Early Stuff

[DOUGHBOYS]

Nobody has been tossed out of a game yet.

No Yankee infielder has hit a homer.

Mark Trumbo has 13 rbi...the Atlanta Braves have 14 rbi

Carlos Santana has 10 walks. On base percentage pundits love that.

Carlos Santana has one rbi and two runs scored. Fantasy owners hate that.

BJ Upton has struck out in 13 of 29 at bats. In that way, his strike outs are batting .448. His real avg is .138

BJ Upton has zero runs scored and zero runs batted in.

BJ Upton hits second for the Braves.

BJ Upton does have twice the hits and almost twice the avg of Colby Rasmus. Fantasy owners hate both.

Adrian Beltre has only struck out twice in 28 at bats. His fantasy owners don't give a rat's ass. He has no homers.

Brian Dozier has three homers.

Brian Dozier has three runs batted in.

31 players in baseball have two stolen bases. Those players are 64-71 in stolen base attempts.

If Billy Beane is so smart, please explain Jim Johnson.

Jim Johnson has gotten 10 outs this year. He's given up nine hits and six walks.

Mike Moustakas (.040) is at his best when it doesn't count for fantasy baseball.

BJ Upton has a better avg than Jason Heyward. Freddy Freeman has had one at bat with runners in scoring position.

Remember last April? This April, both Justin Upton and John Buck still have not seen their first RBI.

Robinson Cano has been real baseball terrific. His nine hits, .346 avg, and .469 obp lead the Mariners

His fantasy owners are flipping him the finger. He has two RBI, which is 7th on the Mariners...And 0 Homers.

Excuse any updates, these stats seem to fluctuate by the minute

[DOUGHBOYS]

Joe Mauer went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in Thursday's loss to the Athletics.

The Twins' new regular first baseman is off to a bit of a quiet start this season, hitting .250 with two extra-base hits (both doubles) and zero RBI through nine games. HOWEVER, HE STILL HAS A SHINY .386 ON-BASE PERCENTAGE. Look for him to get it going soon.

When will these guys 'get it' ?
Joe Mauer with no rbi, a .250 batting average and 'shiny' obp is like seeing the Elephant Man adorned in a nice coat.
Walks do hitters like Mauer little good at all. There are few that can knock him in. And it's doubtful that he'll come to the plate with the sacks juiced.
Joe Mauer, Carlos Santana, Joe Votto are all becoming 'MOM's.
Missed Opportunity Men.

[EA Sports]

As an Andrelton Simmons owner, my blood pressure goes up every time I see BJ in the two hole. Simmons batting 8th every day. Dan Uggla batting 6th irks me also. Heard the announcer say a few days ago that Fredi wants Simmons to bat 8th so he can concentrate on his defense. Give me a break.

[Navel Lint]

Joe Mauer went 0-for-4 with two strikeouts in Thursday's loss to the Athletics.

The Twins' new regular first baseman is off to a bit of a quiet start this season, hitting .250 with two extra-base hits (both doubles) and zero RBI through nine games. HOWEVER, HE STILL HAS A SHINY .386 ON-BASE PERCENTAGE. Look for him to get it going soon.

When will these guys 'get it' ?
Joe Mauer with no rbi, a .250 batting average and 'shiny' obp is like seeing the Elephant Man adorned in a nice coat.
Walks do hitters like Mauer little good at all. There are few that can knock him in. And it's doubtful that he'll come to the plate with the sacks juiced.
Joe Mauer, Carlos Santana, Joe Votto are all becoming 'MOM's.
Missed Opportunity Men.

This is the great Fantasy baseball vs Real baseball debate, or at least that's what I want to call it. I know you don't think that because .....well, we know why. The Votto argument .

It's a real small sample size, but Mauer has come to the plate 8 times this year with runners in scoring position. He is 0 of 5 with 3 walks. Each of the 3 times he walked, he eventually scored.

I know that you think a walk is a missed opportunity, and maybe for some players it is, but I don't think so in Mauer's case. I think the mistake here is lumping him with Santana and Votto. He is not that hitter. He has a combined 33 HR's over the last four seasons and 9 games. There is a reason why he has batted 2nd in 7 of the 9 games he has played this year.

[DOUGHBOYS]

Putting Mauer in the Santana/Votto group is completely fair. He is 'The Man' in Minnesota. Easily the best hitter on his team.
Mauer is picky. Picky hitters have a higher average. Big deal.
If wanting picky, I would rather have a Joe Morgan type, who will also benefit the fantasy player on the bases.
Santana and Mauer have nineteen walks this year. One rbi.
This is not a good thing, no matter how much on-base pundits rah rah it.

My rule of thumb is that we want walks from your first, second and eighth hitters.
These are beneficial walks in most cases. In Mauer's case, even though hitting second, it is not as beneficial, because he suffers from 'Stantonitis' in that there are few players on his team to pick him up once he has walked.
Pitchers know this. They know that if they keep pitches on the corner or a couple of inches off the plate, that these hitters will most likely let it pass.
And they're ok with that.