Bottom 1: Kosuke Fukudome grounded out to short against Doug Fister

Bottom 4: Fukudome struck out swinging against Duane Below

Bottom 7: Fukudome struck out swinging against Daniel Schlereth

Bottom 10: Fukudome called out on strikes against Phil Coke

Bottom 12: Fukudome struck out swinging against Joaquin Benoit

Bottom 14: Fukudome hit by pitch by David Pauley

Final Line: 0-for-5, 4 K, HBP, RBI

Notes: A week ago, Fukudome was a hit by a pitch in the 14^th inning to drive home the game-winning run and secure a 3-2 victory over the Tigers.  With a potential platinum sombrero on the line, Fukudome wisely stuck out his elbow and wore the David Pauley fastball.

Total 2011 Sombreros: 87

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Bottom 2: Rene Tosoni called out on strikes against Phil Coke

Bottom 4: Tosoni struck out swinging against Coke

Bottom 6: Tosoni struck out swinging against Al Alburquerque

Bottom 8: Tosoni struck out swinging against Joaquin Benoit

Final Line: 0-4, 4 K

Notes: Tosoni’s golden sombrero on Wednesday was the first by a rookie in 2011, and also the second sombrero issued by the Detroit Tigers.

Total 2011 Sombreros: 20

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ESPN’s Jerry Crasnick eloquently details the heartbreaking story of the death of Trevor Correia, and the subsequent grieving process of his brother, Kevin.  “I would quit baseball right now to have [Trevor] back.  Nothing will be able to compare to that,” said the Padres starting pitcher.  Without a doubt, this is one of the best articles that I have read in some time. [Jerry Crasnick, ESPN]

With all of the ongoing hoopla regarding Derek Jeter and the New York Yankees, the folks over at Climbing Tal’s Hill decide to take a look at four different Astros players who spent their entire career playing for the organization. [Climbing Tal’s Hill]

(more…)

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I just wanted to pass along the first article that I wrote for Bleacher Report called, “10 Relief Pitchers Who Will Immediately Help Your Fantasy Team.” I will continue to post any articles that I write for them and I hope that everybody enjoys them.

“10 Relief Pitchers Who Will Immediately Help Your Fantasy Team”

May 24, 2010

Can owner Mike Rosenbaum and his 1^st place fantasy team, The Nads, keep it up? Dirty jokes aside, what is their prognosis for the rest of the season? Reminiscent of Andrew Colver’s team 2 years ago, the Nads sport a 20+ point lead going into June.  So are The Nads really this good, or is it the result of early season good fortune?  Let’s take a look.

Here is how the current lineup looks:

C – G. Soto

1B – J. Votto

2B – R. Weeks

3B – R. Zimmerman

SS – I. Desmond/A. Ramirez/S. Castro

OF – R. Braun

OF – S. Choo

OF – B. Boesch

UTIL – A. Laroche

And here is the pitching staff:

P – J. Johnson

P – J. Weaver

P – J. Danks

P – J. Papelbon

P – M. Capps

P – E. Meeks

P – J. Benoit

P – J. Ely

Why they won’t:

Rickie Weeks has surprised everyone this season by producing, but most importantly by staying healthy.  Weeks’ injury history is longer than an encyclopedia and he’s starting to fade.  In his last 30 games he is .207/.278/.289 with only 2HRs/2SBs.  Since his hot start pitchers have begun to adjust and he hasn’t.  Adam Laroche is off to an incredible yet unsustainable start.  In his last 30 games he’s hitting .284/.384/.632 with 7 jacks making him a sell high candidate. Also, Boesch is a good short-term option who’s murdering the ball right now, but he will probably be droppable after the break.  Lastly, Jered Weaver and John Danks are pitching well right now, but they are hardly fantasy studs.

Why they will:

Six reasons: Soto, Votto, Zimmerman, Braun, Choo, and Johnson.  The 5 hitters are absolute studs, especially in the Denslow Cup, which favors hitters who post high OPS’s.   These 5 guys are all able to post +.850 OPS’s and are even capable of .900.  All of them are hitting in the top 5 spots in their order (Soto not always), which should provide them with ample RBI/R opportunities.  Moreover, all of them are having relatively sustainable starts by posting BABIP’s within their career range.  Josh Johnson is pitching like an ace, and in his last 5 starts(not including Sunday’s start vs. White Sox) he is 3-0 with a 1.80/0.69/5.86 (ERA/WHIP/K-BB) line, which is absolutely disgusting.

Conclusions:

Barring any major injuries, the Nads will finish in the top 3 for sure.  The offense and defense is grounded in sustainable production that is just as good as it is consistent.   However, their chances of repeating a Colver-esque style championship by completely dominating are low, unless The Nads make a couple of major trades.  The biggest things to address will be long-term solutions at 2B, SS, and one of the OF position while solving their lack of potential SB’s.  They will also need to address the pitching at some point if they want to maintain their current 1^st\- 2^nd ranking in ERA/WHIP/K-BB, which will be impossible with Danks/Weaver in the back-end of the rotation.  But right now, it looks as if owner Mike Rosenbaum should be able to repeat a top-3 finish in the incredibly competitive Denslow Cup.