OK, a couple of nights ago I watched an Angels game in which they broke the Guinness Book of World Records for most people wearing a Snuggie. Now, on Friday I am watching the A’s/Angels and the Oakland announcers are showing their producer in an A’s Snuggie. So, my question is, what is going on in California and Snuggies? It is a freakin' blanket with sleeves!!!!!!! Am I missing something?????? This is ridiculous.
Anyway, tonight’s rendition of Rounding the Bases goes into some injury news, along with some hot starts to be cautious of and some cold starts to not worry about. We also remember the untimely death of Nick Adenhart. There is much more so please enjoy the roundup for April 9th.
I’d like to start tonight on a somber note as this is the one year anniversary of the death of Angels’ pitcher Nick Adenhart . He was an immensely talented young man who was taken from this Earth far too soon by a drunk driver who had no business being on the road. It is an absolute tragedy and our thoughts are with his family on this day. It must be an incredible cross to bear for his parents, and as a parent something I never want to think about. Before you get into the fantasy part of this article, take a second to remember this young man and the tragedy of that night.
Brian Roberts seemed to pull an abdominal muscle tonight sliding into second and eventually left the game. Roberts grabbed his stomach after stealing second and although he did stay in the game, initially he was unable to finish. T
here is no official word on how much or if he will even miss time, but strained abdominal muscles are an injury that sometimes takes a couple of weeks to heal, so I wouldn’t hesitate to put Roberts on your bench on Saturday unless you hear something concrete about him being in the lineup.
David Price had a very encouraging start to his 2010 season, which likely will get an awful lot of attention. Price kept the Yankees in check, allowing just three runs over seven innings and struck out seven earning his first win of the season.
Price has been one of the most talked about young players in the majors for what seems like five years now, and if this is a sign of him realizing his amazing potential, those of you who drafted him could be in for a major shot in the arm. I’m not ready to declare that yet, but it was a nice way to begin a new season.
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Speaking of strained abdominal muscles, Cliff Lee threw a 25 pitch bullpen session but he still isn’t expected to rejoin the Mariners’ rotation until the beginning of May at the earliest. Lee said he felt good after the session and of course said he was ready to go, but the team will be very cautious with their prized offseason acquisition, so expect it to be another three weeks before you see him make his Seattle debut.
San Diego’s Chris Young will miss his next start with tightness in his left shoulder. Young got fantasy owners all excited with his great debut, but like so many times before it will be an injury that takes Young off the mound. I often preach to stay away from these pitchers who are habitually hurt and this is exactly the reason why. If you have him, he will not be pitching on Monday and it will be Kevin Correia taking the mound.
Jorge De La Rosa picked up where he left off in 2009 and then some with a sparkling performance against the lowly Padres (sorry CB) on Friday. De La Rosa was marvelous over seven innings, allowing just a single hit and striking out nine.
Now, I think De La Rosa will be a quality fourth starter on your fantasy squad, but I wouldn’t put too much stock into this outing. He should win 12-14 games and strikeout 165 guys, but don’t think that he is going to do this 30 times this year.
Rick Porcello had a nice, yet underwhelming start to his 2010 campaign but I still think it is a nice sign. Porcello continued to do what he did last year and that is win games as he allowed two runs over five innings and struck out three.
The knock on Porcello is his low strikeout total, but if he can win 14 games again and keep his ERA under 4.00 he is still a very worthy guy, especially with him being in his early 20s with plenty of room to improve.
Mike Gonzalez has come into three games here early in the season and he has already blown two of them. Even in the one game that Gonzalez did collect a save he walked two batters and gave up a hit.
I think he still has a ways to go before losing his job, but he seems to be the first reliever on the hot seat. I wouldn’t think about making a move at this point, but just remember that Jim Johnson saved some games last year and would likely get the call if these woes continue.
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Who is this guy playing shortstop for the Giants? It certainly isn’t the Edgar Renteria that I know. Renteria is absolutely tearing the cover off the ball and now has three multi-hit games in the first four. He also connected on his first home run of the season and drove in his fourth and fifth runs. Now, please believe me that this isn’t going to continue.
If you happen to own Renteria (which is unlikely), I would try to capitalize on this hot start, but more importantly, I would not drop an established, performing guy to pick him up. Heck, I wouldn’t even drop a young guy like Elvis Andrus or Alcides Escobar to pick him up, this is a mirage I promise.
Drew Stubbs is proving every day that he should absolutely be the everyday leadoff hitter for the Cincinnati Reds as he had two more hits on Friday. After tripling earlier in the game, Stubbs came up with the eighth inning with the bases loaded and hit what would turn out to be a game winning grand slam. The kid is just a scrapper who loves to play the game and gives 110 percent. He isn’t the most talented, but he will produce whenever he is in the game.
Javier Vasquez picked up where he left off the last time he pitched for the Yankees, and that was getting tattooed. The man who finished 4th in the Cy Young voting in the National League last year, looked like anything but on Friday as he gave up eight runs in 5.2 innings against the Tampa Bay Rays. I know this won’t console his fantasy owners, but at least he did rack up five strikeouts.
This is another guy that I would hold on tight too. He is a very valuable pitcher who strikes out a lot of batters and pitches for one of, if not the best, offensive teams in all of baseball. To be honest, I might try to make a deal for Vasquez right now, thinking that maybe his owner is frustrated and might let him go a little cheap.
Rafael Furcal is off to a great start, teasing his fantasy owners with what could be. Furcal already has three doubles and three stolen bases and is hitting .375. The concern is hanging over him like a dark cloud though, and that is the injury bug. If he can stay healthy, Furcal can be a top ten shortstop, but it has been a while since he produced or was healthy so I wouldn’t get too excited about this fast start.
Hideki Kuroda pitched a whale of a game for the Dodgers against the Marlins today, totally dumbfounding the Marlins with the bat. Kuroda allowed just one unearned run over eight innings and struck out seven.
Kuroda has flashed this kind of ability throughout his major league career, but has been unable to remain consistent or remain on the mound. He isn’t a bad pickup for the end of your rotation, but just don’t expect this kind of game to be a regular occurrence.
Jeff Francoeur hit two home runs for the Mets on Friday, and while he will never be the superstar we all thought he might be in his rookie season, I think he has a real chance to be fantasy relevant in 2010. Francoeur has power, but has always failed through his plate discipline, but has a hit in every game so far this year, and I think that he can at least hit .260.
If he can also get to at least 20 homers and perhaps 80 RBI, he wouldn’t be a bad candidate to be a fourth or fifth outfielder or at worst some insurance against injury on your bench.
Nelson Cruz homered for the third time in the season’s first four days and perhaps my concerns about him will turn out to be unfounded. I still wonder if Cruz can do what he did last year, but he is off to a white hot start.
Obviously he isn’t going to hit .500 with 135 home runs, so he will cool down, but at this rate it doesn’t appear that 30 home runs is out of the question. I still have my small doubts, but Cruz is making them go away a little more every day.
Francisco Liriano wasn’t the electric guy that we saw in the Dominican League or in Spring Training but he did OK. He was snake bitten by the same problem he had last year, which was walks, but he did well enough that he allowed just three runs over six innings with three strikeouts. Unfortunately, he did walk five batters, which is a major concern, but at least he didn’t have a disastrous outing like he did in 2009.
We have to temper our expectations from Spring Training a little, but I am still hopeful that Liriano will be able to recapture at least some of the magic he had a few years ago.
As hyped up by Jeff Mans, Oakland’s third year pitcher Gio Gonzalez had a great first start against the Angels as he gave up just two runs over six innings and struck out six. In truth, Mans knows exactly what Gonzalez is capable of from his time in his home town Chicago White Sox minor league system. Gonzalez led the minors in strikeouts one season, and has a ton of talent.
I still am a little concerned about him having some growing pains in 2010, but at some point in his career Gio could be a very effective major leaguer. Keep an eye on Gonzalez, another good start or two and you might want to think about getting him on your roster depending on the depth of your league.
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