Fantasy Baseball Updates
July 18th, 2011 --- Written by
ep
Javier Vazquez is like a lightning rod of a player to fantasy baseball owners.
There are certainly a few owners who will “never, ever draft him again.” Other variations on that phrase likely include expletive-deleteds galore. Nothing against Vazquez as a person, it’s just that he can put up phenomenal statistics one moment and mediocre the next. … Or for an entire season.
It’s time to get back on the wagon, fellows. Since June 11, Vazquez has lowered his ERA from 7.09 to 5.14. In his last five starts he is 3-1, with three 7-inning performances. He’s posted 26 Ks to just one walk in that stretch and has an ERA of 1.39.
Vazquez is available in 79% of Yahoo leagues and next pitches Thursday.
Let’s talk about some of the other things going on around the majors:
Continue reading ‘Fantasy Baseball: Snap out of it! ‘OK,’ says Javier Vazquez’
July 6th, 2011 --- Written by
ep
Atlanta first baseman Freddie Freeman hit his 12th home run Tuesday. He is 4-for-8 in his last two games with three homers, five RBI and four walks.
Freeman is on pace for 80 runs, 24 homers, 80 RBI and is hitting .273. That’s no Miguel Cabrera or Joey Votto performance, but considering all the utility and CI slots employed by so many leagues it’s surprising to see Freeman available in 61% of Yahoos.
This season he has outperformed Adam Dunn, Justin Mourneau, Carlos Santana, Billy Butler, Pablo Sandoval, Eric Hosmer and Carlos Pena, who are all more owned than the Braves prospect.
Other hidden gems are out there on your waiver wire. Let’s talk about a few:
Continue reading ‘Fantasy baseball update: Freddie Freeman deserves a roster spot in your league’
July 4th, 2011 --- Written by
ep
Normally, I like to highlight rookies and prospects outside of the update, but there’s no time to wait with Eric Thames.
Toronto’s starting right fielder, drafted in 2007, will be 24 in November. Thames is crushing it and far too available at 5% in Yahoo leagues. That means he’s available in a lot of dynasty and keeper leagues.
A word of warning, his minor league stats are from the Pacific Coast league (AAA) and the Eastern League (AA), two places that seem to inflate numbers. But, the dude has shown he can mash a baseball. In AA last year, Thames scored 95 runs, hit 27 homers, drove in 107 runs and hit .288.
Earlier this season, he had a .352 average, a 1.033 OPS and already had as many doubles (25) as he had in a full season the previous year. He had seven homers and 45 RBI before joining the Blue Jays from AAA.
With Toronoto, Thames has belted three homers in his last five games. In his last three games, he is 6-for-12 with two of those homers and four RBI. He also has six multi-hit games since June 1.
Anybody hitting like that should be owned in all leagues, not just dynasty and keeper formats.
There are other fantasy baseball things going on, including lots of pitcher news. Let’s get to it:
Continue reading ‘Eric Thames can add explosions to your Independence Day fantasy baseball lineup’
July 1st, 2011 --- Written by
ep
Tyler Clippard, Mike Adams and Jonny Venters are crushing on the holds side this season, but they are all most definitely owned in your holds league.
It is likely that David Robertson (13% owned in Yahoo leagues) and Scott Downs (11%) are, too.
Let’s take a look at some of the players who have been posting strong numbers and might be available to give you an extra boost. We’ll also talk about a few you may want to let go.
Continue reading ‘Fantasy baseball: This is your all-setup relievers, all-holds update’
June 29th, 2011 --- Written by
ep
These updates will be more yawn-inducing than usual if the same guys keep showing up. There is no way Brandon Beachy (owned in 55% of Yahoo fantasy baseball leagues), J.J. Hardy (66%) and Vernon Wells (49%) should be as available as they are.
Beachy has 20 strikeouts (20!) in just 12 innings pitched in his last two starts, both Ws.
Hardy belted a homer again yesterday. In the last 30 days only Jose Reyes has been a better fantasy shortstop.
Wells had another homer yesterday, giving him three in his last four games. He also has six runs and six RBI. Go with the hot streak.
There are other players doing awesome things in fantasy baseball, let’s discuss some of them.
Continue reading ‘Fantasy baseball update: Add Brandon Beachy, J.J. Hardy, Vernon Wells now’
June 27th, 2011 --- Written by
ep
There are certain players that make these updates at least once per year and Ty Wigginton is probably the mayor of that camp.
He almost always qualifies at a wealth of positions and almost always puts up a string like he’s currently enjoying. For Colorado, Wigginton has 1B, 2B, 3B and OF eligibility in Yahoo leagues and is absolutely mashing right now.
He is 13-38 (.342) with 10 runs, six homers and 11 RBI in his last 10 games. He’s raised his season average from .259 to .275. I read one fantasy update over the weekend that said Wigginton’s playing time would come into question with the return of Ian Stewart. Nuh-uh. Stewart is hitting .064 with one RBI and three runs in 47 at-bats.
Wigginton keeps on hitting he keeps on playing. He’s available in more than half of all Yahoo leagues.
Here are some other things going on around fantasy baseball:
Continue reading ‘Underowned stars, spot-starters: Ty Wigginton is nuclear, Shin-Soo Choo is (more) broken’
