Fantasy Baseball

If you read this article posted back in March, you know why it’s important to keep an eye on your league’s waiver wire as save opportunities get shuffled around major league bullpens.

For those of you who are already looking towards next year, let’s continue our way around the diamond as we look at 2011 rankings (keep in mind that by year’s end these could significantly change):

Fantasy Baseball’s Pitching Line of the Week: 

Colby Lewis (SP-TEX) 9 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 9 K, W 

Lewis pitched his first career complete game on June 19 against the Houston Astros. He picked up his third consecutive win while allowing only one earned run on two hits, striking out nine, and walking none.

There were high expectations for Carlos Gonzalez entering the 2010 season, and thus far he has lived up to them. Just look at his numbers through Tuesday if you need proof:

Stephen Strasburg continued to impress, setting a major league record for strikeouts in his first three starts. David Ortiz continues to show that he has plenty left in the tank and Matt Garza had one of the worst starts of the season. Let’s look at these stories and all the rest from yesterday’s games:

Disaster struck today when the Colorado Rockies placed Troy Tulowitzki on the DL with a broken wrist.  He is expected to miss six to eight weeks or approximately 30-40 percent of the entire fantasy baseball regular season.  

At an already top-heavy position where the drop-off is significant after the elite players, fantasy owners need to make a quick decision.  You don’t want to put yourself in a position where you have to pick up a new SS every week because of lack of production. This strategy just wastes moves and fuels frustration.

Pedro Alvarez made his much anticipated debut.  Scott Baker turned things around in a big way setting a career high in strikeouts.  Tim Lincecum got a win, but his performance still brought about many questions.  Let’s look at these stories and all the rest from yesterday’s games:

Yesterday we took a look at the Top 15 Catchers for 2011 (click here to view) for those of you who are already looking to build your team for next season.

Today, let’s take a look at the Top 15 First Basemen:

We were entertained by these kings of swing this week. They stepped up to the plate and forced the fans to stand. Here’s your standing ovation for a great week of production gentlemen.

You may think that June is too early to start ranking players for next season, but let’s face it—some of us have already fallen out of our leagues and are looking to deal for the future.

Obviously, depending on your league rules these may vary slightly, but let’s take an extremely early look at how I’d rank the top 15 catchers for 2011: