per season. That’s terrible. Crisp also owns a .330 OBP for his career, which is league average. The last time he posted an OBP of .350 was — well never since his career best mark was .345 in 2005.
So Crisp is league average in batting average and OBP, is a terrible power hitter, rarely knocks runners in, and doesn’t score as many runs as he should since he is always in an out of the lineup.
So why even other with him? It’s all about the speed with Crisp as his wheels are the only thing that gives him any value in the fantasy game. Oddly, Crisp has become a more prolific base stealer as he has aged. From 2003-2009 Crisp stole at least 13 bags with a high of 28 thefts in 2007. However, he joined the A’s and stared running like he was Ricky Henderson Jr.. Crisp stole 32 bags in just 75 games in 2010 before exploding for 49 thefts last year to lead the American League (he tied with Brett Gardner). There are a few reasons to be concerned about a repeat.
(1) Players just don’t start running heavily while in their early 30′s. It’s extremely rare that a player continues to build his steal totals in his 30′s.
(2) There is the health of Crisp to worry about. With his propensity to come down injured, it’s tough to count on the steals piling up.
(3) He gets on base at a leave average rate. If he got on base more frequently he would obviously have a better chance to swipe a bag, but he doesn’t so he has to run a good portion of the time that he reaches base.
(4) His owns history shows that from 2003-10 he averaged 21 steals a season. How he’s jacked up that number to an average of 41 steals the last two seasons is somewhat of a mystery given his advancing age.
There’s nothing wrong with drafting Crisp to add some speed to your club. If he can stay healthy there’s a reasonable expectation that he’ll swipe at least 25 bags. However, expecting 45 or even 35 could be asking too much from an injury prone an aging player. Given that he brings little else to the table other than steals, you’d be wise to avoid getting into a bidding war to obtain his services.
By Ray Flowers
I’m in Washington DC this week, before I saunter on over to St. Louis mid week. It’s a ton of fun getting a chance to spend some quality time with the great folks I work with at Sirius XM Fantasy Sports Radio. To the last person, a class act group. But I gotta tell ya, this heat is killing a kid. As a California born and raised boy, 90 is pushing the limits of my heat tolerance. As you are all likely aware, there is a historic heat wave hitting the east coast right now. The other night at Camden Yards in Baltimore, and it’s a spectacular place to view a ball game, it was 102 degrees at first pitch. I know your thinking that’s super hot for a day game, but the problem is it was 102 degrees at 7:05 PM. It’s almost too hot to live. Thank goodness there were copious amounts of beer available because what’s better when it’s hot than continuing to dehydrate yourself with booze?
This past weekend saw the HOF induction of Bert Blyleven and Roberto Alomar take place. While I have some doubt about the efficacy of Blyleven, there is no doubt whatsoever that Alomar was worthy of induction, a fact that I covered in The 2011 Hall of Fame Class. If you ask me, Alomar is one of the five greatest second basemen of all time so I can’t understand why he wasn’t inducted in his first year of eligibility. I’ve also written a few other pieces about the HOF, and two of them are What is a HOF Closer?, and Innocent Until Proven Guilty if you have some time to kill.
Now on to a Mailbag question…
I’ve been holding onto Desmond Jennings and now I can finally get him in my lineup. I need someone to sit between Coco Crisp, Delmon Young, Eduardo Nunez and Magglio Ordonez. Weekly lineup. Steals is not an issue for me, but in a race for R, RBI, HR still.
— Vinny
Desmond Jennings is an elite talent that I profiled back in The Prospect Trinity (the piece also discussed Dustin Ackley and Brett Lawrie, the other two arms of the Trinity). Jennings has taken forever to get to the big league level. The Rays were reluctant to start his arbitration clock early, and then he suffered an injury down on the farm. However, he’s making up for lost time rather quickly as he he killed it since being called up to The Show going 4-for-6 with two runs and two steals making him pretty much a must add in all formats.
Looking at your group, here’s what I would suggest doing.
Magglio Ordonez is hitting .322 in July. He still isn’t showing any power, and he has no speed, but his bat should play as a 5th outfielder type in mixed leagues as long as he’s healthy.
Eduardo Nunez is hitting .333 in July, and he has stolen four bases each of the past three months. However, you say speed isn’t a big need for you which mitigates the main value add of Nunez.
Delmon Young is hitting over .300 his last 34 games, but he has only two homers and 26 RBI in over 250 at-bats.
Coco Crisp has only one steal in his last 10 games, but he’s up to 27 thefts on the year and it’s pretty hard to say adios to production like that.
I’d add Jennings and let go Mr. Nunez if you have your infield covered. If you have outfield depth, there’s really no reason to keep the limited upside of Ordonez.
By Ray Flowers
Potential Trade Targets
HITTERS: (1) Hunter Pence (2) Ryan Ludwick (3) David DeJesus (4) Coco Crisp (5) Melky Cabrera / Jeff Francoeur (6) Carlos Beltran
PITCHERS: (1) Kevin Slowey (2) Mike Adams / Heath Bell. (3) Jason Isgrinhausen
By Ray Flowers
(1) Wade Davis and Jeff Niemann to return next week.
(2) Rich Harden to start on Monday for Rangers.
(3) Conor Jackson back on DL.
(4) Is Jason Bay (concussion) done for the year?
(5) Cody Ross claimed off waivers.
(6) Ronny Paulino reportedly suspended 50 games.
(7) Carlos Gonzalez (knee) hopes to avoid DL.
By Ray Flowers
There’s no theme whatsoever to my article today. I just threw everything into a hopper and wrote about the names that fell out. Oh don’t worry, it’s really insightful stuff, there just isn’t a common thread to tie everything together.
Coco Crisp has been activated by the A’s. He hit .590 with five RBI during his rehab work in the minors signaling that his body might finally be right, finally. Still, there are about seven outfielders with the A’s club, so it remains to be seen if he will have a spot in the daily lineup, especially since his skills are so similar to those of Rajai Davis.
Mark DeRosa’s season is over as he will need surgery to repair his injured wrist. In the first year of a $12 million two year contract, DeRosa gave the Giants all of one homer, 10 RBI and 93 at-bats. That’s almost as bad an investment as The Bachelor’s Jake Pavelka made in his lady friend, Vienna Girardi. Oh stop acting like you don’t watch the show – we all know you do.
Josh Hamilton is back, and it appears that he is better than ever before. Josh is hitting .337, has a 16 game hitting streak, and is sporting a .981 OPS. Back in his “breakout” 2008 effort he hit .304 with a .901 OPS. He’s frighteningly talented.
Trevor Hoffman has been awful for most of the year, everyone knows that. However, he has improved tremendously of late and appears on the cusp of reclaiming his 9th inning role. “We kind of talked about that several times today,” manager Ken Macha said. “We’ll see how some things go. That is two good outings in a row, so I’ll talk to him [Thursday] and see how he’s feeling about himself.” If you are a John Axford owner you’ll want to hold on, but make sure Hoffman isn’t on waivers if you play in a deep league.
Jamie Moyer is almost old enough to join AARP as he is 47 years old. Amazingly, he has stuck around long enough to pile up 265 victories. That total places him 10th all-time in victories by a lefty, an it’s also one behind the immortal Bob Feller and three behind Jim Palmer. Need some more info about just how amazing Moyer’s career has been? Since turning 30 he has won 231 games, the sixth most ever from that age to the end of a player’s career. To put that win total in perspective, Roy Oswalt has 142 victories, Tim Hudson 155 and Roy Halladay 156 — in their entire careers.
Buster Posey, everyone’s darling when he was called up, has hit the skids of late with a mere .186 average and a .524 OPS over his last 43 at-bats. His average is still shade over .300 at .303, but his .421 SLG is a pretty pathetic number for a first sacker (the NL average for the position is .458). I know it borders on heresy in some corners, but Posey really needs to pick it up or he could start to lose playing time (he isn’t in the lineup on Tuesday night as Pablo Sandoval is at first with Juan Uribe at third).
Mike Stanton, who I spoke of yesterday in my Around the Horn, June 21st video, deserves to be mentioned again. Here is, in written word, what I spoke of yesterday; you simply cannot have success in the big leagues if you strikeout more than 40 percent of the time. I know it’s a miniscule sample size we’re breaking down with the talented Fish, but 19 whiffs in 43 at-bats gives him a K-rate of 44.2 percent. Chris Davis, basically demoted to the minor because he whiffs too often, owns a K-rate of 34.7 percent in his career. Other noted purveyors of the strikeout follow with their career K-rates in parenthesis: Ryan Howard (32.3), Adam Dunn (32.4), Mark Reynolds (38.2) and Jack Cust (39.1). As you can tell from that list you can be mighty successful in the bigs even if you pile up copious amounts of strikeouts, but if Stanton wants to make his mark this season he’s gonna have to knock like 10 percentage points off his current rate.
By Ray Flowers
(1) Roy Oswalt requests trade from Astros.
(2) Coco Crisp and Carlos Gomez return to action from injury. Willy Taveras placed on waivers on waivers.
(3) John Maine placed on DL with shoulder issues.
(4) Curtis Granderson about a week from returning from hammy injury.
(5) Breaking down early season struggles of Aaron Hill and Raul Ibanez.
(6) Luke Scott to play first during interleague playing sending Garrett Atkins to bench. David Ortiz to play some first as well.
(7) Fanball.com will have a daily, 3-hour fantasy sports show from 5-8 PM EST. Starting on June 21st Fanball’s Fantasy Drive will appear daily on Sirius Channel 125 and XM channel 210. Yours truly will be a co-host.
By Ray Flowers
The FSWA winner of the Best Baseball Series of 2011, BaseballGuys.com is the only source you will need for your fantasy baseball knowledge. OK, you might need other sources, but BaseballGuys.com should be on your daily list of must reads for the insights an analysis it provides on the world of baseball.
The co-host of The Drive on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM 87: M-F at 5-8 PM EDT), Ray has spent years squirreled away studying the inner workings of the fantasy game to the detriment of his personal life. Specializing in baseball, football and hockey, some consider him an expert in all three. Ray's work can also be found as feature writer for: Fantasy Alarm, Rotoinfo, Rotowire and Sports Illustrated.
You can contact Ray through e-mail at fantasyfandom@yahoo(dot)com or on Twitter.
