Big Names, Big Production

Wednesday is always an odd day. Memories of last weekend are fading, and you’re still days away from heading out on the town with your homies to cause some trouble, so you’re basically just laying in wait for something to happen. What I’m saying is that it’s a no-man’s kinda day. As a result, it’s hardly a shock that there is no real theme with the players I’m going to discuss other than the fact that they have all been performing pretty well of late.

Josh Hamilton is a beast. How crazy good has he been? Since the start of June he has hit .434 with 14 homers and 47 RBI in 49 games. Those are numbers that wind up leading you to the MVP award. Sick.

Matt Garza, who has come a long way since he was a Twins’ rookie wearing a My Little Pony backpack (yeah, that’s him in the photo above),  tossed the fifth no-hitter of the season on Monday night. Do you know what the record is for one season? In 1884, yeah it was a totally different game back then I know, there where eight no-hitters (the last time there were five no-hitters in a season was 1991). Moreover, since the Rays’ fell in no-hitters twice this season, they became only the third team in baseball history to be involved in three no-hitters in a single season. The other two teams were the White Sox and the St. Louis Browns — in 1917. As for Garza, he has offered a slight up tick in his performance compared to last season. He is 11-5 and that is great, though his ERA is up a smidge from 3.95 last year to 4.06 this season, while his WHIP is a virtual match (1.26 to 1.24). The only real negative in the fantasy game is that he has seen his K-rate dwindle substantially from 8.38 per nine last season down to 6.78 which is below his 7.19 career mark. If he were to pick up the whiffs we could be looking at a top-25 pitcher the rest of the way.

The single season triple record is 36 by Chief Wilson in 1912. No on in baseball even has nine triples this season.

Brandon Morrow – welcome to the world of fantasy relevance. On May 31st he had a 6.00 ERA and was having a devil of a time throwing strikes. Since that point he has made nine starts going just 3-2, but his ratios have improved dramatically. His WHIP has gone down to 1.29, a big step for a guy who had a 1.58 mark over his first 11 appearances, and his ERA has plummeted down to 3.21. Why the success? He’s maintained his K/9 mark mark with an impressive 9.48 mark but his walk rate has tanked – which in this case is obviously a great thing. After walking 34 batters in his first 57 innings – good for a 5.37 BB/9 mark – he has walked a mere 19 hitters in his last 56 innings leading to a 3.05 mark. Basically he has gone from being Oliver Perez to being a better than big league pitcher in terms of his control. The Blue Jays might limit his workload as the season wears on, and his final season numbers likely won’t look that great, but don’t forget about how good Morrow can be when he’s throwing strikes when you do participate in your draft in 2011.

Javier Vazquez has been a massive letdown this season with a 9-7 record, a 4.54 ERA and a 1.24 WHIP. However, should he be viewed that way? He was never going to repeat his performance from last season (15-10, 2.87 ERA, 1.03 WHIP), especially when he went to the AL. Also, his production has been a near match for his work with the Yankees back in 2004 (14-10, 4.91 ERA, 1.29 WHIP). At the same time if you were an astute wheeler and dealer, you may have come out way ahead here. Through six starts this season he was 1-4 with a 8.10 ERA in a truly dreadful start to the year. However, he has been nails since that point going 8-3 with a 3.16 ERA, 1.03 WHIP and a 6.90 K/9 mark. That’s difference making production from the righty. Don’t be afraid to look beyond a player’s season long numbers when you’re trying to figure out his value for the rest of the season.

By Ray Flowers

Around the Horn: May6, 2010

(1) The Reds will not demote Drew Stubbs. You can also read My Tooth Hurts.

(2) Who is gonna lead off for the Marlins – Cameron Maybin, Chris Coghlan or Emilio Bonifacio?

(3) Jair Jurrjens to DL – replaced by Kris Medlen.

(4) Juan Uribe or Freddy Sanchez for Giants?

(5) Is Matt Garza a top-10 SP? You can also read Impact Report – Matt Garza.

(6) Lance Berkman will waive no-trade clause.

(7) Carlos Lee finally goes deep.

(8) What are the Orioles going to do in the 9th inning?

By Ray Flowers

What Happened to David Price?

“Greatness is hard to define and even harder to attain”

– Ray Flowers

Remember back on draft day 2009 when you started to get that itch to pull the trigger on your first pitcher? You probably waited a few rounds and ended up taking someone like Dan Haren or Josh Beckett as your “ace” and then waited a while to select your second option. You probably then decided to grab a youngster with some upside, maybe a Yovani Gallardo or Josh Johnson type, and then you were left trying to decide who to grab for your third rotation spot. Did you do the safe thing and take a Matt Garza or Matt Cain, or did you go for broke and select a guy like the young lefty from Tampa that was going to be the next big thing? If you drafted that young man your 2009 season has likely been one of disappointment,

David Price dominated in a brief look in 2008 posting a 1.93 ERA and 0.93 WHIP in 14 innings with the Rays before allowing just a single run while striking out eight batters in 5.2 post-season innings on his way to a victory and a save. But the dude is just 24 years old, and as often happens on the road to greatness, reality set in.

First off, Price wasn’t even on the roster when the season started as the Rays sent him down to the minors to hone his pitches. Price posted a 3.93 ERA and a 9.17 K/9 mark at Triple-A in eight starts, but he was also plagued by walks – a 4.72 BB/9 mark clearly being a sign that he still needed to work on his craft.

So what happened when he was called up to the bigs? Predictably he struggled. Price failed to record six innings in any of his first four starts and in six of his first eight trips to the hill. He also struggled mightily with his control walking at least five batters in five of his first eight games. All told, over his first 12 outings, Price posted a 4-4 record while his ratios were far from impressive: 5.10 ERA, 1.63 WHIP and a 5.25 BB/9 mark. Things have gotten better, though that is certainly a relative term, over his last eight outings: 4-3, 4.35 ERA, 1.17 WHIP and a 2.62 K/BB mark in 49.2 innings.

The main difference, as it almost always is with hurlers, is his growing ability to locate his pitches in the strike zone. If you throw strikes, success usually follows. Maybe Price can teach that to another young hurler who was drafted early this season yet has failed to even remotely approach the heights that were predicted of him. Who is that hurler? Joba Chamberlain of course. So next time you consider taking that up and coming young hurler in the early rounds of your draft remember that sometimes slow and steady wins the race and guys like Javier Vazquez and Ted Lilly might just be better bets on draft day.

A QUOTE FOR THE AGES

Kyle Elfrink, my co-host on The Fantasy Buffet which can be heard each day at Fanball.com from 8-9 AM PST, found this quote while doing some research a while back, and I thought it would be great to share it with another audience here.

This Day in Baseball – September 7, 1961 – In the midst of his historic run at Babe Ruth’s single-season home run mark, the Yankees’ Roger Maris lays down a bunt in a 7-3 win over Washington. After the game, reporters ask Maris why he bunted. He replied, “Trying to win the game, you stupid ****sucker. Why do you think?” Is this the best quote in the history of baseball?

Possibly the best baseball quote of all-time.

By Ray Flowers