Fantasy Baseball Happy Recap - 4/2/08

Wednesday brought us a full slate of games and some mixed results for many of the preseason favorites. Pitching was again the story of the night with 5 teams posting shut outs and 8 other staffs allowing 2 or less runs. The powerful offenses of the Tigers and Phillies were shut out by the surging Royals and Nationals (you read that correctly) while the Yanks could only muster 2 runs in the 80th to last regular season game ever at Yankee Stadium.

Bat Of The Night – Lance Berkman – 3/5, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI, 1 SB

Berkman did it all in leading the Astros to a 9-6 win. The big guy looks to be in great shape and will benefit from hitting in the middle of a potent Houston lineup.

Arms Of The Night

Brian Bannister – 7 IP, 2 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 4 K (W)

Bannister completely overwhelmed a loaded Tigers lineup allowing only 2 singles over 7 innings. Bannister’s pitching style isn’t the prettiest and he doesn’t put up flashy strikeout number or radar readings. However, he quietly went 12-9 with a solid 3.87 ERA on a bad Royals team and should improve on those numbers this year. You are looking at a great sleeper that’s still available in 40% of CBS leagues.

Tim Redding – 7 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 2 K

Not only did Tim Redding 1-hit the Phillies over 7, but he did it in Phildelphia and in the process outdueled their best pitcher Cole Hamels on the way to a 1-0 win. Kudos.

Bottom Line – Philadelphia Phillies Offense – 1-27 (1 single), 0 Runs

Tim Redding did this to you Philadelphia, TIM REDDING!

Honorable Mentions

The Good

A few guys here living up to their Spring Training hype. On the hitting side, Yunel Escobar has been red hot out of the gate and has made Braves fans quickly forget Edgar Renteria while pitchers AJ Burnett and Oliver Perez are truly pitching like they are in a contract year and want to get paid.

Bats

Derrek Lee - 2/4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 1 RBI
Yunel Escobar – 2/4, 1 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI
David Ortiz – 2/4, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI
Vernon Wells – 3/4, 2 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI
Aubrey Huff – 2/4, 2 R, 1 HR, 4 RBI
David Wright – 3/5, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI
Carlos Beltran – 3/4, 2 R, 3 2B, 1 RBI
Brandon Phillips – 2/4, 2 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI
Rick Ankiel – 3/5, 2 R, 1 HR, 1 RBI
Brad Hawpe – 2/4, 1 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 2 RBI
Grady Sizemore – 3/4, 2 R, 1 3B, 3 RBI

Arms

Fausto Carmona -7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 4 BB, 4 K (W)
Carlos Silva – 7 IP, 3 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K (W)
Cole Hamels – 8 IP, 6 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 6 K (L)
Jon Lester – 6.2 IP, 3 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 4 K (W)
AJ Burnett – 6 IP, 5 H, 2 ER, 1 BB, 3 K (W)
Oliver Perez – 6 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 1 BB, 8 K (W)
Joakim Soria – 1 IP, 1 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 3 K

The Bad

Trevor Hoffman and Brandon Lyon blew saves in emphatic fashion and would have been our bottom line had they not been bailed out by Tim Redding’s brilliance in Citizen’s Bank Park. A few batters are really struggling in the early going namely Placido Polanco who is yet to register a hit in 2 games.

Bats

Placido Polanco – 0/4, 1 K, 3 LOB (0-10 on the season)
Chris Snyder – 0/4, 3 K, 2 LOB
Brandon Inge – 0/3, 2 K
Adam Laroche – 0/4, 3 K, 2 LOB
Jack Cust – 0/4, 2 K, 2 LOB
Robinson Cano – 0/4, 2 K, 2 LOB
Vladimir Guerrero – 0/4, 3 K
Dan Uggla – 0/4, 2 K
Jim Thome – 0/4, 1 K, 4 LOB
Dodgers 1-5 – 1/17, 7 K, 12 LOB

Arms

Trevor Hoffman – 0.2 IP, 3 H, 4 ER, 1 BB, 0 K (BS, L)
Brandon Lyon – 0 IP, 3 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 0 K (BS, L)
Al Reyes – 0.2, 3 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 0 K (L)
Javier Vasquez – 5 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 6 K (L)
Daniel Cabrera – 4 IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 5 BB, 2 K (ND)
Matt Garza – 5.1 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, 2 BB, 3 K
Ted Lilly – 4.2 IP, 5 H, 4 ER

Making A Case...

Brian Bannister – See Above.

Billy Butler – 2/4, 1 2B, 2 RBI

This kid can flat out hit and will be seeing regular playing time either at DH or 1B. If you can still grab him, by all means take him off the market.

Ryan Church – 3/5, 2 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI

Is the Mets everyday RF and with Alou out until late April – early May, he will have plenty of opportunities to produce in a strong Mets lineup.

Fantasy Observations & Thoughts

- Brandon Lyon gave up a walk off 3 run homer, blowing his second save opportunity in spectacular fashion. Meanwhile, set up men Tony Pena and Chad Qualls have been nearly unhittable. Given Lyon’s injury history and his tendency to be inconsistent, we are counting down the days until he loses his closer job. Expect Pena to be the next in line.

- With JJ Putz on the DL, Seattle used Miguel Batista to close and he sucessfully recorded the save, Grab him for a few cheap saves over the next 2 weeks or so.

- Need a starter? Carlos Villanueva pitching against San Francisco tomorrow night, book it.