By Dalton Del Don – Senior Writer
I recommend buying low on Anthony Reyes. He’s yet to win a game this year and sports a 5.03 ERA, so maybe I should be advising you to pick him up. Still, he has a solid 28/10 K/BB ratio and a tidy 1.12 WHIP, so the peripherals are there. He also turned in a dominant spring, so the other numbers should come around. With the Cardinals’ offense no longer a force, wins won’t be as plentiful as originally hoped, but there’s indication to believe Reyes should still finish the season as a top-30 starter.
Derrek Lee has reached base safely in all 29 games played this season. The lack of homers (2) is disappointing, but the .414/.496/.612 line certainly is not. He has 17 doubles, so more power will come. The remarkable plate discipline (22/17 K/BB ratio) also portends that a strong average will continue. Since he could also contribute 15 steals, Lee looks like a top-15 fantasy player.
If you played against Shane Victorino in your H2H league last week, chances are you lost. In a four-game series against the Giants, he put up these stats: .588, 7 runs, 4 RBI, 1 HR and 6 steals. That’s pretty good.
Roy Oswalt is 19-1 against the Reds in his career, and it’s not like Cincinnati is a terrible hitting team. That’s got to be one of the bigger mismatches in sports.
After Brad Penny’s horrendous second half in 2006, I pretty much wrote him off, especially when his velocity was way down during spring. After 18 strikeouts over 13 shutout innings during his last two starts, I guess it’s time to start taking him seriously again. Since he’s been largely inconsistent throughout his career, and impressed during the first half last season before fading badly, he looks like a sell-high guy to me. See what you can get with the 14-K gem fresh in everyone’s mind. Remember, before that game, he had a poor 15/17 K/BB ratio for the season.
I have a friend who happens to be in first place in our fantasy league despite a mediocre team who picked up Bengie Molina for just one start Monday. Molina pounds not one, but two homers in the fifth inning, tripling his long ball total for the season. Folks, it doesn’t get any luckier than that. Go out and buy a lottery ticket immediately, Joey.
The only thing less surprising than Roger Clemens going to New York were the poor reviews for Spider Man 3.
John Patterson returning to fantasy relevance is about as likely as this man staying sober.
As if the Nationals didn’t have enough problems, now their best player, Chad Cordero, looks completely out of synch. The Chief has already blown four saves and currently sits with a 13/10 K/BB ratio and 2.09 WHIP. His ERA was lower than that in 2005.
The Kevin Kouzmanoff for Josh Barfield trade is going down as quite the blockbuster: Kouzmanoff has a .108/.172/.193 line, while Barfield counters with a .202/.240/.253 travesty. I do expect turnarounds, but their combined 44/9 K/BB ratio will need to improve significantly for it to happen.
The Warriors blew it – stealing Game 1 would have been huge. Still, looks like we’re in store for another exciting series.
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