Brandon Webb was transferred to the 60 day DL yesterday which means he can’t be activated any earlier than May 25th. Genuine concern for Webb set in a couple of weeks ago with me for Webb, and while in early March I thought he was a great pick I am now thinking that it could be much longer than that before he is able to come back. At this point unless you are stashing him in an injury spot and it isn’t costing you anything at all I wouldn’t be sitting on Webb any longer. Let him go to free agency and hopefully if he comes back healthy he will be good and you will be fast to the trigger.
B.J. Upton is up to his usual tricks. Upton hit his fourth homer of the season on Monday and also has three steals to go with it, but is hitting a disappointing .234. This is the same song and dance we have been getting from Upton the past couple of seasons, and while the production is nice it is tough to have a guy that is absolutely crushing your batting average. Keep throwing Upton out there every day and hope that the batting average improves.
Jeff Niemann has now turned in two straight good performances to begin the season. Niemann left his first outing in the second inning when he took a comebacker to the shoulder, but lasted seven innings against the Orioles, and now kept the Red Sox in check over seven frames on Patriot Day allowing just two runs. He isn’t an elite strikeout pitcher, but the Rays have come out of the gate proclaiming they are for real and Niemann should be a better than average pitcher for your fantasy team. Look for him to win about 12-13 games with an ERA under 4.00 and 155 strikeouts.
Brandon Morrow is off to a horrible start, but at least gave us a little ray of hope with his very effective outing on Monday. Morrow didn’t allow a hit until the sixth inning and finished by allowing just one run over seven innings and striking out eight. He had given up 12 runs in his last two starts combined, but this is what he is capable of. I really like Morrow but had concerns about his durability coming into the year. Now that he has struggled out of the gate I am a little more hesitant to trust him on my roster, but one or two more starts like this and I will be securely back on the bandwagon.
Attention Alex Gonzalez owners! The alsoran Blue Jays shortstop continues to hit the ball well in April and I urge you, no I beg you to try to trade this guy now and max out on this hot start. It isn’t going to last and you need to move him now. If you can get someone like Alexei Ramirez, Yunel Escobar, Stephen Drew or Erick Aybar, heck I’d probably even take J.J. Hardy I promise you will be rewarded by that move. Gonzalez has never really had a successful offensive season, I see no reason why this will continue.
Young Mets pitcher Jonathan Niese had one of his best starts as a pro on Monday as he allowed no earned runs in 5.2 innings and whiffed seven. He allowed eight hits and walked three batters on his way to 112 pitches (only 67 strikes) so he danced into and out of trouble the entire night but was able to find his way out. Niese is someone that you can have on your team if you are in a 14-16+ team league or in an NL only league. In standard leagues you should need to see more than this to put him on your squad.
Hopefully for the Mets and his fantasy owners, this will be the game that gets Jason Bay going. Bay had two hits and drove in his third run of the year. He has less RBI than Angel Pagan (six) and Luis Castillo (four), not exactly what the Mets were hoping for when they gave him all those free agent bucks. Never fear Bay owners, he has had bad stretches like this before and the guy always seems to get his numbers when all is said and done. In fact if you can get him on the cheap, I might try to make a deal for him about now.
The Mets did indeed call up prospect Ike Davis in time for the game on Monday and he came through in his first major league action. Davis had two singles and drove in his first major league run in a five run seventh inning for New York. I still contend the same as yesterday. In seasonal leagues maintain a wait and see approach, in keeper leagues only grab him if you don’t feel like you are giving up much, and in NL-only leagues I would make the move for him right away.
The D-Train, Dontrelle Willis , was OK on Monday, but nothing that got you overly excited although considering where he has been in his career it was a good step forward. Willis gave up just two runs over six innings, walked two and struck out two. Two starts out of three have been better than representative this year for Willis and he is getting closer to fantasy relevance again in standard leagues. I would consider adding him to my team if I was in an AL-only league, but right now in a regular 12 team league he isn’t recording enough strikeouts yet for me to take on the risk of him reverting back to the form he has shown over the past few years.
Can someone please remind Casey Kotchman that he is supposed to stink? Throughout his career Kotchman has been a part-time player at best, and not a very good one at that. However, perhaps the change of scenery has done him well as the new Seattle Mariner is batting nearly .300 with three homers and 12 RBI on the young season. I am still a long way from drinking the Kool-Aid on Kotchman, but he could have some relevance in deeper leagues. At worst you should continue to monitor his production.
San Diego’s Clayton Richard isn’t a guy to get overly excited about and probably is only relevant in deeper leagues, but he is off to a pretty good start. The former White Sox farmhand allowed only one run over 6.1 innings on Monday against the Giants, and hasn’t given up more than three runs in a start yet in 2010. He has 14 strikeouts in 18 innings, so it isn’t like he is lighting up the stat sheet, but he isn’t going to go out there and get blown up too many times for you. He isn’t an exciting player for the fantasy owner, but he is a nice conservative pick for a pitch and ditch effort if you need a solid start.
The Arizona Diamondbacks have placed Conor Jackson on the 15 day DL with a hamstring injury that he suffered trying to run down a fly ball. As of now Jackson says he will be ready when his 15 day stint is over. This should make Gerardo Parra an everyday player while Jackson out and could be a sneaky good pickup over the next couple of weeks. Parra has a lot of potential and has shown it in spurts when in the majors, but perhaps this time he will hit with more consistency. Considering his PT will only last while Jackson is out, it would be a dire situation or an injury fill-in for me to want to pick up Parra unless the situation changes.
The Philadelphia Phillies will be skipping J.A. Happ’s next turn in the rotation due to a sore elbow. The MRI done on Happ revealed a very mild strain and the team is deeming this a precautionary measure to be sure that Happ will be available for the Phillies for the rest of the season. Happ has still yet to allow a run in his two starts in 2010.
We welcome your comments anytime right here or by emailing us at fightingchancefantasy@gmail.com . This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. Remember to listen to Fighting Chance Radio on Tuesday night at 9:30 PM EST and Sunday Night at 11 PM EST on The Fantasy Sports Channel or www.blogtalkradio.com/fightingchanceradio .
Read more MLB news on BleacherReport.com
- Login to post comments