By Dalton Del Don
Jacoby Ellsbury is on pace to steal 73 bases this season. Since he’s also capable of pitching in 10-15 homers and will score a bunch of runs hitting atop Boston’s lineup, he’s shaking up to be a fantasy monster right out of the gate. His 23:27 K:BB ratio is very impressive.
It took until June, but the Joe Mauer/Victor Martinez combo is on the board with a homer finally.
Over his last three starts, Derek Lowe has a 1.23 ERA and a 0.86 WHIP, so hopefully he’s now completely over the arm woes he was suffering from early in the year. His groundball/flyball ratio is way down this season (1.78) from last year (3.23), yet he’s somehow done a good job of preventing homers. He should be fine moving forward.
I got the Lakers in six.
Jeff Larish had 16 homers during 191 at-bats at Triple-A before getting called up by Detroit this season, making him a viable option in AL-only or deep leagues. He strikes out a ton, but he can also take a walk and should get most of the starts at DH against righties with Gary Sheffield sidelined. Since there’s no guarantee Sheffield returns to health, and the Tigers’ lineup should be potent from this point forward, Larish has some potential.
Roy Halladay has five complete games in 2008. No other pitcher in baseball has more than two.
Despite playing half his games in Petco Park and surrounded by poor teammates, Adrian Gonzalez is on pace to finish with 47 homers and 148 RBI. He still strikes out too often to hit better than .290, but his .648 slugging percentage on the road is pretty impressive. He’d be a top-15 fantasy player on any other team.
The Braves are 2-16 in one-run games this season.
Throughout his career, Mark Teixeira’s worst OPS has been in April. His second worst is May. During those two months, he’s averaged one homer every 23.6 at-bats. Over the next four months, he’s averaged one homer every 14.7 at-bats. Bottom line, he gets better as the season progresses.
Gina Carano is the first person I’ve been both attracted to and capable of beating me up in a fight. And Kimbo Slice is a fraud (unless he sees this, then he’s the real deal).
When I acquired Todd Wellemeyer for $6 in NL LABR toward the beginning of the year, I fully expected to be gaining the NL Pitcher of the Month for May. Only not. Dave Duncan and Tony La Russa are the rare managers who truly make a difference in baseball. Wellemeyer isn’t this good, of course, but he can get a strikeout and his improved command is the main reason he’s flourished. His .255 BABIP will be hard to sustain, but he did finish with a .259 mark last season, so a huge regression isn’t necessarily in store. Then again, he’s already eclipsed his career-high in innings pitched, so he’s a candidate to wear down later on.
When it comes to sports talk radio, who ya got? Colin Cowherd or Max Kellerman or Michael Kay?
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