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June 11, 2011 – Special Saturday Night Spectacular Six Fantasy Baseball Lines
Don’t adjust your calendars and put down that phone before you make an appointment with your in-network eye doctor. It is not Tuesday, but that doesn’t mean we can’t compile a special list of fantasy baseball headlines and newsworthy events on other days of the week. Please join me for a special edition of my featured lists. Because I know how much you and everyone else loves alliteration, this edition will be slightly truncated to due to the alphabet. So without further adieu, here is a Special Saturday Night Spectacular Six fantasy baseball headlines.
6. Hall of an Opportunity – The San Francisco Giants suffered another devastating injury to one of their starters. This time, second baseman Freddy Sanchez sustained a serious shoulder injury which created an immediate need. Enter veteran Bill Hall, who was released by the Astros earlier this season. Hall should not be mistaken for anything resembling the Hall of Fame, or even Mel Hall for that matter. But in terms of fantasy value, Hall could provide some power to a relatively weak and shallow position. He will get most of the at bats going forward, and the Giants do have a history of plucking discarded veterans off the waiver wire and rejuvenating their careers (see Pat Burrell and Cody Ross in 2010). If you have issues at 2B or MI and need a quick fix, Hall could be your man.
5. Colon Cleansing – The New York Yankees are dropping like flies. Just after it was announced that Joba Chamberlain is scheduled to undergo Tommy John surgery next Thursday, Yankees’ starter Bartolo Colon had to be removed from Saturday’s game due to tightness in his left hamstring sustained when he was running to cover first base. He was pitching a shutout at the time and has been one of baseball’s great comeback stories of the year thus far. MRI results are forthcoming, but the Yankees will likely be cautious with the portly veteran. He could still be a valuable pickup in your fantasy league, so monitor the situation and his prognosis.
4. Final-Lee - After signing a huge contract to rejoin the Philadelphia Phillies, Cliff Lee was expected to be the 1A of the Phillies star-studded pitching staff. He was also considered a lock as a stud fantasy pitcher due to his contributions in all relevant categories. However, Lee has not produced the results that were anticipated thus far. Not all of it was his fault as the Phillies struggled to score runs due to several injuries to key offensive players. But he had failed to pitch in a manner that was commensurate with such a free agent contract – until this week. In a two start Week 10, Lee dominated the Nationals and Cubs allowing a total of one run in 15 innings while striking out 17. He is now above.500 at 6-5 and he leads the majors in total strikeouts with 107. If you can still manage to buy low on him, do it now because that train is about to leave the station.
3. Six Pence All the Richer – After being removed from Friday’s game for cautionary reasons, Astros’ outfielder Hunter Pence was back in the lineup on Saturday and extended his hitting streak to 22 games. In those 22 games, Pence is batting .391 with 3 homeruns and 15 RBI. He has literally carried Houston’s lineup by himself this year as he has emerged into one of the elite outfielders in baseball. His overall average is up to .318 which is unfamiliar territory for the free-swinger. With his ability to keep a good batting average, Pence now becomes even more valuable in roto leagues due to his contributions in all categories.
2. Happy Anniversary, Mike Stanton – Earlier this week, Marlins’ young stud outfielder Mike Stanton celebrated the one year anniversary of his call-up to the big leagues. In the 365 days since he arrived in Florida, Stanton has hit 37 homeruns which is the 7th most in the majors, and 97 RBI which is 25th overall in that time span. Stanton is emerging as a true power threat, which could likely affect his batting average and total strikeouts. But there is no denying his homerun and RBI output as he remains someone to actively target in all fantasy baseball formats. Just make sure you don’t mistaken him for the retired white, left-handed relief pitcher
1. Boston Tea Party – After a horrendous 0-6 and 2-8 start to the season, the Boston Red Sox have finally clicked and are the hottest team in all of baseball lately. They sit two games ahead of the Yankees in 1st place in the AL East thanks in part to their tremendous lineup and starting pitching. The recommendation at this point is to acquire anyone you can from the Red Sox’s lineup or roster because everyone is hitting. Adrian Gonzalez and Carl Crawford have begun living up to expectations and proving why they were worth $148 million. Jacoby Ellsbury, Dustin Pedroia, and David Ortiz have been locked in for quite some time and should be targeted via trade in your fantasy league. As for the pitching, the top 3 of Lester, Beckett and Buccholz should have plenty of run support this year and will contribute in all categories except saves
