2012 Fantasy Baseball Daily Notes 5/2

Jerome Williams, Los Angeles Angels SP

If you’re an Evan Longoria owner, I’m guessing you woke up feeling like you went on an all-night bender last night. Losing a top pick is always a kick in the gut, but that doesn’t mean your season is over. In today’s Daily Grab Bag, I’ll take a quick look below at some viable replacements for the next 4-8 weeks (depending on who and what you believe).

Each and every day, I’ll be combing over box scores and scouring local beat writers’ reports to make sure you have all the information you need in order to make the right decisions for your fantasy baseball lineup. Make sure you check back at this very spot for Hot/Cold Streaks, Injury News, Closer Updates, Daily Stats, and more so that you can stay one step ahead of the rest of your league.

And of course, make sure you’re playing Daily Fantasy Sports at FP911Challenge.com.

Looking Back

Before we get to today’s games, let’s take a spin through last night’s box scores to identify the Studs and Duds from Tuesday, May 1st.

5 Good Nights

• Jerome Williams: 9.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 6 K’s, W
• Matt Holliday: 3-5, 2 R, HR, 2 RBI, 1 steal
• Shaun Marcum: 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 6 K’s
• Edinson Volquez: 7.0 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 4 K’s
• Yadier Molina: 2-5, 3 R, 2 steals

Honorable Mention: Jesus Montero, Justin Upton, Chris Davis, Austin Jackson, Jason Kipnis, Kelly Johnson, Chris Snyder, Ian Kinsler, Andre Ethier, A.J. Ellis, David Freese, Pedro Alvarez, Mark Ellis, Howard Kendrick, Gordon Beckham, Matt Cain, Ricky Nolasco, Trevor Cahill, Jarrod Parker, Ted Lilly, Brandon Beachy, Brian Matusz, Chris Sale, Matt Moore, Cole Hamels

5 Bad Nights

• Grant Balfour: 0.1 IP, 3 H, 2 ER, 1 K’s
• Luke Hochevar: 4.0 IP, 12 H, 9 ER, 2 K’s
• Jonathon Niese: 3.0IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 1 K
• Nelson Cruz: 0-5
• Alex Presley: 0-5

Dishonorable Mention: Brandon Inge, Endy Chavez,  Felix Doubront, Charlie Morton, Jhoulys Chacin, Mike Adams, Johnny Venters, Francisco Cordero, Kenley Jansen, Ubaldo Jimenez, Neftali Feliz, Phil Hughes, Francisco Liriano

Daily Grab Bag

Check back here for daily updates on injuries, closer battles, player news, and anything else that might affect your fantasy baseball team.

• Evan Longoria will reportedly miss 4-8 weeks (depending on the report you believe) with a hamstring tear he suffered in Monday’s game. The Rays are hopeful that he’ll be able to start rehabbing in four weeks, so it’s sounding like the 6-8 week timeline is looking more likely. If you’re scrambling for a replacement, here’s a few third baseman to take a look at:
  Chris Davis: .333, 12 R, 5 HR, 13 RBI on the season
  Pedro Alvarez: .222, 8 R, 6 HR, 12 RBI on the season
  Jed Lowrie: .303, 8 R, 3 HR, 9 RBI, 1 steal on the season
  Ty Wigginton: .317, 9 R, 2 HR, 10 RBI on the season
  Will Middlebrooks: One of the Red Sox’ top prospects, Middlebrooks  was just called-up from Triple-A Pawtucket today and could stick around if Kevin Youkilis misses an extended amount of time with his current back injury.
• With Grant Balfour struggling over his last few games (including last night), Jordan Noberto picked up the save for the A’s last night. Balfour should get a couple more opportunities to keep his job, but Noberto looks like he is first in line for saves chances if Balfour falters.
• After all the speculation that Kenley Jansen was the new Dodgers closer, Javy Guerra pitched the ninth last night for the save. I don’t think Guerra is out of the woods yet, but it seems that the talk of Jansen being the new closer was a little premature.
• Josh Hamilton (back) and Adrian Beltre (leg soreness) are both out of the lineup for the Rangers today. Beltre appeared as a pinch-hitter last night (and leg soreness is a weird “injury”) so it looks like he’s the closer of the two to returning. Ron Washington has said that he’s trying to limit Beltre and Hamilton’s playing time on artificial turf while they’re injured, so it may not be until this weekend when both return to the lineup.
• Trout/Harper Watch: With two of baseball’s best prospects being called-up on the same day, I’m going to dedicate this space to keeping tabs on the youngsters for the near future. Here’s to hoping that you were able to grab one (or both)!
  Mike Trout: Trout went 1-3 with a run and a steal last night. (2-14, .143, 1 Run, 1 Steal on the season)
  Bryce Harper: Harper went 0-3 last night. (2-9, .222, RBI on the season)

Looking Ahead

A quick look at some of today’s pitchers to start (3 Up), pitchers to sit (3 Down), pitchers to take a flier on if you need a spot-start (Throwing Darts), and batters with advantageous or disadvantageous matchups (Today’s Swings and Misses).

3 Up

James Shields vs. Seattle Mariners
Outside of two lackluster starts against two of the league’s best lineups (the Rangers and the Yankees), “Big Game James” has yet to allow more than two runs in a start this year.

Roy Halladay at Atlanta Braves
Over the past three seasons, Halladay boasts a minuscule 1.72 ERA (including three complete games) in six starts against the Braves .

Jered Weaver vs. Minnesota Twins
In three starts at home this year, Weaver has only allowed three earned runs in 23.2 innings while holding opponents to a .167 average.

3 Down

Philip Humber vs. Cleveland Indians
Forget about the perfect game two starts ago…that was an anomaly. I think the more relevant stat is that he followed that with an absolute stinker of a performance and had a 7.43 ERA in three starts against the Indians last year.

Jake Arrieta at New York Yankees
Arrieta started the season strong, but has regressed in his last two starts to the point where I’m scared to use him. Couple in the fact that he had a 4.24 ERA in three starts against the Yanks last year, and I’m staying away.

Brandon McCarthy at Boston Red Sox
McCarthy has started three games in Fenway Park in his career and hasn’t fared too well during his visits to Boston (1-2, 4.33 ERA, 1.31 WHIP).

Throwing Darts

Ivan Nova vs. Baltimore Orioles
In three starts against the Orioles last year, Nova held Baltimore to a .243 average while posting a very respectable 3.72 ERA. That’s good enough for me for a spot-start.

Bronson Arroyo vs. Chicago Cubs
In 135 career at-bats, Arroyo has held the current Cubs lineup to a .222 average while only allowing a .274 OBP. With those kind of numbers on his side, I won’t hold his former cornrow hairdo against him.

Daniel Bard vs. Oakland Athletics
Bard’s transformation into a starting pitcher has gone well in his last two starts (only three earned runs combined) and he has the good fortune of facing an Athletics team that ranks 26 in the Majors in runs scored.

Today’s Swings and Misses

• Chone Figgins is 11-for-29 (.379) in his career against today’s starter, James Shields.
• Brandon Phillips is 18-for-51 (.353)  with four home runs in his career against today’s starter, Paul Maholm.
• Dexter Fowler is 11-for-26 (.423)  in his career against today’s starter, Clayton Kershaw.
• Hanley Ramirez is 1-for-16 (.063) in his career against today’s starter, Barry Zito.
• Martin Prado is 2-for-16 (.125)  in his career against today’s starter, Roy Halladay.
• Denard Span is 2-for-15 (.133)  in his career against today’s starter, Jered Weaver.

Don’t forget to check out some of the other great content on FantasyPros911, starting with some of today’s recent updates:

• Collin Hager previews today’s starting pitchers in the latest edition of “Pitch or Ditch”.
• Albert Lang identifies his Hot N Cold All-Stars for all you Katy Perry fans out there. Not a Katy Perry fan? Me neither, but Albert’s article is still a fantastic read!
• Lenny Melnick and his award-winning podcast covers John Mayberry, Brett Lawrie, and a whole lot more fantasy goodness.

See you tomorrow!

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Nick Raducanu

Nick Raducanu finished 2011 ranked in the top 20 on ESPN’s Fantasy site, and is the mystery man behind the TraderX persona at www.FantasyTrade411.com. You can follow him and ask him for fantasy advice on Twitter @FantasyTrade411.

Latest posts by Nick Raducanu (Posts)

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