Fantasy baseball Weekend Wrap

Bat Of The Weekend: Brandon Phillips – 6/12, 4 R, 1 2B, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 1 SB

Phillips went 30-30 in a breakout 2007 campaign and entered 2008 as the top rated second baseman in some preseason rankings. Phillips got off to a slow start from a power perspective but is really beginning to turn it on as we head into May. The Reds’ 2B is a legitimate 30-30 threat and one of the elite players at his position.

Arm Of The Weekend: James Shields – 9 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 7 K (CG, W)

James Shields was nasty Sunday afternoon in Tampa, throwing a complete game 2 hitter and in the process giving the Rays their first series sweep of the rival Red Sox. Don’t look now but the Rays starting pitching ranks among the best in baseball and will only improve once Scott Kazmir returns in early May....wierd to read. I know.

Worst Weekend: Giovany Soto - 0/8, 8 K

Yikes.

WHO WAS HOT

BATS

Josh Hamilton - 8/13, 4 R, 2 2B, 1 HR, 6 RBI
Nate McLouth – 4/12, 4 R, 3 HR, 5 RBI - PRINCE's MINIONS

David Murphy – 6/13, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 5 RBI

Matt Kemp – 5/12, 2 R, 1 HR, 5 RBI

Alex Rios – 7/13, 4 R, 1 2B, 1 3B, 1 RBI, 1 SB - PRINCE's MINIONS

I had a nice weekend having had two of the weekends Studs starting on my team. Obviously if you can pick up any of these guys you should do so. If you're in a deep league I'm guessing you won't have a chance at picking up any of these guys. If that's the case monitor them through most of this week and if they continue to produce like this you may want to think about swinging a trade. If your league isn't that deep you might be able to pick up Kemp or Murphy but dont' count on it.

ARMS

Pat Maholm – 9 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 2 K (CG, W)

Vicente Padilla – 9 IP, 7 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 2 K (CG, W)

Jonathon Sanchez – 8 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 10 K (W)

Brian Burres – 8 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K (W)

Chien-Ming Wang – 7 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 9 K (W)

Billy Wagner – 2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K, 2 Saves

Boy I could have used any one of these guys for my pitching staff this weekend. Personally of the bunch I like Wang and Padilla the most. I think you can look for those two to keep it going most consistently of the group. So if you have to decide between them my advice is with Padilla or Wang but all are pitching well right now. Also Wagner gave up his first hit of the year this weekend. All I have to say is, "Wow".

WHO WAS NOT

BATS

Alex Gordon - 1/11, 6 K

Casey Blake – 0/9, 5 K

Jim Thome – 1/9, 6 K

Gary Matthew Jr. – 0/10, 3 K - PRINCE's MINIONS

Kevin Youklis – 0/10, 3 K

YIKES! With most of these guys I wouldn't be too concerned. I'm leaving GMJ in my starting lineup and I think most of you can afford to do the same with these struggling players.

ARMS

Barry Zito – 3 IP, 7 H, 8 ER, 3 BB, 1 K (L)

Livan Hernandez – 2.2 IP, 9 H, 7 ER, 1 BB, 2 K(L)

Matt Morris – 1.2 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K (L)

Miguel Batista – 1 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 5 BB, 2 K (L)

Ubaldo Jimenez – 2.1 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 1 K (ND)

Bob Howry – 0.1 IP, 2 H, 2 ER, 0 BB, 1 K (L)

That's ugly. These struggling pitchers I would treat differently than the struggling hitters. I think with Zito, Livan, and Morris you need to drop immediately. Livan hasn't been good in a while while Barry Zito’s latest debacle moved him to 0-6 and possibly the bullpen and Matt Morris finds himself out of a job. As far as Howry concerned he looks to be out of the mix for closer now and Marmol will probably be up next. Which works great for me because I have Marmol! If you can pick up or acquire Carlos Marmol at this point you may want to consider it. He will get you a lot of K's, a great K/9, he has an ERA of 1.65 and a WHIP of .8 so I don't see what's not to like. Plus, I see him succeeding as a closer in Chi-Town. He's got the stuff.

Fantasy Baseball Weekly Wrap & Awards

Bat Of The Week: Chipper Jones - .565, 6 R, 2 2B, 4 HR, 7 RBI, 1.773 OPS

Chipper had a monster week, making only 10 outs on the way to hitting 4 homers, driving in 7 and putting up an OPS over 1.700. Buster Olney thinks that Chipper’s approach at the plate right now is the best it has ever been. I think I would have to agree. Jones’ injury history certainly has to scare fantasy owners as naturally none of this means anything he isn’t on the field. Given the gaudy numbers he has put up over the past 3 years (in remarkably quiet fashion) he is simply a risk worth taking at this point. As far as availability I'm guessing he isn't available in most leagues (depending on how deep you league is). If you have him don't trade him away right now. If he cools down substantially or gets a little banged up you could get some worth for him but as for right now definitely keep on riding this.

Arm Of The Week: John Danks – 2 GS, 2-0, 14.2 IP, 8 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 12 K

Danks pitched 2 shutouts this week and was dominant in both outings lasting 7 or more innings in each start. Danks also showed excellent control walking only 2 batters over 14.2 inning while striking out 12. If you take out Danks’ awful outing against Minnesota on April 9th, the young lefty has allowed 1 earned run in 21.2 innings spanning 3 starts. Danks will try to build on his big week 3 on Saturday against the Orioles at home and I think you can look for his success to continue. Start him!

Pickups Of The Week: Mark DeRosa - .421, 6 R, 2 2B, 1 HR, 8 RBI, 1 SB, 1.222 OPS

John Danks was also a pretty good choice here but since he already won Arm of The Week I gotta give this one to Mark DeRosa. He has filled in great for Alfonso Soriano thus far. Derosa has seen his ownership rise from 43% to 73% (in CBS leagues) after this week. Another plus is that he is a superutility man who can play a wide variety of positions so even when Soriano comes back if he's still hot they have many options to keep him on the field.

Worst Week: Tadahito Iguchi – 0/21, 4 K, 1 R, 1 SB

The 1 run and 1 steal accounted for all of Iguchi’s production this week as he did literally nothing at the plate going 0/21. I think it goes without saying that if you own him drop him and if you don't then stay away. If this persists the next stop is the bench.

TSF All-Week 3 Squad (If you had this lineup you'd be amazing)

C Ivan Rodriguez - .291, 4 R, 2 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 5 RBI, .916 OPS

1B Conor Jackson - .480, 10 R, 2 2B, 2 3B, 3 HR, 10 RBI, 1 SB, 1.599 OPS

2B Chase Utley – .391, 6 R, 1 2B, 5 HR, 8 RBI, 1.548 OPS

SS Jose Reyes - .428, 7 R, 2 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR, 3 RBI, 2 SB, 1.305 OPS

3B Chipper Jones - .565, 6 R, 2 2B, 4 HR, 7 RBI, 1.773 OPS

OF Manny Ramirez - .480, 7 R, 1 2B, 4 HR, 8 RBI, 1.475 OPS

OF Alex Rios - .392, 4 R, 1 2B, 2 HR, 7 RBI, 1 SB, 1.075 OPS

OF Aaron Rowand - .444, 2 R, 3 2B, 1 HR, 6 RBI 1.278 OPS

U David Wright - .521, 5 R, 6 2B, 1 3B, 1 HR, 9 RBI, 1 SB, 1.633 OPS

U Miguel Cabrera - .428, 7 R, 4 2B, 2 HR, 11 RBI, 1 SB, 1.204 OPS

SP John Danks – 2 GS, 2-0, 14.2 IP, 8 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 12 K

SP Scott Olsen – 2 GS, 2-0, 14 IP, 8 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K

SP Andy Pettitte – 2 GS, 2-0, 14 IP, 13 H, 3 ER, 3 BB, 10 K

SP Ervin Santana - 2 GS, 2-0, 15 IP, 10 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 14K

SP Randy Wolf – 2 GS, 2-0, 13.3 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 5 BB, 16 K

MR Scot Shields – 3 Holds, 1 Save, 3.2 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K

CL Billy Wagner – 3 Saves, 4 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K

Don't you dare drop any of these guys right now! I'll be back in a week to give out weekly awards and my All-Week 4 squad.

Fantasy Weekend Wrap - Week 2

OK, so I'm really busy with school and house hunting right now. But what else am I finding atleast a little bit of free time for? Fantasy Baseball. Here's some studs and duds as well as some insight behind my own personal management.

Weekend Studs

Bats
Casey Kotchman – 8/12, 1 R, 5 2B, 1 HR, 4 RBI

BJ Upton – 6/11, 3 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 5 RBI

Ryan Ludwick – 5/11, 3 R, 3 HR, 5 RBI

Carlos Pena - 3/9, 3 R, 3 HR, 7 RBI, 4 BB

Jeff Francoeur – 4/11, 3 R, 2 HR, 8 RBI

If any of these players are available in your leages (I would imagine not many would be but theres a chance) you should not hesitate to pick any of them up. They're all really hot right now and would be great additions to any team. I would say in a lot of leagues you would have the best chance of picking up Kotchman off of waivers or FA. I'm a little skeptical of his hitting ability however. I would say I see him batting around .250+ with no more than 25 HRs and 80 RBI this year but he's smokin' hot right now and I would take him if he's there. Also Ludwick should be available in most leagues if you need a quick pick-me-up.

Pitchers

Chien-Ming Wang – 9 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 3 K (CG, W)

Roy Halladay – 9 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 6 K (CG, W)

Tim Hudson – 8 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K (W)

Derek Lowe – 8 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K (W)

Javier Vasquez – 7 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 9 K (W)

Eric Gagne – 2 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K. 2 Saves

All these guys pitched great this weekend. However, I wouldn't really expect them to be available in many leagues so we'll just leave it at that. As far as Gagne is concerned I am a huge Brewers fan and a giant Gagne skeptic. I still don't trust him but this weekend was definitely a good sign and I'd take a chance on Gagne right now if you can swing a favorable trade somehow.

Weekend Duds

Bats

Adam Jones - 0/8, 5 K

Jose Guillen – 0/12, 4 K

Troy Tulowitzki – 0/8, 3 K

Andruw Jones – 0/9, 4 K

David Murphy – 1/12, 3 K

While a cold spell like this hurts your team and is a cause for concern I wouldn't worry too much with a lot of these gusys. If it continues you may look to trade or to drop one of them but wait them out in this case. We'll see how they're doing after next weekend.

Arms

Kenny Rogers – 4 IP, 7 H, 7 ER, 4 BB, 1 K (L)

Joel Pineiro – 3.2 IP, 10 H, 6 ER, 0 BB, 0 K (L)

Chris Young – 3 IP, 7 H, 6 ER, 4 BB, 2 K (L)

Roy Oswalt – 4 IP, 9 H, 8 ER, 0 BB, 6 K (L)

Phil Hughes – 2 IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 3 K (L)

Mike Timlin – 2 G, 0-1, 0.1 IP, 5 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 0 K

All of these guys were not good at all. With some of the guys, Rogers, Timlin, and maybe Piniero I would consider dropping if this trend continues for about another week or so. However, with the others I would give them almost as much time as they need. I mean, we all know waht Oswalt and Young can do. I'm shaky on Hughes. He's looked awful but we know his upside it huge and he has a great hitting lineup to score runs for him.

As far as my team (Prince's Minions) is concerned right now I'm doing pretty well. I'm currently sitting in second in my league (The cacfruit league). If there's any advice I can offer it is this.

Don't worry about Prince Fielder. He's historically started each season of his incredibly short career slowly (minors included) and hit for power very streakily last season. If you want my opinion I think we are all pending an explosion of power from Mr. Fielder in the near future.

Also I drafted Evan Longoria and held onto him for the first 2 weeks although he was in the minors. Now that he's up he's everything that I was expecting and if there's any chance at all you can pick him up or get him from someone for a reasonable cost I would do so (especially if you're in a keeper league). This kid is going to be a total stud.

Now, I don't want to give away too much of my managerial insight as I continue my quest for a 1st place finish in the Cacfruit League. However, I will be back to offer more next week.

That's about it for this week. I've got a big accounting exam to study for but I'll surely be back with even more for you fantasy readers next week.