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Early fantasy baseball rankings: DH

Here’s an early peek at the RotoAce 2012 fantasy baseball rankings for designated hitter.

1. David Ortiz (left): Depending on how old you think Big Papi really is, he technically enters his age-36 season coming off a throwback year when he put up a .309-84-29-96-1 line. Ortiz managed to avoid the slow starts that plagued him in the recent past, but expect a little more to go wrong and numbers that come up a bit short of last year.

2. Billy Butler: Eric Hosmer’s arrival sent Butler back to DH, where he put up another solid but not spectacular season. Butler turns 26 in mid-April, so if a power spike is coming then this will likely be the season.

3. Jesus Montero: It took Montero almost two full seasons in Triple-A before finally getting the call to New York, where he was even better than advertised with a .996 OPS and four homers in just 69 plate appearances. Being traded from the Yankees’ offense-friendly lineup and ballpark to the Mariners’ league-worst offense and ballpark will limit Montero’s fantasy impact this season. (more…)

Early fantasy baseball rankings: Outfield

Here’s an early peek at the RotoAce 2012 fantasy baseball rankings for outfield. (more…)

Early fantasy baseball rankings: Shortstop

Here’s an early peek at the RotoAce 2012 fantasy baseball rankings for shortstop.

1. Troy Tulowitzki: Injuries again caught up to Tulo last season, but not until September in the form of a sore hip or before he had put up his customary huge numbers. He enters his age-27 season primed for a career year if he can avoid the injury bug.

2. Jose Reyes (left): The old hamstring issues cropped up again last season, taking a little of the luster off an otherwise spectacular season that saw him win the NL batting crown with a .337 mark. Now he’s taking his electrifying game to Miami, where he’ll try to live up to his $106 million contract with the Marlins while in his prime at age 28. (more…)

Early fantasy baseball rankings: Third Base

Here’s an early peek at the RotoAce 2012 fantasy baseball rankings for third base.

1. Jose Bautista (left): No. 1 overall on ESPN’s player rater for last year, he’s already produced one encore for his breakout 2010 season, so who are we to doubt he can do it again. The batting average is likely to fall back below .300, but the power numbers are as elite as they come.

2. Evan Longoria: The Rays star missed a full month yet still managed 31 homers and 99 RBIs, so a healthy season could see him rise to the top of the third base rankings if he can get his average back up. (more…)

Early fantasy baseball rankings: Catcher

Here’s an early peek at the RotoAce 2012 fantasy baseball rankings for catcher.

1. Brian McCann (left): With our No. 1 going down for the season (Victor Martinez), McCann assumes the top spot. He’s as consistent as they come (between 18-24 homers and 71-94 RBIs in each of his six full seasons) and is in his prime entering his age-28 season.

2. Carlos Santana: The .239 average may have disappointed in his first full season, but the counting numbers (27 homers, 84 runs, 79 RBIs, 5 steals) were elite and could get better as he turns just 25 in the first week of the ’12 season. His high walk rate and .291 career minor league average are good signs that his average will be on the rise and give the Indians slugger a chance at the top spot. It helps that the Indians keep his bat in the lineup by playing him at first base when he’s not catching. (more…)

StockWatch: Saturday, July 16

Yahoo for our ownership percentages are in parentheses. From games of Saturday, July 16.

Stock Up

CC Sabathia (98%) is showing what elite aces do – go on monster rolls that carry fantasy pitching staffs. The big lefty held the Blue Jays to three hits and one run in eight innings with three walks and eight strikeouts for his seventh win in seven starts. In his past five starts, Sabathia has a 0.45 ERA with 50 strikeouts in 39.2 IP. Sabathia has been a big second-half pitcher many times in the past, so jump aboard and ride that train.

Javier Vazquez (28%) is back. We declared him dead back in mid-May when his ERA rocketed to 7.55, and he was still stinking in mid-June with a 7.09 ERA. Vazquez posted his first double-digit strikeout game in over two years with 10 Ks against the Cubs on Saturday, allowing four hits and three runs with no walks in a 13-3 win. In his past six starts, Vazquez is 3-2 with a 1.39 ERA and a 29-3 K-BB ratio in 37.1 IP. Vazquez’s resurgence has coincided with an uptick in his lost velocity – his average fastball has gone from 88.4 mph in April to 88.8 in May to 90.5 in June to 90.8 so far in July. He averaged 91.1 mph in 2009 with the Braves when he contended for the NL Cy Young, so see if you can still buy low because of his 5.14 season ERA. (more…)

StockWatch: Thursday, July 14

Yahoo for our ownership percentages are in parentheses. From games of Thursday, July 14.

Stock Up

Derek Holland (26%) hurled his second straight shutout, limiting the Mariners to five hits with one walk and eight strikeouts. These two gems come on the heels of a miserable two-start stretch that saw him give up a combined 12 runs (eight earned) and 16 hits in 6.2 innings. We’d like to see Holland do this against someone other than the light-hitting Mariners and Athletics before we go recommending him, but he has the talent for a breakout.

Ian Stewart (17%) went 3-for-5 and is 5-for-8 in his past two games to almost double his average from .079 to .141. Stewart has started seven straight games since returning from exile in Colorado Springs and has enough power potential to pick up in deep mixed leagues. He hit a combined 43 homers in 811 ABs over the past two seasons, yet he’s only scratched the surface of the tremendous potential he’s had since the Rockies drafted him in the first round back in 2003. Stewart had regained his power stroke in Triple-A, clubbing 14 homers in 167 ABs, so now it’s time he starts hitting in the majors again. (more…)

StockWatch: Sunday, July 3

Yahoo for our ownership percentages are in parentheses. From games of Sunday, July 3.

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Rajai Davis (37%) broke out of a hideous 7-for-76 slump since his last stolen base back on June 4, going 3-for-4 with three steals on Sunday. With the skid likely behind him, it’s a good time to get the speedster in if you’re in need of steals.

Nick Markakis (79%) continued his June rampage on into July, going 5-for-5 with a steal on Sunday. Since June 8, Markakis is 44-for-101 with three homers, 14 RBIs and three steals in 22 games, raising his average from .236 to .296. It’s good to see Markakis sprinkling in some steals, which helps make him a solid mixed-league option going forward. (more…)

StockWatch: Friday, June 24

Yahoo for our ownership percentages are in parentheses. From games of Friday, June 24.

Stock Up

Guillermo Moscoso (1%) is likely the luckiest pitcher in the majors, posting a 2.68 ERA through 37 innings with the A’s despite a 5.72 xFIP. The peripherals are ugly – 3.4 K/9, 4.1 BB/9, .205 BABIP, 25.2% GB and 4.5% HR/FB. So we’ve got a low-strikeout, high-walk, fly-ball pitcher who has been extremely lucky on balls in play … run away!!! Do not pick this guy up despite his gaudy ERA, as ZiPS projects him for a 5.71 ERA the rest of the way.

Derrek Lee (26%) finally hit his first homer since May 8 and is heating up. The 35-year-old went 3-for-5 on Friday and is 14-for-32 with five extra-base hits in his past seven games, raising his average from .214 to .247. This is most likely just a correction up to the mediocre player he has become in his mid-30s, but he’s at least worth getting in deep mixed-league lineups while he’s hot. (more…)

StockWatch: Monday, June 20

Stock Up

Clayton Kershaw (99%) has officially entering the elite class of pitchers that everyone knew he had the potential to do. After two bombings at hitter havens in Colorado and Cincinnati, Kershaw has allowed just six hits and a run in his past two starts, including a complete-game, two-hitter over the Tigers. He is now 7-3 with a 3.01 and his strikeout rate leads all of baseball (9.78 K/9). His 2.83 xFIP is also the fourth-best in the majors behind the Phillies trio of Roy Halladay, Cole Hamels and Cliff Lee. In short, good luck prying him away from an owner, but if you can get someone to sell, don’t be afraid to pay the price for him because he’s the real deal.

Ivan Nova (7%) had his best start of his young career, allowing just one run on four hits in eight innings, striking out a season-high seven and walking none. You may need to chalk this up to facing a Reds team who had never seen him before, but the seven strikeouts were somewhat of a surprise with just a 4.9 K/9 on the season. The rookie won his third straight start and induced fifteen ground ball outs. Needless to say, if he can get the strikeout rate up a bit and keep inducing that many ground balls, he can win a lot of games with that Yankees offense behind him. (more…)

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