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!

Today’s pitch count is 10.

1. For the second straight time Rich Harden walked more hitters then he struck out Wednesday night. In those two games he’s given up nine earned runs in 10.1 innings. In related news, Harden hasn’t won a game sine May 12th.
2. David Ortiz hit another home run on Wednesday night. He has three over his last seven games and is batting .363 over that same time period.
3. The Phillies bullpen screwed Joe Blanton big time on Wednesday.  Blanton struck out ten and walked two over seven innings and only gave up two earned runs. On the other hand J.C. Romero and Chan Ho Park combined to give up five earned runs in the final two innings. Blanton has pitched well as of late. Over his last seven starts he’s 3-1 with a 3.42 ERA and 44 strikeouts with ten walks.

(more…)

One of the finest arts of all fantasy sports, and one of the key ingredients to fantasy victory is the concept of buying low and selling high. It is the classic guessing game of fantasy sports, and those who do it well tend to see impressive results in the fantasy world.

How can one tell though?

How can we know that someone who is batting .340 in May will go on to bat .260 in June? Who can guess when a player homers twice in May, that the same player will homer 14 times in June? And who has the crystal ball that shows which pitcher will win 5 games one month, yet only win one game the following? The answer is…NOBODY!!!!!!!!!! You can raise your chances of being good at this classic guessing game by looking at certain statistics and trends, but a good hunch or gut-feeling can go a long way.

At one third of the way through the 2009 season, let’s examine a few possible sell high candidates.

(more…)

Today’s pitch count is 15.

1. Closer by committee situations are never good in terms of fantasy baseball. That’s not stopping Tampa Bay from utilizing the strategy while Troy Percival is injured. Last night J.P. Howell got his second save of the year and R.J. Anderson wrote a post yesterday stating that Howell has some pretty exciting numbers. Better numbers in some regards then Papelbon and Rivera, to name a few.
2. You don’t see this very often. Both pitchers in last night’s Cincinnati versus St. Louis game pitched a complete game. Aaron Harang took the loss giving up three earned and striking out four. Chris Carpenter won his fourth game and has an ERA of 0.71 in six starts this season. He’s struck out 31 batters in 38 innings of work and only walked five.
3. David Wright stole his 13th base yesterday and is looking like he’s going wild on the base paths like he did in 2007 when he swiped 34. Unfortunately, he’s only jacked three home runs in the Mets’ new Grand Canyon like ballpark. Wright’s HR/F ratio of 5.8% is miserably low and show rise bringing his home run total up soon. But don’t look for him to approach 30 homers this season. With a hit rate of 44.4% I’m not even sure that his .326 batting average is safe. When his hit rate normalizes back towards his normal 34.7% we might see a huge drop in his average. Consider yourself warned.
4. Andrew McCutchen had a nice major league debut yesterday. He went 2-for-4 scoring three times and stealing a base. He’s owned in 13% of Yahoo! leagues right now but that number is sure to rise shortly. He’s NL-only worthy right now and you may consider taking a mixed-league flier on him too, especially in keeper leagues.

(more…)

Today’s pitch count is 6.

1. Seattle starter Jarrod Washburn pitched seven strong innings last night giving up only one earned run and six hits. He still took the loss as Mariners’ hitters failed to score him any runs and only managed two hits. Washburn hasn’t won a game since April 21st and his last two starts have been successful in the fact that he’s pitched 13 innings and only given up one run. But the lack of run support is killing him. Even though Washburn’s season ERA is 3.22 he’s not a great fantasy option. He’s going to get knocked around at times and when he’s on, his team just isn’t scoring runs.
2. Ouch. J.J. Putz gave up four hits and three earned runs last night without recording an out. Over his last two appearances he’s given up five earned runs in 0.1 innings of work. If he’s reverted back to the reliever who lost his job in Seattle, the Mets may look for other 8th inning options.
3. He’s only owned in 7% of Yahoo! fantasy leagues but he’s batting .304 on the season and over the last month he’s .359/.427/.511 with two home runs and 15 RBI. His name is Andy LaRoche, and you might consider taking a look at him in your fantasy league.

(more…)

Today’s pitch count is 4.

1. If this is news to you, you need to climb out from under that rock and start paying attention. Baltimore Orioles prospect Matt Wieters is set to make his major league debut tomorrow night. The 23-year-old catcher is batting .305/.387/.504 with five home runs in his second year as a professional. Combining last years numbers with 2009, Wieters has accumulated 578 pro at-bats and is hitting .342 with 32 home runs and 121 RBI. He’s already owned in 69% of Yahoo! leagues without a big league at-bat. That number will skyrocket this weekend.
2. Jake Fox was called up this week and got a base hit in his first big league at-bat this season. Before his call up by the Cubs he was batting .423 with 17 home runs in 149 at-bats. Wow! He’s likely not to get a huge amount of playing time in Chicago, but if he does,and continues with those Triple-A numbers in the bigs, watch out.

(more…)

There are some situations in fantasy baseball that just have disaster written all over them. Below are three positional battles and playing time configurations that could bring a summer of heartbreak.

Nationals Bullpen

The Nationals’ bullpen is the biggest embarrassment in Washington since Watergate. How bad is it? The Nationals have blown 13 of 19 save opportunities this year. Kip Wells, who began the season in the minors, has a strong chance to emerge as the top reliever for the team. The main culprits have been Joel Beimel who regained the closers role after coming off the disabled list and promptly allowed 5 ER’s in 4 IP and Joel Hanrahan who blew three of his first five save opportunities as the teams closer. The only saving grace is that the Nationals’ offense is not as bad as in years past. The Nat’s are currently 3rd in the National League at 5.92 Runs per game. With a little help from the other pitchers, whoever emerges as the closer could get some save opportunities.

(more…)

A NEW website managed by Scott Woodall called WaiverSharks is beginning to find its niche!  WaiverSharks rhyme time mantra is “Deeper Sleepers Better Keepers”

Their most basic theory: Discover today’s best fantasy baseball sleepers, and you will end up with many of tomorrow’s finest fantasy baseball keepers. Keeping you a step ahead of your fantasy baseball league’s competitors means landing an Edinson Volquez before your competition even knowing he has an “N” in his name! The majority of articles WaiverSharks delve into focus on the back end of fantasy baseball drafts, as well as upside prospects that may be on the cusp of breaking through to the MLB Show.

WaiverSharks is introducing TWO new “Fantasy Tools” for 2009: One entails their commitment to perusing the waiver wire for daily hidden gems called The Shallow and The Deep. The other is Fantalytics. A comparison style blog, which analyzes two similarly ranked fantasy baseball combatants, including commentary from both sides – with a “Final Call” made on the player who is the better option for most fantasy teams.

Today, I’m going to run Fantalytics - Volume #3, which pits Cincinnati Reds slugger Joey Votto against Texas Rangers big newcomer - Chris Davis. But, to find out the “Final Call”, you’re going to have to check out WaiverSharks later today!

FANTALYTICS – VOLUME #3

By: WaiverSharks - Adam Forsyth

A pair of talented young bashers indeed, scripts these two new titans of the right-side of the infield against each other in this Special edition of FANTALYTICS.

Votto and Davis maintain an abundance of similarities at first glance:

Both are first basemen, both play half of their games in parks that are considered heavy hitters’ parks, both are considered power-hitters, and both are entering their second season in the big leagues.

Both have also made their way through the minor leagues with considerable success, chipping their way through with indications of what the future will hold.  They both can definitely go yard, and they both have the uncanny ability to drive in runs; Votto, averaging .286-20-86-14 over the last four seasons, while Davis’ average impressed with a .302-25-78-4 line in his three seasons of minor league adjustment. (You’ve heard of a “closer’s run” …that my friends was a “both” run.)

It appears that either Votto or Davis can be depended on to contribute in most statistical categories, and have a positive influence on the resurgence of their struggling clubs.

FANTALYTICS takes this opportunity to break down yet another tough call as we enter cram time for many owners entering their league draft dates.

The Case for Joey Votto
This talented 25-year old Canadian has the goods to consistently hit for power and average, and could be the nation’s next Larry Walker-type talent.  Alright, alright, I’ll try to settle down a bit as Larry’s numbers were out of this world, especially his ballooned statistics from the nine and a half seasons playing with the Rockies at Coors’ Field…I digress.

One way or the other, Joey Votto may be the closest resemblance to the Maple Ridge B.C. product that crazy Canucks have to cheer for since Larry left the game for good in 2005.

A few comforting facts about Votto that he displayed with his bat during his rookie campaign include:

1)    Similar power and average numbers at home compared to on the road.
2)    No huge stretch of time with a slump as he was able to keep a fairly consistent BA and power numbers each and every month.
3)    A good start to the season and a very strong finish show that he didn’t wear down over the course of the long major league season.
4)    And finally, the ability to hit both left handed and right handed pitchers with effectiveness - that didn’t expose any weakness or vulnerability.

Votto shows tremendous upside, extra base power, as well as a dash of presence on the base paths, as he chugged out seven steals to top off a very solid rookie campaign.  Locked in at first base, Votto’s only downfall on the surface may be his defense.  Shaky at times and ranking 6th overall in errors with 11 (Ryan Howard led the MLB with 19 at first base) he is going to have to shore up his ‘D’ in order to be a true full-time force.

I expect J.V. to be able to produce solid numbers for many years to come. While the loss of protection of Adam Dunn late in the season didn’t hurt him, I imagine that it may affect some of the pitches that will come his way in 2009.  Ultimately, Votto is a smart enough batter to adjust with a slight tweak, if anything, and will continue his growth without concern,  .

The Case for Chris Davis
Crush, (as he is affectionately referenced by Texas media) is on a skyward journey to an elite level of MLB power hitters.  Blessed with a crisp, clean and mighty swing, Davis hit round trippers at a torrent pace in his first exposure to major league pitchers.

Davis introduced himself to MLB pitching by pounding out a four-bagger in his first career start (off Phillies reliever Clay Condrey…hey, right that down, it could be a trivia answer one day!)
He followed it up with another dinger off of (the ageless wonder) Jamie Moyer in his next start, only two days later.

Upon finishing his first go’round with 17 long balls in only 295 plate appearances, it doesn’t initially seem like out of this world power; however, this kid can straight up mash.

Look a little deeper and break down his AB’s in order to understand just how much power he has.  In his first 30 appearances he knocked the cover off of the ball, knocking 10 of his season total 17 HR’s.  Oh, and that was in only 89 AB’s, an absurd pace of 1HR/8.9 AB!  He did however cool down, rounding the bases only 7 times through his final 206 AB’s for a more feet on the earth 1HR/29.4 AB.

So, which Davis is the real deal?  We at WaiverSharks.com believe that while it would be unimaginable to maintain a pace of his first 89 AB’s, (projection in 600 AB would be 67 ‘taters…that’s not going to happen) so somewhere in the middle would definitely be a true figure.

Drastic splits of numbers outline that Davis may need to continue some seasoning. Or possibly even share a platoon-type set-up so he doesn’t burn out, or visit the dark streets of “Slumpsville”.

Penciled in as the Texas Rangers everyday first baseman, Davis has the power and ability to hit 35+ homers this season. While this isn’t solely a testament to the park that he plays half of his games in, it’s a tribute to the raw power that is produced by his beastly six-foot four inch, 235 pound frame.

Furthermore, the Rangers line-up from top to bottom certainly has the ability to keep opposing pitchers up late at night - and with the potential in his bat, I definitely expect “Crush” to be a huge contributor to those nightmares.

Now, it’s up to WaiverSharks to give us the answer. To read the exclusive Fantalytics “Final Call” Check out WaiverSharks today!