Sunday, April 13, 2008

Fantasy: Stock Rising or Falling

The second addition of Stock Rising or Falling:

Nate McLouth, Pirates
- McLouth really broke out versus the Cubs last week and it has been all up hill from there. He was being snatched up in fantasy leagues that missed, and his teammates recently voted him most likely to breakout this season.

Mike Jacobs, Marlins
- Jacobs has struggled thus far in his Marlins career, but is finally showing signs of power. He has got five homeruns so far, and he would really help the Marlins if he can stay hot.

Gavin Floyd, White Sox
- Had a one hitter going into the eighth inning, but was still able to get the win. Gavin Floyd is available in most leagues, and if he continues to pitch well and the White Sox remain hot, he should easily get double-digit wins.

Honorable Mention: Evan Longoria, Rays

Rich Harden, Athletics
- After everyone thought he was going to be okay, he lands on the DL. No one is sure when he will be back, but I would expect the A's to take their time with him.

Rich Hill, Cubs
- After failing to find the strike zone in two starts, Lou Piniella moved him to the bullpen.


Roy Oswalt, Astros
- His fastball has slowed down, but he refuses to adjust. It could be a long year for Oswalt.

Honorable Mention: Felix Pie, Cubs and Andruw Jones, Dodgers.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

Eli - not that I'm questioning your logic, but what makes Andruw Jones and his -8 OPS+ only an honorary mention? Granted, the other players on there are exactly as you represent them, I just can't understand how Jones isn't considered the worst everyday starter in MLB.

If this list represents the risk/reward that the players haven't delivered on, he racked up a 2/$36.2m contract (not to mention a pretty high pre-ranking in most fantasy leagues) in hopes that he'd return to his 2005/2006 form. Currently, he's hitting .100 with 14 strikeouts in 40 AB.

From a non-fantasy, baseball perspective he's (you could also argue Russell Martin) single-handedly keeping the Dodgers from winning.

Freed said...

Eli- What about Mark Reynolds and Justin Upton for stock rising? Both these young studs are off to great starts both with 5 home runs and Upton hitting .400 right now. Reynolds' .398 BA ain't bad either. Currently Reynolds and Upton are ranked 1 and 10 respectively on the Yahoo Fantasy Baseball players list. Come on squeeg, give some love to the D-Backs.

How about Brian Bannister also? He's 3-0 with an ERA of 0.86 and a WHIP of 0.71. He only has 13 K's but he already has 21.0 IP under his belt in three starts. He is the second ranked pitcher on Yahoo Fantasy Baseball and 6th overall.

Eli said...

both of them were drafted high. but yes, owners are very happy to have them.