2013 FSTA LEAGUE

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

Winter Meetings Wrap Up

There were plenty of big names thrown around town, chief among them Josh Hamilton and Zack Greinke, but in the end there were no earth shattering moves at the Baseball Winter Meetings. There were a handful of moves involving useful players however, so let’s take a moment to wrap up the meetings, and the week, by looking at some of that movement.

Joe Blanton, who I’ll have a write up on in the coming days, signed a two year, $15 million deal with the Angels. He’s no Zack Greinke but he’s a solid hurler, durable, and the terms of the deal certainly aren’t prohibitive by any means. Many think this is a bad deal based on his 4.71 ERA last season but I’m telling you his ERA should have been a run lower last season than it was. Solid.

Sean Burnett received a two year deal for $8 million from the Angels who are amassing one hell of a bullpen. Not just that, but I don’t know how the Angels convinced him to take so little after Jeremy Affeldt received 3/$18 million from the Giants. Burnett struck out 57 batters in 56.2 innings with an impressive 4.75 K/BB ratio, not to mention a superb 2.51 GB/FB ratio, for the Nationals last season.

Andrew Cashner failed to be the breakout candidate many hoped for last season as injuries limited him to a mere 46.1 innings. Still, he punched out 52 batters in 46.1 innings, and there is a lot of excitement about him starting for the Padres in 2013. Unfortunately, he’s unlikely to be ready for spring after a hunting accident. Apparently a friend slipped on the trip, fell, and sliced the thumb of Cashner with his knife necessitating surgery that will likely keep Andrew out of action for about three months. I’m not going to say it serves him right, but honestly, I just don’t get hunting, at all. If you need to eat that’s one thing, but what is the sport in shooting an animal that is just standing there? Sorry, just don’t get it.

Ben Revere was dealt from the Twins to the Phillies in exchange for Vance Worley and minor leaguer Trevor May. It seems very odd to me that the Twins would deal Denard Span and Revere within a week of one another (for more on Span see his Player Profile). Clearly, the Twins have no intention of competing in 2013 and are desperate for starting pitching. Revere, looking pretty much like a direct Juan Pierre clone, hit .294 with 40 steals in 124 games last season. He’ll never hit for power and may never get on base at a rate much better than the league average, but his speed makes him a superb play in the fantasy game. As for the Twins, their outfield is in shambles. It’s looking like Josh Willingham, Trevor Plouffe and… Brandon Hicks? GM Terry Ryan also stated that Darin Mastroianni and Joe Benson will battle for a starting spot with Hicks, but that doesn’t really help matters much now does it. Can feel the excitement? The Twins, they receive May who has struck out more than 11 batters per nine innings in the minors, and if everything breaks right could be a #3 starter in the bigs. The Twins are hoping that Vance Worley is the real deal. Worley is coming back from elbow surgery in September as he had some loose bodies and a bone spur removed. Everyone is confident he will be healthy by spring. Worley owns some solid numbers – 7.71 K/9, 2.45 K/BB, 1.28 GB/FB ratio – even if nothing really stands out. Best case he’ll be a weak SP2, but more than likely the Twins would be happy if he emerged as solid third starter for them.

Nate Schierholtz signed a one year deal with the Cubs for a reported $2.25 million ($500,000 in incentives). Having watched him play for years that’s a strong signing by the Cubs. Nate is an elite defender who is a solid hitter with a bit of speed. He’s not an exciting fantasy option, but he’s an ideal 4th outfielder in the real world who could be quite effective if given consistent work. Speaking of the Cubs. Brett Jackson, another outfielder, has revamped his swing this offseason in an attempt to cut down his massive K-rate. He’s a 20/20 talent, especially if he puts the ball in play more effectively. Finally, the Cubs gave a 1-year, $2 million deal to former power hitter Ian Stewart (it looks like he will battle Luis Valbuena for the starting job). Only in America could a guy hit .183 withfive homers an a .561 OPS over 301 at-bats the last two years and get two million dollars.

Koji Uehara received a little over $4 million to ink a one year deal with the Red Sox. Born on the same day as my brother (04-03-1975), Koji is coming off a season in which he was limited to 36 innings because of injury. However, he was as good as ever when on the bump with a 10.75 K/9 mark and just three walks on the season leading to a 14.33 K/BB ratio. That 14.33 mark was the third best mark since 1885 in a season of 35 innings pitched (only Dennis Eckersley bettered it at 18.33 and 18.25 in 1989-90). Uehara also owns the all-time big league record with a 7.70 K/BB ratio (minimum 200 innings pitched). A strong signing if he can stay healthy.

Also… some links to my recent Player Profiles of a handful of players who have switched teams in the past week (those who deserve a bit more than the passing glance most of the players in this article received).

Dan Haren

Mike Napoli

B.J. Upton

Shane Victorino

By Ray Flowers

Player Profile: Denard Span

The Nationals got their man, Denard Span, to play centerfield for them for the foreseeable future. The Nats picked up Span in exchange for 6’9” righty Alex Meyer who was taken 23rd overall in 2011. He had an ERA under three and more than a K per inning at a couple of stops at A-Ball last season, and he profiles as the type of pitcher who could one day be a top of the rotation force some day. For now though, it’s the Nats who get the playable big league piece in Span, and the one that has some price certainty locked in as well (he makes $4.75 million in ’13, $6.5 in ’14 and has a team option for $9 million for ’15). This move solidifies the Nationals outfield – Span will be flanked by Bryce Harper and Jayson Werth – while opening up the question of whether or not this move ends the run of Adam LaRoche in D.C. (LaRoche is a free agent whereas the club has Mike Morse under contract, and he can obviously take over at first base full-time with no issue). With that background, let’s get down to breaking down the prospects of Span.

Span has hit .284 during his big league career, though it should be noted that he hasn’t reached that mark the past three seasons (he hit .294 and .311 his first two years). Span slipped to .264 in his third season, and he matched that total again in 2011 as injuries limited him to 70 games. He rebounded last year to hit .283, to it’s pretty safe to assume he’s a .280+ hitter especially when you consider that his career line drive rate (20.4 percent) and BABIP (.320) suggest that is also a reasonable projections. Unfortunately that average comes with no power whatsoever. Span has hit a total of 23 homers in his career, has failed to post a SLG of .400 the past three years, and owns a 2.08 career GB/FB ratio. Given his skill set that is certainly playing to his talents, so while we down his fantasy value for it, that’s the way he will be a successful big league hitter.

Span knows to beat the ball into the ground and run really fast, and he does that well. Once he gets on base, he’s no afraid to use those wheels to steal a bag. A 2-time 20 steal man, he also has seasons of 18 and 17 thefts, and per 150 games he averages 23 steals. He may not be a burner, but you can expect him to push at least 20 thefts in his new home in Washington, especially if he returns to getting on base as he did early in his career. Why do I say that? The first two years that Span played his OBP was .390, an excellent number. The past three years that number has fallen to a barely better than league average .334. What if we split the difference and say that he is a .357 type of guy since that just so happens to be his career average? I’d be OK with that as the target number.

So we have a guy who produces a solid average, gets on base, steals a few bags, an isn’t shy about scoring runs. In two of the three seasons in which he has 500 at-bats he has scored at least 85 runs (71, 85 and 97), and per 150 games his average would lead to 92 runs scored. So let’s play this out. If Span hits .284 with 92 runs scored and 23 steals in 2013, could you live with five homers and 45 RBIs if he was your 5th outfielder, right? I think most people could.

Now I’ve mentioned 150 games played a couple of times, and that may be the key with Span. Only once has he appeared in 150 games, and over the last four years his average season has led to 124 games played, and that’s just not going to cut it. Span missed time last year due to a concussion, right collarbone issues, shoulder issues and hamstring soreness. Give his game, he needs to be in the lineup on a daily basis or his fantasy valued is further curtailed. With an average of just 99 games played the last two years, even if you are a Nationals fan, you should be able to stop yourself from buying too much into the hype with Span once we get closer to draft time.

Denard Span is a terrific baseball player. At the same time, he’s a minor player in mixed leagues because he doesn’t have an outstanding skill that equates to fantasy greatness. I’m not saying that he isn’t a player you can have on a championship team, if he’s your 5th outfielder you are in good shape, but realize that there just isn’t enough to hang your hat on with Span in terms of him being a beacon of greatness for a fantasy club.

By Ray Flowers

Daily Joust – Wk 7: Did We Learn Anything?

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.

GAINERS OF THE WEEK

Johnny Cueto (+96, $379K in DailyJoust salary)
Through nine starts Cueto has a 1.97 ERA, 1.13 WHIP an a 5-1 record. He’s also allowed more than two earned runs just once this season. Moreover, six times this year he’s left the game having allowed one or zero earned runs. Injuries limited him last year to 24 starts, but if we add in his nine starts this year we get 33 starts covering 215.1 innings, a full season of work for an “ace-like” arm. In those 33 starts he has gone 14-6 with a 2.22 ERA an a 1.10 WHIP so maybe talk of him being an “ace” is warranted. Still, he’s struck out an average of 5.93 batters per nine innings, more than a batter below the big league average, and his 2.41 K/BB ratio is pretty average. The grounders have led to am immense level of success and there is no end in sight.

Felipe Paulino (+60, $426K)
Through three starts for the Royals Paulino has a 1.93 ERA, 1.13 WHIP and 21 Ks in 18.2 innings. A long time power arm, Paulino has 344 Ks in 366.1 innings in his career. He’s struggled with two things in his career – health and consistency. Well he’s already been hurt this year, so let’s hope that is out of the way. If he can just throw strikes, currently he’s sporting a 2.41 walk per nine mark which is more than a batter below his career rate, then he’s bound to have a lot of success even though few have seemed to have taken note (check out his owned percentage over at Fleaflicker).

CC Sabathia (+85, $425K)
A rock, CC has 65 Ks in 64.1 innings, and in each of his nine start he has gone at least six innings. The results haven’t been spectacular, he has a 3.78 ERA, but he gives you innings, Ks, pitches for the Yankees (leading to a 5-2 record), and never hurts you in the WHIP column (1.21). Expect the ERA to come down a bit as we move forward an expect him to continue to be one of the safest elite level arms in the game.

Max Scherzer (+46, $270K)
And that is why I kept telling everyone to keep the faith in Scherzer. The last time Mad Max took the hill he held the Pirates to two runs over seven innings as he allowed only five base runners. All of that is great news but it was the 15 punchouts that made it an elite effort. Fourth in baseball with 63 punchouts, Scherzer leads baseball with an 11.65 K/9 mark. You just don’t give up on an arm like that, even when it’s struggling to produce consistent results.

Ryan Zimmerman (+24, $90K)
Over his last three games Zimmerman has pushed his average up .025 points thank to seven hits. Struggling to find his way after injury, Zimmerman is still hitting just .257 with two homers and 12 RBI through 28 games. The lack of pop is what has really dragged him down so far as his .367 SLG is literally more than a hundred points low (career .476). Frequently injured, it seems like Ryan takes a while to find his groove once he returns. Seems like he just may have found that groove over the past few days.

LOSERS OF THE WEEK

Anthony Bass (-55, $185K)
He will be counted on heavily moving forward as it appears Cory Luebke will undergo Tommy John surgery. Bass has made eight starts and only once time has he allowed more than three earned runs resulting in a 2.89 ERA and 1.15 WHIP. He’s also whiffed 51 batters in 53 innings showing a rather powerful right arm. Impressively, he’s actually been more effective on the road (2.57 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, 22 Ks in 21 IP) than at home (3.09 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, 29 Ks in 32 IP), and that means something when your home games are at Petco Park.

Hiroki Kuroda (-52, $178K)
Through eight starts he has been awful twice and solid ever other time he’s taken the hill. I’ve gotten so many questions about the guy after his last outing, but just remember this – before his last outing against the Blue Jays his ERA was 3.56 and his WHIP was in the 1.30′s. If you were expecting more from him hit season in New York you likely had set your sights too high.

Madison Bumgarner (-46, $276)
From April 10th through May 10th MadBum went 5-0 while allowing a total of six earned runs. Yeah, he was dominating. The last two times he’s taken the bump have been far from impressive – he’s allowed eight earned runs over 13.1 innings leading to two loses – but on the year the guy has a 3.10 ERA, 1.11 WHIP and has looked every bit like the guy who might be ready to elevate his game even further this season.

Josh Beckett (-37, $279K)
I don’t know how his value has dropped the past week given that he’s worked 14.2 innings while striking out 14 batters an allowing one earned run in two victories. Putting behind him the seven runs he allowed to the Indians, Beckett is back to being a strong option on the hill for the Red Sox, and fantasy squads. In his eight starts he has six quality starts an overall his 40 Ks in 49.1 innings and 1.28 WHIP are solid enough to offset a somewhat elevated 4.28 ERA.

Denard Span (-19, $61K)
Span went hitless his last two games of the week but he still has six hits in his last five games. Hitting .291 on the year with four steals, Span is the type of player who is more valuable in real life than in fantasy. He will be an average booster (career .285) and he has the speed to be a 20+ steal guy, but he has no power and with the Twins struggling to consistency put up runs he’s scored just 17 times in 37 games despite a solid .359 OBP.

DAILY CONTEST

You can sign up for the King Arthur’s $50 Free Roll on DailyJoust. No entry free is required to get a chance to play the game and earn your free chance to take home part of the $50 prize pool. All games that start at 7:05 PM EDT or later are open to add players to your daily fantasy baseball squad. So get over to DailyJoust, put together your one day lineup, and get ready to win some free $.

By Ray Flowers

Around the Horn: June23, 2011

(1) Who on the Twins isn’t hurt? The names are astounding: Joe Mauer, Justin Morneau, Denard Span, Jason Kubel, Jim Thome, Kevin Slowey, Joe Nathan… Despite that, they just keep on winning.

(2) A’s demote Daric Barton, called up Chris Carter. Will also use Jemile Weeks at second with Mark Ellis serving as a utility player.

(3) Bullpen situations – Astros (Mark Melancon), Dodgers (Jonathan Broxton), Rangers (Nefatli Feliz).

(4) Ryan Vogelsong making history for the Giants.

By Ray Flowers

My Tooth Hurts

I wanted to do a video today but I couldn’t. Did my camera break or did I suffer a rash-like outbreak on my face? The answer is no. I couldn’t do a video today because I can’t talk. I had a tooth worked on at the dentist, complete with Novocain shots, and I’m doing my best right now just to avoid drooling all over myself. OK, it isn’t that bad, but why not try and drum up some sympathy in case a lady or two is reading this, right?

Its gone underreported, but Andrew Bailey of the Athletics has converted 26-straight save chances. As if that wasn’t great enough, he’s also gone 20.2 innings without allowing a run. For those that though the second year hurler would fail either because of concerns with his knee or because they didn’t buy his work last season, seems like those questions have been answered – Bailey will be fine.

Milton Bradley is behaving badly? I’m stupefied as to how that has happened.

Brandon Morrow is one of those late round gambles that was well worth taking this season and, as expected, the results have been mixed. Morrow has a wonderfully impressive 42 strikeouts in just 33.1 innings leading to a whopping 11.34 K/9 mark – a level of titans. On the other hand, his ERA is 5.40 and his WHIP is over 1.50 so it’s not like he has even been passable in the ratio categories. Morrow has the talent to flat out dominate hitters, but he also has bouts with his control that can make him look like a right-handed version of Oliver Perez. Give the youngster time, I still think he can be special, but it’s likely to be a bumpy road.

Andy Pettitte moved to 4-0 with a 2.08 ERA and 1.21 WHIP through six outings in a spectacular start to the season for the 15 year vet. Alas, those good feelings have come to a screeching halt given the news that he was removed from the game after just 77 pitches because of some concern with his elbow. An MRI showed “mild inflammation” and the club will take is slow with the veteran. No word yet on if he will need a DL stint, but the team has reported that they will treat the issue conservatively which means he will almost certainly miss at least a start or two.

Jimmy Rollins (calf) will head out to the Phillies extended spring training complex on Monday to see if he can get his body right for a projected mid May return. Keep an eye on how he is moving as a lot of his value is obviously predicated on his legs.

Denard Span stunk it up in April, at least from a batting average perspective as he hit .211. Well, seems like the calendar flipping to May has changed everything for the leadoff hitters as he has gone nuts hitting .500 in May through 22 at-bats. Make no mistake Span is a heck of a hitter and one that it might behoove you to still try to purchase at a discounted rate if his owner isn’t paying attention.

Drew Stubbs isn’t going in the right direction. He had another 0-for on Wednesday to drop his average down to .174 on the season. Stubbs also struck out three times giving him 30 punchouts in 92 at-bats (32.6 percent K-rate). What’s wrong with him? Can I be truthful with you all? He isn’t as good as you thought he was if you looked only at his 42 game cup of coffee last year. Stubbs isn’t a 30/30 option, heck he probably isn’t even a 15/30 option, and this season he is proving that. Still, in 267 career at-bats, roughly half a season, he has 10 homers, 43 runs scored and 17 steals, so don’t panic simply on the basis of his slow start this season. He isn’t this bad, and he wasn’t that good, but if the middle ground seems him double those stated totals, at least in the runs scored and steals categories, he will have had a strong season for the Reds.D

By Ray Flowers

Around the Horn: April14, 2010

(1) Is Jonathan Sanchez more valuable than Clayton Kershaw?

(2) Closer mayhem – what about SOLDS?

(3) Denard Span struggling, still walking.

(4) B.J. Upton showing life.

(5) Jason Kendall and Ryan Sweeney have hitting streaks.

(6) Jorge Cantu making history.

(7) Jonny Gomes continues to pound the ball.

(8) Jimmy Rollins placed on DL.

For more about the numbers of the game make sure you give the following two articles a read:

By The Numbers – Hitters

By The Numbers – Pitchers

By Ray Flowers

Down the Stretch

Heading into the weekend of the regular season I thought I would take a quick look around the league and throw out there some interesting tidbits of knowledge, factoids if you will, that would be interesting to read. At least that is the plan.

Jeremy Bonderman was suspended for three games for intentionally throwing at the Twin’s Delmon Young. This is hardly a surprise given the current landscape of the game. However, what was surprising is that the Twins’Jose Mijares, the man who escalated the confrontation between the teams by throwing behind Adam Everett, was only fined. “I don’t know how the person who starts it doesn’t get some sort of penalty too,” Tigers’ GM Dave Dombrowski said. “I’ve expressed that to people in the commissioner’s office.” (1) This is totally ridiculous. If Bonderman is suspended, so must be Mijares. (2) Can you imagine how many times that Bob Gibson would have been sidelined by suspension if he had pitched today? Face it. The game is filled to the brim with wussy’s of all kinds. Yeah, that’s right, I said it. Sometimes guys get hit, that’s the game, and if some moron like Mijares does something inflammatory than the “baseball code” dictates a retaliation. Bonderman did that, and he did it properly by throwing his pitch off of Young’s knee and not at his noggin’. Hell, the Twins even understood what was going on. “Trust me, Delmon wasn’t at all upset with the Tigers,” Denard Span said Thursday. “He knew what was going to happen, and he was angry at our teammate.” So, what good does this suspension do? Exactly – it does nothing. Once again baseball screwed something up. What a shock.

Eric Byrnes and Chris Young both had four hits on Friday. Byrnes went deep twice and had five RBI while Young had four runs scored. Too bad it took six months for the D’backs to get a game like this from both of these guys. Too little too late guys, but still a nice outing for those that took a chance on having either one active. At least Young is hitting .287 with six homers over his last 26 games.

You know the Twins new ballpark, scheduled to be ready to go for the start of next season, is an outdoor stadium right? Yes, they are going with an outdoor stadium in Minnesota. I’m no weather man, but that cannot be a good thing can it? It certainly isn’t if you ask Mike Cameron. “Why in the world would they build an outdoor stadium? That will be the worst new park in the league. They’re going to get no players there.” Too bad the Twins didn’t consult Mr. Cameron because I can’t think there are many players who are going to disagree with that sentiment.

Adam Dunn says that he uses a 34.5 inch, 34 ounce bat most of the year, but inexplicably, when others are moving to lighter bats as their bodies grow weary, he goes to a heavier 35 ounce bat late in the year. “Don’t ask me why…It just feels better going up.” Dunn needs to hit two homers this weekend for 40, a total he has reached exactly in each of the past four seasons. Hopefully that bigger stick ‘o lumber will help.

Anyone out there realize that David Ortiz is, rather remarkably, just two homers and three RBIs away from a 30-100 season? If he is able to reach both marks this weekend it will mark the sixth time in six seasons with the Red Sox that he will be part of that club. For a guy who had one homer run and 18 RBI in his first 46 games, that’s more than a quarter of the season folks, that’s a pretty impressive effort

I was watching Jake Peavy’s start against the Tigers on Friday and I had a thought – how does anyone hit him, ever? When you can rush it up there 92-93 with that much movement on your fastball, I just don’t see how anyone squares it up. Add in 2-3 mph that he has when healthy, and count me as one of those people who is shocked when anyone hits a line drive off him.

By Ray Flowers