Archive for the ‘Houston Astros’ Category

« Older Entries

StockWatch: Tuesday, Aug. 9

Yahoo for our ownership percentages are in parentheses. From games of Tuesday, Aug. 9.

Stock Up

Kyle Blanks (2%) looked like he was becoming the latest victim of the Petco Park effect, going 3-for-32 in his return from Tommy John surgery that cost him over a calendar year in the majors. After a dreadful 1-for-19 homestand, Blanks has hit the road with a vengeance, collecting two hits in each of his five games on this current road trip. The 6-foot-6, 270-pound beast is 10-for-20 with two homers and seven RBIs in five games, flashing the form that saw him hit 10 homers in 148 ABs with the Padres in 2009. Blanks could be one player who can shake the Petco Park effect, as his enormous power has played well in an albeit small sample size over the previous two seasons combined – eight homers in 126 ABs at home and five homers in 124 ABs on the road. We’re never too crazy about recommending Padres hitters, but Blanks could at least be useful in deep mixed leagues, especially if he can prove capable of hitting in Petco.

Jesus Guzman (26%) is doing his best to prove us wrong about Padres hitters, going 2-for-4 on Tuesday to run his hitting streak to 10 games. Since Anthony Rizzo last started with the Padres on July 19 before being sent down a few days later, Guzman has gone on an amazing tear – 26-for-69 with three homers and 21 RBIs in 19 games. Even more incredible is that Guzman is batting .452 with four homers at home compared to .286 with one homer on the road, showing he has some kind of immunity to the Petco Park effect. The incredible thing is that Guzman is just now getting a shot at regular playing time at age 27 after doing nothing but rake in the minors. Guzman hit .364 in Double-A in 2008, .321 in both 2009-10 at Triple-A and .332 this season with Triple-A Tucson. He has had just moderate power in the minors, averaging 17 homers from 2008-10, but Guzman has blossomed in San Diego with five homers in 119 ABs. Guzman has shown enough to make him a solid sleeper in deeper mixed leagues the rest of the way. (more…)

Spotlight: J.D. Martinez

J.D. Martinez (6%) is doing his best to make Astros fans get over trading away Hunter Pence, going 2-for-4 on Tuesday with his fourth homer in his past six games. During that six-game stretch, Martinez is 9-for-24 with seven runs and 11 RBIs. (more…)

StockWatch: Sunday, June 26

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

Stock Up

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…)

StockWatch: Thursday, June 23

Yahoo for our ownership percentages are in parentheses. From games of Thursday, June 23.

Stock Up

Chris Carpenter (89%) finally earned his second win of the season with seven solid innings against the Phillies (5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 7 K). Carpenter may be the best buy around right now, as his strikeout of 7.2 K/9 is his best since 2006 and his walk rate of 2.1 BB/9 is down from last year. His xFIP of 3.27 is his lowest since his Cy Young season of 2005 and is a full run lower than his 4.26 ERA. Since coming to the NL in 2004, Carpenter has kept his BABIP under .280 in every full season. But this year Carpenter is suffering from a .323 BABIP. Keeping with the theme that there are really no red flags on Carpenter, even his average fastball velocity is up from 91.4 mph last year to 92.3 this season. Buy now.

Add of the Day: Chris Capuano (7%) is showing that it’s possible to return to being a solid starter even after having two Tommy John surgeries. He missed all of 2008-09 before returning halfway through last season and posting respectable numbers (3.90 xFIP, 7.4 K/9, 2.9 BB/9). Capuano has been even better this season, raising his strikeout rate to 7.5 K/9, lowering his walk rate to 2.5 BB/9 and posting a career-low 3.74 xFIP. His ERA lags a little behind at 3.99 because of a .320 BABIP. On Thursday, Capuano tossed six shutout innings against the A’s with no walks and seven strikeouts. In his past four starts, Capuano is 3-1 with a 1.08 ERA and a 22-7 K-BB ratio in 25 IP. He continues flying under the radar, but Capuano is a nice sleeper as a solid strikeout hurler in a pitcher’s park. (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: Wednesday, June 8

Yahoo for our ownership percentages are in parentheses. From games of Wednesday, June 8.

Stock Up

Ben Revere (1%) is taking advantage of chance to play regularly in the past week, going 3-for-5 with a steal on Wednesday to lift his average to .302 after an 11-for-30 performance in his past seven games, all consecutive starts. Revere is getting ABs with Jason Kubel on the DL, Denard Span battling dizziness and headaches, and Michael Cuddyer often playing second base while Tsuyoshi Nishioka recovers from a broken leg. Revere moved quickly through the minors on the strength of a combined .326 average and 154 steals in 1490 ABs. What’s not to like about a leadoff hitter with a track record like that? In real-life baseball, Revere has a popgun throwing arm and is allergic to walks, limiting his OBP. Then there’s the logjam of veterans in front of him once Kubel, Span and Nishioka are healthy. Revere is a very worthy AL-only addition right now and someone to target if you’re desperate for steals or in a keeper league, but the speedster is likely headed back to a backup role or even the minors in the near future.

Mark Reynolds (69%) is finally heating up, going 2-for-3 with a homer and a steal on Wednesday. He may still be hitting .199, but Reynolds is 5-for-15 with three homers and eight RBIs in his past five games. If he could just make enough contact to get his average near .250, Reynolds could still be a fantasy force since he’s got a shot to reach 30 homers, 100 RBIs and 10 steals. (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…)

StockWatch: Wednesday, June 1

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

Stock Up

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…)

Spotlight: Jordan Lyles

Jordan Lyles dazzled in his major-league debut, taking a four-hit shutout into the eighth inning before his own throwing error on a sacrifice bunt led to a three-run inning. The 20-year-old had four strikeouts and no walks, demonstrating the impeccable command that is his strength. (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…)

« Older Entries