Week Five Results – My team had a good week pitching, although I did not pick up a single save. We had a lot of starts against the likes of Oakland (though going against Oakland did not do Shields much good last night), Seattle, Cleveland and San Diego. Except for Cook, every single one of my starters averaged two earned runs or less in each start. Two of my starters gave up zero earned runs. One was Jared Weaver (good news) and one was Bonderman (not so good news). Fortune smiled as Bonderman’s abysmal start against Cleveland was washed out. Both he and Cook are ripe for the FA pool. I have been very fortunate thus far to have at least four wins in each week of the season so far. I need it as in my league we still have five teams with at least 23 wins. I have also had at least 50 K’s in each week even though I have not used more than seven starters in any one week. With the likes of Cook and Lowe having been on my team, that means my top four guys have been lights out, and they really have. Right now for the year, Garza, Shields, Weaver and Danks have had a combined 26 starts, generated 16 wins, 169 K’s with a 3.7 K/BB ratio, a 2.478 ERA and a 1.147 WHIP. These guys are good, but they are not that good. A correction here is coming unless I can guess right as to when the blow-ups will occur, a talent I have yet to master. I like my pick up of Cecil, but again I am dancing with the devil having three pitchers in the AL East. Lowe has had poor results, but I am still optimistic that a turn-around is coming. He is still getting grounders and his is still throwing that sinker. When the weather warms, so will he. In short, my SP looks more than serviceable, especially if Webb (yes, I am still burning a roster spot on him) can come back near form.
Getting no saves this week is a serious problem personified. Soria had too few opportunities and blew one he did. I need to find another save source or just go with eight starters pretty soon.
I ended up with 291 AB last week, which is pretty much right on my target of at least 7,500 for the year. I mention it only because six of my guys had less than 20 AB for the week. My offense was pretty much carried by Either, Votto, and Willingham, though Josh only had 17 AB. Outside of Votto, my middle and corner spots are disasters. AmRam is still hitting cans of corn. Guzman hit for average, but was pretty empty in part time play. Valbuena was exceedingly inept and I have about given up on him. Still, I was able to hit or very nearly hit all my offensive targets except BA. More importantly, for the year, I am at or ahead of three of four counting stats. I am short runs and am losing ground on SB, but with Furcal and Roberts still out (whom I had hoped would be my primary two lead-off men generating runs scored and steals) this is to be expected. My reserves are not picking up the slack at all. Furcal should be back this next weekend, and that will help.
Week Six Free Agents – I do not like to make wholesale changes in my team, but this week was a busy one for me as I knew I would end up with three new players. With several “opportunities” presenting themselves in the MI spots this past week, I knew I could pick up some help. Starlin Castro, for one, would be a nice addition. However, my best estimate was it would take at least a $350 bid to get him and I just do not see that kind of value, no matter how much I need some help up the middle. Fortunately, there were some other options as my $200+ dollar bid was not even the bridesmaid. My second choice was Mike Aviles. I placed a decent bid on him of $31 (I actually got Aviles in the Auction League for about the same bid), but lost to KJ Duke who (IMHO) overpaid with a bid of something like $135. Can’t question KJ’s prowess as he just passed me in our league, but I would not be surprised if the $135 was more a blocking bid than a need on his team. Alls fair in fantasy baseball and I am the loser on this one whatever the strategy.
I ended up with Omar Infante (a.k.a. Bobby Cox Jr. for $19) who should still be getting regular playing time and went 3 for 4 yesterday out of the lead-off spot. With a little luck, Omar will stick in that spot for a while. I dropped Valbuena, whom I will still track, but clearly wasn’t helping my team.Likewise, I am pretty fed up with Cook and Bonderman. Their two starts last week in San Diego and Cleveland were disasters. If they cannot succeed against those two teams, I just cannot trust them. So, they have been dropped in favor of two other pitchers. I lost out on my bid for a red-hot Scott Olsen ($24), but picked up Sergio Mitre, NYY, and hope his one start this week against the Tigers goes ok. I also picked up JJ Putz, hoping he gets the ball in Chicago rather than the left-handed Thornton if Jenks is sent to the fat farm.
Week Six Planning – Offense is still pretty easy. If you are healthy and still in the show, you are in. I should have more options next week as Furcal comes back and Guillen should not be too far behind. Alex Gordon is still on my bench, but if I see someone I really want, he could be gone. Roberts scares me as I just do not know when he will be back. Right now I have him as being too potentially valuable to drop, so he sits like a lump of coal on my bench.
This could be a challenging week for pitching as my cream-puff match-ups last week are history. I am going to struggle to get eight starts. My top four will go, of course. Cecil gets Texas, but in Toronto which hopefully is a LITTLE better. I will start Mitre at Detroit against Dontrelle Willis. That leaves me with seven starts and three spots remaining. I have, since I dropped both Bonderman and Cook, only one healthy SP on my bench in Lowe. Do I trust him at Milwaukee? He has only seen the Brewers three times (twice in Miller Park) total in 2008 and 2009 and fared fairly well against them. He was pitching better then. I will make the call sometime today, but odds are I am going with three relievers (Soria, Villanueva, and Putz?)
aren't they pretty much the same pitcher? as evidenced by the fact that they both won today but still have ERA's well north of 5.