Ryan Howard And Ian Kennedy Notes

by faketeams on May 23, 2008 7:02 AM EDT in Baseball

Philadelphia Phillies 1B Ryan Howard hit his 13th HR last night, which is the third highest total in the NL. No one is surprised with that total, but what is surprising is the number of strikeouts Howard has amassed.

In 49 games, he has whiffed 74 times already versus just 27 walks. Pro-rating those numbers over a full season will allow Ryan Howard to shatter his own strikeouts record of 199 set last season. More disconcerting are the fewer walks. Last season, he drew 107 walks in 149 games. Right now, he'd only draw 81 in the same number of games.

One day after the Yankees decided to begin the transition of Joba Chamberlain to the starting rotation, Ian Kennedy pitched his best game of the year, and the Yankees' bullpen threw three shutout, walkless innings in support. Kyle Farnsworth tossed a scoreless 8th inning in that effort.

I know that was just coincidence, but it still feels like the Yankees made a move all fantasy players make - selling at what appears to be the darkest hour only to see the sun begin to rise.

	G	AB	R	H	2B	3B	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG
2008 - Ryan Howard	49	179	32	37	6	1	13	31	27	71	0	0	.207	.308	.469

Poll

Will Ryan Howard get back to his 2007 form - .270 AVG 50 HRs?

Yes. Despite the higher-than-high K rate, his power will correct the lower-than usual walk rate.

17 votes

No. Too many Ks will make him a lower-OBP HR hitter than Adam Dunn.

15 votes

32 votes | Poll has closed

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Comments

Howard

do the K’s really matter to a fantasy owner? He has always struck out alot, but as long as he hits HRs, he will be productive to his owners.
How bout Santana’s line last night….7 in, 12 hits, 4 r, 3 er, 0bb, 1 k. He hasn’t been the pitcher the ESPN hype machine made him out to be, no?
Thoughts on my recent dump trade in my other NL only league-salaries are for 2009:
$40 Soriano + $25 Adrian Gonzalez for $12 Uggla and $12 Glaus.
I made the deal for Uggla who stats so far are very comparable to Chase Utley right now.

raygu

by Ray Guilfoyle on May 23, 2008 9:03 AM EDT reply actions

Ks

Not specificly but they are a peripheral stat to look at in determining whether a player has more or less value that his 5×5 stats show.

Santana has been a disappointment, and the torches are being lit and the pitchforks sharpened in Flushing. Santana’s efforts will just add fuel to that fire.

Uggla has been good, bad, good so far with his AVG. The power is for real though.

Fake Teams - a proud member of the SB Nation

by faketeams on May 23, 2008 9:29 AM EDT up reply actions

Fantasy implication

If you do not believe Howard’s Ks and walks won’t improve, then you should trade Howard. His power surge over the past two weeks has taken his perceived value back to 1st round status.

Fake Teams - a proud member of the SB Nation

by faketeams on May 23, 2008 9:09 AM EDT reply actions

is he available?

raygu

by Ray Guilfoyle on May 23, 2008 9:19 AM EDT reply actions

No

I am committed to seeing no one else owning Ryan Howard until the next decade begins!

Fake Teams - a proud member of the SB Nation

by faketeams on May 23, 2008 9:27 AM EDT up reply actions

thought so

I like the VORP/BABIP, etc analysis you’ve provided on the site recently.

raygu

by Ray Guilfoyle on May 23, 2008 9:47 AM EDT reply actions

Olney on Byrnes/Quentin trade

Carlos Quentin looked like he wanted to get away from reporters, writes Rick Morrissey, as they asked him questions about his hot start.
Arizona has done a brilliant job in its choices over the last five years—if you were to give grades, D-backs GM Josh Byrnes would get an A or A-minus, in a sport in which everybody makes mistakes. But the D-backs are probably kicking themselves over their choice to sign Eric Byrnes to a multi-year deal and move Quentin in a trade. It’s a sport in which this kind of regret is inherent.

I posted something similar recently.

raygu

by Ray Guilfoyle on May 23, 2008 10:00 AM EDT reply actions

Olney on Johan

After the item on Johan Santana’s diminished velocity was posted here yesterday, some scouts from other teams chimed in, indicating through e-mails and phone calls that they were seeing the same thing. “The Mets were asking around about that in spring training, about what his true [velocity] baseline was,” said one talent evaluator. “They were concerned.”
Said an AL scout who has seen Santana this month: “His stuff isn’t even close to what it was [with the Twins].”

This is sure to get more media attention today…WFAN comes to mind.

raygu

by Ray Guilfoyle on May 23, 2008 10:02 AM EDT reply actions