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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: Eric Thames

Eric Thames is being promoted from Triple-A Las Vegas to start in left field for the Blue Jays with Jose Bautista moving to third base. (more…)

StockWatch: Saturday, June 18

Yahoo for our ownership percentages are in parentheses. From games of Saturday, June 18.

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John Danks (52%) continued his resurgence with his third straight win since starting 0-8, holding the Diamondbacks to seven hits and two runs (one earned) in seven innings with no walks and seven strikeouts. During his winning streak, Danks has a 1.23 ERA, 0.95 WHIP and a 17-3 K-BB ratio in 22 IP. He has lowered his ERA from 5.25 to 4.29, much more in line with his 3.98 xFIP. Danks is back as a solid mid-rotation SP for deep mixed leagues.

Alex Rios (66%) broke out of an 0-for-13 skid by going 2-for-4 with a homer and four RBIs on Saturday. As long as Guillen sticks with his struggling outfielder, Rios should be on the rise as his .217 BABIP comes up closer to his career .277 mark. (more…)

StockWatch: Friday, June 17

Yahoo for our ownership percentages are in parentheses. From the games of Friday, June 17.

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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…)

Spotlight: Zach Stewart

Zach Stewart was solid in his major-league debut on Thursday, holding the Orioles to two runs and seven hits in seven innings with one walk and four strikeouts. (more…)

StockWatch: Wednesday, June 15

Yahoo for our ownership percentages are in parentheses. From games of Wednesday, June 15.

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Michael Morse (72%) continued his torrid stretch, going 3-for-4 with two homers and three RBIs. On May 21, Morse was hitting .258 with two homers while being relegated to platoon duties because of a slow April. Then Adam LaRoche succumbed to a sore shoulder that would eventually need season-ending surgery and Morse took off when inserted full time at first base. Morse is 34-for-92 (.370) with 10 homers and 29 RBIs in 23 games since, raising his average to .312. The spring training hype is proving to be warranted and Morse’s breakout is beginning to resemble Jose Bautista’s of last season. Morse is finally holding down his first everyday job at age 29 and the 6-foot-5 slugger has the power to put up 40 homers.

Livan Hernandez (4%) hurled a three-hit shutout with no walks and six strikeouts against the Cardinals, lowering his ERA to 3.77. Hernandez has quality starts in five of his past seven appearances as the 36-year-old continues to baffle with his slow stuff. His strikeout rate is up and his walk rate is down from last year, so his xFIP is down to 4.17 from 4.57 last season. Hernandez is mostly an NL-only option, but could be serviceable in deeper mixed leagues if he can keep up his right-handed Jamie Moyer impression. (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…)

StockWatch: Wednesday, June 1

Yahoo for our ownership percentages are in parentheses. From the games of Wednesday, June 1.

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Colby Lewis (70%) threw eight shutout innings for his fifth win and has really bounced back since April, when he had a 5.70 ERA in five starts. His ERA (3.48) and WHIP (1.15) are already back in line with his breakout season a year ago and the strikeout is improving with each start since his inexplicable start on May 10 when he struck out none in 7.1 innings.

Nelson Cruz (98%) had his second 3-hit game since returning to the lineup on May 23 and has gone 9-for-21 in his current five-game hit streak. Imagine how much better he would be going if he hadn’t gone 0-for-7 in last week’s 14-inning victory over the Royals. (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…)

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