Rotoprofessor

Last week we checked out the National League closers (click here to view), so this week we turn to the American League (all stats given are through Wednesday):

Baltimore Orioles - George Sherrill - He had been tremendous, of course until his last outing when the Red Sox got to him for 2 earned runs in 0.2 innings.  He had allowed just one earned run over his previous 21 innings, so this one game clearly shouldn’t worry you much.  His job appears 100% safe, unless the Orioles do ship him out at the deadline (as has been rumored).  There’s no clear replacement if that was to happen, so we’d just have to wait and see.

Boston Red Sox - Jonathan Papelbon - He’s one of the best closer’s in the game, and we all know it.  There’s not much analysis needed here.  His 1.80 ERA and 20 saves say it all.

Chicago White Sox - Bobby Jenks - Every time we do an AL Closer’s Report, I feel like the same thing is said about Jenks, his job is among the safest in baseball.  It’s not that the White Sox don’t have other options, with both Scott Linebrink and Octavio Dotel setting up for him, it’s just that he continues to excel.  He has 18 saves to go with a 3.21 ERA and 1.07 WHIP.  The only way he’s not closing games would be an injury, that’s about it. Read the rest of this entry »

Justin Verlander struggled, now sporting a 5.48 ERA over his past four starts.  Clayton Kershaw has been tremendous, but continues to struggle going deep into games.  Can anyone explain what’s going on with Cole Hamels?  Let’s look at these stories and all the rest from yesterday’s games.

Toronto 5, Tampa Bay 0

• James Shields was pitching well, but maybe the Rays tried to push him a bit too far, allowing a pair of home runs in the eighth inning to put the game out of reach.  He finished going 7.1 innings allowing 5 runs (4 earned) on 7 hits and 1 walk, striking out 8.  The strikeouts and the WHIP were solid, he just got beat by the long ball.  He remains a must start option in all formats.
• How long will Scott Rolen’s hitting streak go?  He’s at 19-games after going 2-4 with 1 HR, 1 RBI and 1 R.  Of his six home runs for the season, three have come during the streak.  Right now, he needs to be used in all formats.
• Ricky Romero tossed eight shutout innings, giving up 4 hits and 4 walks, striking out 7.  Over his last six starts he’s gone 4-1 and allowed 9 earned runs over 42.1 innings (1.92 ERA).  He hasn’t allowed an earned run in his last two starts (15 innings).  He’s pitching great, but there is reason to be skeptical.  His next start comes in the new Yankee Stadium.  Entering the game he had done a great job of keeping the ball on the ground (28.8% fly ball rate), so that may help in that stadium.  Still, depending on your other options, I wouldn’t call him a must start there.  If he comes out of that, things are going to change in a hurry. Read the rest of this entry »

by Ryan Lester of Lester’s Legends

Some reasonably available players to assist you in the Runs and/or RBI categories.

Runs
Josh Willingham, OF, Washington Nationals- Willingham led the league with 9 Runs last week while hitting .478 (11 for 23) with 3 RBIs and a SB.  On the year he’s hitting .282 with 30 Runs, 9 HRs, and 16 RBIs.  He’s owned in 9% of Yahoo, 2.1% of ESPN, and 16% of CBS leagues.

Maicer Izturis, 2B/3B/SS, Los Angeles Angels - Maicer scored 8 Runs last week while hitting .381 (8 for 21) with a HR and 5 RBIs.  On the year he’s hitting  .291 with 35 Runs, 2 HRs, 24 RBIs, and 6 SBs.  He’s owned in 18% of Yahoo, 1.8% of ESPN, and 7% of CBS leagues.

Nate Schierholtz, OF, San Francisco Giants - Nate scored 7 Runs last week while hitting .444 (11 for 25) with 2 HRs and 3 RBIs. On the year he’s hitting .311 with 15 Runs, 3 HRs, 12 RBIs, and 2 SBs.  He’s owned in 12% of Yahoo, 3.3% of ESPN, and 9% of CBS leagues. Read the rest of this entry »

Who’s hotter than Hanley Ramirez and his nine game RBI streak?  Joba Chamberlain continued to struggle a bit, now sporting a 1.47 WHIP.  Albert Pujols continued to show why he is the best hitter in basebll.  Let’s look at these stories and all the rest from yesterday’s games.

Chicago (AL) 11, Cleveland 4 (7 innings)

• Gordon Beckham went 3-4 with 1 HR, 2 RBI and 2 R.  He’s now on a 5-game hitting streak, going 10-17 with 1 HR, 6 RBI and 4 R.  We are finally seeing the potential we’ve heard about and while he’s hot, he’s worth using, especially in deeper formats.
• Cliff Lee got bombed for 7 runs on 11 hits and 1 walk, striking out 3, over 3 innings.  He had been pitching with the same form he showed last season, so do not panic off of this start.  He was bound to have one sooner or later.  His next start comes against Oakland, which should help him get things straightened out. Read the rest of this entry »

by Jimmy Hascup

The Phillies are a team that could potentially have ten more wins if their starting pitching was more reliable.  The reeling Mets would not even smell first place at this point in the season if the Phillies didn’t have four out of five starters sporting an ERA above 4.44.  Their best starter right now is J.A. Happ with a 3.00 ERA and he’s started just seven games this year.  While they thought they’d caught lightning in a bottle with Antonio Bastardo (first two starts 11 IP, 3ER, 9 Ks), he’s come back to reality and now fits in with the rest of the Phillies starters as his ERA inflated to 6.75.  Additionally, Bastardo left injured in the fourth inning during his last start and is now undergoing tests on his left shoulder and has found his way onto the 15-day DL.

With Bastardo going down with injury, I thought it was a good idea to look into a Phillies top pitching prospect and expected starter this Thursday against the Atlanta Braves, Carlos Carrasco.  Carraso has thrown 86 innings this season, giving up 93 hits while striking out 84.  He has an ERA of 4.92 and a WHIP of 1.37.  While these numbers aren’t overly impressive, his ERA is solid considering it was 5.94 in May.  This month has been a success with an ERA of 4.06 while winning four of his five starts.

Carlos Carrasco, 22, was the Phillies’ number two prospect, according to Baseball America heading into 2009.  From the time he was signed from Venezuela in 2003, Carrasco has put up decent numbers considering he’s almost always been on the younger side of the competition.  His minor league totals consist of 667.2 IP, 619 H, 594 Ks, an ERA of 4.06 and a WHIP of 1.32.  His best season in the minor leagues was in 2006, as a 19-year old in Single-A.  He threw 159.1 innings, giving up 103 hits and striking out 159, with a 2.84 ERA and 1.02 WHIP. Read the rest of this entry »

by Ryan Lester of Lester’s Legends

Just because you’ve slipped behind in the Stolen Base category doesn’t mean you can’t catch up.  Here are some reasonably available SB threats.

Emilio Bonifacio, 2B/3B, Florida Marlins -  Emilio picked up 4 SBs last week while hitting .346 (9 for 26) with 8 Runs and 3 RBIs.  On the year he’s hitting . 250 with 16 SBs, 42 Runs, a HR, and 20 RBIs.  He’s owned in 26% of Yahoo!, 37.3% of ESPN, and 35% of CBS leagues.

Everth Cabrera, SS, San Diego Padres - Everth makes his debut in the Speed Demon club with 3 SBs last week. He hit .348 (8 for 23) with 5 Runs and 3 RBIs.  In 16 games he’s hitting .319 with 3 SBs, 11 Runs, and 4 RBIs.  He’s owned in 4% of Yahoo!, 0.4% of ESPN, and 14% of CBS leagues.

Erick Aybar, SS, Los Angeles Angels - Aybar had 2 SBs last week while hitting .300 (6 for 20) with 6 Runs and an RBI.  On the year he’s hitting .276 with 5 SBs, 24 Runs, 2 HRs, and 21 RBIs.  He’s owned in 4% of Yahoo!, 2.3% of ESPN, and 7% of CBS leagues.

Willie Harris, 2B/3B/OF, Washington Nationals - Willie picked up 2 SBs last week while hitting .296 (8 for 27) with 4 Runs, 2 HRs, and 4 RBIs. On the year he’s hitting .241 with 7 SBs, 22 Runs, 4 HRs, and 15 RBIs.  He’s owned in 8% of Yahoo!, 0.6% of ESPN, and 3% of CBS leagues. Read the rest of this entry »

Ian Snell was a pitcher that many were high on heading into the 2008 season, and why shouldn’t they have been?  Despite being 9-12 (which many overlooked considering he was pitching for the Pirates after all), he posted a respectable 3.76 ERA and 1.33 WHIP in 2007.  His peripherals were solid, with a K/9 of 7.66 and a BB/9 of 2.94.  He was young and everything seemed to be headed in the right direction…

And then 2008 hit.  He saw a decrease in production across the board.  His ERA inflated to 5.42.  His WHIP to a robust 1.76.  His strikeouts fell to 7.39 and his walks rose to 4.87.

An inflated BABIP of .358 lent a little bit of hope for the true believers (one of my “Wild Predictions” prior to the season was him posting a sub-4.00 ERA).  He’s a young pitcher and inconsistency is to be expected.  It’s never a straight line to greatness, there are going to be bumps along the road.  There were reasons to be optimistic.  Reasons to believe that he was going to have a solid bounce back campaign in 2009.  

Of course, that has been the furthest thing from the case.  He has been so bad in 2009 that he now finds himself in Triple-A, and luck is not the true factor in his demise: Read the rest of this entry »

Roy Halladay was solid in his return from the DL.  Jon Lester & Ricky Nolasco continued their impressive turnarounds.  A few days off did not help Nelson Cruz get things going again.  Let’s look at these stories and all the rest from yesterday’s games.

Chicago (AL) 6, Cleveland 3

• Gavin Floyd continued his tremendous stretch, tossing 7.2 shutout innings, giving up 5 hits and 2 walks, striking out 5.  He hasn’t allowed more than 1 earned run in each of his past five starts.  Over his past 8, he’s gone 4-1 with a 1.39 ERA.  On 5/17 his ERA was a robust 7.71, but now it is at 4.12.  Needless to say, he’s one of the hottest pitchers in baseball and is a must play in all formats right now.
• It has become clear that Gordon Beckham is currently the White Sox starting 3B.  He went 3-3 with 2 RBI and now has hits in his last four games.  If you own Josh Fields, slide him to your bench.
• Victor Martinez went 0-4, dropping him to 3-31 over his last eight games.  Everyone is going to go through cold streaks, so don’t get too worried quite yet.  He’s had a remarkable bounce back season and remains a must start in all formats. Read the rest of this entry »

According to Mike DiGiovanna of the Los Angeles Time (click here for the article), “Ervin Santana declared himself fit to return to the rotation” after his latest rehabilitation start, where he went 3.1 shutout innings giving up 3 hits and 0 walks, striking out 7.

The article says he was sitting between 91 and 93 on the radar gun, which may be a little bit below where he’s been in the past:

• 2005 - 93.4 mph
• 2006 - 93.1 mph
• 2007 - 92.2 mph
• 2008 - 94.4 mph

It is a tick above the 90.6 mph he was throwing earlier this season, so that’s something to be optimistic about.  Even Santana had to comment about it, saying “I thought I would throw a little harder”, before going on to say, “But my location was good and I had good command in and out.”  The command was indeed there, throwing 33 of 45 pitches for strikes.

The talk is of him potentially returning to the rotation now, with GM Tony Reagins saying, “If he comes out of this fine, I don’t think [another rehab start] will be necessary”.  Time will certainly tell if that is the case or not, but either way he should remain on your bench until he gets a start or two under his belt. Read the rest of this entry »

 Hitter of the Week:
This week, it was an easy decision.  Hanley Ramirez, possibly one of two or three best hitters in baseball, showed why he deserves such accolades.  He hit .385 (10-26) with 3 HR, 15 RBI, 5 R and 2 SB.  The average is good and the home runs tied him for second in the league (Aaron Hill was the only player last week to hit more than three), but it was the RBI that gave him his huge advantage.  No other player even reached double digits, with Alex Rodriguez finishing in second with 9 on the week.  Clearly, that type of advantage gives him the easy win.

Runner’s Up:

• Aaron Hill - Toronto Blue Jays - .346 (9-26), 4 HR, 8 RBI, 7 R, 1 SB
• Jermaine Dye - Chicago White Sox - .500 (12-24), 3 HR, 6 RBI, 4 R, 0 SB
• Adam LaRoche - Pittsburgh Pirates - .458 (11-24), 2 HR, 5 RBI, 6 R, 1 SB Read the rest of this entry »