2012 Fantasy Baseball Rankings, Advice & Analysis
Greetings fantasy baseballers and welcome to another edition of the Wire. Hopefully you heeded the past weeks’ advice and picked up Pat Burrell, Mike Minor, Daniel Hudson and others, before it was too late. This week is sort of a special edition with a look at a trio of closers – mostly of the present, and mostly with no future. Regardless, they have one thing in common – they will receive the lion’s share of save opportunities for their respective teams. That translates to the potential to rack up some fantasy points all over the land. And the first contestant is…  Hisanori Takahashi, RP – NYM – Owned in 18% of CBS leagues Mr. Takahashi has been somewhat of an enigma for the Metropolitans this season. He had success as a reliever early on, often times bailing out the starters by providing two or three innings of solid relief. In fact, in his first 15 relief appearances for the Mets, he went two-plus innings seven times. Before being moved into the rotation on May 21, Takahashi put up three wins with a 3.12 ERA in 24.2 IP and a 33:14 K:BB ratio – not too shabby. At that point, the Mets rotation started to fall apart and he was summoned to the rotation. In 12 starts, he did not fare nearly as well, posting a 4-4 record with a 5.01 ERA while surrendering 73 hits in 64.2 innings. In addition, opposing hitters batted a robust .291 against him in those starts. Manuel had seen enough of Takahashi the starter and summoned Takashi the reliever, replacing him with Pat Misch in the rotation. Now with the Francisco Rodriguez meltdown and subsequent thumb injury, Manuel has named Takahashi his closer. He brings a year of closing experience from his tenure in the Japanese league. In his sole save opportunity, he closed out the Astros in a hitless inning this week. You can ride Takahashi for as long as Manuel keeps him as the closer. Keep in mind that the Mets also have Bobby Parnell, who has pitched well as of late. Manual may throw some save chances his way to see how he performs in a late-inning role. Hong-Chih Kuo, RP – LA – Owned in 13% of CBS leagues The main difference between Kuo and Takahashi is that Kuo has been in a late inning relief role for his team, the Dodgers, the entire season. Furthermore, he has posted great stats thus far and has been the bridge that every team searches for to get the ball to the closer. Unfortunately for Jonathan Broxton, the now-deposed closer, Kuo has pitched so well that he’s replacing Broxton, for the time being at least. If the Dodgers have any chance of making the playoffs, they cannot afford any more meltdowns by the usually-dominating Broxton. This was the main impetus behind Joe Torre’s decision to switch their roles in the ‘pen. Including Kuo’s first two save opportunities, he has put up an ERA of 1.48 on the season, which was inflated by more than half a run after his implosion against Atlanta. Torre summoned Kuo in the 8th inning, much like he used to with Mariano in his Yankee days. Kuo ran into trouble in the 9th and blew the save. In 42.3 innings pitched this season, Kuo has a tremendous 52:14 K:BB ratio with a miniscule 0.85 WHIP along with three wins and four saves. Kuo has been nothing short of dominant this season and now stands to gain a boat-load of value in fantasy leagues. One would have to believe that as long as he’s successful in the closer’s role, Torre will leave him there. The Dodgers also have Octavio Dotel to vulture a few saves, but for now Kuo is the closer in LA. He’s a must-add to fantasy rosters as CBS owners have demonstrated, making him the most added player in CBS fantasy leagues. His ownership will jump to 47% next week, which is still rather low. Grab him while you can. Trevor Hoffman, RP – MIL – Owned in 27% of CBS leagues Mr. Hoffman has had a rocky 2010 thus far. In the first half of the season, he was tagged for four losses and blew five of his ten save opportunities. He had an ERA of 8.33 heading into the All-Star break. In 27 innings, he gave up 25 runs on 34 hits along with an unimpressive 17:13 K:BB ratio. These are hardly the numbers expected from Hoffman, or any closer in the league for that matter. Since the All-Star break, Hoffman has had a bit of a resurgence. In 12 appearances, his ERA is a more respectable 3.09 along with a 10:4 K:BB ratio. Opposing batters are hitting only .227 against him versus .306 before the break. With Milwaukee out of the playoff race and not much else to play for, manager Ken Macha has decided to give Hoffman save opportunities once again. The Brewers would love for Hoffman to reach the 600 save mark and give them something to cheer about in the closing weeks of the season. John Axford presumably will continue to get his chances as well, which makes Hoffman far from a sure thing to score significant points for your team. Regardless, Macha will give him every chance to add to his save total. If you have the stomach for it, pick up Hoffman sooner rather than later and hope for the best, especially if you need to bolster your Save category. HONORABLE MENTION Omar Infante, 2B – ATL – Owned in 34% of CBS leagues Filled in admirably for Martin Prado at 2B and will get regular AB’s with Chipper out for the season. Hits righties and lefties well. Batting .361 since the break with a .862 OPS and has hit over .300 every month except for one this season. Jose Guillen, OF – SF – Owned in 45% of CBS leagues Guillen will get a decent amount of AB’s in SF. While he won’t hit for average, he surely has some pop left in his bat. Hitting .375 for the Giants since the trade and has 17 HR’s on the season. Chris Denorfia, CF – SD – Owned in 4% of CBS leagues Denorfia is batting .321 since the break with a 1.039 OPS. He has six homers and 16 RBI plus four SB’s in the second half. Solid pick up for deeper leagues. Written by Rosti Satanovsky exclusively for TheFantasyFix.com. You can follow him on Facebook or Twitter@TheSportsFariah Who are your NL waiver wire gems of the week? Leave a comment and let us know, or reply to us on Twitter@TheFantasyFix Tags: The Fantasy Fix, Fantasy Baseball Advice, Fantasy Baseball Blog, Fantasy Sports Blog, The NL Wire, Waiver Wire, Mike Minor, Pat Burrell, Daniel Hudson, Hisanori Takahashi, Pat Misch, Francisco Rodriguez, Hong-Chih Kuo, Jerry Manuel, Jonathan Broxton, Joe Torre, Octavio Dotel, Trevor Hoffman, John Axford, Ken Macha, Omar Infante, Martin Prado, Jose Guillen, Chris Denorfia, New York Mets, Los Angeles Dodgers, Milwaukee Brewers, Atlanta Braves, San Francisco Giants, San Diego Padres Add Comment Welcome back fantasy players, to another edition of The NL Wire. You may recognize a few of this week’s players as top minor league prospects. Meanwhile, a few others you may recognize as usual suspects on the free agent wire. Either way, consider all of them as possible worthy fantasy contributors to your squad and jump on them before the competition does.  Mike Minor, SP – ATL – Owned in 6% of CBS leagues Minor was recently promoted from the minors to take the rotation spot of another one of Atlanta’s young guns – Kris Medlen. The former first round, seventh overall pick in 2009, has realized his childhood dream of playing for the team he followed throughout his youth. In his first start against the Astros, he had the following line: 6 IP/5 H/3 ER/1 BB/5 K and did not factor into the decision. In his brief minor league career (four starts in ’09 and 21 in ’10) Minor has shown the Braves’ brass enough to get the nod. In his starts this year, combined between AAA-Gwinnett and AA-Mississippi, Minor is only 6-7 but has put up gaudy numbers otherwise – K:BB ratio of 146:44, 3.44 ERA/1.15 WHIP and 10.9 K’s/9 innings. The downside to his numbers is that he’s already logged 120 innings on the season and is sure to receive the so-called “rookie pitcher treatment” in the final two months. In fact, with an off day this week, the Braves are already pushing his next start to Tuesday. On the bright side, he will be on track for two starts in Week 20. Even though Minor lacks experience (which hasn’t stopped Stephen Strasburg, Mike Leake and Drew Storen, his fellow 2009 first round draft picks), he possesses the tools to be a successful starter for Atlanta. He features a fastball topping out in the mid 90’s and a quality slider with bite. Minor is worth a look in deeper mixed leagues, and most certainly in all keeper leagues.  Carlos Ruiz, C – PHI – Owned in 34% of CBS leagues To be perfectly honest, I had to ask myself a number of times whether this selection was worthy of even mentioning. Ruiz, at age 31, is hardly an unknown commodity or rising star in baseball. But, he’s being added to fantasy leagues a dizzying rate, jumping from 34% ownership this week to 71% next week. This will rank him as the number one added player in all of CBS leagues (if you can believe that). It speaks more to the lack of decent options at the ultra-slim catching position than anything else. At the same time, since Ruiz was activated from the DL right after the All-Star break, he’s been on a tear. In 24 games, he’s batting .313 (25 hits) with three HR and 14 RBI and has an OPS of .858. These numbers are well above his career stats considering Ruiz is a lifetime .254 hitter with an OPS of .733. Ruiz is worthy of a roster spot while he’s hot. Once his bat starts to cool, be prepared to jump off the Ruiz Express.  Daniel Hudson, SP ARI – Owned in 36% of CBS leagues The market for Arizona starting pitchers has been slow to heat up and understandably so. In fact, no Diamondbacks pitcher is owned in more than 49% of CBS fantasy leagues. Last week, I wrote about Barry Enright, one of the other young promising pitchers for the D-backs. This week, the spotlight is on Hudson, who was acquired in the July 31st trade deadline from the White Sox in exchange for Edwin Jackson. Hudson, a fifth round pick of Chicago in 2008, quickly swept through four levels of their minor league affiliates. He posted a 14-5 combined record with a 2.32 ERA and 166 K in 147 innings. Hudson got his first taste of the majors in ’09 with three appearances out of the bullpen before taking over for Gavin Floyd in the rotation after Floyd was injured. In three starts for the D-backs since the trade (all wins), he has gone 22 2/3 innings, allowing only four earned runs on 13 hits with 17 strikeouts to only four walks issued. With a combined 124 IP on the season thus far, Hudson is also approaching the rookie limit most teams impose on their young starting pitchers. Even still, he is an attractive option as the D-backs will surely want to see what he can do the remainder of the season. Pick him up in NL-only leagues, deeper mixed leagues and all keeper leagues. Honorable Mention: Johnny Venters, RP – ATL – Owned in 8% of CBS leagues Has done a spectacular job all season coming out of the ‘pen for ATL. In 57 2/3 innings he has posted four wins plus a save. Throw in 61 K and 1.09 ERA/1.00 WHIP and this makes him a worthy addition in deeper leagues. Dexter Fowler, CF – COL – Owned in 21% of CBS leagues Fowler is off to a sizzling start in August - .333 BA/.907 OPS, after a solid month in July - .287 BA/.921 OPS and 25 runs in 26 games plus five SB and 11 RBI. He’s producing across the board. Pat Burrell, OF – SF – Owned in 9% of CBS leagues Pat “The Bat” has resurfaced in San Francisco as an everyday player. Since the trade from TB - .282 BA/8 HR/23 RBI and a 1.102 OPS (what??). He’s become a solid contributor. *Written by Rosti Satanovsky exclusively for TheFantasyFix.com. You can follow him on Facebook or Twitter@TheSportsFariah Who are your waiver wire gems of the week? Leave a comment and let us know, or reply to us on Twitter@TheFantasyFix Tags: The Fantasy Fix, Fantasy Baseball Advice, Fantasy Baseball Blog, Fantasy Sports Blog, The NL Wire, Waiver Wire, Mike Minor, Kris Medlen, Stephen Strasburg, Mike Leake, Drew Storen, Carlos Ruiz, Daniel Hudson, Edwin Jackson, Gavin Floyd, Johnny Venters, Dexter Fowler, Pat Burrell, Atlanta Braves, Washington Nationals, Cincinnati Reds, Philadelphia Phillies, Arizona Diamondbacks, Chicago White Sox, Colorado Rockies, San Francisco Giants If you’re scouring the waiver wire in your NL-only league, there may be a few hidden gems that some of the other owners have not stumbled upon or reacted quickly enough to add to their squad. The following is an eclectic mix of top-rated prospects and some others who snuck in the back door to earn enough playing time to be relevant…  Domonic Brown Domonic Brown (OF) – PHI – Owned in 33% of CBS leagues The Phillies’ No. 1 rated, prized prospect will finally get a chance to show his wares at the Major League level after tearing it up in Triple-A Lehigh. At 23 years of age, Brown was hitting at a .392 clip in 51 AB with a gaudy 1.101 OPS. Previous to that, Brown hit .317 in 236 AB for Double-A Reading, with a slightly more modest OPS of .993. In addition, he has 14 SB’s combined this year and has posted double-digit steals in every season of his minor league career. Brown will get the opportunity to play every day since Shane Victorino was placed on the DL with an abdominal strain. If Brown hits like he is capable of hitting, it will be difficult for the Phillies to remove him from the lineup even when Victorino returns. His promotion and impending success also makes the trade of Jayson Werth an inevitability. With a suddenly aging Raul Ibanez hitting a paltry .259/8 HR/48 RBI on the season (.754 OPS good for 45th amongst all NL outfielders, according to MLB.com), their best chance to make the playoffs may be with Brown in the starting lineup regardless.  Josh Thole Josh Thole (C) – NYM - Owned in 2% of CBS leagues Thole has shown enough in capably handling the Mets staff thus far. In addition, he has provided decent offense as a starter and late inning pinch-hitter (.455 BA as a PH). With his performance to date, Thole was able to convince Jerry Manuel to fight to keep him on the roster even though the Mets already had Rod Barajas and Henry Blanco active. Now with the injury to Barajas, he has been thrust into almost full-time starting duty for the Metropolitans. He will handle receiving duties for every pitcher not named Johan Santana or Mike Pelfrey. Thole has never been known to swing a mighty stick, but has posted a .351 BA in 37 AB’s so far this season and an OPS of .975. In his five year minor league career, Thole’s batting average has progressively increased to a high of .328 last year (.817 OPS). His power numbers, or lack thereof, leave a little to be desired but the Mets will surely accept a .300 BA in the bottom third of the lineup. With a lack of any other suitable options, it looks like Thole will get a decent chance to prove that he belongs on regular basis. He may not have to do all that much considering Barajas’s average has dipped to a cool .227 on the season (.186 in July and .150 since the All-Star break).  Logan Morrison Logan Morrison (1B/OF) – FLA – Owned in 11% of CBS leagues Morrison was called up after the shaving cream pie incident gone wrong involving Chris Coghlan. He will immediately step into the LF starting role for the Fish and bat second, according to CBS Sportsline. Morrison posted very nice numbers in Triple-A New Orleans this season – .324 BA and .945 OPS, and has shown excellent plate discipline with a 36:27 BB:K ratio (minors career – 226:280). This sort of control seems to be his calling card since he’s only tallied 52 HR’s in 1581 minor league AB’s (1 HR/30 AB’s). Due to Coghlan’s injury, Morrison will get a nice long look from the club. Also, with Cody Ross likely to be moved at the impending trade deadline, Florida will be left short on capable OF’s.  Neil Walker Honorable Mention: Neil Walker (2B) – PIT - Owned in 18% of CBS leagues .310 BA/.812 OPS – Everyday second base for Pittsburgh showing he can handle the bat and the glove (four errors/.980 fielding % according to MLB.com) Tyler Colvin (OF) – CHC – Owned in 26% of CBS leagues .265 BA/.867 OPS/16 HR’s in only 230 AB’s – playing every day now that Kosuke Fukudome has been phased out and readied for a trade. Chris Johnson (3B) – HOU – Owned in 11% of CBS leagues .327 BA/ .843 OPS/ .347 BA in July and .432 since the All-Star break with an 11 game hitting streak. Joel Hanrahan (RP) – PIT – Owned in 5% of CBS leagues 3.50 ERA/1.03 WHIP/59:14 K:BB ratio in 43.7 IP – 1.64 ERA in July with six straight scoreless appearances (6 IP/0 ER/7 K) – PIT’s closer in waiting once Octavio Dotel is traded at the deadline. *Written by Rosti Satanovsky exclusively for TheFantasyFix.com. You can follow him on Facebook or Twitter@TheSportsFariah Got any other NL wire picks? Leave a comment and let us know, or reply to us on Twitter@TheFantasyFix Tags: The Fantasy Fix, Fantasy Baseball Advice, Fantasy Baseball Blog, Fantasy Sports Blog, NL only, The NL Wire, Domonic Brown, Shane Victorino, Jayson Werth, Raul Ibanez, Josh Thole, Rod Barajas, Jerry Manuel, Henry Blanco, Mike Pelfrey, Johan Santana, Logan Morrison, Chris Coghlan, Cody Ross, Neil Walker, Tyler Colvin, Chris Johnson, Joel Hanrahan, Octavio Dotel, Kosuke Fukudome, Chicago Cubs, Pittsburgh Pirates, Houston Astros, Florida Marlins, New York Mets, Philadelphia Phillies |
