The Player's Edge welcomes your comments and will try
to answer questions in the context of the narrative.
Roster Shuffle:
Jeff Keppinger was added to the DL with a fractured
knee. There's no sense in holding a roster spot for Kepp
as he'll be gone 6-8 weeks at the minimum. Drop him and
move on.
Chone Figgins is exercising more aggressively but has yet
to run full out. He's optimistic that he'll return on Tuesday
when eligible but until he runs this is simply wishful thinking.
Perennial spot play Ty Wigginton is on the shelf again, this
time with sore ribs. Sit him until he reemerges.
Ramon Hernandez missed another start yesterday due to
tenderness in his left wrist. The O's are off today so perhaps
we'll get this backstop in play on Friday. It might be wise to
carry a bit of insurance such as Inge, Napoli or Towles.
Coco Crisp is sick and was scratched for a 2nd consecutive
game. With Drew also out with a wrist injury Ellsbury picked
the perfect time to get better from his bruised knee.
Nick Johnson was sent back home to have more tests run
on his wrist. A strained tendon is the culprit.
Leyland says that Sheff's days of patrolling the outfield are
over and he'll return as the DH. The Tigers are playing in
Arizona over the weekend so they'll be no DH. We'll have
to wait to see if Sheffield is going to do more than pinch hit.
Jay Bruce, the heir apparent to the Reds centerfield gig, is
raking at better than .600 over his last 10 games. Someone
ought to e-mail Dusty to let him know that this kid is ready
now.
Speaking of phenoms Clayton Kershaw's debut was delayed
by a poor outing on Monday. Kershaw was due to come up
on Saturday but will have to settle for another Triple A
start. He's coming folks so get your priority waivers in
order.
Clay Buchholz was placed on the DL with a torn fingernail on
his throwing hand. The kid needed a break to get his act
together so it's actually a good thing.
Jason Bergmann was brought up by the Nationals and will
start tonight against the Mets. He has talent and is worth
keeping an eye on.
Mr. Saito has been fighting the flu bug since Saturday but he
returned last night with his customary perfect close to pick
up his 7th save of the season.
C.J. Wilson will remain the Rangers main man in the 9th. He's
been a bit erratic lately so if you grabbed Guadado you might
want to wait and see if Wilson rights the ship.
Joe Borowski will pitch in minor league game on Monday. He
could return to Cleveland by Wednesday if all goes well.
John Smoltz will pitch off a mound on Saturday. He's steadily
getting stronger and should be closing for the Bravo's by
months end.
Jason Schmidt will have his second rehab start in a Class A
game. He's scheduled to throw 3 innings or about 40 pitches.
Johan Santana was pushed back a day so he could face the
Yankees. Mike Pelfrey is facing the Nationals today in his
place. Make the roster adjustment immediately.
Interleague play begins next Friday. Plan for it as DH's
like Thome, Thomas, Sheffield and Hafner could miss
some or all of the weekend's action.
Streamers: (tomorrow's probable starters available as free agents)
Use these players to gain advantage in wins and strikeouts.
Brett Tomko- shuns the celebrity scene on South Beach. Hopes
to see very little of HanleyRamirez, Uggla, Jacobs and Gonzalez.
7-2, 3.18/1.17 over 73 slippery innings.
Hiroki Kuroda- has enjoyed life on the road and this journey takes
him all the way across town to Anaheim. Hiroki has been a better
pitcher on the other guy's turf. 1-2, 2.81/1.17 with 16 k's in 26
traveling innings.
Spotties: (tomorrow's position players available as free agents)
Use these players to fill in for injured players and on off days.
Marco Scutaro- everytime they play that pool game he touches
up Moyer. 10/25, 4 extras, 3 jacarandas, 5 ribeyes with 0 k's.
Adam LaRoche- is hoping that Pinella starts Lieber over Gallager
on Friday because he thumps Jon. 8/14 with a homer.
Start/Sit: (today)
Guide to using bench players when matchups are favorable.
Jeremy Bonderman (start)- has become Zitoesque in that he
has so few favorable starts. Well ladies and gentlemen welcome
to start your Bonderman. 9-6, 3.91/1.24 with 101 k's in 117
frames vs. K.C. As bonus he's on the road where he fares a
little better.
Andruw Jones (start)- for you diehards who can't bear to cut
him loose, this is his shining moment and it comes at the expense
of a real good moundsman, Ben Sheets. 13/34 with a pair of
homers. (trade him right after this game touting his return to form)
Guide to sit starters when matchups are unfavorable.
Normally sit these players in Roto formats only.
Ryan Howard (sit)- as if he needed more problems at the
moment. 2/16 with 7 k's vs. the Braves Chuck James.
Alex Gordon (sit)- one of the primary reasons Bonderman
is a start today. 2/12 with 5's.
Studs and Duds: (a recap of yesterday's picks and pans)
Ted Lilly (stream)-W 6ip/4e/7w/11k
Jon Lester (stream)- ND 6ip/2e/7w/4k
Joey Cora (spot)- 0/4
Mark Grudzielanek (spot)-0/3
Brad Hawpe (start)- (faces Webb today)
Hideki Matsui (start)- 1/4, run
Kelly Johnson (sit)- 2/3, homer, rbi.
Daniel Cabrera (sit)- W 7ip/3e/10w/3k
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--21--3-10--0--.289/-5-3-50--4.03--1.28---7
-------OP---7--1--6--1--.295/-1-1-22--3.19--1.32---3
Offense: Lineups:
-----PE-----/----- OP
^B.Molina-------- ^Martinez
^Teixeira---------^Atkins
^Roberts---------^Pedroia
^Braun-----------^Cabrera
^Escobar--------- ^Tejada
^Griffey---------- ^Crawford
^C. Young--------- ^Rios
^Kemp------------ ^Pence
Figgins-------------^Sexson
^Cuddyer--------- Wells-DL
------------------- Willingham-DL
------PE------//-----OP
7/37-8-1-3-0 //10/34-2-0-3-1 (daily totals: H/AB,R,HR,RBI)
Pitching: Rotation-Closers
-----PE----/------OP
Harang-----------^Vasquez
Shields------------ Wang
Weaver------------Burnett
Cain---------------Penny
S.Hill-------------^Garland
^F. Cordero------^Bell
^Saito------------^Gagne
^Fuentes--------- Mussina
^Wood------------Lackey-DL
^Pineiro---------- Borowski-DL
Lilly-------------- Schmidt(DL)
Harden
-----PE--------//------OP
2W/1S, 23.1-10-26-27//1W/0S, 6.1-1-6-4 (day: W/S,IP,ER,WH,K)
Weekly Totals- Batting Avg. PE(26/90) - OP (28/95)
Weekly Totals- ERA (26/(58/9) - OP ERA (11/(31/9) -(er/(ip/9)
Weekly Totals- Whip (74/58) - OP WHIP (41/31) - (w+h/ip)
Weekly Starts(est/week to date) PE---7-----OP----5
^ -designates an active player on today's roster.
Daily Activity:
PE Buchholz(drop)/Kendrick- Mon
PE Kendrick(drop)/Wellemeyer-Tues
PE Wellemeyer(drop)/Pineiro-Wed
PE Pineiro(drop)/Kuroda-Thur
PE Cuddyer(drop)/Gomez-Thur
Strategy: The OP did not activate Lackey so there's no reason
to think he'll get Vasquez in the rotation tonight. That leaves
the OP with Garland today followed Burnett, Wang and Penny
for the rest of the week. PE will counter with Pineiro today vs.
the Pirates. There's may be no need to continue streaming after
today depending on OP Garland's performance. With Wins, Saves
and K's fairly secure the battle is for ERA and WHIP. PE added
Kuroda for tomorrow but may elect not to activate him. OP still
has low era/whip starters left in his active rotation so PE will
probably have to counter with Harang, Weaver and Harden
hoping for strong era/whip contributions. It's all a bit murky but
there should be better visibility into the pitching strategy after
today's games. PE welcomed back both Teixeira and Griffey last
night. PE, surprisingly, was awarded Carlos Gomez for Cuddyer
this morning and he will be active tomorrow. Hopefully Gomez
can swipe a few bases over the weekend as PE trails by 1 in that
category. PE has 8 possible starters on offense compared to a
potential of 7 for OP who'll get Richie Sexson back from a 5 game
suspension tomorrow.
Game Keys: PE heads to the middle of week 7 leading 7-3. PE
pitching gained valuable ground in Wins, Saves and K's last night
with 2 wins, a save and 27 k's in 23.1 innings. OP got a terrific
start and a win from Mussina and continues to hold ERA while
PE maintains a slim margin in WHIP. OP offense turned on a bit
yesterday with a solid 10/34 to wrestle BA back from PE which
had a pedestrian 7/37 with lots of 0-fers. PE has a large advantage
in Runs (14) with all other categories in play on offense. OP's Pence
has the only stolen base for the week.
Final Thoughts:
PE is in 3rd place, 7 games out of 1st and 1.5 games behind the
2nd place team heading into week 7.
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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