Subscribe to this RSS feed
Here’s an early peek at the RotoAce 2012 fantasy baseball rankings for starting pitcher. (more…)
Archive for the ‘Detroit Tigers’ Category
Early fantasy baseball rankings: Shortstop
Here’s an early peek at the RotoAce 2012 fantasy baseball rankings for shortstop.
1. Tro
y 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: First Base
Here’s an early peek at the RotoAce 2012 fantasy baseball rankings for first base.
1. Miguel Cabrera (left): It’s finally time for a changing of the guard, as the Tigers’ slugger moves into the top spot that Albert Pujols has inhabited for pretty much the past decade. Cabrera is smack-dab in the middle of his prime entering his age-28 season while Pujols is embarking on the backside of his career going into his age-32 season. Cabrera won the AL batting crown with a .344 mark and is a safe bet to keep up his trek to Cooperstown.
2. Adrian Gonzalez: Gonzalez didn’t enjoy the power surge many experts were forecasting when leaving San Diego’s Petco Park for Boston’s Fenway Park, but he still put up a fantastic .338-108-27-117-1 line. If the homers pick up, Gonzo could be the No. 1 first baseman in 2012. (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, June 25
Yahoo for our ownership percentages are in parentheses. From games of Saturday, June 25.
Stock Up
Justin Verlander (98%) is on one amazing roll, striking out 14 in eight scoreless innings on Saturday to improve to 10-3 with a 2.38 ERA and 0.84 WHIP. He has won six straight starts with a combined 0.72 ERA and a 51-6 K-BB ratio in 49.2 IP, making Verlander the early favorite for AL Cy Young.
Add of the Day: Tom Gorzelanny (3%) may have lost his fourth straight start on Saturday, but he pitched like he had early in the season before missing four weeks with an inflamed elbow, limiting the White Sox to seven hits and one run in seven innings with one walk and eight strikeouts. Gorzelanny has kept his strikeout up at 7.8 K/9 while lowering his walk rate to 3.1 BB/9 from last season’s mini-breakout with the Cubs. His xFIP of 4.17 matches his 4.18 ERA, so don’t go getting too excited, but Gorzelanny can be a decent back-of-the-rotation guy in a deep mixed league. (more…)
StockWatch: Friday, June 17
Yahoo for our ownership percentages are in parentheses. From the games of Friday, June 17.
Stock Up
Brett Myers (37%) may be finally awakening, tossing a complete game against the Dodgers on Friday. Myers allowed four hits and three runs (two earned) with six strikeouts and one walk. Before we get ahead of ourselves and start announcing that the Myers of last year (3.14 ERA, 180 Ks) is back, remember that this is just the third time in his last 11 starts that he has allowed three runs or less. One encouraging sign is that Myers has cut his walk rate in half from 3.2 BB/9 in the first two months to 1.6 BB/9 in June. Myers had always had a problem with the long ball before last year, when his HR/FB rate dropped to 8.5% from his career 14.4%. His old bugaboo has returned this season with a 14.8% HR/FB, so don’t expect a return to last year’s form entirely. Myers’ 4.03 xFIP shows that his 4.75 ERA is a bit inflated, so he should be able to become someone you can use in deep mixed leagues for favorable matchups.
Josh Tomlin (56%) ended his string of three straight six-run outings, limiting the Pirates to one run in 6.2 IP with five strikeouts and no walks. Tomlin dropped his ERA to 3.93 and has a sparkling 1.07 WHIP due in large part to his miniscule walk rate of 1.2 BB/9. As long as he can keep limiting the free passes, his 3.72 xFIP could hold up as long as the league doesn’t figure out how to square up all those strikes he throws. (more…)
StockWatch: Monday, June 6
Yahoo for our ownership percentages are in parentheses. From games of Monday, June 6.
Stock Up
Adam Rosales (0%) was a key benefactor in a major roster shakeup for the A’s on Monday, as the 28-year-old former Red will get a chance to stake his claim on third base. Rosales had been on the DL all season recovering from a fractured foot, but he didn’t waste any time by hitting a two-run homer in his second at-bat of the year. Rosales’ foot still isn’t 100 percent, so he’ll be on a two-days-on, one-off schedule for now. Recently-acquired Scott Sizemore was called up and could also see some starts at third now that previous starter Kevin Kouzmanoff has been sent down. And top prospect Jemile Weeks was called up with second baseman Mark Ellis headed to the DL. Weeks should get most of the starts at second with Sizemore also getting a look there. We’ll talk more about Weeks after his major-league debut on Tuesday, so it’s Rosales we’re looking at the closest today. Rosales hit .271 with seven homers and two steals in 255 ABs for the A’s after coming over from the Reds in a deal for Aaron Miles last year. Rosales has a little pop, as he hit a combined .299 with 16 homers and 11 steals in Triple-A in 2008-09. You might be able to catch lightning in a bottle, but the ceiling’s not very high here so think of Rosales as more of a stop-gap until he proves more.
Brennan Boesch (32%) put up the line of the night on Monday – 5-for-6 with two homers and five RBIs. Boesch is 10-for-18 with three homers and seven RBIs in his past four games to raise his average to .278. He can run extremely hot and cold, as evidenced by his rookie season last year when he hit .342 with 12 homers and 49 RBIs before the All-Star break and just .163 with two homers after. With this in mind, it’s time to pounce on him if he’s available and hope he can get on a long roll again. (more…)
StockWatch: Sunday, June 5
Yahoo for our ownership percentages are in parentheses. From games of Sunday, June 5.
Stock Up
David Ortiz (89%) is turning back the clock to 2007, when last he was an MVP-caliber force in Boston’s lineup. He was 3-for-4 on Sunday and is 12-for-22 with two homers and six RBIs in his past six games to raise his average to .325. It’s a good sign to see Ortiz not off to the horrid starts that have plagued him in recent seasons, so it’s not unreasonable to expect him to keep this up.
Adam Lind (88%) came off the DL and picked up right where he left off, going 4-for-4 with two homers and three RBIs. Despite missing four weeks with a bad back, Lind has nine homers and 30 RBIs to give the Blue Jays a terrific 1-2 punch in the middle of their lineup with Jose Bautista. (more…)
Fantasy Baseball Prospects to own
May is over and the service time clock is no longer much of an issue, so it’s time for clubs to start replacing some of the dead weight on their clubs with actual players with upside. In fact, some clubs have already started the process. Here’s a look, alphabetically, at some fantasy baseball prospects who should be owned as they are already in the majors or may be called up soon: (more…)
StockWatch: Tuesday, May 24
Yahoo for our ownership percentages are in parentheses.
Stock Up
Kelly Johnson (63%) is finally hitting after an April that saw him hit just .180 with three HRs. He 6-for-17 with 2 HRs and 8 RBIs in his past 5 games and is starting to look like a guy who has the potential to put up a 20/20 season at second base.
Matt Joyce (85%) has caught fire since the end of April, as he has hit all eight of his home runs since April 28 and has his average up to .367. He is doing all his damage against right-handed pitchers (.397, 7 HR, 24 RBIs) and his ridiculously high BABIP of .418 probably isn’t going to last long, so enjoy the ride while it lasts. (more…)
