Category: BASEBALL

By Dalton Del Don – Senior Writer The King is back. Felix Hernandez’s eight shutout innings Thursday has to be taken with a big grain of salt considering Jeff Weaver tossed a complete game shutout against the lifeless Bucs just one day earlier, but Hernandez was impressive nevertheless. His fastball was 2-3 mph faster than…

By Dalton Del Don – Senior Writer 1. Grady Sizemore 2. Carl Crawford 3. Vladimir Guerrero 4. Gary Sheffield 5. Alfonso Soriano 6. Manny Ramirez 7. Ichiro Suzuki 8. Matt Holliday 9. Carlos Beltran 10. Bobby Abreu 11. Magglio Ordonez 12. Alex Rios 13. Carlos Lee 14. Jason Bay 15. Vernon Wells 16. Adam Dunn…

By Dalton Del Don – Senior Writer It’s tough not to be critical of Toronto’s handling of pitchers right now. First, there was the J.P. Riccardi/B.J. Ryan fiasco, and now with A.J. Burnett. One of the more injury-prone pitchers over the last decade, Burnett was left in to throw 125, 117 and 130 pitchers over…

By Dalton Del Don – Senior Writer 1. Chase Utley 2. Chone Figgins 3. Brandon Phillips 4. Brian Roberts 5. B.J. Upton 6. Rickie Weeks 7. Ian Kinsler 8. Dan Uggla 9. Kelly Johnson 10. Jeff Kent 11. Howie Kendrick 12. Robinson Cano 13. Orlando Hudson 14. Kazuo Matsui 15. Placido Polanco 16. Ray Durham…

By Dalton Del Don – Senior Writer Rafael Furcal has been one of the bigger busts in fantasy baseball so far. Maybe the knee problem is to blame, but not only does Furcal have just seven steals on the season, he also didn’t hit his first home run until Sunday. The contact rate is actually…

By Dalton Del Don – Senior Writer 1. Jose Reyes 2. Hanley Ramirez 3. Jimmy Rollins 4. Derek Jeter 5. Miguel Tejada 6. Edgar Renteria 7. Michael Young 8. Carlos Guillen 9. Jhonny Peralta 10. Julio Lugo 11. Rafael Furcal 12. J.J. Hardy 13. Orlando Cabrera 14. Stephen Drew 15. Bill Hall 16. Bobby Crosby…

By Dalton Del Don – Senior Writer 1. Albert Pujols 2. David Ortiz 3. Ryan Howard 4. Prince Fielder 5. Travis Hafner 6. Justin Morneau 7. Derrek Lee 8. Lance Berkman 9. Adrian Gonzalez 10. Nick Swisher 11. Todd Helton 12. Mark Teixeira 13. Carlos Delgado 14. Paul Konerko 15. Casey Kotchman 16. Carlos Pena…

By Dalton Del Don – Senior Writer The following are updated fantasy baseball rankings: I’ve rated them based on how I view them from here on out, not solely on performance thus far. First up, the hot corner. 1. Alex Rodriguez 2. Miguel Cabrera 3. David Wright 4. Aramis Ramirez 5. Ryan Braun 6. Chipper…

By Dalton Del Don – Senior Writer The following are HR rates that pitchers will almost certainly be unable to sustain over the course of the rest of the season. Predicting the inevitable corrections before they actually happen could help influence the standings in your league. Home runs allowed per nine innings pitched – On…

By Dalton Del Don – Senior Writer Jose Reyes, where has all the power gone? He’s a fantasy stud, and all ESPN anchors have it written into their contracts that they must call him “the most exciting player in the game,” but he has just two jacks this season and none since April 21. It’s…

By Dalton Del Don – Senior Writer The following are abnormally high and abnormally low hit rates through 10 weeks of the season. Some of these players’ skill sets may have truly changed, but more likely, most will eventually regress to the mean. Act accordingly: BABIP = Batting average on balls in play or “hit…

By Dalton Del Don – Senior Writer Sure, this is mostly a sports blog, but if ESPN can devote a segment to The Sopranos finale, I can squeeze a small article out of it as well. The finale was brilliant. There, I said it. Why it is getting absolutely demolished among the media and fans…

By Robby Wellington – Staff Writer Catchers always seem to be a forgotten position in fantasy baseball, primarily because most of them just aren’t any good.  I’ve identified the seven guys that matter at the position, ranking them in projected fantasy value from here on out. 1. Victor Martinez – Martinez is a first baseman…

E-mail seven3d@aol.com for future inquiries/hate mail. Patrick asks: Roger Clemens or Randy Johnson this season? RotoScoop says: Randy Johnson. Both are injury risks, but Johnson has a huge advantage pitching in the NL West opposed to the AL East. The 61/8 K/BB ratio over 47.2 innings so far this year suggests Johnson can still dominate.…

By Dalton Del Don – Senior Writer Bobby Abreu entered the 2005 All-Star break with 18 homers. After winning the home run derby (and setting a record in the process), he has since hit just 24 longballs over the next 1,035 at-bats. Despite the short porch, he has zero big flies at home during 2007.…

By Dalton Del Don – Senior Writer When Joey Gathright was recalled Wednesday, he was worth stashing away if you had an open roster spot on your bench. After his first two games back, he’s now a viable option for those even in shallow leagues. Gathright has proven time and again that he’s a capable…

By Dalton Del Don – Senior Writer The only way I could be happier with the Armando Benitez trade is if Rod Beck’s carcass was the returning player. If there was ever an addition by subtraction situation, this was it. And what a way to go out, Mando! In his first 13 seasons as a…

By Dalton Del Don – Senior Writer While everyone is pretty much counting out New York, it’s hard to imagine this team not making a strong run over the final four months of the season. Without a doubt, they’ve played poor baseball through eight weeks, and 12.5 games is a deep enough hole to probably…

By Dalton Del Don – Senior Writer I was talking with a couple of Giants fans the other day, and it occurred to me just how oblivious the average baseball fan can be. One of these guys watches San Francisco play every single night yet had never heard the term OPS. When I described the…

By Dalton Del Don – Senior Writer I don’t get what all the fuss is about. Isn’t the point to win baseball games, not make friends? Alex is such a lightning rod (no pun intended) for criticism it’s a joke. I don’t particularly like the guy, and the fact he prefers “she-males” doesn’t enhance his…