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: 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.  

More MLB content is available here.