And the fantasy baseball drafts just keep on coming... Kay Adams and I hosted the Livin' the Fantasy Draft for SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio (Sirius 210, XM87). The league consisted of myself, Kay, Kyle Elfrink, two producers (Drew Phelps and Phil Backert), and six listeners (one was unable to make it). That means we had a shallow 11 team, mixed league draft that we took part in. I had the #2 selection in the draft, and here is how my team turned out.
C: Carlos Santana (7th round), Victor Martinez (8) 1B: Kevin Youkilis (19), Kendrys Morales (24) 2B: Rickie Weeks (9), Martin Prado (6) 3B: Ryan Zimmerman (4), Manny Machado (21) SS: Jose Reyes (2) OF: Ryan Braun (1), B.J. Upton (3), Shin-Soo Choo (5), Dexter Fowler (13), Cameron Maybin (23), Drew Stubbs (25), Michael Brantley (28)
STARTING PITCHERS: Yovani Gallardo (10), Mat Latos (11), Brandon Morrow (12), C.J. Wilson (15), Dan Haren (16), Tim Hudson (22), Edinson Volquez (26)
RELIEF PITCHERS: Joe Nathan (14), Joel Hanrahan (17), Kenley Jansen (18), Steve Cishek (20), Vinnie Pestano (27)
It's a two catcher league, and with the two talents I saw sitting there in the 7th and 8th rounds I thought to myself what the heck, do something you normally don't due and roster two potentially elite options at catcher.
First base is an area of weakness relative to the rest of my team. Still, I'm confident that my duo of Youkilis and Morales will be able to hold their own at the spot, even if I'm just treading water there.
Weeks fell in my eyes, so I was more than willing to dive into the pool in the 9th round. Injuries are always an issue, but per 162 games for his career here is Weeks line - .251-23-67-107-20. Yeah, I know right? Prado qualifies at OF, 3B, 2B and SS in this league. I know he shouldn't, but you have to play to your leagues rules. He offers excellent cover up the middle, at the corner, and in the outfield. I love him as my middle infielder right now. Speaking of up the middle, Reyes is a strong contender to lead shortstops in fantasy value in 2013.
Zimmerman's shoulder keeps passing all the tests this spring, and he seems well on his way to another traditionally impressive effort at the hot corner. Machado in the 21st was a shocking fall actually. Kyle Elfrink, my co-host on The Drive (5 PM EDT, Monday-Friday) pointed out something very interesting. Rookies like Wil Myers and Jurickson Profar are on everyone's must draft list. A youngster like Machado, who is just as talented, simply isn't because he played last year and only did so-so. The perception is that Myers/Profar are worth the risk this season but Machado is only blah. Folks, Machado is a dynamic talent who has a starting job with the Orioles. That should mean more than it does to some.
Braun is still my #1 guy, PED junk be damned. Upton is a great #2 outfielder. Choo is a great #3 outfielder. Fowler is a great #4 outfielder. Maybin/Stubbs/Brantley equals a great #5 outfielder.
On the hill I waited on starters, shocking I know, and yet again proved you can do well following that strategy. Gallardo and Latos are top-20 arms in my eyes, and Morrow is right on the edge of that as well. My 4th starter is Wilson, and I have a lot of faith in him rebounding this season (see his Player Profile). My fifth is Haren, and I have a lot of faith that he will rebound this season (see his Player Profile). My sixth starter is Tim Hudson, you know the guy who has averaged 16 victories with a 3.19 ERA and 1.16 WHIP the past three seasons. My seventh starting arm is Volquez who has a 200 K season in his back pocket, has filthy stuff, and pitches half his games in Petco Park.
In the pen, some strong arms as well. Nathan and Hanrahan are top-10 closer types, and Cishek is a strong 3rd closer. I also added Jansen, that guys arm is as good as any in baseball, and Pestano who is one hell of a hurler himself (he's also potentially going to get some 9th inning work if Chris Perez isn't 100 percent by opening day).
It's an 11 team league, having one less team in the mix certainly opens up the player pool for sure, and who knows about injuries, but looking at this squad I really don't think I have an obvious weakness.
Oh, and here are the results of an NL-only draft that we held on The Drive which you can hear Monday through Friday at 5 PM EDT on Sirius 210. XM87.
By Ray Flowers
Player News
Cal Raleigh went 2-for-5 with two solo home runs in a 5-3 win over the Reds on Wednesday.
Raleigh’s second homer of the night was the 100th of his career and it was the fourth time he’s homered from both sides of the plate in the same game. It’s always amazing to remember that on top of how incredible he is behind the plate and how productive he is as a hitter, he is also a switch-hitter. The notorious ‘Big Dumper’ has come out of the gate hot this season too. These homers tied him with Aaron Judge for second most in the league at seven and his two stolen bases have been a welcome surprise. He’s one of the best catchers in baseball.
Andrés Muñoz pitched a clean inning to earn the save over the Reds on Wednesday.
Muñoz has been electric to start the season. This save was his seventh, which trails only Robert Suarez for most in the league, and he’s yet to allow an earned run. His stuff remains top notch and there are few closers that are more trustworthy at this moment than Muñoz is.
Bryce Miller allowed three hits and no runs with two walks and eight strikeouts across five innings in a win over the Reds on Wednesday.
This was Miller’s best start of the season by far. It was a bit of a throwback start for him, throwing 50% fastballs – more than twice as often as any other pitch – and continuously challenging the Reds’ hapless lineup in the strike zone. His command still wasn’t crisp though and he’ll have to find some more consistency with both his splitter and knuckle-curve before he’s back to the elite level he was pitching at down the stretch last season. Also, he was pulled with just 78 pitches despite largely cruising. He talked about some residual soreness after his last start, so maybe that’s why he was pulled early. He’ll have a tough test next time out against the Red Sox in Fenway Park.
Christian Encarnacion-Strand went 1-for-4 with a double, two RBI, and run scored Wednesday against the Mariners.
The Mariners had stretched out a five-run lead and seemed to be cruising before the Reds and Encarnacion-Strand made it interesting in the seventh inning with a little rally. That was a big hit for Encarnacion-Strand too as he was trapped in an 0-for-14 skid in what’s been a disastrous season so far. He’s only a part-time player at the moment, starting just three of the Reds’ last five games and shouldn’t be on any fantasy radars unless his playing time picks up again.
Nick Martinez allowed seven hits and three earned runs with three walks and four strikeouts across 4 2/3 innings in a loss to the Mariners on Wednesday.
This game got off to an inauspicious start when Julio Rodríguez reached on an error by Elly De La Cruz on the first pitch of the game, advanced to second on a wild pitch by Martinez soon thereafter, and later came around to score. Still, Martinez was nowhere close to sharp in this one. He left far too many pitches over the middle of the plate and the Mariners made him pay with plenty of hard contact. They had 11 hard-hit balls in total and Martinez didn’t have a single one-two-three innings. He’s scheduled to face the Marlins in his next start coupled with a game in Coors Field in what looks to be an unfortunate pairing for a two-start week.
Brandon Pfaadt allowed five hits and one run with two walks and six strikeouts over 5 2/3 innings in a 6-2 win over the Marlins on Wednesday.
It was nice to see the strikeouts finally come for Pfaadt after he’s had a great start to the season in terms of run prevention without missing many bats. Pfaadt can sometimes struggle to generate whiffs as predominantly a sinker-sweeper right-handed pitcher because the other team will often stack their lineup with left-handed batters and mostly neutralize those two offerings. The Marlins did just that in this game as seven of their nine hitters were lefties, but Pfaadt was able to cut through them with his changeup. While the pitch has been inconsistent in the past, Pfaadt has made a meaningful effort to incorporate more changeups in his game to have a better plan of attack against lefties and it worked here. He commanded it well low and out of the zone as it forced five whiffs and tons more ugly swings that produced weak contact. He’s scheduled to face the Rays in his next start.