Archive for the ‘Washington Nationals’ Category

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StockWatch: Saturday, June 25

Yahoo for our ownership percentages are in parentheses. From games of Saturday, June 25.

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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: Thursday, June 16

Yahoo for our ownership percentages are in parentheses. From games of Thursday, June 16.

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J.J. Hardy (40%) has been scalding hot since the calendar turned June, failing to record a hit in just one game this month. Hardy went 2-for-5 with his seventh homer on Thursday. He is 21-for-52 (.404) with five homers and nine RBIs in June to raise his season average to .299. Hardy has always been a binge hitter, so surely you’ve had him in this month if you own him.

C.J. Wilson (86%) bounced back from a one-strikeout start against the Twins last time out to record his fifth double-digit strikeout game of the season. Wilson held the Yankees to two runs and seven hits in eight innings with 10 strikeouts, giving him 93 Ks on the season. Wilson has been inconsistent with his strikeout totals, but the double-digit games make up for the five times he’s struck out three or less. (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 12

Yahoo for our ownership percentages are in parentheses. From games of Sunday, June 12.

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Miguel Olivo (40%) is on a power binge, hitting two homers on Sunday to give him six dingers is his past nine games. Those six homers have come out of just eight hits in 33 ABs. Olivo is so hot that he should be playing in all leagues, but his .241 average is about what you should expect as well as struggles at home (.207 at Safeco, .268 on road).

Jorge Posada (38%) might still have something left in the tank after all, going 2-for-3 on Sunday for his fifth multi-hit game in his past six. Posada has gone 13-for-22 over his past six games, raising his average from .169 to .226. He needs to start hitting homers before we get completely behind him, but the 39-year-old is worth playing at catcher in deep mixed leagues. (more…)

StockWatch: Tuesday, May 31

Yahoo for our ownership percentages are in parentheses. From the games of Tuesday, May 31.

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Domonic Brown (28%) went 2-for-4 with his first homer since coming off the DL on May 21. Brown started slow by going 1-for-14 in his first four games, but has four multi-hit games since and is 10-for-19 with a steal. Brown has the talent to become a fantasy stalwart starting now, so grab him if he’s still available in all leagues.

Danny Espinosa (22%) was battling the Mendoza Line as May was coming to a close, but finished the month with a bang, blasting two homers with four RBIs. Espinosa has three homers in the past two days to give the 24-year-old second baseman 10 on the season, putting him on for 30 homers and 100 RBIs. He has a patient enough approach to get his average up above .250, so he may still be a bargain. (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: Sunday, May 15

Yahoo for our ownership percentages are in parentheses.

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Justin Turner (1%) is cashing in on an opportunity to get ABs while Ike Davis is on the DL, as the Mets have moved Daniel Murphy over to first base so that Turner can play second. Turner went 2-for-4 with a homer and five RBIs on Sunday and is now hitting .308. Turner is a career .309 hitter in the minors, so he can be a solid NL-only fill-in and possibly even take some ABs away from Murphy when Davis returns.

Jose Bautista (98%) continues to amaze, clubbing three more homers to give him 16 on the season. Even more impressive is the .368 average, up over 100 points from last year’s .260. Bautista has cut his strikeout rate from 20.4% last year to 16.7% and raised his walk rate from 14.6% last season to 23.3%. If you own Bautista, just sit back and enjoy the ride during one of his now-patented hot streaks. (more…)

StockWatch: Thursday, May 12

Yahoo for our ownership percentages are in parentheses.

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Carlos Beltran (80%) broke out in a big way, blasting three homers with six RBIs against the Rockies. OK, so it was at Coors Field, but Beltran is hitting .295 with eight homers and looks like he can be a fantasy force even if the 34-year-old doesn’t steal bases anymore.

Eric Hosmer (47%) homered for the second straight day at Yankees Stadium, going 3-for-5 to raise his average to .333. With five walks and five strikeouts in 26 plate appearances, Hosmer is showing he belongs and may be ready to become an instant fantasy star. (more…)

Stock Spotlight: Tom Gorzelanny

This is our Stock Spotlight series, where we plan to give owners an inside look at potential fantasy baseball sleepers to help you dominate your fantasy baseball league. Click here for today’s StockWatch

Tom Gorzelanny hurled eight shutout innings at the Giants, allowing three hits and no walks with four strikeouts.

Gorzelanny has a 2.93 ERA, but his xFIP of 4.32 is nearly identical with last year’s 4.31 that was paired with a 4.09 ERA. While he’s cut his walks from 4.5 to 2.6 BB/9 and maintained a solid strikeout rate (6.8 K/9), most of that ERA improvement is due to an insanely low .181 BABIP.

When those batted balls start finding holes, Gorzellany’s ERA will rise, but he could still be a solid starter when the matchup is right. (more…)

Closer Report: Monday, May 2

A daily look at the fantasy baseball closers who threw in games. For a detailed look at the closing situation for all 30 teams, click here.

Brian Fuentes pitched a scoreless ninth in a non-save situation.

Darren Oliver took the loss in the 10th inning when he allowed a leadoff home run to Hideki Matsui. (more…)

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