Fake Teams Hits the Fantasy Links

Today is May 20th, the 5th anniversary of Barry Bonds tying The Babe with his 714th career home run.  Today is also the anniversary of the First Council of Nicea (325), the first patent for blue jeans (1872), and in more sobering news, the first day prisoners arrived at Auschwitz (1940).  It is the birthday of Sadaharu Oh (also 1940), Jayson Werth (1979), and Busta Rhymes (1972).  Finally, May 20 is the "National Day of Hatred" in Cambodia, which I can only assume is somehow related to interleague play.  Here are your fantasy baseball links for today:

Strikeouts and Cutting Bait | Roto Hardball
After 150 plate appearances, strikeout rates tend to stabilize for hitters. We have reached that magic time of the year where we can start making conclusions about these guys.

Working The Wire: Replacing Your Injured Players | Rotoprofessor

Fantasy Baseball Insider Trading: Matt Joyce, Gaby Sanchez | KFFL.com

One big criticism of Sanchez is that he doesn't have the power you expect from the first base position, but with seven home runs already, he's on pace to hit more than 25. He's being more selective at the plate, walking at a higher rate (11.7 percent) and an improved BB/K ratio of 0.81. His swing percentage at balls outside the strike zone is at 27.6, down from 34.8 percent last year.

Waiver Wire Pickups | Fantasy Phenoms

FANTASY BASEBALL ADVICE - SKILL DRILLS | RotoExperts

If you are a Torres owner in your Fantasy league(s), I strongly suggest you move him now before the rest of the league (and the Giants) discover again why Torres was bounced around to multiple organizations during his nine-year career. Try to convince someone who needs stolen bases that Torres is going to steal 30 this season. But do it now, because the reality is that he won’t even steal half that many if he continues the trends that began last fall.

On the rise: Ludwick, Aybar, Maybin | Fantasy Baseball 365

AL Waiver Wire:  Week 7 | The Hardball Times

As the end of May approaches, the temptation to stash Chisenhall is likely to grow for owners, making now the time to nab him if you're an owner with bench space and a need at third base or the corner infield position.

NL Waiver Wire: Week 7 | The Hardball Times

But the cup is not just half full with Johnson. Even if you adjust his abysmal .186/.256/.308 triple slash line to reflect his xBABIP, pessimistically assuming that all gained hits would have been singles, Johnson's line improves to a still paltry .238/.301/.360 mark.

Waiver Saviors: May 19th, 2011 | COSFBA

Under the Radar - AL/NL-Only Leagues | BaseballPress.com

This week's list of players includes a veteran duo in San Diego, two rookies from the American League Central, and a reliever in Los Angeles who may find save opportunities going forward.

Follow the jump for more of the latest fantasy baseball news and analysis from around the web.

Hanley’s Power Outage | FanGraphs Fantasy Baseball

Turning to Hanley’s spray chart numbers, we can see a few troubling trends. He’s pulling the ball less often, and when he does pull the ball, he’s hitting more grounders and showing less power.

A closer look at Curtis Granderson | The Yankee Analysts

The numbers don’t suggest that Granderson’s performance will tail off dramatically, just that he will slow a bit.

Free Swinging Vlad Guerrero | Baseball Analytics Blog

Guerrero no longer gives pitchers a reason to fear him, so they go after him. More often than not they get the out or hits that do little damage.

Brad Hawpe: Back From The Dead | FanGraphs Fantasy Baseball

[Hawpe]’s cut his whiff rate down to a much more tolerable 16 K in 75 PA and started to be more accepting of ball four. A third of his hits have gone for extra bases in that time, including two over the fence, and his line drive rate has risen while the number of fly balls and grounders declined…

MLB Today: Jered Weaver's Losing Skid Continues | RotoRob

Be forewarned: there could be corrections still to come for Weaver: his BABIP is a bit lower than usual and his strand rates are a tad high – both of which indicate that overall he’s been a bit fortunate in his results to date. It’s something to think about should you receive trade offers for him after his next gem.

Jake Arrieta’s Breakout Year? | FanGraphs Fantasy Baseball

[Arrieta] has thrown his slider nearly five percentage points more frequently this year, primarily at the expense of his change-up. This is a welcome adjustment as his slider has generated the highest whiff rate of all his pitches and he has actually thrown it for a strike most often as well.

Bartolo Colon's Heat Map: Yankees vs. Orioles 5/18 - Baseball Analytics Blog - MLB Baseball Analytics

And as you can see, [Colon] located his pitches extremely well, avoiding the middle of the plate while jamming lefties up and in.

Don't Dump Craig Kimbrel | Roto Hardball

Forget about the freak blown saves like last night, in which the Diamondbacks found their way into three hits on three straight ground balls. There is no reason to believe that Craig Kimbrel is anything but an elite closer.

Daisuke Matsuzaka to Miss Minimum of a Month | MLB Daily Dish

The Cheeks Weather Report 5/20 - 5/21 | Sons of Roto
Cheeks is back with his Miss Cleo-like weather predictions. Plan accordingly my friends, we are going to see some rainouts.

Minor League Notes, May 19th, 2011 | Minor League Ball
Jacob Turner, Trey McNutt, Garrett Richards, Brad Boxberger, Buddy Bell

Prospect Tracker: Jesus Montero, Jarrod Parker & Kirk Nieuwenhuis | Rotoprofessor

Danny Duffy, Andy Dirks, Eric Thames: Mining the Minors | FanGraphs Fantasy Baseball

Daily Dish: Daniel Corcino Rising For Reds | Baseball America
Prospect update

Don't assume Dustin Ackley will start slow | MyNorthwest.com

Skepticism of young players is easy to find, especially from anyone who has had to endure a painful at-bat from Michael Saunders of late, but Ackley is different -- he's not a hack whose flaws are going to be immediately exploited by MLB pitchers. He's just a good hitter, and he'll likely be a good hitter as soon as the M's call him up.

Prospect Spotlight: Jemile Weeks | Baseball By Paul

Weeks' ceiling doesn’t quite have the near-30 home run power like his brother, but in exchange for that he shouldn’t have the same strikeout issues that does Rickie does which often drain his batting average.

Royals’ John Lamb Leaves Game With Elbow Discomfort | Baseball America

The BP Broadside: Fredi Gonzalez Says Something Really, Really Dumb | Baseball Prospectus

Reminders of attack are everywhere in L.A. | Yahoo! Sports
The men who savagely attacked a Giants fan are still at large, something one L.A. man won't let anyone forget.