MARDI GRAS MADNESS: Castroville Crushers

Felipe M

I've been hyping up my fantasy keeper baseball league throughout this spring.  I'm usually in charge of posting the "league predictions," but I did not get a chance to do so last season.  So to make up for lost time, I decided to post predictions here and not only give some individual props to my fellow, league owners, but to use it as an educational tool for all fantasy baseball owners out there. 

To view my team, click here. 

We will start with the Co-Commissioner's team:

WEST DIVISION—CASTROVILLE CRUSHERS (out of Texas)

BATTING LINEUP

Like: I’ve mentioned how much I like Adrian Beltre at 3B despite his age and he definitely will be the anchor in this lineup.  Also, when Josh Willingham is healthy, he can rack up points in our league with his power and run-production.  Age and injuries are a concern, but consistency is what you get. Shane Victorino is looking for a bounce-back year and Asdrubal Cabrera is a solid choice at SS.

Dislike: A.J. Pierzynski was picked late as a catcher, but he might be a bust after his career year in 2012.  Plus he might be in some sort of quasi-platoon system in Texas. Not a fan of Jose Altuve, Alex Rios, or Chris Davis either.

2013 HITTING PROJECTIONS
Player	Team	POS	BB/K	AB/K	AB/HR	OBP	SLG	OPS	SB
Chris Davis	Baltimore	1B/RF	0.22	3.09	18.38	0.315	0.471	0.786	3
Jose Altuve	Houston	2B	0.48	7.86	77.26	0.338	0.401	0.739	32
Alex Rios	White Sox	RF	0.33	6.78	30.02	0.316	0.449	0.765	19

Look Out For: Anthony Rizzo is going to be great this year.  What you saw in 2012 was just a warm up.  He played very well for Team Italy in the WBC.

BENCH: Full of inconsistent players: Ike Davis, Pedro Alvarez, and Alfonso Soriano. At least they have the steady Angel Pagan on the squad. 

PITCHING

Like: Chris Sale is a beast!  This is the same franchise that was carried by Randy Johnson until the day he retired.  Sale may not be like Johnson, but the Crushers have another power-lefty to carry them throughout this decade. Jason Hammel still does not get the respect he deserves and looks to be healthy entering the 2013 season. Hiroki Kuroda is a very underrated pitcher as well. 

Dislike: Ryan Dempster as he proved to be disastrous once entering the AL last season.  He’s in a good situation in Boston, but at his age and a projected WHIP of 1.31, I’m just not buying the hype.  Wade Miley might not be healthy in time for the opener.

Look Out For: Max Scherzer has been improving over the last 3 seasons.  If he can continue to improve, he will be the #2 pitcher that Castroville has been looking for. 

BULLPEN: Two questionable, 2^nd-tier closers in Joel Hanrahan and Jim Johnson.  Hanrahan has issues with walks while Johnson fails to dominate hitters. Jose Valverde is hogging up a roster spot for some, insane reason.

PREDICTION: Solid, but unspectacular players are everywhere you look on this roster.  Pitching isn’t as strong as in years past and the offense is full of your typical, traditional, Castroville players.  Unlike in years past, the team's pitching isn't strong enough to carry mediocre bats for a full season.  Other than Sale, this team lacks a lot of punching power.  It’s asking a lot to depend on career years from players who don’t have that kind of upside.  Playoff team?  Absolutely not!

More MLB content is available here. 

MAKING THE PITCH: Baltimore Orioles

Buck Showalter will have to dig deep into his bag of tricks to get the Orioles
to repeat their unforeseen performance from last season.
(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. 

For our review of the Atlanta Braves, click here. 

The Baltimore Orioles are next.

PROBABLE STARTING ROTATION

1. Jason Hammel
• Good: Shows a good knack for strikeouts (6.95 K/9) and can limit his walks and homer runs to respectable, low levels.
• Bad: WHIP of 1.27 makes him a pitcher not worth grabbing too early.  He's also the "ace" of an Orioles' team that might not be able to repeat what they did in 2012 so wins might be harder to come by.
2. Wei-Yin Chen
• Good: Respectable 2.71 K/BB.  Finesse pitcher that won't hurt himself with too many walks.
• Bad: Can be very hittable, but worst of all, playing in Baltimore, his 1.20 HR/9 will drive you crazy.
3. Chris Tillman
• Good: Had a solid year in 2012 and adequate K/BB of 2.18 shows potential to repeat similar performance.   
• Bad: 8.84 H/9 is similar to Chen's H/9 of 8.81 and boosts WHIP to 1.34.  Just like Chen,  HR/9 of 1.14 shows his issues with the long ball, especially at Camden Yards.
4. Miguel Gonzalez
• Good: Has similar numbers as his teammates.  2.21 K/BB might make him an adequate pitcher in any league.  
• Bad: Despite having a relatively low H/9 of 8.36, his WHIP is still at 1.27, damaged by a BB/9 of 3.05.  It's not too high, but when you add his 8+ H/9, that made his WHIP too high.  HR/9 of 1.18 is not too high, but considering where he pitches his home games, that number might prove to be higher.
5. Dylan Bundy
• Good: #1 Orioles' prospect.  May not get the job out of spring training, but is worth monitoring, especially when you consider the other pitchers vying for that #5 spot: Bundy is simply the most intriguing.  7.53 K/9 makes him an attractive option.
• Bad: Control, just like many young pitchers, will be a major issue (3.49 BB/9).  Might not start right away in the Majors and judging by his age, 20, might not be called up this season either.  But potential is very intriguing and the Orioles have proven to bring up prospects if they believe they can help them win games now.

CLOSERS

1. Jim Johnson
• Good: Very good control (1.93 BB/9).  WHIP of 1.10 and HR/9 of .51 indicates that he won't hurt himself too much despite being more of a finesse closer.  
• Bad: 5.79 K/9 is what keeps him from being an elite closer despite showing that he can rack up saves.  You don't have to be on a winning team to be an effective fantasy closer, but to save 50+ saves again, the Orioles have to repeat their lucky, late-inning heroics again.

FANTASY ADVICE

It's really interesting how teams somehow find similar pitchers to fill out their starting rotation.  So far, the Braves rotation has looked the best in this review.  The Orioles rotation is nowhere near the Braves.  What they lack in skill and dominance, they make up by having four starters that are not ashamed to be finesse pitchers that do a good job in limiting their walks and strikeout enough batters to be somewhat relevant in fantasy leagues.  

However, because of their pitching styles, some hit balls might fall for base-hits.  But the big concern with this club is a propensity to give up homeruns, especially when one considers that they play at Camden.  Only Hammel would be considered someone you can plug into your middle rotation.  The other starters might be good to fill out the rest of your backend. 

More MLB content can be read here.