Sunday, May 4, 2008

Fantasy Player's Edge

May 4, 2008

The Player's Edge welcomes your comments and will try
to answer questions in the context of the narrative.


Roster Shuffle:

Chone Figgins gimped off in the 8th with a strained hammy.
He's off for an MRI and a possible stint on the DL. Fred
Lewis, a poor man's Figgins is probably available and
should be added to cover your losses.

Carlos Gomez, a middle class Figgins, sat last night with a
headache. It's not believed to be serious but they may
give him an extra day with the Twinkies having an off
day tomorrow. Be aware.

Gary Sheffield's getting a day off. Adjust accordingly.

Orlando Hudson tweaked a hamstring on Friday and
sat out Saturday. It's supposed to be minor but check
the D'Back lineup at 3:15pm EST to determine whether
he's active before you start/sit him.

Another second sacker Ian Kinsler sat it out with a sore
hamstring. He's day to day and a candidate for our favorite
daily soap "Days of Our Lineup".

Brandon Inge started at C last night and will become
eligible in many public leagues with 3 more starts. If
you're needy at C consider grabbing him after his next
start as a backstop and stashing him until he's eligible.

A-Ram took a pitch on the wrist and had some swelling.
He was inactive yesterday. He's another that could get
an additional day off.

Oh my gosh, China Hendricks is going to play today at
Rancho Cucamonga. He could be back tomorrow.

Those ever so secretive Phils have caused poor J-Roll
to disappoint his Mom's. Seems like Jimmy's going to
stay in Philly while the team heads west for Mother's
Day. He "should" return to action on the 12th.

Promising lefty Rich Hill was sent packing to Triple A
Iowa by the Cubs to get his act together. If he hits
waivers in your league be sure to keep an eye on this
guy as he has talent.

Tom Gorzelanny is being skipped on Tuesday. He has a
back ache. Do you think anyone will notice?

Roger Clemens has been linked romantically with an
underaged country singer and the wife of a drunken
golfer. Well he's completed the trifecta as Roger has
been outed by the son of the Reverend Wright claiming
that he was only boy who could ever reach him because
he was the son of a preacher man. And we thought when
they called him the Rocket they were referring to his arm.
As a sidebar Obama has denounced this relationship.



Streamers: (tomorrow's probable starters available as free agents)

Use these players to gain advantage in wins and strikeouts.

Jamie Moyer- has children older than this set of D'Back's. Upstarts
in the desert face a formidable foe. 1-1, 3.74/1.11 over 22 innings.


Spotties: (tomorrow's position players available as free agents)

Use these players to fill in for injured players and on off days.

Shannon Stewart- just accepted a spot on "Dancing with the Stars"
replacing Shannon Elizabeth. Vasquez would rather see Elizabeth
than Stewart, wouldn't you? 7/20, 4 extras, 2 jacks, 3 rbi with only
2 k's.

David DeJesus- blesses Santana before batting him senseless.
4/10 and 0 k's.


Start/Sit
: (today)

Guide to using bench players when matchups are favorable.

Brad Hawpe (start)- wants to keep this must start on the downLowe.
11/25, 6 extras, 3 blasts, 9 ribeyes with only 3 whiffs.

Jeff Kent (start)- has in insatiable appetite for Aaron's Cooking.
11/19, a homer, 5 rbi and 0 k's.


Guide to sit starters when matchups are unfavorable.

Normally sit these players in Roto formats only.


Justin Morneau (sit)- consistently being dealt from the
bottom of the deck. 1/12 with 6 k's when facing Rogers.

Russell Martin (sit)- gags on just about everything this
Cook serves up. 1/12 with 2 k's.


Studs and Duds
: ( a recap of yesterday's picks and pans)

John Danks (stream)- L 4.2ip/2e/8w/5k

Aaron Laffey (stream)- DNP

Casey Blake (spot)- 0/3

Luis Gonzalez (spot)- 0/3

Ted Lilly (start)- W 7ip/3e/7w/4k

Ryan Garko (start)- 0/3

Matt Cain (sit)- ND 7ip/2e/4w/8k

Kevin Youkilis (sit)- 1/2, run, rbi


How To: ( this section is devoted to the fundamentals of daily play)

Head To Head: Player's Edge(PE) vs. Opposition(OP):

Week 5: Sunday


Weekly Tot: R-H-RB-SB -BA/ W-SV-K ER-WH -SCORE


------PE---27--2-30-11--.300/-4--3-38-4.86-1.51---8
------OP--24--4--17--1--.295/-1--4-28-5.88-1.55---2

Offense: Lineups:

-----PE-----/----- OP

^B.Molina----------^I. Rodriguez
^Teixeira----------^Ortiz
^Roberts----------^Polanco
^Braun------------^Lowell
^Escobar----------^Jeter
^Griffey-----------^Burrell
^C. Young---------^M. Ramirez
^Kemp----------- ^Hall
^Figgins---------- ^Ibanez
--------------------Keppinger
--------------------G. Anderson


------PE------//-----OP
13/32-8-0-4-2 //10/31-6-0-5-0 (daily totals: H/AB,R,HR,RBI)

Pitching: Rotation-Closers

-----PE----/------OP

Harang----------^J. Santana
Shields------------Zambrano
Weaver-----------Myers
Cain---------------Maine
S.Hill--------------R. Johnson
^Betancourt------ Pettitte
^Saito-------------Lohse
^Fuentes--------^Rodriguez
^Wood---------- ^Jenks
Buchholz---------^Sherrill
Lilly
^Smith
Harden (DL)

-----PE--------//------OP
1W/0S, 12.2-10-22-7//0W/1S, 14-10-20-11 (daily tot: W/S,IP,ER,WH,K)

Weekly Totals- Batting Avg. PE(54/180) - OP (49/166)
Weekly Totals- ERA (34/(63/9) - OP ERA (27/(41.1/9) -(er/(ip/9)
Weekly Totals- Whip (95/63) - OP WHIP (64/41.1) - (w+h/ip)
Weekly Starts(est/week to date) PE--1-----OP--1

Daily Activity:

PE Milledge(drop)/Kemp-Tues
PE Hughes(drop)/Damon-Wed
OP Pierre(drop)/Lowell(act-DL)-Wed
PE Acosta(drop)/R. Betancourt-Wed
PE Damon(drop)/Buchholz-Thur
PE Y. Betancourt(d)/Hendrickson-Thur
PE Hendrickson(d)/Lilly-Fri
PE Soriano(drop)/G. Smith-Sat
PE Smith(drop)/DeJesus-Sun


Strategy: Greg Smith gets the start today. Week 6 OP features
Wright, Ordonez and Beltran on offense with Beckett, Sheets,
Buehrle and Putz heading up the staff. OP has plenty of clout
with Pena joining the group and a bit of speed in Furcal. OP
has only Furcal at the top of the order and will need unexpected
help to score heavily in Runs and Steals. OP will have 8 starts with
Bonderman getting 2 but has only Lyon to augment Putz in Saves.
PE has 9 starts on the roster with Harang and Hill having 2 each.
OP has 6 active on offense for Monday vs. PE 5 thanks to the
addition of DeJesus. It's anticipated that Figgins will be out so
the plan is to add Fred Lewis Monday morning for DeJesus.


Game Keys: Shields giveth and he taketh away. Last week he
shutout out Boston allowing PE to take WHIP. Yesterday he
was awful allowing OP an opportunity to take ERA/WHIP with
Santana on the bump today. Frankly, with the Hughes/Shields
debacles it's amazing that PE has a chance to win these points,
heading into Sunday's finale. The game favors PE 8-2 at the
moment on the strength of the offense's 13/32 day. OP hung
tough with a solid 10/31. Runs, BA, Saves, K's, ERA and WHIP
will be decided today. PE has to start Greg Smith to try to counter
Santana. PE leads by 10 k's but with Johan going that's not an
insurmountable lead. PE needs 3-4 k's from Smith to breathe easier.
The loss of Figgins is worrisome in Runs where the lead is only 3.
The Matt Kemp addition has basically carried the week in BA.
PE has everything to lose today with little to gain.


^ -designates an active player on today's roster.


Final Thoughts:

The Player's Edge participates in many leagues but elected to
follow a team in a Public League to better approximate what might
be faced by a wide majority of players that use the Edge daily. This
team plays in a standard 5x5 scoring format and drafted 7th of 12
teams in a 21 round on-line live event in late March. We'll follow this
team throughout the entire 2008 fantasy campaign.

PE is in 4th place, 6.5 games out of 1st and 3 games behind the
3rd place team heading into week 5.



All Done!

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