The Player's Edge welcomes your comments and will try
to answer questions in the context of the narrative.
Roster Shuffle:
The Edge wants to acknowledge Cliff Lee. He faced a real
nemesis in the Blue Jays and although he allowed 9 whip
over the course of 9 innings he did not yield a run. His
microscopic era of .67 speaks volumes for his performance
to date. Our hat is off to the wily southpaw.
Rafael Soriano threw a 10 minute bullpen session on Sunday.
Although the elbow wasn't perfect it was better according to
Raffy. He'll probably throw another session on Tuesday. Cox
wants to see him pitch an inning or 2 in the minors before
creating a roster spot. By the looks of things Smoltz might
actually be activated ahead of Soriano.
Speaking of Smoltz, he soft tossed again yesterday without
pain.
Eric Gagne wants to close again. He entered last night's fracas
against the Cards in the 7th and pitched set-up until the 9th.
He was mediocre over 2 innings allowing a run on 4 whip while
throwing 37 pitches. Yost will probably hand the closer role back
to Gagne at some point so hold on for what it's worth. Mota got a
one out save, his 1st of the season, striking out Rick Ankiel with
the bases loaded.
Jason Isringhausen also pitched in a non-save situation last night.
He threw a scoreless 8th against the Brewers allowing a hit and
striking out a batter.
Kei Igawa is out and Ian Kennedy is in. Kennedy gets the
start on Friday against the Mets. Ian went 7.1 scoreless
innings in his only start at Triple A Wilkes-Barre.
Richie Harden has shed the brittle label as he's going to
make a second consecutive start on Friday vs. the
Braves at home. Be advised that Harden still has 4 days
for something to go awry but still, how many pitchers do
you know that can actually make 2 starts in a row.
Pedro Martinez is expected to throw a simulated game vs
minor leaguers on Wednesday in Florida. He's still hoping
to return to the Mets rotation by mid-June.
Alex Rodriguez has been declared out for week missing
the subway series against the Mets. The quad is still a
bit of a problem.
Eric Chavez begins his rehab in Sacramento on Thursday
and feels it might be unrealistic to think that he'll be
activated when eligible on the 27th. That's good enough
for the Edge because if he doesn't believe neither will we.
Mark Teixeira left in the bottom of the 4th inning of the
early game of the Braves/Pirates twinbill with back
spasms. He did not return for the nightcap and is listed
as day to day.
Rafael Furcal was finally placed on the DL yesterday.
As advised pick up Betancourt or Vizquel until Furcal
returns to the Dodgers lineup.
Brian Roberts, by all accounts, should return this
evening. You know the drill, check his status an
hour before gametime.
Jacoby Ellsbury owners have to be annoyed by the
presence of Coco Crisp. Coco started in CF last night
while Ellsbury sat against the Twins righthander
Livan Hernandez.
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.
Ted Lilly- will have to head directly to confession after abusing
the Padres again. 3-0, 2.19/.93 with 22k's in 25 frames. The
lone caveat is that he's opposed by Peavy.
Jon Lester- is unblemished against the Orioles. 3-0, 3.00/1.50
with 8 k's in 18 innings. He's also walked 8 vs Baltimore which
explains the whip.
Spotties: (tomorrow's position players available as free agents)
Use these players to fill in for injured players and on off days.
Joey Cora- recently activated from DL. No matter as he could
hit this guy wearing a full body cast. 11/20 with 3 extras vs.
Cabrera.
Mark Grudzielanek- has one hit for each letter of his last name
against Rogers. He's going for two. 12/20, 7 mults, 2 jacks, 5 rbi
with only 3 k's.
Start/Sit: (today)
Guide to using bench players when matchups are favorable.
Ken Griffey (start)- is this the night he hits 598? 5/8 with a bomb
vs. Hendrickson.
Conor Jackson (start)- has a man crush on Francis. 10/29, 6 extras,
4 jacarandas and 9 ribeyes.
Guide to sit starters when matchups are unfavorable.
Normally sit these players in Roto formats only.
Ryan Zimmerman (sit)- has purchased every copy of Ronnie
Belliard's instructional video on how to hit Maine. He ran out
of cash before he could purchase a DVD player. 3/23 with 4 k's.
Magglio Ordonez (sit)-gets real creinke when facing Greinke.
3/18 and 4 k's.
Studs and Duds: (a recap of yesterday's picks and pans)
Barry Zito (stream)- ND 6ip/3e/8w/2k
Nelson Figueroa (stream)- L 5ip/4e/10w/4k
Eric Hinske (spot)- (Wang pitches Tuesday)
Milton Bradley (spot)-1/3, homer, rbi
Ricky Weeks (start)- 0/4
Travis Hafner (start)- 1/3 (vs. Marcum)
Cliff Lee (sit)- ND 9ip/0e/9w/5k
Corey Hart (sit)- 2/4, run, 2 rbi
A.J. Burnett (sit)-L 7.2ip/3e/8w/7k
How To: (this section is devoted to the fundamentals of daily play)
Head To Head: Player's Edge(PE) vs. Opposition(OP):
Week 5: Tuesday
Weekly Tot: R-H-RB-SB -BA/ W-SV-K ER-WH -SCORE
-------PE---6--2--4--0--.292/-1-1--9--7.82-1.82---7
-------OP---1--0--2--0--.250/-0-0--8--3.72-1.24---2
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
7/24-6-2-4-0 //8/32-1-0-2-0 (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
^Kendrick--------- Borowski-DL
Lilly----------------Schmidt(DL)
Harden
-----PE--------//------OP
1W/1S, 12.2-11-23-9//0W/0S, 9.2-4-12-8 (day: W/S,IP,ER,WH,K)
Weekly Totals- Batting Avg. PE(7/24) - OP (8/32)
Weekly Totals- ERA (11/(12.2/9) - OP ERA (4/(9.2/9) -(er/(ip/9)
Weekly Totals- Whip (23/12.2) - OP WHIP (12/9.2) - (w+h/ip)
Weekly Starts(est/week to date) PE---11-----OP----9
Daily Activity:
PE Buchholz(drop)/Kendrick- Mon
PE Kendrick(drop)/Wellemeyer-Tues
Strategy: It appears that Roberts and Molina will be active
for PE. The concern for PE is Teixeira who left his game
yesterday with back spasms. PE should have 8 active,
without Tex, on offense to 8 for OP who awaits the return
of Sexson from suspension on Friday. PE will send Cain/
Weaver/Kendrick and 4 closers vs. OP's Wang/Penny
with Gagne and Bell. Due to the Yankees rainout on Sunday
Wang was pushed back until today and Mussina a day later
on Wednesday costing OP Mussina's 2 start week. Based
on yesterday's performances, especially after Buchholz's
debacle, PE will stream all week looking to take pitching
points in Wins, Saves and K's. Buchholz was released for
Kendrick today and Kendrick was dropped for Wellemeyer
tomorrow. An owner dropped Carlos Gomez. PE having the
12 priority waiver has placed a claim using Cuddyer. Gomez
is exactly what PE needs this week with Figgins out but is
not counting on getting him with the last pick.
Game Keys: PE heads into Tuesday's action with a 7-2
advantage. OP's Burnett pitched a fabulous game but
took the loss while giving OP solid era/whip production.
PE, on the other hand, suffered through an horrific start
by Buchholz, a gritty win by Harang and a save by newly
acquired Francisco Cordero to open up leads of 1 in Wins,
Saves and K's. Buchholz all but gave away era/whip on the
first day of play. PE's offense led by Braun's 2 solo homers
took modest leads in all offense categories with steals
being tied at 0.
^ -designates an active player on today's roster.
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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