The Player's Edge welcomes your comments and will try
to answer questions in the context of the narrative.
Roster Shuffle:
Keppinger owners may want to keep an eye on Nomar
Garciaparra. Torre has him working at short and Nomar
might get enough starts for the ailing Furcal to gain SS
eligibility in your league. He would be a better option than
Guzman, Betancourt or Crosby.
Wedge wants Hafner to play 1B against the Reds in inter-
league play this weekend if he's healthy enough. Look for
Hafner to miss at least one of the 3 game set.
Hank Blalock is still not ready for primetime. His hammy
tightened up in rehab action.
Alex Rodriguez will be playing in an extended spring training
game on Saturday. The Edge believes that A-Rod will be back
by Tuesday/Wednesday.
Gary Sheffield is still experiencing shoulder fatigue which
affects his swing from day to day. Sheff seems to be nearing
the end of the road.
Nick Johnson has a torn tendon in his wrist and will be sidelined
for 4-6 weeks. Dmitri Young has been activated to reclaim his
1B position with the Nationals.
Chipper Jones sat yesterday with a slight groin strain. Jones has
basically labeled himself day to day.
Josh Willingham strained his back in rehab and his return
has been pushed back for a couple of weeks.
Perennial spot play Ty Wigginton is on the shelf again, this
time with sore ribs. Sit him until he reemerges.
There is a bit of speculation that Bartolo Colon may be recalled
by the Red Sox for a start on Tuesday after a brilliant 6 inning,
one hit, 64 pitch gem for Pawtucket in Triple A. If Senor Chubby
regains a reasonable portion of his Cy Young form he would be
solid #4 or #5 on any fantasy roster. You may need to gamble in
advance by grabbing him out of free agency now, especially if
you're thin at SP.
Pedro Martinez threw a 55 pitch/4 inning simulated game and
fielded his position. He's scheduled to throw another on Monday.
Pete should only be 2 or 3 weeks away, barring a setback, from
rejoining the Mets rotation.
Kyle Lohse will probably be skipped from his start on Sunday
due to a sore shoulder.
Jason Bergmann returned to the bigs with 7 shutout innings vs.
the Mets. He allowed only 5 whip while fanning 9. If you need
immediate help you might want to move quickly as this start
will peak some interest.
If Ryan Dempster is still a free agent in your league drop what
you're doing and add him to your rotation. He's 5-1 with a 2.35
era and 26 k's over his last 20ip while pitching for a solid offense.
Okay, what are you waiting for?
Francisco Liriano had a 3rd consecutive solid start in Triple A,
stretching out 8 innings while allowing 1 earned, 8 whip with
4 k's. His velocity is still lacking and it's prudent to think that
Liriano will stay in the minors until it returns.
Very quietly Masa Kobayashi has assumed the closing duties for
the Indians as Betancourt was unable to master the position for
the second year running. Borowski will be returning sometime
next week and his owners need to handcuff Masa for at least a
few games just in case JoBo just doesn't have it.
Jason Isringhausen blew another save yesterday and will probably
be relegated to middle relief for awhile. Ryan Franklin will get a
chance to be the primary closer but the Edge likes Russ Springer
as the permanent replacement for Issy if he just can't do the 9th
inning anymore.
Streamers: (tomorrow's probable starters available as free agents)
Use these players to gain advantage in wins and strikeouts.
Barry Zito- amazingly the Edge is recommending Broken Barry for
the 2nd week in a row. He was a solid American League starter and
the mere sight of those White Sox uniforms might just be enough
to jog Zito's memory of what he once was. 8-2, 3.22/1.17 over 81
innings vs. the Pale Hose.
Andy Pettitte- has considerable success in Ruth's house and invites
his good friends to hop on the subway for a visit. 7-3, 3.42/1.21
with 87 k's in 100 frames vs. the Mets.
Spotties: (tomorrow's position players available as free agents)
Use these players to fill in for injured players and on off days.
Gabe Kapler- has already signed on for this wiffle ball game. He
gets plenty of plastic on Wakefield's flutter balls. 6/14, 3 extras
and 4 stolen bases.
Mike Sweeney- really missed Hudson when he jumped leagues.
Glad to make his acquaintance again. 8/21 with 4 rbi when they
were both in the American League West.
Start/Sit: (today)
Guide to using bench players when matchups are favorable.
Johnny Cueto (start)- he was dropped by many owners last week
after being shelled by the Mets. He's been lights out at home
sporting a 2-1, 3.67/.96 with 25 k's in 27 innings. The Indians
arrive at the Great American Ballpark today and become
fodder for the Reds rocket launcher.
(There were no other solid bench plays for today)
Guide to sit starters when matchups are unfavorable.
Normally sit these players in Roto formats only.
Mike Lowell (sit)- he could simply be unlucky vs. Suppan
as he's 0/11 but with only 1 k.
Raul Ibanez (sit)- does not relish the thought of facing this
giant of a Padre. 3/20 with 3 k's vs. Chris Young.
Studs and Duds: (a recap of yesterday's picks and pans)
Joel Pineiro (stream)- ND 5ip/4e/7w/2k
Aaron Laffey (stream)- W 7ip/1e/6w/6k
Brian Giles (spot)- 3/4
Mark Teahen (spot)- (Bonderman did not start(DNS))
Brad Hawpe (start)- 1/3, run
Jeremy Bonderman (start)- ( DNS/pushed back until tonight vs. Ari)
Andruw Jones (start)- 1/4, solo homer
Ryan Howard (sit)- 1/3, solo homer
Alex Gordon (sit)- (Bonderman DNS)
How To: (this section is devoted to the fundamentals of daily play)
Head To Head: Player's Edge(PE) vs. Opposition(OP):
Week 5: Friday
Weekly Tot: R-H-RB-SB -BA/ W-SV-K ER-WH -SCORE
-------PE--25--4-11--0--.264/-5-4-55--4.20--1.31---7
-------OP---8--1--8--1--.268/-1-1-23--3.41--1.41---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
^Gomez-------------Wells-DL
---------------------Willingham-DL
------PE------//-----OP
3/20-4-1-1-0 //2/17-1-0-2-0 (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
^Kuroda---------- Borowski-DL
Lilly-------------- Schmidt(DL)
Harden
-----PE--------//------OP
0W/1S, 6.1-4-10-5//0W/0S, 6-3-11-1 (day: W/S,IP,ER,WH,K)
Weekly Totals- Batting Avg. PE(29/110) - OP (30/112)
Weekly Totals- ERA (30/(64.1/9) - OP ERA (14/(37/9) -(er/(ip/9)
Weekly Totals- Whip (84/64.1) - OP WHIP (52/37) - (w+h/ip)
Weekly Starts(est/week to date) PE---6-----OP----3
^ -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: Garland was mediocre but pitched well enough
for the OP to keep ERA and WHIP in play especially with
quality starts remaining from Burnett, Penny and Wang
over the weekend. PE has no choice but to play both points
because of OP's rotation and will send Kuroda and Shawn
Hill to the bump in search of low era/whip performances.
Sexson returns for OP while Gomez makes his 1st start for
PE as both squads will field a full compliment of offensive
starters for the weekend.
Game Keys: Pineiro was basically ineffective over 5 innings
for PE but left the game with a lead that Isringhausen lost
while Garland was ordinary for OP creating a wash. PE has
a 7-3 advantage as both offenses also neutralized each other
with complimentary dismal performances. Going into the
turn PE controls Runs, Wins, Saves and K's. The battle for
the remaining points should be hotly contested as OP's
offense will be at full strength and his rotation of Burnett,
Penny and Wang is formidable. PE has 2 starters this
evening and a 4 closers in search of low era/whip innings.
OP has no SP tonight but does have Bell and Gagne active.
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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