Archive for the ‘Tampa Bay Rays’ Category

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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: Sunday, June 26

Yahoo for our ownership percentages are in parentheses. From games of Sunday, June 26.

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Jeff Keppinger (6%) just keeps doing the one thing he does best – hit for average. The Astros’ second baseman went 3-for-3 with a homer on Sunday, raising his average to .336. Keppinger is 17-for-42 in his past 10 games with six multi-hit performances. Because he has just two homers and no steals, Keppinger is more of an NL-only guy, but he can help out in deep mixed leagues too.

Ricky Romero (90%) hurled a four-hit shutout with two walks and five strikeouts against the Cardinals on Sunday. Romero has given up just three earned runs in his past three starts covering 24 innings with 21 strikeouts. His 2.74 ERA and 1.16 WHIP are both big improvements on last year’s breakout, as Romero is taking his place among the elite starting pitchers in all of baseball. (more…)

Spotlight: Justin Ruggiano

Justin Ruggiano went 2-for-3 on Monday and is 13-for-27 over his past seven games. Sam Fuld has hit the skids after a hot April, so Ruggiano is getting a shot despite top prospect Desmond Jennings’ presence in Triple-A Durham. Ruggiano is hitting .359 with two homers and a steal in 39 ABs, making him an interesting sleeper when you also consider an excellent track record in the minors. (more…)

StockWatch: Sunday, June 5

Yahoo for our ownership percentages are in parentheses. From games of Sunday, June 5.

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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: Sunday, May 29

Yahoo for our ownership percentages are in parentheses. From games of Sunday, May 29.

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Corey Patterson (16%) has caught fire, collecting nine hits in two days after going 4-for-5 with a homer and three RBIs on Sunday. Patterson has raised his average to .301 with the binge and his combination of power (four homers) and speed (seven steals) makes him a solid start in mixed leagues.

Jeremy Hellickson (78%) held the Indians to three hits in seven scoreless innings with two walks and six strikeouts to improve to 6-3 with a 2.80 ERA. Hellickson is 4-1 with a 1.36 ERA in May, but there are still some warning signs that this may be a good time to sell high. Hellickson’s strikeouts are down, walks are up and his BABIP is an unsustainable .202 in May. In April, Hellickson’s ERA of 4.31 was nearly identical to his 4.32 xFIP, but while his xFIP has stayed basically the same at 4.29, his 1.36 ERA in May is due mostly to good luck. We are still high on Hellickson’s long-term prospects, but right now he’s not as good as his 2.80 ERA makes him look. (more…)

StockWatch: Tuesday, May 24

Yahoo for our ownership percentages are in parentheses.

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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…)

Spotlight: James Shields

James Shields pitched yet another gem, this time hurling a three-hit shutout at the Marlins with 13 strikeouts to lower his ERA to 2.00 and WHIP to 0.93.

Is this really the same guy that posted a 5.18 ERA and 1.46 WHIP last season?! (more…)

StockWatch: Saturday, May 21

Yahoo for our ownership percentages are in parentheses. From games of Saturday, May 21.

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Josh Tomlin (67%) out-dueled Homer Bailey by holding the Reds to three hits and one run in seven innings on Saturday to run his record to 6-1 with a 2.41 ERA. Tomlin has now made a quality start in all nine of his appearances this year. He took a .178 BABIP into the game and surely lowered it to even more fortunate levels. With a strikeout rate of 4.5 K/9 and that low BABIP, it would be easy to see his ERA rise up closer to his 3.92 xFIP. Tomlin’s walk rate of 1.5 BB/9 gives him more of a margin for error, so he should remain a decent option, but the fantasy landscape is littered with the carcasses of guys like this – Brian Bannister, Nick Blackburn, John Lannan – you get the idea.

Javier Vazquez (25%) outpitched David Price with seven scoreless innings against the Rays, allowing only three hits with seven strikeouts and two walks. It was just Vazquez’s second quality start in nine appearances, lowering his ERA to 6.41. In his first start since returning from the bereavements list because of a death in his wife’s family, he looked like the Vazquez of old, at least for one day. In NL-only leagues or very deep mixed leagues, he’s worth picking up in case this is the start of something, otherwise we’d like to see him repeat the performance before recommending him for any more. (more…)

StockWatch: Tuesday, May 10

Yahoo for our ownership percentages are in parentheses.

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J.J. Hardy (10%) came off the DL with a bang, going 4-for-5 with a homer. We were high on Hardy going into the season before a strained oblique shelved him a week in, so now we’re getting back on his side. With a little health and the cozy confines of Camden Yards, Hardy should be worth owning in mixed leagues as a power option at shortstop.

Matt Joyce (30%) recorded his third straight multi-hit game by going 2-for-4 with a homer, raising his average to .356. Since starting the season 1-for-20, Joyce has hit a scalding .432 (35-for-81). Before you get too excited, remember that Joyce is basically a platoon player because he can’t hit lefties (2-for-15), so his counting totals will suffer a bit. If you own him, just be sure to bench him if he’s facing lefties. (more…)

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