MARDI GRAS MADNESS: Halladay Holiday

Felipe M

I continue to preview my fantasy league's teams.  Click here for my team.  For our Commissioner from Texas, click here.  For our Commish from Louisiana, click here. 

CENTRAL DIVISION—HALLADAY HOLIDAY (from Ontario, Canada)

BATTING LINEUP

Like: As I’ve explained before, I really like JoeMauer.  I’m also expecting a bounce-back year from Adrian Gonzalez.  JoshHamilton might be at ease this season as he leaves the pressure-cooker knows as the Texas Rangers, to the laid-back, stress-free Angels as he doesn’t have to be the main guy in the lineup any longer.

Player	Team	Pos	BB/K	AB/K	AB/HR	OBP	SLG	OPS	SB
Josh Hamilton	Anaheim	LF/CF	0.39	4.06	16.72	0.350	0.533	0.882	7

Dislike: Is there more annoying player than Brett Lawrie in terms of real life and fantasy production?  And even though he will be playing DH, Justin Morneau smells more like a “homer” pick than a suitable hitter in fantasy baseball at this moment of his career.  Another “homer” pick, Emilio Bonifacio, might rack up the steals, but his low on-base% and poor approach at the plate is just a poor combination in a points’ league.  As much as I want to like Justin Upton, I’m not convinced that he will put his fantasy club over-the-top. 

Look Out For: JasonKipnis is a spark-plug at 2B.  He can steal 20+ bases and hit for 15+. 

BENCH: The team, inexplicably, has two 2B on the club: Daniel Murphy and Neil Walker.  Eventually, Curtis Granderson will take over CF, but will it be too late?

PITCHING

Like: The team’s namesake, Roy Halladay is one of the most durable and effective starters in today’s game.  The rest of the staff looks like my team from the past: Jake Peavy, Brandon Morrow, Josh Johnson.  They also have Cy Young Award winner, David Price.

Player	Team	K/BB	K/9	BB/9	H/9	WHIP	HR/A
Roy Halladay	Philadelphia	5.18	7.84	1.51	8.47	1.11	0.89
David Price	Tampa	3.38	8.88	2.63	7.58	1.13	0.71
Brandon Morrow	Toronto	2.83	8.90	3.15	8.08	1.25	1.02
Josh Johnson	Toronto	2.75	8.03	2.92	7.79	1.19	0.60

Dislike: The rest of the pitching staff is stacked with relievers.  See below.

Look Out For: I was ready to pick up Gerrit Cole and insert him into my Minor League slot, but noticed that he was all ready on this team.  Armed with a fastball that can run up to 100mph, as soon as he gets called up, he will provide even more depth to this club.

BULLPEN: He took my advice on handcuffing Casey Janssen with Sergio Santos.  He also picked up Sergio Romo who has a history of injuries, but proved himself as a legit closer in 2012.  Unfortunately, he also picked up set up RP, Kenley Jansen and struggling rookie, Bruce Rondon; he has yet to be officially named the closer in Detroit. 

PREDICTION: Out of all the owners in our draft on Sunday, Halladay Holiday struggled the most as they were victims of the shoddy, draft module on Sunday night.  Still, he did a good job in setting up a decent batting lineup to support what can potentially be a formidable pitching staff.  Unfortunately, this team looks more like a roto-league or a head-to-head roto-style league.  We don’t give points for holds.  And saves are unpredictable to depend on.  It might end up costing him a playoff spot in 2013. 

More fantasy baseball content is available here. 

MAKING THE PITCH: Detroit Tigers

Tiger Management, along with Manager Jim Leyland,
have a tough choice to make for that #5 spot in the rotation.
(photo courtesy of Mike McCann's Field of Fotos)

Felipe M

We take a look at the projected starting rotations and closer situations of every MLB team.  Of course, this will come from a fantasy perspective.  All cited stats are based on 2013 projections.  

Check out our analysis of the Chicago Cubs, here. 

The Detroit Tigers will now be looked at.

PROBABLE STARTING ROTATION

1. Justin Verlander
• Good: It's JUSTIN VERLANDER!
• Bad: His WHIP (1.07) is only slightly better than Jered Weaver and Zack Greinke.  
2. Doug Fister
• Good: 3.63 K/BB is three-tenth's worse than Verlander's.  
• Bad: 9.21 H/9 raises expected WHIP to 1.23.
3. Max Scherzer
• Good: 3.51 K/BB: do you sense a pattern with this pitching staff yet? 9.46 K/9 would lead the team in that category.  
• Bad: 8.31 H/9 increases WHIP to 1.22.  
4. Anibal Sanchez
• Good: 3.12 K/BB is fueled by a  7.97 K/9.  
• Bad: H/9 of 8.78 raises WHIP to 1.26. 

CLOSER

1. Bruce Rondon
• Good: #3 Prospect in Tigers' organization.  9.96 K/9 along with 6.75 H/9 gives him a chance to be dominant.  Jim Leyland, in an interview today, explained that he's been impressed with the pitcher's progress.  The praise from Leyland came after he pitched a perfect 9th inning against the New York Mets of yesterday's game.  
• Bad: He's a young, raw pitcher and it's not surprising that he's projected to struggle with walks (BB/9 of 4.98), raising his WHIP to 1.30.  He's also might be susceptible to the long ball (HR/9 1.29).  The Tigers also seem to be really interested in acquiring Carlos Marmol from the Chicago Cubs.  

FANTASY ADVICE

The #5 slot is up for grabs between Rick Porcello and Drew Smyly.  Suddenly, Porcello has found a way to boost his strikeout totals.  He's seen an increase in the last few seasons or so and last I checked, he was striking out one batter per inning during this spring.  However, FanGraphs did an interesting feature on his strikeout totals in the spring, citing that the level of talent he's faced is pretty much a joke (how hard is it to strikeout Dan Uggla, anyway?).  

On the other hand, Smyly seems to have no problems striking out hitters (K/9 of 7.78 compared to Porcello's 5.35) and even though he might give up more walks, both pitchers are expected to finish the year with similar WHIP (1.30).  It's a pretty close match this spring, but it looks like the Tigers' best bet is to send down Smyly to the Minors; unless, of course, they can trade Porcello (to the Cubs for Marmol?).  

As much as Rondon's upside seems to be legit, personally, I would stay clear from the young fireballer.  The walks are a concern.  I also would prefer Smyly over Porcello, but even Porcello might be worth a flier.  If his spring numbers are close to being the real deal, Porcello's stock will easily sky-rocket.  

As far as the other Tigers' starters go: any one of those pitchers will help out your fantasy team in a big way this season.  Verlander is the benchmark that all, wanna-be elite pitchers should try to reach.  Fister, Scherzer, and Sanchez will fit nicely in the middle of your rotation.  They are conventional, top-notch, 2nd-tier starting pitchers.  

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