Performance is the Key

[DOUGHBOYS]

There are a lot of folks on radio and tv telling us how great each player is. An example...

Biff.... " Boff, Bryce Harper is looking BUFF! He has put on 20 pounds of muscle! If you thought you saw a strong Harper last year, this year he just looks like he's going to have a dynamite year!"

Boff..."That's right, Biff! Harper goes all out all the time! He is the modern day Pete Rose, except for all of Rose's accomplishments!
But there is nobody, no wall, no base that Harper will leave untouched in his quest to help his team.
And in his off time, he visits children's Hospitals!"

Biff... "True enough, Boff! Bryce Harper is the Man!"

And from this bit of hype, we learn nothing. There is no information that we can use to make picks in a fantasy league.
Only two guys who are slobbering over Bryce Harper, the same way that they will a half hour later when it comes to Matt Holliday.
It is called filling air time.
Some will be misled and move Harper up their lists.
If anything, hes moved down a peg or two on my own lists, because more bulk usually leads to more pulled muscles.
Writers and media folks love 'best shape of my life' stories. Whenever I hear one, I wonder why that player wasn't in the best shape of his life previously.
Did he not care as much then?

You have to be in pretty good shape to play baseball. Not great shape, but pretty good shape.
I'm pretty sure Yogi Berra lifted more ice cream cones than weights, but he did pretty well. I'm not sure if being in better shape than anybody else has really helped.
When looking back at some Hall of Famers, I think of Ted Williams as skinny, Stan Musial as 'regular', and Babe Ruth as a little pudgy.
None of them were in great shape. They were in baseball shape.

Bartolo Colon looks like he eats more Doritos than me. Hell, he probably dips them in his milkshake.
Still, he gets hitters out.
Kyle Farnsworth looks like 'The Incredible Hulk', only less green. He's not 'better' than Colon on the mound. He just looks better.
Pablo Sandoval has the look of a guy who was raised in a food truck.
Brett Lawrie looks like a guy who works out after his work out.
Yet, their ADP is virtually the same.
CC Sabathia has lost more weight over the last 10 springs than he now weighs. Just ask those writers.
They tell us he loses 25-40 pounds every year.
For some reason, they writers would rather tout somebody who is not 'large' over somebody who is not.
So skinny CC is somebody they can recommend. Large CC, no.
But I think Large CC is better.

It is humorous in that baseball is not a typical sport. It is a game of short distances.
Especially for fantasy purposes.
We want our guy to trot 360 feet. We don't want him busting his ass down the line on a ground ball to shortstop.
We want our guy to hit the ball 420 feet. We don't want him chasing the ball over a long distance and colliding with the wall to catch a similar ball.
Most injuries happen on defense. I just made that up. But, it seems like they do.
Harper weighing 20 more pounds of muscle still gets his ass kicked by an outfield wall. And he'll still be hurting as much when he collides with teammates in trying to catch a ball.
If Harper had Ichiro's horse sense in how to play the outfield to maximize a fantasy owners roster, he may be a top five pick in every draft. Muscle or no muscle.
Strong horse sense trumps being strong as a horse.

A baseball player, besides the pitcher or catcher, is out of breath, on average, once during a game. If that.
I just made that up too. But, it sounds about right.
Half the game, their ass is on the bench. 95% of the other time, they are standing or waiting.
This sitting, standing, or waiting is interrupted by flashes of action.
It is these flashes that Harper and others get in shape for. They envision themselves reaching a ball faster or hitting a ball further. The 100's of hours in the gym to benefit moments in a game.
Does it work?
It helps their confidence. And the ego is stroked by other players and fans.
As far as helping in the batters box, I don't know.
To me, fantasy-wise, rangy Dave Kingman is the same as Big Donkey Adam Dunn.
Their bodies are different, but the balls they hit, do the same things after being struck.
Dan Uggla works out, but it seems as though he sees three balls at the plate and swings at one of them.
Is there a hand-eye work out for him?
For now, nobody swings and misses harder or more consistently than Uggla.
BJ Upton looks like a guy who buys a gym membership, but is too lazy to go.
On the ball field, he takes it a step further and seemingly is too lazy to care about his performance level.
Last year at this time, fans thought the two brothers would push each other to greatness.
It appears greatness knocked at the door and both brothers argued over answering the door.

In the end, who is in shape or not in shape is rat's assed. If CC Sabathia wants to come to camp weighing 400 pounds and throws lights out, then to me, he is in the best shape of his life.
Being buff and looking great and then not performing is like a male with 10 inches of manhood unable to satisfy the ladies.
The numbers on a scale or ruler mean little before an event.
Looks can be deceiving or even misleading.
The weight room and its effects have made 'fluffers' out of some writers.
As always, performance is the key.

[Teufel Hunden]

Not nearly enough references to fluffing or manhood size on fantasy baseball sites. Love the analogy.

[Yah Mule]

So many guys claim to be in the best shape of their life, Hardball Talk has made it into a running gag. Russell Martin had a stretch where he declared he was in the BSOHL four years in a row. Made me think he might have been training for the decathlon.