Fantasy Baseball Happy Recap - 4/8/08

Seven games into the season, the Tigers are 0-7 while the Baltimore Orioles moved to a paltry 6-1 with a convincing 8-1 win against Texas. It has been a wild start to the season to say the least and it appears that we are in store for an equally unpredictable fantasy baseball season. Given the influx of young talent both in the field and on the mound, we could see some major changes in the positional ranks come 2009.

Bat Of The Night: Aaron Hill – 4/4, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI,

Hill was pegged as one of our top sleepers at the second base position entering the season. After quietly hitting 17 homers in a breakout 2007 campaign, Hill has gotten off to a fine start in 2008. He has 20+ homerun potential and the ability to hit .300 making him a solid option at 2B.

Arm Of The Night: Daisuke Matsuzaka – 6.2 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 4 BB, 7 K (W)

This is Dice-K’s second time being honored as FSE’s Arm Of The Night and deservingly so. Although a bit wild, Matsuzaka geared it up when needed registering 7 strikeouts and allowing only 4 hits over 6 2/3 innings of shut out baseball. Dice-K has allowed a total of 3 earned runs in 18 1/3 innings spanning 3 starts this season and looks poised to establish himself as one of the top pitchers in all of baseball.

Bottom Line: Alex Rodriguez – 0/4, 4 K

A golden sombrero for Alex Rodriguez courtesy of a feisty Royals pitching staff. Mr. April is not living up to his billing… perhaps this is a good thing.

Honorable Mentions

Top Five

Mark Reynolds and Conor Jackson are two young D’Backs who will be household names in fantasy sooner rather than later while Aubrey Huff just keeps mashing for the Orioles, forcing fantasy owners to take notice. On the pitching side, Jake Westbrook showed his durability last night tossing a complete game in Anaheim. Doug Davis was strong in his final start before beginning treatment for Thyroid Cancer. Davis is out until mid-may and we here at FSE wish him a speedy recovery.

Bats

Mark Reynolds - 2/5, 2 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI
Bengie Molina – 2/5, 2 R, 2 HR, 2 RBI
Vernon Wells – 2/5, 2 R, 1 2B, 1 HR, 3 RBI
Aubrey Huff – 4/4, 1 R, 1 2B, 4 RBI
Conor Jackson – 2/3, 2 R, 1 3B, 3 RBI

Arms

Jake Westbrook – 9 IP, 7 H, 3 ER, 0 BB, 4 K (W, CG)
Jamie Moyer – 6 IP, 4 H, 2 ER, 3 BB, 1 K (W)
Doug Davis – 6 IP, 6 H, 2 ER, 2 BB, 7 K (W)
Brian Burres – 6 IP, 7 H, 1 ER, 2 BB, 3 K (W)
Manny Corpas – 1 IP, 0 H, 0 ER, 0 BB, 2 K (S)

Bottom Five

Tough night for several youngsters both on the hitting and pitching side. Aaron Rowand is lucky A-Rod registered a rare golden sombrero otherwise he would have most definitely been the Bottom Line.

Bats

Aaron Rowand – 0/5, 4 K
Chris B. Young – 0/6, 3 K
Corey Hart – 0/4, 3 K
Jose Guillen – 0/5, 2 K
Michael Bourn – 0/5, 2 K

Arms

Phil Hughes – 3 IP, 6 H, 3 ER, 4 BB, 2 K (L)
Jason Jennings – 4.2 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 4 BB, 1 K (L)
Chad Billingsley – 2.1 IP, 5 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 1 K (L)
Justin Speier – 1.1 IP, 1 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 1 K (L, BS)
Scott Schoenweis – 0.1 IP, 2 H, 3 R, 1 ER, 0 BB, 0 K, 1 HBP (L)

Making A Case...

Luke Scott – 2/4, 1 R, 1 HR, 2 RBI

In Houston, Scott was part of an overcrowded outfield and never received consistent playing time or a starting gig. However, when in the lineup, Scott has proved to be productive hitting 18 homers and driving in 64 runs in only 369 at bats last season. Scott was sent to Baltimore as part of the Miguel Tejada deal and has enjoyed a hot start this season hitting .500 over his first 7 games with a homer and 4 RBI. Scott is available in nearly half of all CBS leagues and is an intriguing outfield option with good upside.

Kurt Suzuki – 3/5, 1 R, 1 RBI

Oakland’s catcher of the future, Suzuki has gotten off to a fast start hitting .413 in his first 8 games. He won’t bring much power to the table and he does bat in a weak Oakland lineup; however, his ability to hit for average gives him some decent value in deeper leagues.

Fantasy Observations & Thoughts

- Justin Speier blew his first save opportunity replacing an injured Francisco Rodriguez who is out until the weekend. If K-Rod were to land on the DL, it will be interesting to see who the Angels turn to in the ninth inning.

- As of 4/9, Mark Reynolds leads the majors in homeruns and RBI.

- Anthony Reyes continues to shine in a relief role, pitching three scoreless innings to earn the win yesterday. Reyes may be back in the Cardinals’ rotation sooner than expected.

- Ryan Rowland-Smith is the latest guy in the Seattle pen to give closing a shot and he actually got the job done yesterday locking down his first save of the season. Rowland-Smith looked impressive getting the final 5 outs in unblemished fashion. He might be a good source of cheap saves until JJ Putz returns next week.

- Frank Thomas homered again quietly giving him 3 on the year. Big Hurt is the poster boy for cheap pop and could end up with 30+ homers this season if healthy.