Soon To Be Position Flexibility

Now into our 3^rd week of fantasy many players are gaining eligibility at additional positions. As you know, some of the bigger names such as Miggy and Hanley gained 3B eligibility. LaHair gained 1B, Scutaro gained 2B, and Figgins gained OF eligibility. Here is a list of the next group to qualify at an additional position.

Jesus Montero Catcher 3 more starts

Casey McGehee 1B 2 more starts

Yuniesky Betancourt 2B 1 more start

Elliot Johnson 2B 3 more starts

Mark Trumbo 3B 2 more starts

Ronny Cedeno 3B 3 more starts

Andy Parrino SS 3 more starts

Ryan Doumit OF 2 more starts

These RPs qualify for SP after 1 additional start

Lance Lynn

Lucas Harrell

Chris Sale

Felix Doubront

Hector Noesi

Matt Moore

Jeff Samardzija

Neftali Feliz

These RPs need 2 additional starts to qualify at SP

Adam Wilk

Daniel Bard

These SP qualify at RP after 1 or 2 more appearances

Brian Duensing

Tyler Chatwood

Wade Davis

A Little Thing Called Pressure...

By Corey R. Cunningham

San Francisco 1B/OF Brandon Belt has put a little pressure on the Giants management and Manager Bruce Bochey. Bruce has told the media, Belt would have a long leash this year, compared to last year; however, it does not seem to be the case through 2 weeks of the season. The Giants have played 9 games thus far through the young season, and Belt has only appeared in 5 of these games, (long leash)?

Belt did go 1 for 3 Sunday at Colorado, with a run scored and a SB, however, his batting average is still under.100 and has only 2 H on the season and has 5 K on the season. Belt has been playing sparingly at 1B for Aubrey Huff and LF for Melky Cabrera and Huff. As of now he is a platoon player, I would still keep him stashed on your bench, and I would hold onto him if you can. Do not give up on Belt just yet, at least not until he gets the ticket back to AAA.

The Chicago Cubs may have a problem, a good problem. Like the Reds had in Cincy with Votto and Alonso, the Cubs have LaHair and Rizzo. The problem you ask, Rizzo is crushing the ball at AAA Iowa, and perhaps he may have found his swing. Rizzo currently as of Saturday has 5 HR, 13 RBI, 7 R, 1 SB through 10 games. He has a .385 BA, .795 SLG, and 1.210 OPS.

The Cubs might want to think about what to do about this good problem. LaHair has 2 HR, 5 RBI, and 2 R. The only problem LaHair has that might cause the Cubs to switch out Rizzo for LaHair is LaHair has 10 K, through 23 ABs, compared to Rizzo who has 8 K, through 39 AB. Not exactly sure when the Cubs would consider bringing up Rizzo, but he is HOT and knocking the ball around in Iowa. There is no OF spot for LaHair to play or a DH spot, so this problem could linger for a while. If you drafted Rizzo, good for you, if you did not and he is available, grab him up right now.

Hit the FA Wire, Like Now!!!

By Corey R. Cunnigham

Houston Astros CF Jordan Schafer is off to a good start, at least the best you can get with the Astros, and the poor offensive line up they bring everyday to the ball park. However, I would still say the Astros can score some runs, looking at them through the first two weeks of the season, they seem to be playing good together.

If you are in need of SB, R, and TB I would suggest going to the FA Wire and grabbing him. He has 5 SB and 8 R scored thus far, and is the leadoff man for the Astros. With J.D. Martinez and Carlos Lee batting 3rd and 4th, Schafer has many opportunities to score a lot of Runs and steal bases. Jordan can also add a Hit or two during each game, as well as drawl a coupled of BB as he had 3 in Saturdays show down.

Seattle Mariner DH Jesus Montero is another hot hitting player. Montero ended his 8 game hitting streak on Sunday, however, the guy is still hitting .323 with 1 HR, and 5 RBI. Although most of his hits are singles, with 1 2B, he is still hitting, and for a team like Seattle who was predicted to finish dead last in the Division and produce little offense, they are hanging on strong and playing games like they should be.

Montero should not be on the FA Wire, and if he is, no questions asked, scoop him up. He will produce in every offensive category your league has and I would start him every day with confidence. By Mid May or June he should be C and DH eligible which will boost his value.

Time to Stream...This Week's 2 Start SPs

Not many choices this week to stream that are owned in fewer than 50% of leagues. I do like Humber the best this week for 2 wins. The Chi Sox are playing great baseball recently. They have possibly the best defensive infield in the AL which can save a run or two every game. Feel confident is streaming ant and all of these SPs this week.

Philip Humber 6 % owned (BAL vs. Arrieta, SEA vs. Beavan)

Joe Saunders 5% owned (PIT vs. Bedard, ATL vs. Hanson)

Joe Blanton 2% owned (@SF vs. Bumgarner, @SD vs. Bass)

Erik Bedard 47 % owned (@ ARI vs. Saunders), STL Lohse)

Randall Delgado 3% owned (NYM vs. Santana, @ARI vs. Kennedy)

Dillon Gee 4% owned (@Atl vs. Hanson, SF vs. Lincecum)

Last week’s picks came through superbly. A few wins, decent ERA protections and some needed Ks. Some still have a scheduled start today so the good stats will continue to come.

Alvarez 1ER & 3ER

Mendoza 1ER

Westbrook 1 W and 0 ER

Leake 3ER

Doubront 2 ER 6Ks

Narveson 1 W 2 ER

Detwiler 1 W 0 ER 6Ks

Noesi 1 W 6Ks

Volstad 10Ks

Shaken, not stirred...

By Corey R. Cunningham
 

Atlanta SP Randall Delgado received his first start of the 2012 season on Thursday, at Houston. Delgado was battling all spring long for a fight to get the 5th and final starting spot for the braves with Tim Hudson out at least until the end of April. Delgado was able to beat out top prospect RHP Julio Teheran.

Even though Delgado received his first win with the Braves, it was against the Houston Astros, and the Astros are predicted to have one of the lowest scoring offenses in baseball this year. With aging Carlos Lee playing 1B, and youngsters in JD Martinez, Jose Altuve, and Jordan Schaffer it is hard to predict the Astros will score this year.

Delgado went 5 innings, allowing 5 H, 2 R, 2 ER, 1 HR, walking 2 and did get 6 K in the books. Delgado holds a 3.60 ERA and a 1.40 WHIP. If the weather plays out right, as well as my calculations, Delgado should be facing NY Mets, Arizona Diamondbacks and the Pittsburgh Pirates in his next 3 starts. None of these starts are automatic wins, however, at least the Mets start he has an opportunity to produce some good numbers. The Diamondbacks like the Pirates can and will hit the ball all over the ball park.

If you have an extra slot due to a player going on the DL, you might want to add Delgado for a start coming up in the next week with the Mets coming into Atlanta.

Once Hudson returns from the DL, look for Delgado to get dropped back down to AAA barring any injuries from any of the starting pitchers now, however, if you can you might want to hold onto him, as come August or September he will be on the roster for the Braves.

Injury Update

Stephen Drew who is recovering from a nasty broken ankle sustained last July and a hernia surgery in October has now played in an extended spring training game. He went 1 for 4 and even played a couple innings in the field turning a double play. Though he may still be a month away from re-joining the D-Backs he is one you should have on your radar going forward.

Every team at some point can use an upgrade at MI during the season and Drew definitely fits the bill. A .270 career hitter with 15 HR power and even double digit SB potential is a nice upgrade. He will fit nicely into the D-Backs powerful line-up.

Throughout his career he has hit anywhere from lead-off to clean-up. Over the last 3 years he has hit over .300 as a leadoff hitter. Not sure where he will hit in Kurt Gibson’s line-up but he has the ability to both be a table setter or an RBI guy. With the absence of a true lead-off hitter in Arizona I feel Drew will slide into that role within the first 5-10 games after returning from his injury.

If you have space on your roster to add a DL player for the next 30 days you should scoop up Drew. He is currently owned in 30% of leagues but as he gets healthier that number will double quickly. Be the first in your league to grab him then you can answer all the “nice pick-up” comments from your league mates.

Is the FREAK Show Coming to an End?

Can the small sample size of Tim Lincecum’s 2 starts give us answers to the entire season? Well if you believe his velocity cannot increase and his differential between his fastball and change-up continues to narrow and his K rate dropping to go along with his BB/9 increasing, then yes…I have concerns. With only 7.2 IP so far this year he has a line of 0 Wins, 12.91 ERA 2.22 WHIP and most disturbing a .368 BAA. Everyone is hitting Lincecum so for this season.

Last night it was reported Lincecum only hit 92 MPH 4x on the gun. His average is now down to 90 MPH and his changeup is at 83-84 MPH. Once the discrepancy between the two narrows his change-up becomes less effective. Couple this with him scrapping his slider all together this season (to avoid injury he stated) and he is no more than an average 2 pitch SP.  Unless he regains some velocity, brings back the slider, or alters his inventory of pitches he has/will lose significant fantasy value.

I know we are only talking about two games but if he continues with mediocre stuff it is time to start some dialog with your other managers and try to move him based on his past CY Young performances. Today he is worth a top tier OF or MI. Next week if he has two additional lousy starts against the Phillies (he draws Halladay for that one) and then the resurgent Mets (where he had a 12.5K/9 and a 0.69 ERA last year) he may possibly seal his trade value and watch it fade lower and lower for the rest of the year.  In one league I offered up Konerko and prospect Jarrod Parker for Lincecum after his 1^st start. The Lincecum owner rejected the offer…today I am glad he did.