2012 Fantasy Baseball Daily Fix 8/22: Yesterday’s game by game rundown
Colorado Rockies at New York Mets: You know how you can tell the Rockies have no punch? Dexter Fowler batted third. Chris Young took full advantage, throwing a no-no until the fifth. He then was hurt by a few jabs, as a botched rundown, couple of sacrifices and infield hit helped lead to some runs. On the other side of the rubber, Jhoulys Chacin, back from a long DL stint, was pretty masterful, throwing 54 pitches through five and allowing just one run. The Rockies kept adding runs here and there, winning this one easily. Tyler Colvin got the start and stole two bases. He should see playing time down the stretch and could be a solid HR source. Fowler wasn’t successful as he was caught for the fourth time this year. He is 12/16, a marked improvement on his 12/21 mark last year. However, he is still just 64/96 on his career. You might wait his entire career for a 25 SB campaign.
Kansas City Royals at Tampa Bay Rays: And there was a pitcher’s duel! Luke Hochevar out-pitched David Price in this one. Price went eight scoreless, recording eight K’s and allowing just three hits. Fernando Rodney relieved Price in the ninth, walked a batter, but K’ed two and didn’t allow a run. Hochevar also went eight scoreless, but he K’ed 10. Eric Hosmer ended the stalemate in the top of the 10th, driving in Jeff Francoeur, and the game went to the bottom of the 10th and Greg Holland. Holland shut the door easily, and is on fire after the early season injury.
Toronto Blue Jays at Detroit Tigers: Holy Crap, Delmon Young walked in a run. O, Ricky Ro……..mero was pitching…’nuff said. Romero walked a ton of batters early in this one and if he’s anywhere near your line-up that’s just insane. Then, in the third, Romero got first pitch strikes on every batter he faced, threw just seven pitches and recorded three outs. Romero was somewhat on cruise control through the fifth. However, he walked two more in the sixth and couldn’t get out of the inning, oh well, there was a glimmer. More bad news for Jays' fans: Brett Lawrie experienced a setback and won’t be back as quick as initially thought. In the top of the sixth, Edwin Encarnacion strode to the plate, hit a ball really far, and circled the bases.
LA Angels at Boston Red Sox: Not the greatest pitching match-up in the world in this one. Jacoby Ellsbury batted third…and got a hit, and he’s batting .250 – awesome! Something tells me he’ll be a huge value next year. This year it looks like his timing is just not close. Just FYI, apparently Jerry Remy is against people dancing with their hands in the air. Aaron Cook: sometimes it’s better to walk someone, like when it’s Albert Pujols, there are two outs and Mike Trout is on second. Pujols was all over Aaron Cook in this one. In the fifth, Mark Trumbo was all also over Cook, destroying a pitch for a two-run shot. Cook is not good at pitching. An Ervin Santana start wouldn’t be official without a HR, as Salty took him deep. Great power there, but the average is disappointing.
During the telecast they were raising money for the Jimmy Fund. I donated, you should to, if you can: https://www.kintera.org/site/c.cuIXLjOXJpIaE/b.8076653/k.8B2D/Make_A_Gift/apps/ka/sd/donorcustom.asp?kntaw553019=AE45793F120C48958FEE385BC05D7A39
Cincinnati Reds at Philadelphia Phillies: Poor Cliff Lee (and his owners). Dude was awesome through six, and then the seventh came around. Lee gave up three runs on a smattering of hits and was pulled after getting just two outs. Lee did record nine K’s, so it wasn’t a useless outing. The Phils fought back in the bottom half getting a two RBI double by Jimmy Rollins. Of Course, Todd Frazier was due up in the next inning, which means: HR time. Fellow rookie Zack Cozart homered off Jonathan Papelbon in the top of the ninth to give the Reds a one-run lead after Jonathan Broxton coughed up the lead in the bottom of the 8th. Because he’s nasty, Aroldis Chapman wasn’t worried after Rollins stole second and third, striking out chase Utley to end the game.
Ready for some football? Get our 2012 Fantasy Football Draft Guide at the early bird special price! Or get the guide for free by signing up with Daily Joust and making a deposit.
Kansas City Royals at Tampa Bay Rays: And there was a pitcher’s duel! Luke Hochevar out-pitched David Price in this one. Price went eight scoreless, recording eight K’s and allowing just three hits. Fernando Rodney relieved Price in the ninth, walked a batter, but K’ed two and didn’t allow a run. Hochevar also went eight scoreless, but he K’ed 10. Eric Hosmer ended the stalemate in the top of the 10th, driving in Jeff Francoeur, and the game went to the bottom of the 10th and Greg Holland. Holland shut the door easily, and is on fire after the early season injury.
Toronto Blue Jays at Detroit Tigers: Holy Crap, Delmon Young walked in a run. O, Ricky Ro……..mero was pitching…’nuff said. Romero walked a ton of batters early in this one and if he’s anywhere near your line-up that’s just insane. Then, in the third, Romero got first pitch strikes on every batter he faced, threw just seven pitches and recorded three outs. Romero was somewhat on cruise control through the fifth. However, he walked two more in the sixth and couldn’t get out of the inning, oh well, there was a glimmer. More bad news for Jays' fans: Brett Lawrie experienced a setback and won’t be back as quick as initially thought. In the top of the sixth, Edwin Encarnacion strode to the plate, hit a ball really far, and circled the bases.
LA Angels at Boston Red Sox: Not the greatest pitching match-up in the world in this one. Jacoby Ellsbury batted third…and got a hit, and he’s batting .250 – awesome! Something tells me he’ll be a huge value next year. This year it looks like his timing is just not close. Just FYI, apparently Jerry Remy is against people dancing with their hands in the air. Aaron Cook: sometimes it’s better to walk someone, like when it’s Albert Pujols, there are two outs and Mike Trout is on second. Pujols was all over Aaron Cook in this one. In the fifth, Mark Trumbo was all also over Cook, destroying a pitch for a two-run shot. Cook is not good at pitching. An Ervin Santana start wouldn’t be official without a HR, as Salty took him deep. Great power there, but the average is disappointing.
During the telecast they were raising money for the Jimmy Fund. I donated, you should to, if you can: https://www.kintera.org/site/c.cuIXLjOXJpIaE/b.8076653/k.8B2D/Make_A_Gift/apps/ka/sd/donorcustom.asp?kntaw553019=AE45793F120C48958FEE385BC05D7A39
Cincinnati Reds at Philadelphia Phillies: Poor Cliff Lee (and his owners). Dude was awesome through six, and then the seventh came around. Lee gave up three runs on a smattering of hits and was pulled after getting just two outs. Lee did record nine K’s, so it wasn’t a useless outing. The Phils fought back in the bottom half getting a two RBI double by Jimmy Rollins. Of Course, Todd Frazier was due up in the next inning, which means: HR time. Fellow rookie Zack Cozart homered off Jonathan Papelbon in the top of the ninth to give the Reds a one-run lead after Jonathan Broxton coughed up the lead in the bottom of the 8th. Because he’s nasty, Aroldis Chapman wasn’t worried after Rollins stole second and third, striking out chase Utley to end the game.
Ready for some football? Get our 2012 Fantasy Football Draft Guide at the early bird special price! Or get the guide for free by signing up with Daily Joust and making a deposit.
Atlanta Braves at Washington Nationals: Apparently Paul Maholm’s deal with the devil was not as good as Ian Desmond’s. Desmond, after two straight sub 7.8% HR/FB rates, is posting an 18% rate. Desmond is a month shy from his 27th birthday, so perhaps he is hitting his power peak a bit early? It’s hard to imagine he’s all of a sudden a 25+ HR guy, though. It seems like he’ll be an overdraft next year. Then there were rain delays and it looked like the Maholm-Stephen Strasburg pitcher’s duel was a washout. But I typed too soon as both pitchers came back out after the delay, and Stras was excellent (10 K’s through five). Maholm? Not so much. Jesus Flores hit a three run shot off him in fifth. The Nats rode the three runs to the ninth when Tyler Clippard picked up the easy save.
New York Yankees at Chicago White Sox: Derek Jeter just keeps on hitting. He recorded an inside-the-park-HR off Francisco Liriano in the first. It was a tough inning for Liriano, as he allowed two runs on two hits and two walks with two K’s. Liriano did settle down and eventually allowed just three runs and K’ed seven en route to the victory. Things didn’t go well for Ivan Nova, as he allowed a HR to Paul Konerko and grand slam to Kevin Youkilis (who had actually hit a granny against the Pale Hose earlier in the year).
Houston Astros at St. Louis Cardinals: In the top of the first, Adam Wainwright threw nine pitches (seven strikes) in shutting down the ‘Stros. Then the Cards jumped all over Lucas Harrell in the bottom of the first, getting four runs on six hits. Harrell’s ERA jump over 4.00. The Cards and Wainwright cruised in this one, and nothing interesting happened.
Chicago Cubs at Milwaukee Brewers: Speaking of not much interesting happening, Marco Estrada was filthy in shutting down a wretched Cubs teams. Josh Vitters went 1/4 with three K’s. Brett Jackson only K’ed once, so there’s that. The Brew crew weren’t so great (they had more runs than hits), but they turned a bunch of walks into runs.
Baltimore Orioles at Texas Rangers: A big test for the Orioles and Chris Tillman. The Orioles got a cheap one in the first. Nate McLouth walked with two outs, stole second, went to third on an overthrow and then scored four pitches later as Scott Feldman airmailed one. Feldman has allowed 14 stolen bases on 16 attempts this year. FYI: Only Robin Yount and Alex Rodriguez had more hits at 23 than Elvis Andrus. While Andrus has been hitting well in the second half, the SB attempts just aren’t there. It’s quite odd. The wheels came off for Feldman in the fifth, as Manny Machado tripled, J.J. Hardy doubled and McLouth hit a monster HR. Meanwhile, Tillman had a great first, capping the three up, and three down with a K of Josh Hamilton. Tillman was darn good through six, making just one real mistake on an Ian Kinsler round tripper. I’m not even mad that I benched Tillman in all my leagues. He started the seventh off well, but gave up a bloop to David Murphy and Geo Soto followed with a laser two-run shot. I like Soto ROTW, especially in OBP leagues. Final line on Tillman: 6.2 innings, seven K’s, three runs, not bad. While he isn’t Fernando Rodney, Jim Johnson pitched a perfect ninth for his 187th save of the year.
Miami Marlins at Arizona Diamondbacks: Ricky Nolasco pitched worse, albeit slightly, than Trevor Cahill. Then the much maligned Marlins bullpen was perfect. The Diamondbacks weren’t so efficient, losing this one in the tenth. Emilio Bonifacio and Justin Upton both left the second inning with unrelated injuries. That would just be the cap to two disappointing years. The only thing the Upton injury might do is open playing time for Chris Young. He batted lead-off in this one, walked and scored a run; although the injury doesn’t look to be overly serious. Because he’s awesome, Giancarlo Stanton went 3/6 with a run, double, RBI and three K’s.
San Francisco Giants at Los Angeles Dodgers: Joe Blanton is kind of a jerk face. He walked just two batters against six K’s, but gave up 10 hits and four runs in 5.2 IPs. He didn’t help himself with an error and there was some other less than stellar defense, but still! Buster Posey drove in two batters and is sitting at .327/.403/.538. My lord. Tim Lincecum was decent and got the win. Javier Lopez was called on in the ninth for the save after Santiago Casilla and Sergio Romo recorded holds. Lopez got Andre Ethier to ground into a double play. I’m dropping Jeremy Affeldt in leagues where I need other stats and am relatively comfortable in saves. I doubt the 3-4 saves he gets will have much meaning.
Pittsburgh Pirates at San Diego Padres: A.J. Burnett wasn’t good enough in this one, giving up four runs and 17 base runners in 6.1 IPs. Jason Marquis was effective on the other bump and the Pirates couldn’t get the win despite getting two runs off Dale Thayer in the top of the ninth. Luke Gregerson pitched a perfect eighth for a hold. Garret Jones launched two long balls, passing the 20 HR plateau – so underrated. Travis Snider was in the line-up and went 2/4. If he can stay healthy, he might be a nice value. Will Venable had four hits and an SB – he could be a solid power/speed guy down the stretch. Chase Headley continued his awesome year, winning the game in the bottom of the ninth with a 430-foot two-run shot.
Cleveland Indians at Seattle Mariners: Felix Hernandez didn’t allow a run until the 8th inning, ultimately leaving the game after 7.2 IPs with five K’s and just seven hits. Underrated and under-owned John Jaso had a good night: 1/2 with a run, double, and RBI. Jesus Montero launched a HR that went 437 feet and scored Kyle Seager and Jaso.
Minnesota Twins at Oakland Athletics: New A, Stephen Drew, batted second and went hitless. Never fear as Brett Anderson was fantastic. He threw just 86 pitches over seven innings, recording 6 K’s and walking none. If he hasn’t been snagged in your league, go get him. Grant Balfour pitched a clean ninth for his 12th save. Ryan Cook was nowhere to be seen. Ben Revere did steal a base for the Twins, so they have that going for them. With Denard Span out, Darren Mastroianni got another start and could actually help you close the SB gap in your league.
In case you missed it, Billy Hamilton stole his 146th base in the minors last year: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/48746024/. That, my friends, breaks Vince Coleman’s record. No word on how Willie McGee is taking it.
Written by Albert Lang exclusively for TheFantasyFix.com
New York Yankees at Chicago White Sox: Derek Jeter just keeps on hitting. He recorded an inside-the-park-HR off Francisco Liriano in the first. It was a tough inning for Liriano, as he allowed two runs on two hits and two walks with two K’s. Liriano did settle down and eventually allowed just three runs and K’ed seven en route to the victory. Things didn’t go well for Ivan Nova, as he allowed a HR to Paul Konerko and grand slam to Kevin Youkilis (who had actually hit a granny against the Pale Hose earlier in the year).
Houston Astros at St. Louis Cardinals: In the top of the first, Adam Wainwright threw nine pitches (seven strikes) in shutting down the ‘Stros. Then the Cards jumped all over Lucas Harrell in the bottom of the first, getting four runs on six hits. Harrell’s ERA jump over 4.00. The Cards and Wainwright cruised in this one, and nothing interesting happened.
Chicago Cubs at Milwaukee Brewers: Speaking of not much interesting happening, Marco Estrada was filthy in shutting down a wretched Cubs teams. Josh Vitters went 1/4 with three K’s. Brett Jackson only K’ed once, so there’s that. The Brew crew weren’t so great (they had more runs than hits), but they turned a bunch of walks into runs.
Baltimore Orioles at Texas Rangers: A big test for the Orioles and Chris Tillman. The Orioles got a cheap one in the first. Nate McLouth walked with two outs, stole second, went to third on an overthrow and then scored four pitches later as Scott Feldman airmailed one. Feldman has allowed 14 stolen bases on 16 attempts this year. FYI: Only Robin Yount and Alex Rodriguez had more hits at 23 than Elvis Andrus. While Andrus has been hitting well in the second half, the SB attempts just aren’t there. It’s quite odd. The wheels came off for Feldman in the fifth, as Manny Machado tripled, J.J. Hardy doubled and McLouth hit a monster HR. Meanwhile, Tillman had a great first, capping the three up, and three down with a K of Josh Hamilton. Tillman was darn good through six, making just one real mistake on an Ian Kinsler round tripper. I’m not even mad that I benched Tillman in all my leagues. He started the seventh off well, but gave up a bloop to David Murphy and Geo Soto followed with a laser two-run shot. I like Soto ROTW, especially in OBP leagues. Final line on Tillman: 6.2 innings, seven K’s, three runs, not bad. While he isn’t Fernando Rodney, Jim Johnson pitched a perfect ninth for his 187th save of the year.
Miami Marlins at Arizona Diamondbacks: Ricky Nolasco pitched worse, albeit slightly, than Trevor Cahill. Then the much maligned Marlins bullpen was perfect. The Diamondbacks weren’t so efficient, losing this one in the tenth. Emilio Bonifacio and Justin Upton both left the second inning with unrelated injuries. That would just be the cap to two disappointing years. The only thing the Upton injury might do is open playing time for Chris Young. He batted lead-off in this one, walked and scored a run; although the injury doesn’t look to be overly serious. Because he’s awesome, Giancarlo Stanton went 3/6 with a run, double, RBI and three K’s.
San Francisco Giants at Los Angeles Dodgers: Joe Blanton is kind of a jerk face. He walked just two batters against six K’s, but gave up 10 hits and four runs in 5.2 IPs. He didn’t help himself with an error and there was some other less than stellar defense, but still! Buster Posey drove in two batters and is sitting at .327/.403/.538. My lord. Tim Lincecum was decent and got the win. Javier Lopez was called on in the ninth for the save after Santiago Casilla and Sergio Romo recorded holds. Lopez got Andre Ethier to ground into a double play. I’m dropping Jeremy Affeldt in leagues where I need other stats and am relatively comfortable in saves. I doubt the 3-4 saves he gets will have much meaning.
Pittsburgh Pirates at San Diego Padres: A.J. Burnett wasn’t good enough in this one, giving up four runs and 17 base runners in 6.1 IPs. Jason Marquis was effective on the other bump and the Pirates couldn’t get the win despite getting two runs off Dale Thayer in the top of the ninth. Luke Gregerson pitched a perfect eighth for a hold. Garret Jones launched two long balls, passing the 20 HR plateau – so underrated. Travis Snider was in the line-up and went 2/4. If he can stay healthy, he might be a nice value. Will Venable had four hits and an SB – he could be a solid power/speed guy down the stretch. Chase Headley continued his awesome year, winning the game in the bottom of the ninth with a 430-foot two-run shot.
Cleveland Indians at Seattle Mariners: Felix Hernandez didn’t allow a run until the 8th inning, ultimately leaving the game after 7.2 IPs with five K’s and just seven hits. Underrated and under-owned John Jaso had a good night: 1/2 with a run, double, and RBI. Jesus Montero launched a HR that went 437 feet and scored Kyle Seager and Jaso.
Minnesota Twins at Oakland Athletics: New A, Stephen Drew, batted second and went hitless. Never fear as Brett Anderson was fantastic. He threw just 86 pitches over seven innings, recording 6 K’s and walking none. If he hasn’t been snagged in your league, go get him. Grant Balfour pitched a clean ninth for his 12th save. Ryan Cook was nowhere to be seen. Ben Revere did steal a base for the Twins, so they have that going for them. With Denard Span out, Darren Mastroianni got another start and could actually help you close the SB gap in your league.
In case you missed it, Billy Hamilton stole his 146th base in the minors last year: http://nbcsports.msnbc.com/id/48746024/. That, my friends, breaks Vince Coleman’s record. No word on how Willie McGee is taking it.
Written by Albert Lang exclusively for TheFantasyFix.com
Follow Albert on Twitter @h2h_corner
or for Free Fantasy Sports Advice use our Quick Fix to get help with your team!
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