Fantasy Baseball Happy Recap - 4/16/08

Bat Of The Night: Miguel Cabrera – 4/6, 2 R, 1 HR, 5 RBI

The third basemen are getting hot! A night after David Wright snagged Bat Of The Night recognition for his 5 RBI outing against the Nats, fellow 3B stud Miguel Cabrera responded in kind with 4 hits and 5 RBI against CC Sabathia (see below) and the struggling Indians. After a slow start, the Tigers offense is beginning to click on all cylinders, a frightening proposition for AL pitching staffs. Get all viable Tigers’ bats into you lineup stat.

Arm Of The Night: Felix Hernandez – 9 IP, 8 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 8 K (CG, W)

The King has been lights out thus far in 2008 but hasn’t had much to show for it due to shaky work behind him in the Mariners’ bullpen. He entered the game 1-0 despite throwing shutouts in 2 of his first 3 outings and was brilliant on this night throwing a complete game allowing only 1 earned run and striking out 8. With ace Erik Bedard in front of him, Hernandez has looked more comfortable pitching out the 2 spot in the rotation and is seeing better pitching matchups on a nightly basis. This could be the year Hernandez puts it all together over a full season.

Bottom Lines: CC Sabathia – 4 IP, 8 H, 9 ER, 5 BB, 1 K (L)
Josh Fogg – 2 IP, 7H, 9 ER, 2 BB, 3 K (L)

Two starts, two appearances on the Bottom Line for the returning AL Cy Young award winner CC Sabathia. The big lefty is now 0-3 for the first time in his career and opponent are hitting a ridiculous .390 against him. ESPN’s Eduardo Perez noted that Sabathia’s velocity remains on point but that he has been simply unable to locate his pitches. He has left many pitches up and over the plate and has paid the price. Despite his remarkable struggles, Sabathia is too good to be this bad for much longer and don’t forget he is in a contract year. Josh Fogg’s line speaks for itself, the self-proclaimed “Dragon Killer” was slain by the Cubs.

Honorable Mentions

Top Five

Redemption is the theme of our Top Five bats and arms as Roy Oswalt finally got on track after a series of rough starts to begin the season while Jim Thome homered, doubled and drove in 3 in his return from a 1 game suspension. Also noteworthy was a big 5 RBI night from Edgar Renteria of the surging Tigers and Michael Bourn continuing to thrive in Houston and sticking it to his former team in the process.

Bats

Edgar Renteria - 3/4, 2 R, 1 HR, 5 RBI
Michael Bourn – 2/4, 2 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI, 1 SB
Rafael Furcal – 4/4, 2 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI
Frank Catalanotto – 3/7, 3 R, 2 2B, 1 HR, 1 RBI
Jim Thome – 2/4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI

Arms

Adam Wainwright – 7.2 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K (W)
Brandon Webb – 8 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 5 K (W)
Roy Oswalt – 7 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 4 K (W)
Jose Contreras – 7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 0 BB, 6 K (W)
Carlos Zambrano – 7 IP, 8 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 5 K (W)

Bottom Five

Rough night for a few front-line starters and big bats. Tim Hudson and Chien-Ming Wang struggled mightily against division foes while Adrian Gonzalez and Brandon Phillips lead a star-studded cast of fantasy regulars who struggled at the dish Wednesday.

Bats

Kelly Johnson – 0/4, 3 K, 1 R
Brandon Phillips – 0/4, 2 K
Hunter Pence – 0/3, 2 K
Adrian Gonzalez – 0/4, 2 K
Carlos Delgado – 0/4, 2 K

Arms

Carlos Villanueva – 4.2 IP, 8 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 0 K (L)
Tim Hudson – 3 IP, 6 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 1 K (L)
Pat Maholm – 5 IP, 11 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 2 K (L)
Clay Buchholz – 3.2 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 1 BB, 2 K (ND)
Chien-Ming Wang – 4 IP, 9 H, 8 ER, 3 BB, 2 K (ND)

Making A Case...

Ryan Church – 2/4, 2 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI

With Alfonoso Soriano injured super utility man Mark Derosa will see more playing time in the outfield. DeRosa gives you good position flexibility with eligibility at 2B, 3B and the OF and can provide respectable contributions in runs scored, RBI and batting average. Consider him a good stopgap option if you are experiencing injury woes or need a spot starter.

Fantasy Observations & Thoughts

- Doug Brocail was called upon to close out Houston’s 2-1 win at Philadelphia last night and did so successfully pitching a scoreless ninth. We had mentioned that Brocail was the Astros’ top closing option behind the struggling Valverde in yesterday’s Happy Recap and it appears we are on point. Brocail may become an intriguing bullpen option sooner rather than later.

- AJ Burnett was called upon in a relief role last night, pitching the 14th inning in Toronto’s marathon affair against Texas. Burnett let up 2 earned runs and took the loss. It appears he remains on schedule to pitch Friday against Detroit but that may change. Keep an eye on this situation as the Blue Jays may choose to push Burnett back to the weekend.

- Brad Penny snapped a 2 game losing streak pitching 5.2 innings of scoreless ball in the Dodgers win over Pittsburgh.

- Gil Meche allowed 2 runs over 6 innings to earn his first win of the season. The front-end of the Royals staff has been arguably the best in baseball thus far this season and rumor has it Luke Hochevar may be called up to solidify the back-end soon. The Royal’s top pitching prospect has been dominant in AAA and will be an intriguing fantasy option upon his arrival. KC has the makings of a really good pitching staff for years to come.

- A night after getting 4 hits and missing a cycle by a homer, Jose Reyes tagged his first home run of the season in the Mets 5-2 win against Washington. Reyes now has 6 hits in his last two games since returning from a hamstring injury and is heating up with the weather.

- Carl Crawford homered again last night, his second blast in two nights. One of these seasons, Crawford is going to reach his full potential as a .300+, 100 R, 20 HR, 90 RBI, 50 Steal guy and there is a chance 2008 might be it.


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