The Player's Edge welcomes your comments and will try
to answer questions in the context of the narrative.
Roster Shuffle:
Peanut "Brittle" Hardin is just about ready after going 6
innings in rehab with 9 k's and 0 earned on 3 whip. He's
slated for a Sunday return, that is, if he can manage to
climb up on the mound without straining a body part.
Francisco Liriano had a solid effort in Trip-A Rochester
fashioning a stat line of 5ip/1e/2w/4k. The numbers,
they say, belie his command which is still lacking. There's
no timetable for his return.
Big Valverde is groovin'. Seems like he put several hours
in the film room watching his performances that led to
47 saves in 2007. He spotted and corrected a flaw. He's
miffed however that there was no popcorn available for
the session.
Jason Schmidt looked good throwing 36 pitches in a
bullpen session. He should face live hitters over the
weekend and could return by mid-June. Temper
any expectations until he shows what he has in a
few rehab starts.
Barry Zito, fresh and fit from his stint to nowhere was
excitingly average in his return to the Giants rotation.
5ip/2e/7w/5k. This performance should not excite you
enough to use him in your rotation.
Rafael Soriano seems to have nothing wrong structurally
with his elbow after undergoing an MRI and bone imaging
scan. Perhaps they should have tried a brain scan. The
only reason to retain his services would be to see if Smoltz's
shoulder issues flare up in his relief stints.
A-Rod returned to baseball activities yesterday. He's
heading to Florida to rehab and at the moment is on
track to be activated on the 14th.
Howie's baaaaaaaaaaack........not. China Kendricks had
yet another setback and will not return this week.
The Travis Hafner situation is becoming pathetic. He
was benched again last night vs. sinkerballer Wang.
Pronk is 1/8 vs. the Taiwanese ace and it appears that
Wedge is starting to look at the matchups before using
the slugger. This is not what you want or need from your
4th/5th rounder. Unfortunately he has little trade or play
value so you should bury him at the end of your bench
until he shows signs of life or he becomes a complete
waste of a roster spot. Fittingly he grounded into a
double play in a pinch hitting appearance.
Speaking of pathetic, waste and early draft picks, how
about Ryan Howard. He needs a break and not a Charlie
Manual break of "sit down, pinch hit, strikeout and let's
do that again tomorrow" break but a real day or two off
or at the margin a drop in the batting order.
Carlos Pena, also, fits nicely into this group. It's a bit too
early to quit on him however.
Victor Martinez returned to action after a one game
hiatus replacing Hafner at DH.
Michael Young and Mike Jacobs left their respective
games early last night. You might consider Yuniesky
Betancourt and Andy LaRoche as positional spot plays
over the weekend should these roster spots become
inactive.
Rafael Furcal, as suggested, sat out a 2nd consecutive game
with a backache. He missed the final 12 games of the 2007
season with back issues so be prepared to have a spot play
for Friday when the Dodgers return to action even though
he plans to play.
Orlando Hudson's MRI revealed a strained hamstring.
They're going to take a few days to decide whether to DL
Hudson. Pick up a spot play at 2B immediately. Matsui,
Hill, Castillo, Wigginton, Ellis and Sanchez come to mind
as possible spotties.
Brandon Phillips left in the 7th inning with a left calf bruise.
This might be purely precautionary as the Reds had a 9-0
lead at the time. We'll know more shortly.
Kaz Matsui stole thrice last night. If you're needing steals over
the weekend he's your huckleberry.
That stampede that rumbled by was fantasy owners stomping
over each other trying to get Joey Votto from free agency. J-Vo
smacked 3 homers against the Cubs yesterday afternoon.
Streamers: (tomorrow's probable starters available as free agents)
Use these players to gain advantage in wins and strikeouts.
Ted Lilly- will dampen the spirits of the desert dwellers on their
visit to the Windy City. 0-2, 3.38/1.13 with 14 k's in 16 innings
against the D'Backs.
Ricky Nolasco- looking forward to his visit to the monuments
and statues that comprise the National's batting order. 3-1,
4.37/1.06 over 23 frames. The young righty fares better on
the road.
Spotties: (tomorrow's position players available as free agents)
Use these players to fill in for injured players and on off days.
Adam LaRoche- hopes Glavine reunites with DeLeon at the
fountain of youth. Ponce and Tommy were batterymates
during the Spanish-American contest. 6/10, 3 extras, a jack,
a couple of rbi and 0 k's.
Jim Edmonds- seems to enjoy everything Cook-ed up by
Aaron. 7/13, 3 mults, 2 clouts and 6 delightful rbi with an
accidental whiff.
Start/Sit: (today)
Guide to using bench players when matchups are favorable.
Jason Giambi (start)- even in his delicate condition, Tropicana
crushes the life out of this little Byrd. 5/16, 3 jacarandas and
4 ribeyes.
Johnny Peralta (start)- comes to New York loaded for Moose.
7/20, with a homer and 4 rbi.
Guide to sit starters when matchups are unfavorable.
Normally sit these players in Roto formats only.
Alex Rios (sit)- Jackson stonewalls Alex the Great in virtually
every battle. 1/11, 5 k's vs. the Rays righthander.
Grady Sizemore (sit)- is bringing a shaman (Wedge in drag)
to the park to try to exorcise this demon. 2/15 with 6 k's
vs. Mussina.
Studs and Duds: (a recap of yesterday's picks and pans)
Jon Lieber (stream)- L 2ip/5e/7w/2k
Micah Owings (stream)- ND 7ip/3e/6w/7k
Moises Alou (spot)-DNP
Rich Aurillia (spot)- 0/3
Jerad Weaver (start)- L 3.1/ip/8e/11w/1k
Orlando Cabrera (start)- 0/3
John Maine (sit)- W 8.1ip/1e/6w/4k
Brad Penny (sit)- L 4.2ip/10e/13w/2k
How To: (this section is devoted to the fundamentals of daily play)
Head To Head: Player's Edge(PE) vs. Opposition(OP):
Week 5: Thursday
Weekly Tot: R-H-RB-SB -BA/ W-SV-K ER-WH -SCORE
-------PE--10--2-10--3--.314/-0-5-24--6.51-1.73---9
-------OP---9--1--6--0--.153/-0-1-11--9.56-2.13---0
Offense: Lineups:
-----PE-----/----- OP
^B.Molina---------^Varitek
^Teixeira---------^Pena
^Roberts-----------Kent
^Braun-------------Wright
^Escobar-----------Furcal
Griffey-----------^Ordonez
^C. Young--------^Bay
Kemp--------------Beltran
Figgins-----------^Giambi
^Cuddyer---------^Weeks
-------------------^Kapler
-------------------^Aurillia
------PE------//-----OP
13/35-3-1-7-0 //7/28-4-0-3-0 (daily totals: H/AB,R,HR,RBI)
Pitching: Rotation-Closers
-----PE----/------OP
Harang-----------Sheets
Shields----------- Miller
Weaver---------^Beckett
^Cain------------ Bonderman
S.Hill-------------Glavine
^Verlander-------Batista
Saito------------- Buehrle
^Fuentes-------^Putz
Wood-----------^Lyon
Buchholz---------
Lilly
Harden (DL)
-----PE--------//------OP
0W/2S, 9.1-13-23-8//0W/0S, 5.2-7-12-4 (day: W/S,IP,ER,WH,K)
Weekly Totals- Batting Avg. PE(27/86) - OP (11/72)
Weekly Totals- ERA (20/(27.2/9) - OP ERA (17/(16/9) -(er/(ip/9)
Weekly Totals- Whip (48/27.2) - OP WHIP (34/16) - (w+h/ip)
Weekly Starts(est/week to date) PE---6-----OP---6
Daily Activity:
PE Smith(drop)/DeJesus-Sun
PE DeJesus(drop)/Lewis-Mon
PE Lewis(drop)/Cuddyer-Tues
PE Betancourt(drop)/Verlander-Wed
Strategy: A trade was proposed offering Howard for Verlander
and Harang. PE countered with Verlander for Francisco Cordero.
That trade was accepted so Cordero will be available for PE
on Sunday. In effect, PE dropped Betancourt for Cordero plus 1
spot start from Verlander. If Figgins returns on Friday then
Cuddyer becomes expendable and would probably be used to
acquire Scott Downs who vultures a save every now and then
for the Blue Jays. Harden is slated to return on Sunday for PE
and depending on how the scoring is going may be activated
using the Cuddyer/Downs slot. There's plenty of options as long
as Figgins returns to action. It's advisable to be several days
ahead on strategy whenever possible.
Game Keys: For the 3rd time in as many weeks PE will have
to overcome a pitching disaster to earn points in ERA/WHIP.
A few weeks ago it was Liriano, last week it was Hughes/Shields
and last night it was Buchholz/Weaver. This dynamic duo crafted
a combined stat line of 7.1ip/13e/22w/7k. Only a Buehrle blow
up prevented ERA/WHIP from migrating to OP. OP has only
16ip on the books so a great performance from Beckett tonight
could easily move these categories. Verlander and Cain are being
asked to counter with Verlander matched up with Beckett in
Detroit. PE got that 2nd save from Betancourt in as many nights
and has opened a 5-1 advantage in the category. OP has 2 closers
today facing only Fuentes from PE. PE continues to rake on offense
with a solid 13/35 but continues to struggle in RUNS and HR's
leading by only 1 in each grouping. OP is due for a breakout on
offense hitting a paltry 11/72, .153 heading into Thursday. PE has
16 more hits week to date but has left Runs, HR's and RBI in play.
OP uploaded all reserves, Kapler, Weeks and Aurillia to start 8
on offense vs. PE's 7. The 9-0 lead currently enjoyed by PE is a
mirage with 3 categories on both sides of the equation up for grabs
today and perhaps only BA under control for PE for the week.
^ -designates an active player on today's roster.
Final Thoughts:
PE is in 5th place, 8.5 games out of 1st and 2 games behind the
2nd place team heading into week 6.
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.
All Done!
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