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Chris Heisey blasted three homers out of the leadoff spot for the Reds, making his case to Reds manager Dusty Baker that it’s time to ditch the three-man platoon in left field. (more…)
Archive for the ‘Cincinnati Reds’ Category
StockWatch: Wednesday, June 22
Yahoo for our ownership percentages are in parentheses. From games of Wednesday, June 22.
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Johnny Cueto (72%) keeps getting hotter, holding the Yankees to two hits and one run in seven innings with three walks and six strikeouts on Wednesday. Cueto has yet to allow over three earned runs in nine starts since coming off the DL at the beginning of May and has a tidy 1.63 ERA with a 0.97 WHIP. In his last three starts, Cueto is 3-0 with a 0.00 ERA and a 19-6 K-BB ratio in 21 IP. It is that improved strikeout rate that has us finally ready to recognize Cueto as a fantasy ace. He had a 5.2 K/9 through his first six starts, but he has stepped it up to 8.1 K/9 in his last three outings. This recent outburst has helped lower his xFIP from the low fours to 3.52. Cueto is still benefitting from a .234 BABIP, but he’s suddenly becoming a groundball pitcher, upping his GB rate from 41.7% last year to 55.9% this season. A drubbing to help correct that low BABIP has to be around the corner, but we could be witnessing the birth of an ace as the results start to line up with the electric stuff Cueto has always flashed. (more…)
StockWatch: Thursday, June 9
Yahoo for our ownership percentages are in parentheses. From games of Thursday, June 9.
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Jonathon Niese (17%) limited the Brewers to three hits and one run in 7.2 IP with eight strikeouts, lowering his ERA to 3.51. Niese has been on a roll over his past five starts, posting a 1.35 ERA and a 33-11 K-BB over 33.1 IP. Niese has a nice combination of peripherals with a 7.1 K/9, 3.3 BB/9, 50.0% GB and 3.61 xFIP and should remain a solid under-the-radar option if you get the chance to add him.
Johnny Cueto (64%) has been nothing short of fantastic since returning from the DL on May 8, going seven shutout innings on Thursday to lower his ERA to 1.93 in seven starts. He even added solid strikeout totals with eight against the Giants, raising his strikeout rate to 6.0 K/9. It’s that strikeout rate that actually has us most concerned, as it’s dropped every season since he debuted with a 8.2 K/9 in 2008. Cueto has upped his groundball rate from 41.7% last year to 54.5% this season, so there are some encouraging signs too. A .230 BABIP contributes to a 3.62 xFIP that is probably more in line with what to expect the rest of the way, so it would be a good time to sell high. (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: Thursday, May 26
Yahoo for our ownership percentages are in parentheses. From games of Thursday, May 26.
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Jay Bruce (97%) was 2-for-4 with a homer and is on a Troy Tulowitzki-caliber hot streak. Bruce had 11 RBIs in the four-game series with the Phillies and is 17-for-35 with six homers and 14 RBIs in his past eight games. Having just turned 24, Bruce is entering his prime years and promises to be one of the game’s premier power hitters for the next decade.
Carl Crawford (98%) is finally back, collecting four hits on Thursday and going 8-for-9 with five runs, five extra-base hits and five RBIs in the past two days combined. Now if only Red Sox manager Terry Francona would return to his senses and put Crawford back in the three-hole. (more…)
StockWatch: Monday, May 23
Yahoo for our ownership percentages are in parentheses. From games of Monday, May 23.
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Jay Bruce (96%) was 3-for-4 with a homer and three RBIs on Monday. He is 15-for-30 with four homers and nine RBIs in his past eight games to raise his average to .282. This is the power stud fantasy owners were expecting before a slow start temporarily dampened enthusiasm.
Alexi Ogando (76%) continues to establish himself as the breakout ace this season by tossing a five-hit shutout at the White Sox with six strikeouts. Ogando is 5-0 with a 1.81 ERA and a 0.87 WHIP. He continues to benefit from an impossibly-low BABIP of .199 (second only to the Indians’ Josh Tomlin), so his xFIP is 3.75. The bigger concern than his BABIP will be the workload of being in the rotation, as Ogando compiled just 72.1 IP last year between the minors and Texas. He’s already thrown 59.2 IP this season, so watch to see if his velocity starts to come down from the 94.4 mph he’s averaging on fastballs. (more…)
StockWatch: Tuesday, May 17
Yahoo for our ownership percentages are in parentheses.
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Ubaldo Jimenez (97%) took our finger off the panic button by going seven solid innings against the Giants, allowing three runs and eight hits. The best part was the 7-1 K-BB ratio, as he had posted a 23-19 K-BB ratio in his past four starts. Jimenez obviously has the stuff to be an elite ace, but keep an eye on those walk totals.
Edinson Volquez (56%) had his first-inning struggles return, but quickly settled down for his lowest walk total of the season with one. Volquez gave up a three-run homer to Carlos Pena in the first frame (started the season by giving up 13 combined first-inning runs in his first four starts), but allowed just one hit in the next five innings and finished with nine strikeouts. Volquez is in the same boat as Jimenez, with electric stuff but control problems that if curbed could make him among the game’s elite. (more…)
StockWatch: Wednesday, May 11
Yahoo for our ownership percentages are in parentheses.
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Jason Bartlett (5%) led the Padres’ 23-hit attack by going 4-for-6 with two steals and hitting two RBI singles in an eight-run eighth inning against the Brewers. Bartlett is 8-for-15 in his past three games to raise his average to .256 and now has seven steals. It’s not a coincidence that Bartlett’s three-game uprising has come at the start of a road trip away from Petco Field, where he’s hitting .164 compared to .344 on the road. If you’re looking for steals, grab Bartlett and try to use him for road games. (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…)
StockWatch: Monday, May 9
Yahoo for our ownership percentages are in parentheses.
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Gaby Sanchez (72%) is on a power binge, going 3-for-4 with his second homer in two days. Sanchez is 7-for-8 with five extra-base hits and six RBIs in that time, good for a 2.000 SLG and an amazing 2.889 OPS. Sanchez is erasing doubts about his power, which was pegged to be around his 19-homer total from last season. But with six homers already, Sanchez could approach 30 and become an elite option at first base.
Josh Willingham (14%) went 2-for-4 with a homer and five RBIs against the Rangers. Willingham should approach 25 homers and 90 RBIs as the A’s cleanup hitter, but could probably be had for a discount since he’s hitting just .235 and it is assumed being in Oakland will limit his power numbers. (more…)
