Crooked Pitch

Thank you for visiting Crooked Pitch! While you're here you'll find tons of valuable fantasy baseball information to help you win your fantasy baseball league. If you're new here, or haven't done so yet, you may want to subscribe to my RSS feed. You can also follow Crooked Pitch on Twitter @crookedpitch Thanks for visiting!

Catcher: Russell Martin | Los Angeles Dodgers - Geovany Soto and his 16 bombs got the All-Star starting job for the NL, while stud Brian McCann barely got to play even though his numbers merited the role of NL starter as well. Russell martin was sandwiched in between them for the game. And even though he has fewer home runs than both catchers, and a lower batting average than McCann, Martin is the first half, fantasy MVP due to his stolen base output. He swiped 10 bags and proved that cathcers can run a bit. His value is in the fact that he produces in every fantasy category, and with numbers like .294/.394/.436 with 49 runs, 10 home runs, 45 RBI, and 10 stolen bases, he produces well.

First Base: Lance Berkman | Houston Astros - Ryan Howard may have 28 home runs, but he’s not even close to being as valuable of a fantasy first baseman as Berkman is. Berkman batted .347/.443/.653 with 79 runs, 22 home runs, 73 RBI, and 15 stolen bases in the first half of 2008. He may even have been the most valuable player in the entire fantasy baseball universe.

Second Base: Ian Kinsler | Texas Rangers - In April, if you had told me that Chase Utley would have 25 home runs at the All-Star break and wouldn’t be the most valuable fantasy baseball second baseman, I would have called the insane asylum and booked your room. It’s true though. Kinsler topped Utley in batting average, runs scored, and stolen bases, and isn’t too far behind in the RBI category. Kinsler’s first half numbers were .337/.397/.548 with 84 runs scored, 14 home runs, 58 RBI, and 23 stolen bases.

Shortstop: Hanley Ramirez | Florida Marlins - Ramirez sure has proven worthy of first round consideration at draft time this past off-season. He put up first half numbers of .311/.391/.566 with 80 runs scored, 23 home runs, 45 RBI, and 23 stolen bases and did that all without Miguel Cabrera hitting in the Marlins lineup with him. The only shortstop who can put up numbers like Hanley is playing third base for the Yankees.

Third Base: Chipper Jones | Atlanta Braves - Although he’s no longer flirting with a .400 batting average, Jones still tearing up National League pitching and leading the league in batting average . Jones is batting .376/.472/.614 with 56 runs scored, 18 home runs, 51 RBI, and two stolen bases. As long as Jones stays healthy, expect monster production from him to continue in the second half.

Outfield: Josh Hamilton | Texas Rangers - You don’t even have to consider his 28 home run, first round home run derby spectacle to consider what Hamilton is doing this season as spectacular. He’s leading MLB in RBI as he approached 100 RBI in the first half alone, and is just an all around good story for baseball. His first half numbers were .310/.367/.552 with 60 runs scored, 21 home runs, 95 RBI, and even seven stolen bases. Wherever you drafted this guy, you absolutely stole him.

Starting Pitcher: Tim Lincecum | San Francisco Giants - Picking a first half MVP from the great performers from the starting pitching pool, was very difficult. Cliff Lee, Edison Volquez, Roy Halladay, and even Justin Duchscherer deserved consideration. Lincecum was chosen as he second in the league in strikeouts, tied for third in wins, and is an ERA stud pitching for what was supposed to be a terrible team. His first half line was 11-2 with a 2.57 ERA, 1.25 WHIP and 135 strikeouts and 47 walks in 129.2 innings of work.

Relief Pitcher: Francisco Rodriguez | Los Angeles Angels - Rodriguez’ closest competitor in the saves category is 10 saves away, and his 38 saves leads MLB by a long shot. He also has a 2.36 ERA and a 1.26 WHIP to go along with those saves. In 42 innings pitched, Rodriguez struck out 41 and walked 26.

The National League had six MVP’s this week compared to the American League’s two. It was all hitters for the NL and all pitchers for the AL. Does good pitching beat good hitting, or vice versa? I guess we’ll find out next week in NYC at the All-Star game.

Here are the week 14 fantasy baseball MVP’s.

Catcher: Geovany Soto | Chicago Cubs - Soto’s slash stats were impressive last week at .370/.452/.667. He also hit two home runs, scored six times and drove in five. And how can I not select Soto for the MVP award this week as he became the first rookie catcher ever to be selected to start an All-Star game for the National League?

First Base: Adam LaRoche | Pittsburgh Pirates - LaRoche had an impressive slugging percentage last week of 1.000 as five of his nine hits were extra base hits (two home runs, two doubles, and a triple). He had a batting average of .474, scored five times and drove in eight runs.

Second Base: Brandon Phillips | Cincinnati Reds - Two hitters deserved this award this week, but I am only giving it to Phillips, since snubbing ball players in en vogue lately. Ian Kinsler was a very close second place, but Phillips’ extra RBI’s were the icing on the cake. Phillips batted .481/.500/.667 with 4 runs scored, one home run, nine RBI, and two stolen bases.

Shortstop: J.J. Hardy | Milwaukee Brewers - It’s amazing when we have a week where Hanley Ramirez hits three home runs, drives in eight and scores seven times but isn’t even considered for this weekly MVP award! Hardy batted .600/.625/1.367 with eight runs scored, six home runs, 12 RBI, and a stolen base, and was arguably the most valuable fantasy baseball player last week.

Third Base: Alex Rodriguez | New York Yankees - ARod only had eight hits last week, but they all counted in a big way. He batted .333/.448/.750 with eight runs scored, three home runs, seven RBI, and three stolen bases.

Outfield: Cody Ross | Florida Marlins - Here’s another situation where excellence wasn’t good enough for a player to win the weekly MVP award. Matt Holliday belted three  homers, drove in 10, and stole three bases, but couldn’t hold a candle last week to Ross’ .500/.529/.813 with eight runs scored, two home runs, and 15 RBI.

Starting Pitcher: Roy Halladay | Toronto Blue Jays - Halladay beat up on the American League West last week earning wins over the Angels and the Mariners. He pitched 16 innings and struck out 13 while only walking one. His ERA was only 1.12 and his WHIP was 0.69.

Relief Pitcher: Brandon Morrow | Seattle Mariners - Morrow has slid into the closer’s role very nicely in Seattle. Last week he notched three saves, one win, and struck out five while only walking one in 4.1 innings of work. His ERA was perfect at 0.00 and his WHIP was 0.23.

Week six saw the two leagues compete well against each other as the NL just edged out the AL 5-3 in awards. We also have a couple of repeat winners poking their heads back onto this list.

Catcher: Chris Iannetta | Colorado Rockies - Iannetta has been spending most of the 2008 fantasy baseball season as the backup catcher in Colorado, but last week saw considerable playing time. In 19 at-bats he averaged .368/.400/.737 with 2 runs scored, one home run and 7 RBI.

First Base: Kevin Youkilis | Boston Red Sox - This was an incredibly tough decision as Lance Berkman also had an incredibly strong week. Youk’s slash stats were lower than Berkman’s as he batted .375/.394/.937, but his roto numbers were a bit higher with 8 runs scored, 5 home runs, 10 RBI, and one stolen base.

Second Base: Dan Uggla | Florida Marlins - Uggla scored 8 runs, hit 4 home runs, and knocked in eight while averaging .350/.440/.1.000. Ian Kinsler was in consideration for a quick second, but his power numbers paled in comparison to Uggla’s.

Third Base: Mike Lowell | Boston Red Sox - Lowell joins fellow Sox IF mate to win this week’s MVP award. He edged out Blake DeWitt by scoring 9 runs, hitting 3 home runs, and driving in 9. Lowell also averaged .406 ( a rather important number in Red Sox history), /.429/.781.

Shortstop: Eric Bruntlett | Philadelphia Phillies - Bruntlett had great numbers as he enjoyed his last week of filling in for Jimmy Rollins. Bruntlett scored 4 times, hit one home run, drove in 8, and stole one base. He also averaged .368/.429/.737 as he edged out Hanley Ramirez mainly due to Ramirez having a lower slugging percentage than on-base percentage.

Outfield: Ryan Ludwick | St. Louis Cardinals - Ludwickhad a very nice power week as he scored 5 times, hit 4 home runs, drove in 9 and averaged .478/.480/1.130.

Starting Pitcher: James Shields | Tampa Bay Rays - Shields has one monster great start this past week, as he would have had to to edge out some of the two-start pitchers. Shields pitched a complete game, one hit shutout against the Angels. He struck out eight while walking none and had a perfect 0.00 ERA and a 0.11 WHIP.

Relief Pitcher: Kerry Wood | Chicago Cubs - Wood is finally pitching like the stud closer the Cubs had hoped for when they selected him over Carlos Marmol during Spring Training. Last week, Wood recorded three saves while only giving up one hit in 4.0 innings of work. He had a 4:0 strikeout to walk ratio and had a 0.00 ERA and a 0.25 WHIP.

If not for one Boston pitcher, the National League would have swept these fantasy baseball MVP awards this week. Nice job NL!

Catcher: Geovany Soto | Chicago Cubs - Soto batted .391/.481/.870 while scoring six times. He also hit two home runs with 9 RBI. Russell Martin also had a good week going .304/.448/.435 with six runs, a home run, four RBI and a stolen base, but his performance was clearly a second place performance.

First Base: Adrian Gonzalez | San Diego Padres - Gonzalez narrowly edged out Lance Berkman (who won in week 4) for this week’s prize scoring seven times and knocking in six RBI with four home runs. Gonzalez averaged .385/.385/.885 last week.

Second Base: Chase Utley | Philadelphia Phillies - Utley becomes the first three time winner of this award as scored five times, knocked three home runs, had five RBI, and even stole a base. His slash stats last week were .348/.423./783. He narrowly edged out Placido Polanco while Dan Uggla also garnered consideration.

Third Base: Jose Bautista | Pittsburgh Pirates - Bautista hit three home runs last week while scoring six times and driving in seven runs. He averaged .333/.370/.750 on the road to win this award .

Shortstop: Rafael Furcal | Los Angeles Dodgers - Furcal finished just ahead of Jose Reyes for this award largely on his 11 runs scored. He also hit a home run, drove in four and stole two bases. His slash stats were .393/.452/.571.

Outfield: Matt Kemp | Los Angeles Dodgers - Kemp was the clear-cut winner this week and the second straight Dodger on the list this week. Kemp hit .407/.433/.556 with seven runs scored, 11 RBI, and six stolen bases.

Starting Pitcher: Tim Hudson | Atlanta Braves - It usually takes a two-start pitcher to win this award, but Hudson was special last Friday night (and I was lucky enough to see this in person). Hudson faced off against Edison Volquez in a fantastic pitchers duel. Hudson pitched a complete game shutout, allowing only three hits while striking out 10 and walking zero.

Relief Pitcher: Jonathan Papelbon | Boston Red Sox - Papelbon had only one save last week, but he also got two wins. In 4.1 innings of work he struck out three, walked zero, and gave up two hits on his way to a 0.00 ERA and a 0.46 WHIP.

The National League edged out the American League 5-3 in this week’s MVP awards. The state of Florida was nicely represented with two Rays and a Marlin on the list.

Catcher: This is the second week a reserve catcher has won this award. Wil Nieves (WAS) is filling in for Paul Lo Duca while he’s on the DL, and last week hit .500/.529/.687 with 5 runs, one home run, and 4 RBI. His days are numbered as Lo Duca should be back shortly.

First Base: Lance Berkman (HOU) had a monster week hitting .455/.517/1.136 with 7 runs scored, 4 home runs, 12 RBI and a stolen base. His performance was head and shoulders better than every other first baseman, maybe even every other player in MLB last week.

Second Base: He didn’t collect a walk or reach base on a error last week, but Brandon Phillips (CIN) hit 4 home runs, scored 5 times, had a stolen base and 8 RBI while averaging .321/.321/.857.

Shortstop: This was an interesting competition between Miguel Tejada and Hanley Ramirez, as Tejada had a better average and Ramirez had better power and speed numbers. I’m giving the MVP award to Hanley Ramirez (FLA). He only hit .273/.314/.606 but had 6 runs scored, 3 home runs, 4 RBI and 4 stolen bases.

Third Base: Who had week 4 in the Longoria for MVP pool? It didn’t take Evan Longoria (TB) long to make a fantasy baseball impact and win his first weekly MVP award. He batted .333/.435/.833 with 4 runs scored, 2 home runs, 6 RBI, and 2 stolen bases. Longoria narrowly beat out other 3B candidates Edwin Encarnacion and Garrett Atkins.

Outfield: This was a tough race to call too. I passed over Jayson Werth and Carl Crawford to give the award to Magglio Ordonez (DET). Ordonez averaged .400/.484/.840 with 5 runs scored, 3 home runs, and 10 RBI.

Starting Pitcher: Three pitchers did enough to win this award this week, but in the end James Shields (TB) edged out Edison Volquez and C.C. Sabathia to take top honors. Shields had two wins, enjoyed a 12:3 strikeout to walk ratio, and had an ERA of 1.12 with a WHIP of 0.69.

Relief Pitcher: Brandon Lyon (ARI) had four saves last week with an ERA of 0.00 and a WHIP of 0.40. He threw 5 innings and had 5 strikeouts and zero walks.

Pretty even match between the American League and the National League this week with the MVP awards. There are even a few surprises mixed in. Enjoy!

Catcher: This was a tough call as no catcher really strutted his stuff ahead of everyone else. So, I’m going to give the award to someone, who most likely, is a free agent in your league, Chad Moeller (NYY). Moeller hit .350/.435/.600 with 5 runs scored, a home run, and 3 RBI as he continued filling in for Jorge Posada.

First Base: Conor Jackson (ARI) showed superb stuff this week hitting .480/.519/1.080. He also scored 10 times, hit 3 home runs, knocked in 10 and even stole a base.

Second Base: Chase Utley (PHI) is a man among boys. This is his 2nd MVP award and maybe his best week yet. he hit .391/.462/.1.087 with 6 runs scored, 5 home runs, and 8 RBI.

Shortstop: This was a close race between Jose Reyes, Ryan Theriot, Hanley Ramirez and Derek Jeter. But I’m giving the award to Ryan Theriot (CHC) who hit .481/.533/.815 with 9 runs scored, a home run, 4 RBI and a stolen base.

Third Base: Here’s another close race between Miguel Cabrera, Chipper Jones, and David Wright. I was prepared to give the award to Cabrera until I saw that his on-base percentage was lower than his batting average. That just didn’t sit well with me, so Chipper Jones (ATL) wins the week 3 fantasy baseball MVP award. He hit .565/.600/1.174 with 6 runs scored, 4 home runs, and 7 RBI.

Outfield: “Manny being Manny” is quickly turning into the definition of tearing the cover off of the ball. Manny Ramirez (BOS) hit .417/.517/.958 with 7 runs scored, 4 home runs, and 8 RBI and he’s really keeping the Red Sox alive while Papi finds his swing.

Starting Pitcher: John Danks (CHW) only gave up 8 hits in 14.2 innings of work this past week. He won both starts and had an ERA of 0.00 and a WHIP of 0.68 while dazzling with a 6.00 strikeout to walk ratio (12:2). He’s also available in some leagues, so give him a look in very deep mixed leagues and AL only’s.

Relief Pitcher: Billy Wagner (NYM) recorded three saves this past week and posted a 0.00 ERA and WHIP. He struck out three batters while walking none.

The fantasy baseball MVP awards are in, and boy did the National League dominate in week one. If not for Pierzynski and Soria, the NL would have swept these awards. I did give Figgins an honorable mention, but then again, it was just a mention.

Catcher: A.J. Pierzynski (CHW) blasted 2 home runs, scored 7 times and knocked in 7 runs last week while hitting .500/.565/1.000.

First Base: I distinctly remember talking, back in January, about Derrek Lee (CHC) and how I thought he’d make a return towards his 2005 numbers. Well, he hit 3 home runs last week and averaged .400/.423/.880.

Second Base: Chase Utley (PHI) is earning his first round draft status by averaging .429/.519/.952 with 3 home runs, 8 runs scored and 6 RBI last week.

Third Base: Mark Reynolds (ARI) struck out 8 times last week, but still hit .304/.385/.609 with 2 home runs and 6 RBI. Chone Figgins (LAA) was considered for MVP honors this week after hitting .407/.484/.481 with 2 stolen bases, but for some reason I couldn’t hand the hardware to a player who had a higher on-base percentage than slugging percentage.

Shortstop: Jeff Keppinger (CIN) had a superb week hitting .435/.480/.826 with 2 home runs, 6 runs scored, 4 RBI and a stolen base.

Outfield: The outfield MVP was an easy choice after watching him blast two homers from the cheap seats at “The Ted”. Xavier Nady (PIT) finished the week with 3 homers, 9 RBI, 6 runs scored and a stolen base while hitting .385/.448/.769.

Starting Pitcher: Man, did i want to give Johnny Cueto (CIN) this award as he took a perfect game into the 6th in his Major League debut, but Jake Peavy (SD) had a sick week with 2 wins, 12 strikeouts and an 0.56 ERA and WHIP. Nasty!

Relief Pitcher: The Royals are leading the AL Central and Joakim Soria is 3-3 in save opportunities. He struck out 7 and hasn’t walked anyone yet. With an ERA of 0.00 and a WHIP of 0.50, Soria was an easy choice.
photo credit: The G-tastic 7