The Player's Edge welcomes your comments and will try
to answer questions in the context of the narrative.
Roster Shuffle:
Mark Prior had another setback when an MRI
revealed a tear in his throwing shoulder. He'll
be shut down for a couple of weeks and then
will be reevaluated. It's unlikely that Prior will
have any fantasy relevancy this season.
Bartolo Colon will make at least one more start in
Pawtucket before joining the Red Sox. It seems that
his 64 pitch outing on Thursday was not enough to
sufficiently stretch out the Senor. That would have
him returning on or about Sunday the 25th.
Kyle Lohse will take the ball on Sunday as his sore
shoulder is feeling much better.
Jason Isringhausen is by his own admission "out of
answers". He was placed on the DL with a phantom
finger injury. Frankly, the Cards needed to shut him
down. Let the Franklin/Springer fest begin.
Joe Borowski began a series of rehab starts with a 2
inning simulated game. He should back with the big
club by the 24th. Meanwhile Wedge has announced
that he has 4 interchangeable closers in Kobayashi,
Betancourt, Perez and Jensen. Use Kobayashi until
"Mr. Blow Up" returns.
Matt Holliday missed a start last night with lower
back pain. He's listed as day to day.
Chipper Jones returned from a one day hiatus. Jones
seems to be very smart this year taking a day off
here and there to nurse minor ailments rather than
pushing the envelope. If he can avoid his customary
trips to the DL he'll be right among the top 3B's in
fantasy baseball at season's end.
The Red Sox get Crisp and Drew back to the chagrin
of Ellsbury owners. Jacoby started in center last night
but this OF logjam is bound to cost him AB's.
Eric Chavez went 0/4 as the DH in his 1st rehab start for
Triple A Sacramento. He'll be used at 3B sometime in the
near future and is unlikely to return before early June.
Ty Wigginton returned to the Astros lineup last night going
1/4. Ty's had a difficult time gaining any momentum due to
an assortment of nagging injuries.
Josh Willingham owners who are unhappy that the Hammer's
return has been delayed for a few more weeks might want
to consider Milton Bradley. "Monopoly" returned last night
and when he's right can hit for average and power. The issue
with this guy are the self implosions. Hopefully he'll be able
to avoid a meltdown while he's on your roster.
Jim Thome will miss both weekend games as Ozzie Guillen
has elected to go exclusively with Konerko at 1B.
Eric Wedge reversed himself and will not be playing Hafner
at 1st during the Reds series. Pronk did clobber a pinch homer
off Cueto last night.
Michael Bourne has lost his identity as a lead off hitter and has
been dropped to 8th in the order. His fantasy value plummets
as dramatically as his place in the batting order.
Leyland must have had a senior moment 2 days ago when he
proclaimed that Sheffield's days playing the OF were over. That
mandate lasted 1 day or at least until one of his coaches reminded
Jimbo that they were playing in a National League park over the
weekend with no DH. Sheff was in leftfield last night.
Streamers: (tomorrow's probable starters available as free agents)
Use these players to gain advantage in wins and strikeouts.
Mark Hendrickson- he of long name and even longer body is back
at home awaiting the Royals Family. He has rolled out the red carpet
precisely 60 feet, 6 inches. 4-2, 2.85/1.06 over 47 innings.
Kyle Kendrick- has no history vs. the punchless Blue Jays. Kyle had
a smart start last week for a win while finishing strong. He's solid at
home with a 1-1, 3.79/1.21 and 13 k's in 19 frames this year.
Spotties: (tomorrow's position players available as free agents)
Use these players to fill in for injured players and on off days.
Richie Sexson- big Sexy's return from banishment has been made
all the more rewarding by a visit from Shawn Estes. Richie lowers
the boom on poor Shawn. 8/22, 5 extras, 3 jacks and 9 rbi.
Jose Cantu- hasn't seen a heck of a lot of Greinke but when he does
it's all good. 3/9 with a blast.
Start/Sit: (today)
Guide to using bench players when matchups are favorable.
Todd Helton (start)- inexplicably he can't seem to remember
how to make solid contact anymore. Perhaps the offerings of
Livan Hernandez will help his recall. 32/66, 14 mults, 2 shots,
16 ribbies with only 3 k's.
Jason Bay (start)- he's coming around and is a must start daily.
If for whatever reason he's still on your bench you need to get
him in your lineup, pronto. 12/34, 9 extras, 5 jacks and 16 rbi
vs. none other than Carlos Zambrano.
Guide to sit starters when matchups are unfavorable.
Normally sit these players in Roto formats only.
Richie Sexson (sit)- definitely afraid of the big bad Wolf.
2/11 with 6 k's vs. the Padres sidewinder.
Orlando Cabrera (sit)- cannot stomach baked "Zito".
2/27 against Barry during their American league days.
Studs and Duds: (a recap of yesterday's picks and pans)
Brett Tomko (stream)- W 6ip/2e/6w/4k
Hiroki Kuroda (stream)-L 6IP/3E/9W/5K
Marco Scutaro (spot)- 1/5, rbi
Adam LaRoche (spot)- (Lieber-DNP)
Johnny Cueto (start)- ND 6ip/3e/5w/7k
Mike Lowell (sit)- postponed/rain
Raul Ibanez (sit)- 2/3, 2 runs, stolen base
How To: (this section is devoted to the fundamentals of daily play)
Head To Head: Player's Edge(PE) vs. Opposition(OP):
Week 5: Saturday
Weekly Tot: R-H-RB-SB -BA/ W-SV-K ER-WH -SCORE
-------PE--29--4-12--0--.241/-5-6-66--4.29--1.33---6
-------OP--12--2-14--1--.260/-1-1-25--3.32--1.39---4
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
5/31-4-0-1-0 //8/34-4-1-6-0 (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/2S, 13.1-7-19-11w//0W/0S, 1-0-1-2 (day: W/S,IP,ER,WH,K)
Weekly Totals- Batting Avg. PE(34/141) - OP (38/146)
Weekly Totals- ERA (37/(77.2/9) - OP ERA (14/(38/9) -(er/(ip/9)
Weekly Totals- Whip (103/77.2) - OP WHIP (53/38) - (w+h/ip)
Weekly Starts(est/week to date) PE---3-----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: PE will sit Harden on the road vs. Atlanta
tonight and matchup Harang, Cain and Weaver vs.
OP Burnett, Penny and Wang to decide ERA/WHIP.
Although Saves are in hand PE will continue to start
all closers looking for era/whip contribution. No further
moves are anticipated unless OP Burnett does poorly
in his start vs. the Phillies on the road. That type of
scenario might cause PE to sit some or all of its pitching
on Sunday. Both offensive lineups are static.
Game Keys: The contest turns on to the river with
PE clinging to a 6-4 lead. PE offense has been dreadful
all week batting .241 with no stolen bases. OP was able
to wrest control of RBI by 2 with 2 days of play remaining.
OP Crawford has no steals this week but PE has been
unable to capitalize as Roberts has not been running most
likely due to that bruised foot he suffered from a foul ball
last week. Hopefully mid-week addition Carlos Gomez will
swipe a few bags before this week's showdown ends. PE
pitching accomplished very little last night as both Hill and
Kuroda were largely ineffective. Only 2 perfect innings from
closers Cordero and Wood kept WHIP in PE's column. Each
squad will have 3 starters remaining for this contest and
full compliments available on offense for both days.
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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