Donn Johnson On STATS Fantasy Advantage Tonight

[Greg Ambrosius]

We have another great STATS Fantasy Advantage show set for tonight on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio. Among our guests tonight is Donn Johnson, who currently leads the NFBC Platinum League with 110 points. It will be fun to talk about the Platinum League again tonight and to reintroduce it to this audience. Donn will join us at 10:30 pm ET on SiriusXM 210/87.

Other guests tonight include Rich Wilson of Prospect361.com to talk about tomorrow's MLB Amateur Draft, Zach Dillard of FoxSports South to talk about the Atlanta Braves and Mike Spofford of Packers.com to talk some fantasy football in the last half hour. Join us tonight and enjoy.

[Greg Ambrosius]

Thanks to Donn Johnson for joining us on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports last night. It was a great discussion of the NFBC Platinum League with an NFBC Charter Member who is having another good season in 2014.

Here's a few nuggets from our STATS Research team that we gave out last night:

Jonathan Singleton became the youngest Astro to homer in MLB Debut: 22 years, 258 days. Ken Caminiti had been the youngest before that at 24 years, 86 days.

Kolten Wong’s first home run was a grand slam. He becomes the 12th Cardinal to hit a grand slam with his first homer. The last position player to do that was Willie McGee in 1982.

Henderson Alvarez threw a no-hitter on the final weekend of the 2013 MLB season and he now has three complete games already this year. He beat the Rays 1-0 on Tuesday night and became the first Marlins pitcher to pitch a complete game in 88 or fewer pitches.

One of the best bargains of 2014 has been OF Nelson Cruz, who the Orioles signed to a one-year, $8 million contract. He’s also been a steal for fantasy owners as his ADP in the NFBC was 153 this year. How valuable has he been for the Orioles?
He leads the majors with the highest Pct of Team’s RBI in 2014. Cruz has driven in over 23% of the Orioles’ runs this year: 55 of 237. Miguel Cabrera is second at 21% (49/236) with Giancarlo Stanton third at 20% (51 of 249). Also in the Top 5 are Ryan Howard (.194 40/206) and Jose Abreu (.185 47/254). If Cruz maintains this pace, he will have the highest percent of his team’s RBI in a season since Nate Colbert of the Padres in 1972 (24.6%).

Jose Abreu hit HRs on Monday and Tuesday night in Los Angeles, giving him 17 HRs in his first 46 major league games. That ties him with Wally Berger from 1930 for the most HRs in their first 46 games. Other names on that list include Wally Joyner with 16 in 1986, Kevin Maas with 15 in 1990, Sam Horn with 14 in 1987, Albert Pujols with 14 in 2001 and Ryan Braun with 14 in 2007. Abreu’s 47 RBIs through his first 46 career games ties him with Ted Williams from 1939 and only trails Joe DiMaggio’s 52 RBIs in his first 46 career games from 1936.

Troy Tulowitzki is having an MVP-caliber season, but how much of that can be attributed to his play at Coors Field?
Largest Increase in BA, Home > Road – 2014
PLYR HOME ROAD DIFF
Troy Tulowitzki, Col .519 (40/77) .234 (25/107) +.285
Justin Upton, Atl .385 (40/104) .194 (18/93) +.191
Austin Jackson, Det .333 (29/87) .152 (15/99) +.181
Carlos Gonzalez, Col .354 (29/82) .184 (21/114) +.170

** Let’s turn our attention to the NBA Finals, which start tomorrow in San Antonio. It’s our first repeat NBA Finals since 1998 when the Bulls defeated the Utah Jazz both times. LeBron James has won the last two NBA Finals MVP awards, but how has he played on the road in the opener?

LeBron James in Game 1 on Road in Playoffs – Career
Record 0-7 (.000)
PPG 18.3 (128/7)
FG% .379 (47/124)
Reb/Gm 7.9 (55/7)
Ast/Gm 5.9 (41/7)

** Gregg Popovich is trying to win yet another NBA title. If he does, he will have won titles ranging from 1999 (his first) to 2014. How does that rank historically?

Largest Gap Between First and Last Titles – All-Time
Coach First Title Last Title Diff
Pat Riley 1982 Lakers 2006 Heat 24
Phil Jackson 1991 Bulls 2010 Lakers 19
Gregg Popovich 1999 Spurs 2014 Spurs 15

This is Gregg Popovich’s 5th NBA Finals appearance as a head coach. How does that rank all-time?
Phil Jackson leads the way with 13, followed by Red Auerbach with 11, Pat Riley with 9, John Kundla with 6 and K.C. Jones with 5.