Fantasy Baseball Happy Recap - 5/14/08

Bat Of The Night: Carlos Quentin – 2/4, 1 R, 1 HR, 5 RBI

Quentin’s grand slam gave him ten homeruns on the season and pushed his RBI total to 34. Quentin now ranks in the top 5 in both HR and RBI and the 25 year old former elite prospect is blossoming into the 30 homer/100 RBI slugger that many have projected. Quentin’s production is not a fluke and he should continue to prosper hitting in a great hitter’s park in Chicago. We are witnessing the rise of future fantasy baseball masher…

Arm Of The Night: CC Sabathia – 9 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 11 K (CG, W)

I think it’s safe to say that Sabathia has put his rough start behind him. The big lefty has been dominant over his last 5 starts allowing only 6 ER over 36 1/3 innings during that span. Sabathia’s recent success is a product of rediscovering his control. In his first four starts, Sabathia walked 14 batters while only striking out 14 and allowed nearly 8 hits a game. Over his last 5 starts, CC has walked only eight batters while striking out 43 – over a K/inning. Wednesday night was clearly his finest outing of the season and Sabathia owners who stuck it out should get elite production from their contract year ace going forward.

Bottom Line: Matt Kemp – 0/5, 3 K

Tough night for Kemp who has been hitting well thus far in May and is a slugger to keep an eye on going forward.

Honorable Mentions

Top Five

Bats

1. Jay Payton – 1/4, 1 R, 1 HR, 5 RBI
2. Matt Stairs - 1/4, 1 R, 1 HR, 4 RBI
3. Juan Pierre – 3/5, 1 R, 1 2B, 3 RBI, 1 SB
4. Alfonso Soriano – 2/5, 1 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI
5. Geovany Soto – 2/4, 1 R, 1 HR, 3 RBI

Arms

1. Micah Owins– 6 IP, 5 H, 0 ER, 2 BB, 5 K (W)
2. Luke Hochevar – 6 IP, 4 H, 0 ER, 3 BB, 5 K (W)
3. Todd Wellemeyer – 7 IP, 2 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 5 K (W)
4. Jose Contreras – 7 IP, 4 H, 1 ER, 3 BB, 3 K (W)
5. Mike Mussina – 6.1 IP, 5 H, 1 ER, 1 BB, 4 K (W)

Bottom Five

Bats

1. Bill Hall – 0/4, 3 K
2. Jack Cust – 0/4, 3 K
3. Mike Cameron – 0/4, 3 K
4. Marcus Thames – 0/4, 3 K
5. Joey Votto – 0/5, 2 K

Arms

1. Brett Myers – 4.1 IP, 9 H, 6 ER, 3 BB, 6 K (L)
2. Jake Peavy– 4 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 2 BB, 7 K (L)
3. Jorge De La Rosa – 4.2 IP, 7 H, 4 ER, 3 BB, 6 K (L)
4. Boof Bonser – 6 IP, 5 H, 5 ER, 3 BB, 3 K (L)
5. Guillermo Mota – 1 IP, 2 H, 3 ER, 1 BB, 1 K (BS, L)

Making A Case...

Matt Stairs

Stairs has quietly been putting up some nice numbers in Toronto. The man they call “professional hitter” is hitting over .300 and now has 6 homeruns on the season following last night’s grand slam. I don’t see him as a great everyday fantasy player, but he is a decent option for spot starts when the matchup warrants.

Closer Corner

- The Brewers closer carousel continues to turn as Guillermo Mota got the call last night and blew his first save of the season giving up 3 ER in the ninth against the Dodgers. Mota had successfully record the final out of Monday’s game with Gagne returning to the closer role and locking down the save in ugly fashion on Tuesday. Yost had said before the game that Gagne would be available in the ninth, but he turned to Mota instead with a 4-3 lead. Stay tuned…

- The save vultures were circling last night as Blaine Boyer, Scott Downs and even starter Jarrod Washburn notched saves. Downs has actually become a nice option out in Toronto, closing out games when BJ Ryan can’t go on back to back nights.

- George Sherrill now has 15 saves on the season. Like Jimmy Fallon we are pretty sure he is a fluke and keep expecting him to fade but then NBC goes and gives him the Late Late Show and we are forced to reevaluate our life’s decisions… what were we talking about? Whatever.

- Other Closers Locking Down Saves Last Night: Mariano Rivera (11), Brandon Lyon (11), Joakim Soria (10), Jose Valverde (10), Jon Rauch (8), Takashi Saito (6)

Fantasy Observations & Thoughts

- Lance Berkman and Chase Utley hit their 14th homeruns of the season while Ryan Howard hit number 8. The big guy has to get going eventually… he has to!

- Carlos Quentin, Matt Stairs and Jay Payton all hit grand slams last night.

- Big return for Angels’ ace John Lackey allowing 1 ER over 7 innings of work. Lackey took the no decision but certainly pitched well enough to win. He is a must start going forward.

- Jonathon Broxton earned his second win of the year, bouncing back after completely imploding on Sunday afternoon to the tune of 6 ER in 1/3 of an inning.

- Ted Lilly struck out 11 batters last night in 8-5 Cubs win over San Diego. Lilly has been pitching better of late but I wouldn’t expect an 11k performance again anytime soon.

- Remember Nick Swisher? No? He was that guy that hit 35 homers in 2006, stunk in 2007 and was supposed to benefit from a move to a hitter’s park in 2008. Well he hit homerun number four last night. The low homerun total looks right at home with Swish’s .207 batting average and 10 RBI.


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