Edwards Kings Main Event Blog

[jblume33]

Priceless!!

[Cocktails and Dreams]

Another year, another Saturday morning main event draft with Wayne, and another battle between the two of us to stay out of the cellar. Going to be an epic struggle for my teams this year it looks like. Hard to script a worse start.

[Edwards Kings]

Big surprise! I got a win (ok...ugly win) and a save...in the SAME night!

Pitchers opposing my guys the rest of the week:

Felix Hernandez
Jon Niese
Matt Cain
Adam Wainwright
Shelby Miller
Father Tim-e Hudson
Cliff Lee

How many wins out these seven starts?

[Edwards Kings]

Justin Upton (not on my team) is leading the majors with eight home runs. Ok. I can see that. He has enough talent to have a very hot month.

Second place? Tied with six are John Buck (.326 BA and 19 RBI), Chris Davis (.349 BA and 19 RBI), Dexter Fowler (on my team) and Michael Morse. Just plain wierd unless you think Buck and Davis have a legitimate shot at the triple-crown.

[Edwards Kings]

Big surprise! I got a win (ok...ugly win) and a save...in the SAME night!

Pitchers opposing my guys the rest of the week:

Felix Hernandez
Jon Niese
Matt Cain
Adam Wainwright
Shelby Miller
Father Tim-e Hudson
Cliff Lee

How many wins out these seven starts?

So far...

Max Scherzer vs. Felix Hernandez - If you like pitching duels, this may have been the best one this year. Scherzer went eight innings with six hits, a walk, one earned run and 12 K's...and didn't win! Why? He was outpitched by Hernandez who also went eight, had only four hits, one UNEARNED run and 12 K's...AND DIDN"T WIN! Given the blow-ups recently, I am not griping, and I expect niether are the King Felix owners...but what a game! Sixteen IP between the two with 24 K's and one earned run...amazing!

Jhoulys Chacin vs. Jon Neise - Didn't happen due to spring time in (or near) the Rockies. Chacin now gets a game in Colorado versus Arizona and Ian Kennedy...no cake walk either.

AJ Burnett vs Shelby Miller - Miller was good, but Burnett was brilliant. A one-hitter over seven innings, no walks or runs and eight K's. It takes nearly a perfect game for my guys to win most of the time it seems and this was nearly perfect. Burnett actually earned is first win of the season. Burnett was a target of mine going into the draft and so far has really exceeded expectations. Unlucky with only one win in four starts, but 25 hits/walks in 24 IP with seven earned runs to go with 35 K's put him and Scherzer as my bright lights with Hamels, Gallardo, and Lynn underachievings. Burnett is no Zito or Bedard, but he will do.

[Edwards Kings]

In Georgia, the sun is shining, the birds are singing. In Pittsburg, the Braves dropped three of four to the Pirates. Strikes me as an analogy for my team.

Week 3 Results – Another of those mixed bags. Actually was in pretty good shape both batting and pitching wise going into the weekend. Then the bats just collapsed culminating in a 10-56 Sunday with one RBI (when Votto drove himself in). Hosmer (4-9) and Votto (3-5) accounted for seven of those hits. That means the rest of my all-stars were 3-41 (0.073 with 17 strikeouts). It is like when you ask the crazy guy why he has a steering wheel down his pants. “Drivin’ me nuts!”

Since we are through three full weeks so stats, this is really the first time I have taken a long look at where I am YTD. In batting, I wanted about 900 AB by this time of the year. Due to injuries and bad weather, I am at 781, or down about 13%. Why is this important to me? There are those that would want “quality” at bats (would rather have the good side of a platoon rather than the guy whose splits are not so good, but are getting most of the hacks anyway) and this is viable. I, however delusional I may be, prescribe to the philosophy of “never up, never in”. I feel my chances at hitting my counting stats are higher with the full-timers, though I recognized it puts my BA at risk. Right now, I am sitting in the bottom third of my league in terms of AB, and also sitting short in RBI’s. I wanted 120-125 by this time, and I only have 92 YTD. Part of this is my lack of AB. Another part is despite my lack of AB, my team has 182 strike-outs, with is on par with most of the other teams in my league, most of whom have more AB. And I have 114 walks at this time. No other team in my league has 100 to date. My guys are swinging and missing (team BA 0.247 which needless to say is significantly lower than expectations) and they are being pitched around. Bad combo.

Despite the short AB and maybe contrary to my supposition that more AB get you more counting stats, my runs are just a little off (want 125-130 but have 111) and HR are a little ahead (I have 35 for the year). Having HR but not having the RBI’s is strange to me. If I get 10 HR in a week, I would expect to have about 40 RBI’s. So what could this tell me? It tells me my power guys from the meat of the orders have not gotten untracked. I am seeing some signs of life in Votto and Cespedes should be back by Week 5, so maybe there is a chance I could get caught up. I feel a week behind in RBI’s.

I wanted at this time to be approaching 20 SB. I am only at 10 which is to say the least disappointing. Turns out my infield has no power OR speed. Not a single SB out of any of them. My team lead is Aoki with 3. Sad.

Now for the good. Actually, discounting saves, VERY good. I only had eight starts scheduled. My starters could easily have won seven of them, but ended up with six wins and two no-decisions. My worst start of the week was Lance Lynn’s first (5.0 IP, 4 ER), but he cleaned it up with seven innings of shut-out ball in his next start. I stuck with Wandy against the Braves as my seventh starter and boy did it pan out (7.0 IP, one hit, no walks, five K’s). My starters only gave up nine ER last week. In six of my starts, my guys only gave up two ER combined. A vast improvement over the 54 ER they gave up in the first two weeks total. Last year, a 3.635 ERA would have gotten you 80% of the ERA points in the Main. YTD, my team has moved to a 3.857 ERA. Heading in the right direction.

You needed a 1.224 WHIP last year to get 80% of the available points in the Main. My WHIP is down to 1.212, which actually exceeds what my target is currently. A good sign. And strike-outs. I had targeted around 150 by this point and have 166. NICE! AJ Burnett is my team lead (imagine my surprise) in strike-outs who after four starts is trailing only this no-name Darvish in Texas. Yes…I am talking to Yu! Seriously, I crack myself up sometimes. I am on a roll so I will just not talk about saves (or lack thereof) right now.

FAAB Week3 – I was more interested in De La Rosa and Mujica than I was Cingrani this week, but am severely hampered by a DL bench, so I was not playing in that sandbox. That means some potentially really good pick-ups were gotten this week (Smyly, Straily, Lilly) and I was not a player here either. I did bid on Didi (no offense, but that is a girl’s name) Gregorius. It is not that I am enamored with his potential to help me offensively, it is just that Stephen Drew nor Macier Izturis are exactly tearing the cover off the ball. I had Chris Getz on my bench (who hit his first home run in something like 900+ AB last week against the Braves), but he really was not an upgrade. My $32 on Didi was not even the runner up. My $13 conditional bid on Aviles won without challenge. Aviles might have a chance at some regular AB with the Indians in that Kipnis elbow is barking and Asdrubal has a “left wrist contusion”. This is the absolute definition of a flyer.

Week 4 Roster – With Cespedes, Hart, and now Chacin down, and Zunino still in the minors, my bench is seriously thin. Zunino cooled noticeably since a red hot start in Tacoma and now has 18 K’s in 51 AB, but he does also have nine extra base hits including five homeruns (yes, I know that is the PCL). I do not want to let him go, so he chews up a spot on my reserves. I hope that with Cespedes hopefully coming back soon (scheduled for minor league rehab Friday), I will get not only some punch, but some of my roster flexibility back. Chacin was looking really good right up to the DL with a lower back strain. Back injuries are tricky. Hopefully this one will only cause him to miss three or four starts. All my healthy starters will pitch this week. If I can avoid any Zito dickpunches this week, I might be able to make up some wins (I am off my target YTD by two) with some potentially promising matchups and perhaps even challenge Steve Wells team for league lead in strikeouts as I may end up with a few more starts than his team has this week. Only 20 K’s separate 1st place and 6th place. That means you could swing three or four points in league standings each day just because of this category.

Always with the middle infield with me this week. Toronto has cooled on Bonifacio (which is why Bob spent what he did for Didi, I am guessing), so Izturis may have a little more rope to prove he can do something crazy like hit a double or steal a damn base. It is sad to say one of my starters may be “pushed” by Aviles. Drew is not back, but he is at home for seven games (he will play maybe in five) against Oakland and Houston (did you know in Georgia, we have a county named after Sam Houston, just like the city in Texas, but the “proper” pronunciation for the Georgia county is “House-ton”…fun facts to know and impress your friends). Yuniesky didn’t hit much last week (4-19), but he made them count with two HR, seven RBI’s and four runs scored. I know I have gotten about as much as I am going to out of him, especially with road games in San Diego and against the Dodgers coming up, but he has been my only production from MI, so I will leave him in.

Aviles or Izturis? What a choice.

[Edwards Kings]

I went out with this girl once. It was a set-up job. Wingman for a friend. Nice girl. Not pretty, but not really ugly. Just kinda on the verge of ugly. Just like my team.

April Results – You haven’t lost you league in April just like you haven’t won your league in April. However, you have some data, maybe even enough to tell where you are in trouble. For example, if your average stats (BA, ERA, WHIP) are good, you have a good base to start with. If not, well, you better try to do something about it before it is too late. Counting stats are a little easier, because the week coming up still represents a high percentage of YTD stats (20% for you that left your calculator or teenage children at home). But if you are in last place in your league in some category (like I am in steals), you had better identify what you can do about it.

Pitching first because I had a VERY good week (7 wins in 10 starts, 60+ K’s, and even 5 saves). This allowed my team to catch up on most of my targets. I had targeted a 3.792 ERA for my team, which is a little higher than what it would have taken for 80% of the points in the Overall for the category last year (3.635). Yes, I am a believer in regression because I know it will happen. I just do not know when. Anyway, my team ERA now sits at 3.736, kind of in-between the two. Likewise with WHIP (Target 1.271 with 2012 80% being 1.224) at 1.258. For K’s, I am ahead of target as well as the 2012 80% level. Makes sense as I have been using seven starters year to date. Slightly ahead on wins with 18 total. The best news there is last week corrected the luck factor (see….regression). Year to date, I am winning 44.4% of my 36 starts. My starters are also striking out nearly a batter an inning (98.3%), my K/BB ratio is ok (can be better) at 2.8, and they are allowing less than a hit per IP. That’s the numbers. So what do they mean…am I lucky with overachievers (a little) or is there some upside still (yes, I think so).

I have been a little lucky. I did not expect A.J. Burnett to come out of the gate so strong (48 K’s in 35 IP). I expected solid numbers out of Wandy Rodriguez and even though I lost a start and a half from him, two of his starts have been phenominal. My #7 starter slot has been a mix of Ricky Nolasco (four starts), Jhoulys Chacin (1) and Blake Beavan (1). Even with Beavan’s blow up against Houston (still do not know how that happened), I have won half my #7 slot starts with good ERA and WHIP. Lance Lynn (my #4 starter) has won four games and had three smokin’ starts out of five. Lynn and Burnett I expect to regress, but I get Chacin back soon (maybe this week), and I can hopefully (i.e. intelligently) stream Wandy, Jhoulys, and Ricky in those last two spots successfully for a while.

Where I see some upside is in the strength of my pitching staff. Cole Hamels (my ace and third rounder) has been a disappointment to say the least. He has only one win, a 4.779 ERA and is walking the world (by his standards). The K’s are there, so I do not think it is the arm/shoulder. I am really expecting him to turn it up. Max Scherzer has won half his starts and is striking out the world (averaging three strike-outs for every two IP), but his ERA is an unlucky 4.125. That should come down. Yovani Gallardo (my #3) is really the problem. He has allowed 39 hits in 29 IP to go with 9 walks. Just not good. Maybe I should have expected it since his April last year was so bad, but the concern is the K-rate. Even while he stunk last year he was striking people out. This year, he has had only one game where he gave up fewer hits than IP and that was the only game where he gave up less than three ER. Right handers have just been crushing him. Yovani is probably my the biggest concern on my staff.

Wait. Maybe not. The law firm of Street and Putz hasn’t exactly been stellar. Saves are about as much the chances the teams give the closer as they are the skills. I am a solid week back where I wanted to be in saves, but the big concern how well they have pitched in their limited opportunities. Putz has been hittable, is walking too many people, and has blown three saves already (blew five all of last year). And Street hasn’t blown any saves, but has only struck out a batter every other inning while giving up more hits than innings pitched. In short, Street is the butt-ugly mama to that girl I mentioned earlier.

Compared to my hitting, pitching is really carrying my team. Very little is going right with my sticks. For catcher, Jarrod Saltalamacchia has a better average and nearly equal counting stats to Matt Wieters. I have used six guys (Gordon Beckham, Maicer Izturis, Stephen Drew, Yuniesky Betancourt, Luis Cruz, and Alexi Amarista) and collectively they have fewer stolen bases (0) than do my Cornermen (Votto, Hosmer, and Youkilis with 3) though they do have just as many HR (6) collectively as does Votto, Hosmer and Youk. Sad really. Outside of Dexter Fowler, the rest of my OF types (Aoki, Ethier, Span, and Duda) are not exactly lighting it up. Cespedes has been MIA for half the time. Chris Johnson has been a pleasant surprise (using him in the UT role), but the Braves took the leading BA guy in the NL (nearly the AL too) and are using him as a platoon guy since Freeman came back (was able to get a few more AB out of him in Detroit, but his playing time is iffy now). When McCann and Heyward come back, he may just be back to the LH part of the 3B platoon (and will probably be better off than Gattis). I am a world behind on my SB, RBI, R, and BA targets. I sure hope this was my “bad” month. I have a lot of catching up to do.

FAAB – I am not holding onto my FA money for a sale at Kohl’s. Looking at what some of the other leagues bid on Valverde, ours was a little more reasonable (winning bid $321 with the runner up $311). I bid $80. There is still enough time to get my third closer. I have several next guy I line types on my radar screen, but being locking into holding onto Gregerson because of Street, I may wait another week or so until a roster spots open up. My conditional was Jonathan Pettibone ($7). He should get a start against Miami this week, so I will stream him (hope he doesn’t Beavan me). Phelps, Grimm, and Capuano were the box-seat purchases (each went from $97 to $122) to my upper-deck Pettibone purchase. I had considered each, but really thought Pettibone was good for a rental.

Last week I had picked up Aviles on the gamble that either Asdrubal or Kipnis might miss a few games. Neither did and Aviles got his bus ticket to the bushes. I picked up Brian Dozier for $19 ($2 runner up). He led off all last week (not well) for Minnesota. Still, a lead-off guy is a lead-off guy. Worth a flier.

Week 5 Roster – With Yoenis Cespedes back (my second rounder), I will move Duda to UT and Chris Johnson (Braves are at home all week so no DH and face only two LHers in Niese and Gio Gonzalez) takes his .368 that he hit for me over the last two weeks to the bench. I am just too far behind in my counting stats to risk only 10-12 AB out of him. Kevin (aack…gaaaggg…hurrrrlll) Youkilis is going for an MRI, a lollipop, and a “Hello Kitty” band-aide for his ouchy, so I am going to give him the first half of the week off. It has already been reported that he is not in the line-up tonight. Brian Dozier gets a start and Maicer Izturis moves over to third.

On pitching, weather messed me up a little last week and I ended up with 10 starts (less than I expected). That means I will get 10 this week, which is good. Strike-outs are just going to be crazy all year in my league. Right now, 1st through 5th spots on K’s are separated by a whopping four. The top seven spots in Wins are separated by three. Just not the time to go with three closers (if I had another). Chacin could be back as early as Sunday, but you cannot bank on it. Nolasco has been good, but pitches next on the road in Philly. I am going with Pettibone as my #7 slot starter this week as he is at home against Miami (actually pitching against Nolasco!).

And we have a mile-stone to announce in our league. According to the league information, one of our owners has moved into, if not the $1 menu, at least to the ham-and-egger status. He can now average $11 a MONTH from now on. I do not want to call him out by name…he might be furious!

[Edwards Kings]

oops

[Edwards Kings]

Three Monday starts...two wins which in and of itself is a minor miracle since two was the max (Gallardo vs Wandy). Though Wandy smelled it up like fresh presents in your front yard from your neighbor, the Bumpuses', hound dogs, the two wins put me in the LEAD in my league in wins. Rarefied air for me. It will last only a day for now, but I will breath deep....

[Scared $ Dont Make $]

Wayne, good stuff as usual... Man you look at alot of numbers in your decisions / weekly targets! I just plug in my best options and cross my fingers

[Edwards Kings]

Wayne, good stuff as usual... Man you look at alot of numbers in your decisions / weekly targets! I just plug in my best options and cross my fingers

Thanks JT! I can't help the numbers...damn beancounters curse.

Your system is working a helluvalot better than mine. Nice going...18th in the overall today and leading the league. I will try to get close enough to you in May so you can hear me shouting...

Sorry about Stanton...that bites.

You must really like Arcia. For a while there I was wondering if you were ever gonna get a player that cost more than $1!

[Scared $ Dont Make $]

I had to find a guy with a heartbeat considering I currently have 5 injured players now in my lineup as of Tuesday (Stanton, NWalker, Tulo - we have heard day to day in the past with him, Crawford, and Freese I play every other day because I am so brittle).

But watch out for Arcia, odds are good he stays up and starts the rest of the year - Doumit is toast... if not Minnesota management is clueless And anyone named Oswaldo deserves to play everyday Kid raked in the spring, and is developing power - I hope

[Edwards Kings]

Sounds logical to me and I hope he works out for you.

Only the illogical moves work for me. It is nice to have one Top 10 RBI guy on my team (who is also second on my team in HR). And he only cost me $3 in the FA bidding when I got him a few weeks back. Yuniesky Betancourt! Go figure....

[Edwards Kings]

Shout out to two really great guys who have been hanging around in first class, Dan Semsel and Ken Norred. Didn’t want to jinx it when I noticed it earlier and do not want to jinx it now, but Mad Cow and Bama are in third place based on good pitching and GREAT offense. Nice run in the early going guys!

Week 5 Results – Except for saves (2), another great week pitching and underwhelming batting. Despite the floater in the punch bowl left by Wandy in his first start of the week, I ended up with six wins in tens starts. How is this for competitive…I am tied for 21st I the overall in wins, and in a three-way tie for first in wins in my league. WHIP was 0.929 on the strength of 53 hits allowed in 70 IP with only 12 walks and 64 strike-outs. I even streamed a start out of Pettibone that turned out nice (only three K’s, but a win to go with a 1.421 ERA and a 0.789 WHIP are nothing to sneeze at). When I get Zitodickpunched for an entire week, remind me of this week, will you?

Still, there are some red flags. Street had a better week, but Putz not so much (no saves and less than an IP). Might have to look at a fallback for Putz. I need more saves, but we are so competitive around wins and K’s, I am not willing to grab a third closer opportunity right now. And Gallardo…two good starts this week and nice control, but for the year the K-rate is way off (26 strike-outs for the YTD in 42 IP or 62%). Is he hiding a shoulder problem? Also, my “ace” Cole Hamels, while pitching much better of late, only has one win.

My bats are still underperforming. Votto is hitting those sweet line drive doubles as expected, but no HR this week (only four YTD) are not going to give me the first round value I wanted. Cespedes has as many HR as Votto in roughly half the AB. My HR leaders are Fowler (8) and Betancourt (7). You know that will not hold up and Fowler went 0-fer-5 yesterday after missing some time with a sore hip. Ethier, Wieters, and especially Hosmer have been disappointing as well. In short, despite a 0.285 BA for this week, the 37/9/31/3 in the R/HR/RBI/SB counting stats will not get me any farther than where I am right now, which is in the middle. In case you haven’t heard, finishing in the middle don’t win any moola!

FAAB – I really wish Dee Gordon hadn’t had those three SB over the weekend. He still might have gone for the bucks he did, but the immediate impact of the speed inflated the price. Chad Schroeder “stole” him for a few hundred. I guess the real culprit was too many of us need MI help. I place a bid on him, but was not even the runner-up. He was the only MI I bid on because there just is not much out there.

Due to Putz’s problem, I bid $19 on David Hernandez. I already have Gregerson, so the thought of another handcuff did not appeal to me too much. Still, I felt I had to try, though I lost out to Josh Blumenreich and Lowell Kaplan. My contingency was a real wild hair. Scott Kazmir ($7). Anybody got a match so I can see how much gas is left in this can?

Week 6 “Strategy” – First, look for regression in my team. Regression is real. Regression is everywhere. Regression, regression, regression. Sorry…just channeling my inner-child just like a real child learning a cuss word for the first time. Not sure why so many are taking objection to the thought of regression. It happens. Get over it.

Not really many options for batters. Still have Zunino in the minors (getting harder to justify to myself holding onto him), Hart on the DL for a few more weeks, and Youk too, though I hear they might let him out of the maternity ward soon. Outfield is locked with Cespedes, Aoki (only two games through Thursday would cause me concern if I had a real alternative), Ethier (grow a pair, will you?), Fowler (how bad is the hip?), and Span. Wieters and Saltalamacchia (more than 10 AB this week, please) are my catchers. Votto and Hosmer (Hey, wake up, it is May for goodness sake!) are two-thirds of my corners. In the middle infield spots Drew and Betancourt are locks. At the MI and for third will be some combo of Dozier, Maicer Izturis, and Chris Johnson. One of the Brave’s announcers indicated that Francisco might need a few more days, so I may go with Johnson for one even though the Braves will be facing the RH-heavy Reds early in the week. Still, it would be nice if Johnson could get a couple of starts at Great American.

Closers Putz and Street are in such as they are. With the off days early in the week impacting my team, I will get at best seven starts from seven starters. Five are easy (Hamels @ ARI, Scherzer v CLE, Lynn @ CHC, Burnett v SEA, Wandy @ NYMutts). In the seventh starter spot, Nolasco is in San Diego, so that matchup looks pretty good. That leaves Gallardo (@CIN where he was 0-2 last year), Chacin (@ hot STL) and (giggle) Kazmir (v OAK). Not that it makes it a smart move, but twelve of us noticed the last two starts by Kazmir haven’t been too bad and cared enough to place a bids (most mid to low range though one team needs to get back on the glue and bid $114! - ). Chacin’s first start back was not pretty and St. Louis is playing good ball right now, so he is probably out. Gallardo in Great American or Kazimir at home versus the A’s. Gallardo would probably be the smarter play, but like I mentioned, I have concerns. And Kazmir is one of those guys who will tease you with a couple of good starts, then WHAM! Frying pan to the face.

What is your risk tolerance?

[Edwards Kings]

How good was the pitching last night for many teams? Lance Lynn went seven for me in a no-decision with five hits/walks total, two earned runs, and eight strikeouts as my only starter, and I LOST 3.5 pitching points in Wins, ERA, WHIP and K's.

[headhunters]

pitching, hitting, steals, life- all relative. Me- i would have preferred upton catch that "homer" last night. if he is gonna hit .150 he should at least help get me a save. gattis said he would have had that easily- which is why upton is on the bench today.

[Oaktown]

pitching, hitting, steals, life- all relative. Me- i would have preferred upton catch that "homer" last night. if he is gonna hit .150 he should at least help get me a save. gattis said he would have had that easily- which is why upton is on the bench today.

The Mesoraco HR? Haha, zero chance Gattis catches that.

[headhunters]

joke. but both he and upton would have been 0-1 with gattis hitting 100 points higher.

[Oaktown]

joke. but both he and upton would have been 0-1 with gattis hitting 100 points higher.

Very true on that one, BJU is just brutal right now.

[Edwards Kings]

That leaves Gallardo (@CIN where he was 0-2 last year), Chacin (@ hot STL) and (giggle) Kazmir (v OAK). Not that it makes it a smart move, but twelve of us noticed the last two starts by Kazmir haven’t been too bad and cared enough to place a bids (most mid to low range though one team needs to get back on the glue and bid $114! - ). Chacin’s first start back was not pretty and St. Louis is playing good ball right now, so he is probably out. Gallardo in Great American or Kazimir at home versus the A’s. Gallardo would probably be the smarter play, but like I mentioned, I have concerns. And Kazmir is one of those guys who will tease you with a couple of good starts, then WHAM! Frying pan to the face.

What is your risk tolerance?

"Scott Kazmir struck out 10 hitters Thursday as the Indians routed the A's 9-2 in Cleveland.
Kazmir was absolutely fantastic, yielding only one run throughout afternoon -- a solo shot in the sixth inning by A's third baseman Josh Donaldson. The left-hander allowed only five hits in all and struck out 10, throwing 72 of his 103 pitches for strikes. He has been on a roll since his rough April 20 debut and needs to be scooped up in all standard fantasy leagues."

I went with Kazmir which probably used up my luck quota for the year. Still....

[ALL-IN JD]

I'm with you Wayne!! Rolled with Kazmir too!! Turned out to be a yummy match up with no Crisp and no Reddick!!

[Edwards Kings]

I'm with you Wayne!! Rolled with Kazmir too!! Turned out to be a yummy match up with no Crisp and no Reddick!!

That is great! But now the question becomes...do we push our luck and keep him

[ALL-IN JD]

Spot starter!!

[Edwards Kings]

Here is a question for you...on May 10, 2013, what did Joey Votto, Yoenis Cespedes, Matt Wieters, Eric Hosmer, Andre Ethier, Dexter Fowler, Denard Span, Lucas Duda, Yuniesky Betancourt, and Stephen Drew have in common?

I will not keep you in suspense. They all went hitless. 0-36. And collectively scored one run. I have had some bad nights with batters, but this is one of the worst.

[Edwards Kings]

Patience.

“The key to everything is patience. You get the chicken by hatching the egg, not by smashing it.”
Arnold H. Glasow

“You will probably starve and miss out on a helluva lot of good omelets if you wait for some damn chicken to hatch.”
R. Wayne Edwards, Jr.

If you were lucky enough to really know at least one of your Grandparents well, as I was, I would expect they pulled out from the “Grandparents Handbook” some phrase like patience is a virtue, usually around Christmas, or birthdays, or when being forced to be somewhere other than where you wanted to be. I tried to listen. I really did. And as a result, I have patience, albeit in limited volumes.

Sometime during the coming week, we will cross from the end of the first quarter of our fantasy baseball year and move into the second. And I am losing what patience I have with my teams’ batters. They just are not performing.

Frustration.

“Laughter and tears are both responses to frustration and exhaustion. I myself prefer to laugh, since there is less cleaning up to do afterward.”
Kurt Vonnegut

“Try drinking, Kurt. Speaking from personal experience, it is a nice middle ground and people at least think they understand why you are laughing or crying to yourself!”
R. Wayne Edwards, Jr.

My frustration with my batters is that for the most part, I really cannot do too much about them. I can tweak or try to pick up the hot hand, but for the most part, I am not likely to find anything better than what I already have on my team. I mean, it is not like I am going to drop Blotto, or Cespedes, or Hosmer, or Wieters.

Depression.

“Depression is the inability to construct a future.”
Rollo May

“You must be in my League!”
R. Wayne Edwards, Jr.

In a minor way (i.e. small potatoes when compared to the real world) all the work, the studying, the hope, the projections (those that say they do not do projections are as believable as a teenager saying they don't masturbate), the planning, the trip, the draft, the fun, the hanging out at the boards, and the pre-season euphoria all go down the drain when your team does not follow the script.

“Enthusiasm is followed by disappointment and even depression, and then by renewed enthusiasm.”
Murray Gell-Mann

“Damn straight! Look out…here I come!”
R. Wayne Edwards, Jr.

We used to say that this event is a marathon, not a sprint, though now most think of it as a series of 26 back-to-back sprints…what ever…hope springs eternal that the first quartile is the “down” and the rest of the year is the “up” of the rollercoaster. The Main Event is the only place in the carnival where you hope to get off the ride on a higher platform than the one you started with. So, especially with us who kneel at the alter of regression, you plan, you keep your studs in knowing they will soon be acting very studly, and you choose your FA and roster battles.

“It ain’t over till its over.”
Yogi Berra and Lenny Kravitz and R. Wayne Edwards, Jr.

Week 6 Results – My team has still not hit batting targets. I should not be surprised because my BA target has been hit only one week, my HR target twice, and my team has yet to hit the RBI, Runs, and SB targets yet. Norichika Aoki has as many homeruns as Joey “No Lotto” Votto. Speaking of Votto, he has been driven in 26 times, but only returned the favor 15. Maicer Izturis has as many homeruns as Andre Ethier. Yuniesky Betancourt (who leads my team in RBI’s) has more homeruns than Yoenis Cespedes and Eric Hosmer combined. Lucas Duda has eight homeruns, but only twelve RBI’s. In short, I am actually seeing homeruns at rates unexpected from several players (Fowler, Betancourt, Duda), but cannot take advantage of them because the core power players are not producing. And it would be a fools calculation to expect Fowler, Betancourt and Duda to hit 30+ HR each this year. Not to mention that nasty word, but the power shown by each will surely regress (ok, maybe Duda can get 25, but Fowler has already slowed as he has only two hits in his last 26 AB since hurting his hip).

And Fowlers’ hip is not helping my weakest category, steals. I never intended to lead in steals, though I did draft three guys primarily for their speed potential. I also drafted a few guys like Hosmer, Votto, and Cespedes who showed better than average speed for their position or power profile. I was either dead wrong (probably) or there is a helluva hot streak coming.

I am through bitching now. Like the time when you had two dates in one week, one who looks like the girl of your dreams and the other resembles the missing link (i.e. how drunk was I when I asked her for her number!), you really only want to tell your buddies about dream girl. My starting pitching was once again the dream girl. Seven starts for the week and only three wins, but they could easily have one all seven. They averaged nearly seven innings a start, seven strikeouts per start, less than five hits and two walks per start, and less than two earned runs per start (starters ERA for the week was 2.489 with a 0.915 WHIP). Once in a great while your best pitching performance of the week doesn’t reside on your bench. This was one of those weeks as both Chacin (eleven hits and walks in five IP) and Gallardo (ten in four) struggled from the bench.

Saves were a challenge once again. Losing Putz is bad even though he wasn’t exactly tearing anything other than his elbow up. Street struggled again (kind of wild that there are three closers with more saves than Street and Putz combined). I actually bid on David Hernandez last week and lost. Also kind of glad I did lose because I would have been pissed to get him and THEN have Bell anointed closer.

Week 7 FAAB – I have, from time to time, been guilty of swimming against the current. As such, you will note that while some people are chunking bucks at Kazmir, I cut him after his sterling outing. I was the only one to cut him, which is a little surprising to me. He may truly be back and those who have him will be truly glad. I have other needs more pressing than having a guy like Kazmir can help me with. Plus, I personally think he is a Zitodickpunch waiting to happen. I could be wrong, but all I know is he cost me $7, gave me one great start that he is unlikely to improve on, and I am going to stick with my less risky options. I actually hope he has at least one more good start so some more money can be drained out of my League next week.

I do however need a closer. I got in on the Tazawa lottery but was outbid. Bailey should be back soon, so at best this is a rental. In any regard, with Hanrahan out for the year and Bailey “fragile” at best, Uehara may be the best investment. I won him for $9 ($8 runner up). He may even get some save opportunities this week. I am holding onto Putz, hoping he will be out only a month.

Week 7 Plans – With Hart on the DL (still and I am with Dan…when will I ever NOT be fooled by spring training injury projections?), Wussy Youkilis still on the DL, and me continuing to keep a reserve spot tied up with Zunino (Saltalamacchia is going to be lucky to get 400 AB this year so I was hoping Zunino would take over the role in Seattle ASAP in June), my options are limited with decisions to made mainly at the MI spots and third base. The Braves face four lefthanders next week so Chris Johnson has a chance to get 20 AB and he will be my thirdbaseman. Betancourt has gone colder but is still getting the AB and is still showing a little pop. Drew had a nice week and may be slipping into a groove. Dozier is getting most of the starts at second for Minnesota but is not doing much with it (though he did have a HR last week). Izturis can qualify in the middle or at third but like Dozier is not really doing much with it.

The potential is there. The pitching is solid and the bats need to show up. Now.

“That's what learning is, after all; not whether we lose the game, but how we lose and how we've changed because of it and what we take away from it that we never had before, to apply to other games. Losing, in a curious way, is winning.”
Richard Bach

“Bite me Richard. If losing is winning, how much will your check be in October?”
R. Wayne Edwards, Jr.