June 2, 2009

It’s summer time. 24 ended another exciting season with Jack Bauer saving lives while batting an interesting moral dilemma over prisoner torture.  LOST fanatics are even more lost than ever.  Memorial Day has passed.  School is ending.  Beaches are getting busier.  MTV Movie Awards have come and gone with only one major celebrity blow-up.  Summer movie blockbusters are releasing every weekend.  Star Trek and Terminator have opened with Transformers, Funny People, and G.I. Joe coming out later this June.

Eight weeks of the Major League Baseball season have passed.  It’s enough time to get a feel for how your team is doing in the standings.  It’s been enough time to see how those risky picks during your draft or auction have panned out.  As I was looking through some of the statistics from the past eight weeks, some obvious things really stood out:

Albert Pujols is good.
Mark Teixeira hates the month of April.
Zack Greinke has put all that potential together.
Justin Verlander is absolutely filthy.

There was some less obvious stuff out there; both good and not-so-good.  In honor of those summer blockbuster movies, here are my two thumbs up and two thumbs down.

Two Thumbs Up

Justin Upton, OF (ARZ)
33 R, 12 2B, 4 3B, 9 HR, 29 RBI, 6 SB
0.326 BA, .400 OBP, .599 SLG, 999 OPS

Just 21, Justin Upton is the only good thing in the Diamondbacks bad start to the season.  Upton has sick talent which is probably why he made his MLB debut at the age of 19.  J-Upton has reduced the strikeouts this season while showing improved contact. And it’s not that soft contact – most everything is hit hard.   J-Upton will be a fantasy monster – soon – but watch him carefully as he is still 21 with the usual ups and downs of a youngster.  What is truly amazing is that most Diamondback hitters stall in their development (Conor Jackson, Mark Reynolds) or worse, they regress (Chris Young).  Upton’s talents are overcoming his organizational shortcomings.

Adam Jones, OF (BAL)
41 R, 14 2B, 1 3B, 11 HR, 36 RBI, 4 SB
0.344 BA, .400 OBP, .608 SLG, 1008 OPS

As the Wieters era begins in Baltimore, Oriole fans should not forget about Adam Jones.  Acquired in the Erik Bedard trade, Jones is the Oriole center fielder of the future.  Jones is a tremendous athlete (remember he started as a shortstop in the Mariner organization) who has 20/20 potential in his prime.  Jones is consistently improving each season which is a great sign, but there is a slight caution flag though – Jones’ May numbers show a drastically reduced walk rate and increased strikeout rate – hopefully it’s just an off month.

Two Thumbs Down

Troy Tulowitzki, SS (COL)
21 R, 6 2B, 3 3B, 5 HR, 16 RBI, 4 SB
0.221 BA, .313 OBP, .387 SLG, 699 OPS

The former Long Beach State Dirtbag had a superb rookie season in 2007 and a disappointing injury-plagued 2008.  This season Tulo was supposed to come back with vengeance, but it has been a poor start which included a couple benchings from former manager Clint Hurdle.  Hurdle told the media that Tulo was benched for not being smart at the plate.  Surprisingly, Tulo seems to be controlling the strike zone with an above average 12.6% BB/PA and average 19.1% K/PA.  It’s the contact rate which is down.  May’s statistics show a good trend with a decreased K% and an increased batting average, but most of the month was spent hitting in front of the hot Todd Helton.  New manager has dropped Tulo to seventh in the batting order which decreases his at-bats and provides him with no protection.

Howie Kendrick, 2B (LAA)
21 R, 6 2B, 1 3B, 4 HR, 20 RBI, 6 SB
0.225 BA, .266 OBP, .350 SLG, 616 OPS

Kendrick rose to the big leagues as a hitting machine with a career minor league batting average of .360.  He isn’t a major source of power or a source of walks, so his real value to the team is getting on base through hits in front of the sluggers.  This season is completely different as Kendrick is struggling to find his hitting grove.  There are rumors circulating that the Angels are ready to call up Sean Rodriguez who is tearing up AAA, but when asked, manager Mike Scioscia stated, “it’s something we’re watching very closely.”  If you have Kendrick, you may want to pick up Sean-Rod so you don’t lose plate appearances.  The Rodriguez rumor itself is extremely odd as the Angels called up Brandon Wood for two weeks to sit the bench in favor of Erick Aybar at SS and Maicer Izturis at DH

Statistics as of June 1^st, 2009

January 13, 2009

As I was going through my calendar at work, I realized that there is one more month until pitchers and catchers report for spring training (I need to start coming up with these years new excuses to leave work at noon).

It’s the most wonderful time of the year as the baseball season starts up with high expectations for every team (but the Pirates and Royals). New faces in new places create a stir in the clubhouse and energize the fans. Soon, fans start to receive their fantasy baseball magazines and prospect books.

As I go through my notes getting ready for early drafts and auctions, I am surprised about how many impact, former All-Star, free agents are still on the market. Nobody can deny that the economy isn’t hurting Major League Baseball. Here are some current free-agents with the places where I (selfishly) hope they end up.

Orlando Hudson, 2B  -  REALLY!

Even though they say they do not have any money due to several players getting raises in arbitration, the Cardinals have to be considering signing O-Dawg to a one year deal. Hudson is the type of player the Cardinal Nation would fall in love with – hard working, fan friendly, superior defender, and a decent offensive player an OPS over 800 the past three seasons. Hudson takes a lot of walks which should be nice as a #2 hitter in front of Pujols, Ludwick, Ankiel, and Glaus.

Ben Sheets, SP  – SERIOUSLY!!

The last of the first tier free agent starters have finally signed, so now it’s time to speculate about that second tier, and Sheets is at the top of the list. The former four-time All-Star finds himself without a team. Not for long though – I think Sheets will sign with Texas to become their ace (and rejoin his old Brewer pitching coach Mike Maddux). Sheets has always shown great control with a greater than 3:1 K:BB ratio the past two seasons, so moving the AL shouldn’t have as big of an impact as other starters switching leagues.

Adam Dunn, OF  – C’MON!!

Dunn says he wants a 5 year deal with a team that will let him play the OF. Some AL teams, most recently the Orioles, have inquired about him to be their full-time DH, but those talks didn’t progress.

Selfishly, I would absolutely love to see Dunn in Colorado launching moon shots. Their OF right now is Hawpe, Spilborghs, and C-Gonzalez. I am not a big fan of Spilborghs, so Dunn fits in nicely this season, but next season would be extremely crowded because super prospect Dexter Fowler should be ready by next year. I am imagining that every Dunn homer in Colorado would be like the Pujols playoff shot off of Lidge. That’s clouding my judgment, so moving on . . . . Washington is throwing money around in offers without a bite, but they have youngsters Willingham, Milledge, and Elijah Dukes in their OF . . . . The Mets don’t really have a LF right now . . . . I think the intriguing teams would be Seattle and Texas – both could add Dunn to their OF/DH rotations. Gutierrez, Balentien, Ichiro in Seattle and Murphy, Hamilton, Cruz in Texas. If Dunn gets a longer deal, I am going to say Texas again as they have fewer higher rated OF prospects coming up than Seattle.

And I won’t even go into the enigma that is called Manny . . . .

Who knows what happens, but where do you think these guys will end up?
Are there any other impact, lineup or rotation changing, players out there?

**as posted at Baseball.RotoChamps.com**