Fantasy Baseball Week 10 ~ In The Eyes of The Optiongirl

What a thrill for Met fans, Johan Santana pitched the first no-hitter for the New York Mets, in 51 years. Tom Seaver is the only other Met to have a chance; he was able to get to the ninth inning three times but was unsuccessful. Johan struck out David Freese of the Cardinals with a changeup and the celebration began. It’s a wonderful story that inspires other players who have injuries, to never give up on their dreams; it is possible to be effective after having major surgery. Santana is having a good season, with an ERA of 2.38, and still striking out hitters in a dominant fashion with two consecutive shutouts, Congratulations Johan!

After 9 weeks of the season below is the standings of my Yahoo League. It’s exciting to be only 3.5 games out with a very explosive team surviving as many as 5 players either on the Disabled list or in the minors. 

Last week many star players  high draft picks in the fantasy baseball game, went down with injuries, a new challenge to bide time until they come back in a few weeks or a month or so.  Here are some of the injured:

Matt Kemp OF LA   came back to early from the disabled list and restrained his hamstring. Now he will be approximately one month.

Troy Tulowitzki SS Rockies placed on the 15-day disabled list with a strained left groin.

Roy Halladay P PHI is out 6-8 weeks with a strained lat and seeking other opinions. A big loss to Philadelphia, they are already struggling this season.

Lance Berkman 1B Cardinals Didn’t have an ACL tear but needed knee surgery and should be out until August

Jered Weaver P Ana  back issues, left his last start and is now on the disabled list with the return date unknown

Austin Jackson CF Det  Still out with an abdomen injury but should return soon as he has resumed baseball activities. I am looking forward to having his bat back in my lineup

Ted Lilly’s P LAwas placed on DL for second time but his MRI revealed no structural damage to his left shoulder.

Jose Contreras P Phillies has a tear in his right elbow. And is  out for the season,

Roy OswaltP Tex signed for $5M guaranteed- Many are not high on Roy because of him being signed by the American league.  However he has been a great benefit to own the last few weeks of the fantasy season and also in the fantasy playoffs.

Now I’ll share with you part of D.J. Short article fromD.J. Short of Rotoworld.com Waiver Wired Welcome Back, Carlos. 

Dexter Fowler OF, Rockies

Look who has turned things around in a hurry. After hitting just .230 over his first 113 at-bats this season, Fowler has collected 10 hits (including three homers) in his last 15 at-bats to raise his batting average to .281 on the season. Thanks to his recent hot streak, he has also found himself back atop the Rockies’ lineup, which is a pretty nice place to be given his strong on-base skills. Many fantasy owners invested after Fowler’s strong second half last year and while he was a dud early on, perhaps he’s finally ready to deliver. The 26-year-old makes for a strong add in most formats right now.

A.J. Burnett SP, Pirates

Go ahead, keep dismissing Burnett because of the way he imploded in New York. You are missing out on a pretty good pitcher. The 35-year-old right-hander had another strong outing Wednesday night against the NL Central-leading Reds, allowing just one unearned run over seven innings. Setting aside his 12-run clunker against the Cardinals, he has a 1.52 ERA in his other seven starts. That’s right, a 1.52 ERA. What’s not to like here?

Carlos Quentin OF, Padres

Quentin’s long-awaited return won’t be enough to save the last-place Padres, but he can still help most fantasy owners. The 29-year-old outfielder has been red-hot since coming off the disabled list Monday, going 7-for-12 with three homers, three doubles and six RBI in three games. I don’t doubt that he’ll miss hitting in U.S. Cellular Field, but PETCO Park isn’t nearly as hard on right-handed batters as it is left-handed batters. Besides, with Quentin due to hit free agency this off season, he’s likely to be trade bait in the days ahead. He’s well worth a look if you need some pop in your lineup.

Erik Bedard SP, Pirates

Yes, here’s another Pirates’ starting pitcher for your consideration. I actually mentioned Bedard a little over six weeks ago, but he continues to get very little love from fantasy owners, despite posting a very solid 3.12 ERA and 51/22 K/BB ratio in 52 innings across his first 10 starts this year. Bedard’s recent back issue functions as a reminder that he could hit the disabled list at any time, but he should continue to be effective as long as he takes the hill.

Jarrod Saltalamacchia C, Red Sox

One of the game’s most productive catchers so far this season, Saltalamacchia is batting .274 with nine homers, 22 RBI and an .883 OPS through 39 games. The 27-year-old is tied with Mike Napoli and J.P. Arencibia for the home run lead among catchers and ranks fifth in OPS behind Carlos Ruiz, Jonathan Lucroy, A.J. Ellis and Yadier Molina. Saltalamacchia doesn’t walk a lot and strikes out too much to maintain a high batting average, but he has a strong chance at reaching 20 homers and 60 RBI for the first time in his career. That’s good enough for him to be a top-12 catcher in mixed leagues.

Felix Doubront SP/RP, Red Sox

We’re two months into the season and Doubront has very quietly been the Red Sox best starting pitcher. Not bad for someone who had to compete for a rotation spot during spring training. The 24-year-old southpaw holds a 3.86 ERA and 59/24 K/BB ratio in 56 innings over his first 10 starts and hasn’t allowed more than two runs in each of his last four outings. While his control (3.86 BB/9) could be better, his 3.53 xFIP suggests that his early success is for real. He shouldn’t be sitting on the wire in 12-14 team mixed leagues.

Rajai Davis OF, Blue Jays

The Blue Jays demoted the struggling Eric Thames to Triple-A Las Vegas earlier this week, clearing the way for Davis to get significant playing time in left field in the short-term. Most savvy fantasy owners should know why this is good news. The speedy 31-year-old has 185 stolen bases in just 607 major league games, including eight in 10 tries this year. While you are primarily buying for the speed, it’s nice to see that Davis has already cranked three homers this year after hitting just one in 338 plate appearances last year. He’s a solid buy in deeper mixed leagues, including five-outfielder formats.

Anthony Rizzo 1B, Cubs ******** Stash him on your bench now he is available in the Yahoo database.  I did, He is on my team now!********

When will Rizzo make his Cubs’ debut? It’s hard to say. Some believe it will happen during interleague play next weekend while others think the Cubs will hold off until late June due to service time implications. Either way, he’s close. While the 22-year-old recently suffered a minor wrist injury, he’s hitting .354/.415/.713 with 17 homers, 46 RBI and a 1.128 OPS through 48 games this season with Triple-A Iowa. It’s worth remembering that he fell flat on his face in his first taste of the big leagues last year, so you can bet that GM Jed Hoyer won’t call him up this time until they think he’s ready. But those in deeper formats would be smart to stash.

George Kottaras C, Brewers

One of the better backup catchers around, Kottaras will get regular playing time behind the plate now that Jonathan Lucroy is expected to miss 4-6 weeks with a fracture in his right hand. While Kottaras is hitting just .217 in 66 plate appearances this year, he also has three home runs and more walks (19) than strikeouts (12), hence his impressive .881 OPS. His combo of pop and patience makes him a worthy pickup in NL-only leagues and even some deeper mixed leagues.

Nathan Eovaldi SP, Dodgers

Another injury replacement, Eovaldi filled in for Ted Lilly on Tuesday and allowed two runs over seven innings as part of a tough-luck loss to Michael Fiers and the Brewers. Considered one of the Dodgers’ top pitching prospects, the 22-year-old right-hander throws in the mid-90s with his fastball and also features a hard slider. His control has been an issue at times in the minors (3.7 BB/9) and some wonder whether he’s best suited as a reliever in the long run, but it’s well worth taking a chance on his electric stuff. I’d think twice about using him in Colorado on Sunday, though.

Andrelton Simmons SS, Braves

Tyler Pastornicky wasn’t doing the job on offense or defense, so the Braves demoted him to Triple-A Gwinnett on Wednesday night while calling up Simmons from Double-A Mississippi. Simmons only has 200 plate appearances above High-A, so many question whether he’s ready to hit in the big leagues, but he makes contact and has enough speed to be useful. That said, his stolen base success rate (54-for-78) isn’t anything to crow about and his running opportunities will likely be limited since he’ll be batting eighth. The Braves are mainly calling him up for his glove, but the 22-year-old should be relevant as long as he’s getting regular playing time.

Stephen Pryor RP, Mariners

You know how I mentioned earlier that Tom Wilhelmsen is the one to own in the Mariners’ bullpen right now? I still think that’s true, but Pryor has all the makings of a “closer of the future.” The 22-year-old right-hander reaches the high-90s with his fastball and has a dominant 0.64 ERA and 39/12 K/BB ratio over 28 innings between Double-A Jackson and Triple-A Tacoma this year. The Mariners are expected to call him up on Thursday, so now is a pretty good time to tuck him away.

Casey Crosby SP, TigersDoug Fister is back on the DL with a strained side, so Crosby is poised to make his major league debut Friday night against the Yankees. The 23-year-old left-hander has struck out 307 batters over 304 innings in the minors, including 57 over 50 2/3 innings this year with Triple-A Toledo. While he has three promising pitches in his arsenal, including a low-to-mid 90s fastball, a curveball and a changeup, he has had trouble commanding them. That he was rushed up the organizational ladder, even with elbow woes, probably didn’t help his development. I wouldn’t trust Crosby in this first matchup, but his upside is worth stashing given that we don’t know when Fister will be back.

Endy Chavez OFOrioles Chavez is back from the disabled list and should get a decent amount of playing time now that Xavier Avery is back in the minors and Nick Markakis is in danger of missing time with to a wrist injury. The 34-year-old outfielder was hitting just .123 (8-for-65) prior to his oblique injury, but he batted .301 with five homers, 27 RBI, 10 stolen bases and a .749 OPS in just 83 games last year for the Rangers. He’s plenty relevant in AL-only leagues.

As the 2012 season continues I will be discussing events of the week (tidbits), injury news, waiver wire possibilities, and sharing with you articles that I am reading that will help you achieve your goal of reaching the playoffs, and achieving the goal of being the 2012 Fantasy Baseball champion of your league!  Post your comments questions and feel free to e-mail me any time at BonnieGortler@gmail.com.

Bonnie Gortler is a successful stock market guru who is passionate about teaching others about social media, weight loss and wealth. Bonnie is also a huge sports fan who successfully lost over 60 pounds by applying the many lessons learned through her commitment toward personal growth. Choose your very own FREE down-loadable gift from Bonnie by visiting bit.ly/bgoffers. You may also connect with Bonnie via Twitter &Facebook plus subscribe to BonnieGortler.com.

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