MARDI GRAS MADNESS: South Jersey Strong Arms

Felipe M

We continue on our reviews for our fantasy baseball league, Mardi Gras Madness.  Please take some time to read about the Houston Steelers. 

Last, but definitely not least is our defending champion and a big time Phillies' fan--and Dallas Cowboys' fan.  What?

CENTRAL DIVISION--So. Jersey Strong Arms (it must be a Jersey thang)

BATTING LINEUP

Like: You can tell this guy is a Phillies’ fan: Ryan Howard, Chase Utley, and Jimmy Rollins are starting on the team’s infield.  Whether they can take it back to 2008 is another question, but lucky for them, they won’t be doing it on their own as Buster Posey, Andrew McCutchen and Yoenis Cespedes can provide plenty of offense as well.  

2013 Hitting Projections
Player	Team	Pos	BB/K	AB/K	AB/HR	OBP	SLG	OPS	SB
Yoenis Cespedes	Oakland	LF/CF	0.45	5.05	22.03	0.345	0.482	0.827	16
Buster Posey	San Francisco	C/1B	0.70	5.77	23.61	0.390	0.510	0.900	2
Andrew McCutchen	Pittsburgh	CF	0.64	4.77	22.53	0.380	0.500	0.880	23
Ben Revere	Philadelphia	CF/RF	0.58	10.08	571.33	0.329	0.334	0.663	42
Michael Morse	Seattle	LF/RF	0.24	4.00	21.42	0.326	0.468	0.794	1
Will Middlebrooks	Boston	3B	0.17	3.67	20.80	0.304	0.463	0.767	8

Dislike: I might be too harsh on Will Middlebrooks, but even though he provided a spark for teams last year and showed off his power, he still had plenty of holes in his swing and terrible approach at the plate.  He needs to improve on that aspect of this game is this team expects to repeat as Champions.  And as a Michael Morse owner last season, I understand he was hurt, but that still doesn’t excuse his hacking style at the plate.  And Ben Revere should not be a DH in a fantasy lineup. 

Look Out For: This team has both Billy Hamilton and Jurickson Profar on the same club.  I’m not even sure if both players will be called up this season, but certainly a very interesting strategy to have two players playing in the same position.  Then again, the Reds have been talking about moving Hamilton to the OF and the Rangers have played with the idea of moving their veteran infielders move around just so they can make room for Profar.

Bench: Revere and Carlos Gomez will probably, but questionably be alternating the DH spot.  Gomez has good counting stats, but a disastrous approach at the plate.  Chase Headley can probably become the permanent DH/3B when he gets back from injury.

PITCHING

Like: The Philly theme continues with Cole Hamels and Cliff Lee anchoring the pitching staff.  In support of these two are mixes of young and veteran pitchers with more question marks to their game than anything.  So I will list the ones that have a better chance of succeeding here (not to guarantee that they will, but given the options, I’m speaking in relative terms): Alex Cobb is supposed to bust out this season and was impressive in the spring, especially when you talk about his K/9; Alexi Ogando is a promising pitcher with good, projected numbers.  However, he did struggle this spring, but was able to post impressive strikeout totals; Marco Estrada pitched pretty well in the spring and his projections show that he might be in line for a big year.

2013 Pitching Projections
Player	Team	K/BB	K/9	BB/9	H/9	WHIP	HR/9
Alexi Ogando	Texas	3.23	8.14	2.52	8.14	1.18	1.09
Alex Cobb	Tampa	2.13	6.80	3.19	8.48	1.30	0.78
Marco Estrada	Milwaukee	3.55	8.85	2.49	8.51	1.22	1.22

Dislike: There’s a lot of pitchers I don’t like on this team, but the worst of the bunch is Edinson Volquez.  Volquez had a bad spring and he still continues to give up too many walks (a problem he still has since his days with the Reds.  I wrote about this issue when reviewing the Padres’ pitching staff).  Another Opening Day starter I don’t like is Bud Norris who not only is supposed to be on a bad team that may not provide the run support he needs, he also has issues with walks and is projected to have a terrible WHIP.  To Norris’ credit, he did get the win for the Astros on Sunday night.    Jorge de la Rosa is a 32 year-old recovering from Tommy John surgery.  He shouldn’t be on anybody’s team.  Kyle Kendrick is another pitcher who should have been left on waivers as well. 

Bullpen: Amazingly enough, this team has no closers on the squad.

Look Out For: James McDonald seems to slowly, but surely be climbing up the pitchers’ list and distance himself from the Volquezes and Norrises of the world.  He can provide good strikeout numbers and if he cuts back on the walks, he might provide much needed production on this team.  Shaun Marcum is injured once again, but when he’s healthy, he can be productive.  Might be the pitcher to add some quality depth on this team.  Speaking of injury, Chad Billingsley is on the club as well and beginning the year on the DL.  He’s done a good job cutting back on the walks and is actually better off as a back of the rotation guy than as an integral part of any pitching staff (like he was projected to be when he was coming up with the Dodgers).

PREDICTION: Despite having all of these pitchers on the team, they really don’t have much depth.  Remember, quantity does not necessarily mean quality.  They have the potential to surprise people by potentially having a great 5-man combo in their pitching staff, but which of these other quizzical pitchers will step up and have a breakthrough season?  They are also a big bat away from having a complete lineup.  If they can’t make a trade to improve their offense, then they’ll have to depend on a few hitters who have very limited skills at the plate.  Injured 3B Headley might be that player, but he too comes with plenty of issues as well.  Too many ifs and question marks on this team to project them as a playoff team, therefore another title seems to be out of reach.  

Check out the rest of the Mardi Gras Madness teams.

More fantasy baseball is available here. 

MAKING THE PITCH: San Diego Padres

Felipe M

Even though the season has started, it's still early enough to take a quick look at the rest of the pitching staffs.

To take a look at an elite pitching, check out our preview of the San Francisco Giants.

And unfortunately, we now have to cover the San Diego Padres.

2013 Pitching Projections
Player	Team	K/BB	K/9	BB/9	H/9	WHIP	HR/9
Clayton Richard	San Diego	2.09	5.02	2.40	9.57	1.33	0.92
Edinson Volquez	San Diego	1.77	8.55	4.82	8.40	1.47	0.90
Huston Street	San Diego	5.20	10.64	2.05	7.16	1.02	0.82
Andrew Cashner	San Diego	2.60	8.91	3.43	8.23	1.30	0.94

Andrew Cashner was an interesting name to keep track of during the spring because many were hyping the idea that he would find himself as part of the rotation.  Unfortunately, it took him a while to recover from a thumb injury and was able to pitch again on the last week of spring training.  Not much time to prove yourself.  The Padres sent him to the bullpen to begin the season, but still would like to see him start.  How a young pitcher is supposed to become a starter by spending a majority of his time in the bullpen is kind of confusing (reminds me of the situation that Drew Smyly is with the Tigers), but he is definitely a name to keep an eye on for the remainder of the season.  

The other pitchers that pitched for a majority of the spring to beat out Cashner for a rotation spot are so bad, that I'm not even going to mention them here.  Waste of time, space, and money (for those of you that have league fees to pay).

As you can see Edinson Volquez is a very overrated player.  Yes he can strikeout a lot of hitters, but has averaged a BB/9 of 5.27 in the last two seasons.  Where have I seen this before?  Oh yes, it was back in 2008 when the fantasy world couldn't get enough of Volquez's hot start that year with the Reds.  And even then he was still giving up 5+ BB/9!  Nevertheless, there are still fantasy owners who go as far as consider Volquez as a keeper league pitcher.  Some people just don't learn and some players just never improve.  It's been four seasons all ready; if you can't control your walks now, I doubt that there's any hope left for him to improve his game.

Here's another overrated player: Clayton Richard.  Richard highly depends on finesse to get by ball games, but a high WHIP and a relatively low K/BB (Joe Saunders have very similar numbers to Richard.  He too is not worth your time) does not make a fantasy pitcher.

The one silver lining that the Friars have is Huston Street.  He is fully capable of being a top 10, if not a top 5, closer.  Of course, injury concerns will always follow him, but I always seem to have Street on my team(s) so if you have a chance to get him, by all means do not hesitate.  

It's going to be a long year in San Diego.

More MLB content is available here.

For more on Edinson Volquez from back in 2008, click here.