Prospective 2014 Pickups for Keeper Leagues
Are you out of contention in your keeper leagues? Zack Smith highlights four starting pitchers you should grab off the waiver wire in your leagues for next season in his this article linked below. In the piece, he discusses Danny Duffy, Sonny Gray and others.
Prospective 2014 Pickups - Pitchers
Comparing Eric Hosmer and Chris Davis
In one of his SweetSpot blogs yesterday, ESPN's David Shoenfield compared Chris Davis and Eric Hosmer's 2013 seasons, and asks who would you rather have in 2014. It's a good read, check it out in the link below:
I tweeted the following question on Twitter last night and the response was so good, I may have to write about it later this week:
Who would you rather have in 2014: Freddie Freeman or Eric Hosmer?
— Ray Guilfoyle (@faketeams) September 9, 2013
I think everyone knows who I would choose, but what about you, the Fake Teams readers? Let us know in the comments below.
Yu Darvish vs Gerrit Cole: An instant classic
There was a pitchers duel in Texas last night, as the Rangers ace, Yu Darvish, faced the Pirates future ace, Gerrit Cole. The two starters traded goose eggs for six innings before Darvish gave up an RBI double to Pirates third baseman Pedro Alvarez.
Darvish finished the night going 7 innings, giving up the one run, on 4 hits, a walk and 6 strikeouts. His counterpart, Cole, tossed 7 shutout innings, giving up just 3 hits, walking 2 and striking out 9 Rangers.
Cole has now made 16 starts, and in those 16 starts, he has given up 3 runs or less in all but one, and has given up two runs or less in half of his 16 starts. If if weren't for the impressive rookie season Marlins ace Jose Fernandez is having, I think we'd be hearing more about Cole.
For the season, Cole is 7-7 with a 3.48 ERA, 1.16 WHIP and a solid 75-21 strikeout to walk rate in 98.1 innings. His K/9 is approaching 7.0, he is walking less than two batters every nine innings, he keeps the ball in the ballpark as his 0.64 HR/9 indicates, and he is keeping the ball on the ground at a 50% rate. We are watching the birth of the next ace starting pitcher in the National League. I would like to see the K rate up over 8.00 K/9 as he matures.
For more on Cole and the Pirates, check out Bucs Dugout, SB Nation's Pirates fan site.
Jayson Werth: Move him up your 2014 rankings
Heading into the start of the 2013 season, Nationals outfielder Jayson Werth was coming off a disappointing 2012 season where he played in just 81 games, hitting .300, but with just 5 HRs, 42 runs, 31 RBI and 5 stolen bases.
He was probably not one of the first 100 players taken in most drafts, but thus far in 2013, he is having a terrific year at the plate and outperforming his draft value by a wide margin. Last night, Werth went 2-5 with a HR and 3 RBI in the Nationals 9-0 win over the Mets. He is quietly hitting .324-.398-.534 with 22 HRs, 72 runs, 69 RBI and 8 stolen bases on the season.
Who would you rather have in 2014: Werth or Justin Upton? Let us know why in the comments.
Round'em Up
Indians starter Ubaldo Jimenez is on some kind of roll right now, and striking out batters like he did a few seasons ago. Last night, Ubaldo limited the Royals to just an unearned run on 7 hits, no walks and 10 strikeouts in the Indians 4-3 win. Jimenez is now 11-9 with a 3.62 ERA, 1.39 WHIP and a 157-75 strikeout to walk rate in 154.1 innings. Over his last four starts, covering 26 innings, Jimenez has struck out 34 batters and walked just 5, while giving up just 5 runs on 26 hits. He has given up two runs or less in 10 of his last 11 starts as well, so he seems to have turned the corner for the Indians.
Nationals starter Gio Gonzalez has been a bit of a disappointment this season, only because his win totals are down, way down. I know the argument about looking at wins. I think the stat should be eliminated in fantasy leagues and go with a revised version of the quality start: 7 innings pitched (or 6 IP) while allowing 2 runs or less. Anyway, Gio had perhaps his best outing of the season last night, shutting out the watered-down Mets lineup on one hit, 2 walks and 8 strikeouts. Gonzalez is now 9-6 with a 3.31 ERA, 1.24 WHIP and a 178-75 K-BB rate in 176.2 innings.
Tigers starter Max Scherzer has now failed to win his 20th game in each of his last three starts, as he is showing signs of tiring in September. He gave up 5 runs, 4 of which were earned, on 6 hits, 2 walks and 6 strikeouts in just 4 innings of work last night. He is now 19-3 with a 3.01 ERA, 0.96 WHIP and a tremendous 215-48 strikeout to walk rate in 194.1 innings this season. His ERA has increased from 2.73 to 3.01 over his last three starts, as he has given up 11 runs on 19 hits over 16 innings.
More from Fake Teams:
- Streamer Report: Tuesday's Streamers
- Prospective 2014 Pickups - Pitchers
- MLB Prospect Rankings Review: A Look at Our Preseason Consensus Catcher Rankings
- Injury Report: Don't lose hope, even if you've lost your stud
- Roto Roundup: Eric Hosmer, Ian Desmond, Michael Wacha and Others
- Fantasy Baseball Dynasty Strategy: Speculating Now for Future Saves
- Two-Start Pitchers: Week 23 (Sep. 9-15)