Fantasy Baseball Notes 4/28/2009

- On Saturday against the Yankees, Red Sox 3B Mike Lowell went 2-5 with a homerun and 6 RBI.  Going into last night's game against the Indians, Lowell had a .324 BA, 4 HR and 22 RBI good for first in the AL.  Now who was it that said Lowell would make a great replacement for A-Rod during the first month?  I can't remember. 

(Photo by Getty Images)

- The Braves all star catcher, Brian one-man McCann will be out for the next couple weeks with a left eye infection that has led to blurriness.  A lot of people passed on Joe Mauer and selected McCann because Mauer's "injury prone".  McCann will be out for the next couple weeks while Mauer will be returning this week.  Never draft or not draft a player based on history of injuries. 

- Well I should have known that calling him "reliable and consistent" would land him on the DL.  D-Backs ace Brandon Webb went from getting off to a rocky start to driving off a cliff in a fiery crash start.  First he was on the DL for right shoulder bursitis and now they're saying its a strained teres major muscle behind his right shoulder.  The injury will have him resting his arm for the next three weeks and then he'll begin throwing and building strength in his arm for the next three weeks after that.  Most fantasy teams rely on Webb to be their ace for their staff, so this is probably a tough pill to swallow especially if you're in a points or roto league. 

- Cincinnati outfielder, Jay Bruce, whose BA fell as low as .167 (mostly due to a hand injury) has rebounded up to .286 and his power numbers are climbing as well.  Bruce is batting .350 against right handed pitchers this season, so if you can swing it, he'd be a nice player to platoon with someone else on your team and just have him in against righties.

 - Pablo Sandoval has finally started to come around for the SF Giants.  On Sunday, he hit his first homerun of the season and knocked in 3 runs.  He's looking very good in the three spot and he's not a bad guy to stick in your catcher's spot.

- Speaking of putting non-catchers in the C spot, Brandon Inge is off to a tremendous start for the Detroit Tigers.  He has 7 homers, 17 RBI and 15 runs in his first 18 games. He's attributing his success to a new batting stance.  So far, so good, but as of right now he's still a sell high candidate in my book.

- The Jered Weaver we all know and love from 2006 is back and hopefully for his owners its not just a guest appearance.  After watching his ERA balloon in the past two seasons, he's started off strong this year with a 2.45 ERA and a 21:6 strikeout to walk ratio.  He has good value from your third pitcher spot on down.

- My number one draft pick in pretty much all of my fantasy leagues this year, Josh Hamilton, is currently battling bruised ribs and was only able to pinch hit on Sunday.  I wouldn't worry too much at this point although its frustrating to see him out of the lineup just when he looked as though he was getting his stroke back. 

Posted Apr 28 2009, 07:00 AM by Nick Fruscello
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Comments

JimBibbySweat wrote re: Fantasy Baseball Notes 4/28/2009
on Tue, Apr 28 2009 12:06 PM

I'd draft Joe Mauer, too, if I was in an eight-team mixed league like you but my mixed leagues have 11, 14 and 15 owners, respectively. In your league you still have half of the major league starting catchers available when Mauer gets hurt -- and that's if your league starts two catchers per team. You need to be in one of my leagues!

Nick Fruscello wrote re: Fantasy Baseball Notes 4/28/2009
on Tue, Apr 28 2009 1:09 PM

Hey Jim,

Joe Mauer was available in every draft and mock draft I took place in regardless of the size of the league and the only reason he wasn't chosen was due to injuries.  Now a Brian McCann who was drafted much higher than Mauer, is out and Mauer will be going back this week.  

My 8-team mixed league is just a fun league where everyone can stack their teams will stars and from past experience its pretty tough to win in a smaller league because everyone's team is so good.  For purposes of getting an idea of who might be out there on waivers and keeping my "fantasy sports" skill set sharp, I always participate in the standard 12 team leagues as well.  I got kind of lucky in my 12 team league because I drafted catcher last, ended up with A.J. Pierzynski, but someone gave up on Geovany Soto and I snatched him up.

Ron Burgundy wrote re: Fantasy Baseball Notes 4/28/2009
on Tue, Apr 28 2009 1:21 PM

Nick do you think Ibanez stays hot all season or will NL pitchers catch up to him?

Nick Fruscello wrote re: Fantasy Baseball Notes 4/28/2009
on Tue, Apr 28 2009 1:41 PM

Hey Ron,

Ibanez has been a good hitter for many years in the AL and he pretty much went unnoticed for most, if not all, of those years.  He played in the AL (a tougher league), a pitchers park and didn't have a lot of offense around him and still hit 20+ homers and 100+ RBI.  His situation is completely turned around now with everything working in his favor and I expect him to continue to play this well all season.

JimBibbySweat wrote re: Fantasy Baseball Notes 4/28/2009
on Tue, Apr 28 2009 4:02 PM

You've got to be kidding, someone gave up on Geovany Soto already? In a 12-man? I had Mauer for years and extended his contract before it ran out last year, but his back isn't an issue you want to have in a catcher. I could understand if he went down with something you can easily come back from, but catchers need their backs more than other positions. In fact, catchers in general tough to spend too much on because of their propensity for injury.

Nick Fruscello wrote re: Fantasy Baseball Notes 4/28/2009
on Tue, Apr 28 2009 4:38 PM

Yep and fortunately, I drafted last so I had first dibs in the waiver list.  Catcher is a tough spot.  I've rarely had a good catcher in my lineup because a lot of people tend to reach for them in drafts.  The best catcher's I've had over the years are Pudge and Ryan Doumit.  Everyone else had just been roster filler.  With Inge and Sandoval becoming C eligible, its not as hard to find a decent catcher this year.

Yes, catchers do use their backs a lot, but I think eventually the Twins will make Mauer their DH.  His bat is just too important to have him risking injury playing in the field.  I doubt most fantasy leagues would remove the C label from him right away.  It took them years to remove the 1B label from Ortiz and Thome.

Buc Fever wrote re: Fantasy Baseball Notes 4/28/2009
on Tue, Apr 28 2009 5:54 PM

Nick,

What were your thoughts on the Beltran for Hamels & Victorino deal that went down in the FantasyFactor league? It's a shame that Ethier was the guy he dropped, or else I would have asked for him in return as well. I was hoping to pick him up in FA, but wasn't willing to waste a waiver claim on a still-unproven-in-my-eyes guy.