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Minor League Callups: The Other Guys

2013-05-22T19:00:07Z

With Jamie Garcia hitting the disabled list this past weekend, prospect enthusiasts waited for the announcement that either Michael Wacha or Carlos Martinez would be taking his turn in the rotation. Interestingly enough the Cardinals never got the memo, instead promoting Tyler Lyons to fill the spot. And therein lies a disappointing truth; not every player called up to fill a Major League role is a five-star prospect. But rather than sulking when a team bypasses our favorite prospect for a lesser talent, it's important to evaluate the player in question's fantasy value. So let's take a look at some recent callups and their fantasy prognosis.

Tyler Lyons, St. Louis Cardinals

We'll begin with the inspiration for this article, Tyler Lyons. As stated above, every indication is that the 25-year old lefty will fill Jamie Garcia's rotation spot until he can recover from his shoulder issues. Lyons is more of an organizational arm, not making the Cardinals-top 30 prospect list in either of the past two years. For his Minor League career his ERA is 4.30, and he had a 4.47 ERA in 8 starts in Triple-A in 2013. The one thing he has always done well is limit walks, cutting his BB/9 every season all the way to a miniscule 1.75 this year. The problem is his lack of any above average offerings, with a fastball sitting in the upper 80's and rather mundane secondary pitches. Plus, he likely will be right out of the rotation as soon as either Garcia or Jake Westbrook comes back. I wouldn't add Lyons in anything but a deep NL-only league at this point.

John Gast, St. Louis Cardinals

Did I mention that St. Louis passed on Wacha and Martinez not once, but twice? Well, they did. When Jake Westbrook hit the disabled list with elbow inflammation, it was Gast who took his place. Much like Lyons, the best case scenario for Gast is developing into a fifth starter. He also works in the upper 80's to low 90's with the fastball, mixing in a curveball and changeup that both grade out a tick below average. That means he needs plus to plus-plus control and command to really succeed, but the report on Gast is that his command can desert him from time to time. Still, he had a 1.38 ERA in Memphis this year and has held his own in his first two starts. I would at least add him in NL-only formats and possibly consider him in a good matchup for mixed-leagues.

Burch Smith, San Diego Padres

For a B-List prospect, Burch Smith is being quite well lately around SB Nation, with profiles from Beyond the Box Score's Ryan Potter and our own Brian Creagh. According to Baseball America, Smith was the Padres' 22nd best prospect entering the season, coming off of a year in which he posted a 3.85 ERA in the hitter's haven that is the California League. He started this season in Double-A, compiling a 1.16 ERA with 37 strikeouts in 31.1 innings. Thus far he has made two big league starts, and neither went particularly well with his ERA sitting at 15.63. Yet, he's still compiling strikeouts and I would consider him a matchups option for anyone looking for K's until Clayton Richard gets back. Long-term he is probably more of a reliever since he can't seem to hold his velocity deep into games.

Tom Koehler, Miami Marlins

Yes, Koehler technically is not a recent callup and in fact he made his Major League Debut that season. But it's my list and I want to address Tom Koehler's value. Koehler started the season in Triple-A before being summoned to pitch out of the big league bullpen. Injuries and poor performance (looking at you Wade LeBlanc) gave him a chance to start for the Fish, and he has done well in two starts, allowing just 3 earned runs in 11 innings. Miami's offense will definitely limit his potential for wins, but their ballpark is actually a in the top-5 pitcher's parks in the League according to ESPN's Park Factors and he has the best opportunity to stick in the rotation of all the players we are discussing. I can see him posting an ERA between 4.00-4.25 with 7 K/9 the rest of the way, making him a viable back end fantasy starter in many formats. If you're in one of those formats, go get him before it's too late, and if you're not I still would recommend using him at home.

Tyler Cloyd, Philadelphia Phillies

The Phillies strength coming into the season was supposed to be their pitching, but injuries to Jon Lannan and Roy Halladay have forced them to delve into their Minor League ranks. First they selected Jonathan Pettibone, a good long-term prospect who probably deserves a longer write up in the near future, and most recently they called up Cloyd. Cloyd is not a good prospect and actually, he had an ERA over 6.00 in Triple-A before getting the call. I don't think we need any more real analysis, so please folks, just avoid Cloyd in all formats.

Rather read about five-star prospects?: Ray on Kevin Gausman Daniel on Jurickson Profar

Did you know Fake Teams now has a podcast? Check out our latest episode and make sure to leave your feedback and questions for future episodes in the comments.

Andrew Ball is a writer for Fake Teams, Fantasy Ninjas, and Beyond the Box Score.

You can follow him on twitter @Andrew_Ball.

Deep League Thoughts -- Has the Smoak Monster arrived?

2013-05-22T17:00:05Z

Why can't the Mariners develop hitters, amiright?

I mean, look at Dustin Ackley. He's hitting .229/.285/.279 this year, for a 61 OPS+, with only one home run.

Look at Jesus Montero. He's at .208/.264/.327, for a 67 OPS+. And he might be slower than your old 56k modem.

Look at Justin Smoak. He's...hold on a second.

Smoak's slash line is .252/.366/.367. His OPS+ is 109. He's gradually improved over the past month, good for a .986 OPS in May (yes, I'm parsing small samples, and I apologize if I'm wrong).

It has become the en vogue thing in fantasy to say this trio of young Seattle hitters have been irredeemable busts and it's time to move on. Now, while that's a hard line to draw for a group of three hitters whose oldest member, Smoak, is 26, it's also become increasingly difficult to have faith in guys like Ackley, who seems to have fallen off a cliff after his 90-game debut in 2011, or Montero, who was actually almost an average hitter last year, after park adjustments, but appears totally lost this year, and has negative defensive value to go with his hitting woes.

Smoak, though, might not be quite the lost cause of his compatriots. After being a prospect darling of the Keith Law types and the cornerstone of the Cliff Lee-to-the-Rangers trade in 2010, Smoak was expected to be an anchor in the Mariners' infield. In his first full year in Seattle, 2011, he was...well, he was okay. That's about as much as you can say for him. His batting average was only .234, and he hit only 15 homers, but after an adjustment for the land of desolation that is Safeco, his OPS+ was 106, meaning he was still a slightly above-average hitter.

In short, it wasn't a great year, but it wasn't an outright disaster, and there were reasons to believe he might make a jump forward in 2012, at age 25. Only...it didn't work out that way. Other than a slight jump in home runs, everything Smoak did got worst last year, and his OPS+ tumbled to 86, which is the kind of number you expect out of a middle infielder who you have for his glove.

This year, though, after a slow start (he sat at .188/.282/.203 on April 21), Smoak has become a legitimate major-league hitter again. Even better than his slash lines that I listed above, though, is that Smoak appears to have figured out how to hit, at least a little. His 2013 walk rate sits at 14.6%, which would be the highest of his career by a full 3 percent, and his strikeout-to-walk ratio has fallen from 2.25 last year to 1.5 this year. PITCHf/x data reinforce this stat, as they show that Smoak has swung at a lower percentage of out-of-the-zone pitches this year than ever before. If he can maintain those levels over the course of the season, his on-base percentage alone should be enough to maintain a reasonable level of value.

Granted, his power has been lacking, as his .115 isolated power would be a career-worst, so all is not perfect in Smoakville. On the other hand, his HR/FB ratio is also at a career-low of 7.3%, a precipitous drop from previous years. There's not much reason to think that a 26-year-old has suddenly lost the strength to hit the ball a long way, especially when earlier iterations of that same player battled thumb injuries. In short, I expect Smoak's HR/FB rate to climb, which could boost his slugging to more acceptable levels.

Finally, you might have heard that the fences at Safeco Field have been moved in for this season. Now, the changes were not dramatic, and early-season Park Factors appear to show that the hitters' environment is only slightly improved, if at all, but...it can't really hurt, right? You've had to make park corrections to make Smoak look good in the past; it'd sure be nice if you could just look at his raw numbers to evaluate him.

None of this is to say that Smoak is about to Goldschmidt himself and jump to the upper echelon of big-league first basemen. That's probably never going to be his reality. In a 10- or 12-team league, I wouldn't consider Smoak unless my last name were also Smoak. But in a super-deep league, in an AL-only, or in some league where you've been scuffling by with Ike Davis and want a first baseman who appears to know how to play baseball, you could definitely do worse than Smoak.

I mean, heck, Ackley has first-base eligibility. Smoak's definitely better than him.

Follow me on Twitter @danieltkelley

Minor League Level Review (Low-A):Bombs Away from Gallo, Brinson, Alfaro and Walker

2013-05-22T14:00:08Z

Every other Wednedsay, I will be taking a quick look at some of the top prospects at the Low-A level, including their stats for for the season, and if anything stands out about the performance. The season stats may not always tell us the whole story, but there are usually also some updates on how they are doing these things as opposed to just the numbers themselves. All statistics are courtesy of Fangraphs.com, and are through the games of Monday, 5/20/13.

Player	AB	R	HR	RBI	BB	K	SB	CS	AVG	OBP	SLG
Adalberto Mondesi (SS-KCR)	154	13	1	22	11	44	8	4	0.221	0.269	0.325
Adam Walker (OF-MIN)	155	27	10	45	10	41	3	0	0.284	0.333	0.594
Brandon Nimmo (OF-NYM)	90	22	1	11	12	24	2	1	0.322	0.421	0.433
Bubba Starling (OF-KCR)	131	18	4	18	10	42	5	0	0.221	0.292	0.366
Byron Buxton (OF-MIN)	161	46	7	34	29	37	19	7	0.317	0.420	0.559
Carlos Correa (SS-HOU)	114	23	3	21	21	30	3	2	0.272	0.399	0.386
Carlos Tocci (OF-PHI)	143	14	0	9	9	22	3	1	0.217	0.268	0.266
Clint Coulter (C-MIL)	98	12	2	10	9	27	1	0	0.184	0.280	0.306
Corey Seager (SS-LAD)	106	16	3	14	10	27	5	2	0.264	0.331	0.406
Dan Vogelbach (1B-CHC)	161	16	5	25	18	28	3	0	0.286	0.352	0.422
David Dahl (OF-COL)	40	9	0	7	2	8	2	0	0.275	0.310	0.425
Dilson Herrera (2B-PIT)	146	27	4	20	15	40	6	2	0.295	0.360	0.452
Dorssys Paulino (SS-CLE)	131	17	0	11	12	26	6	3	0.206	0.278	0.229
Jesse Winker (OF-CIN)	143	27	6	30	24	28	1	0	0.308	0.414	0.517
Joey Gallo (3B-TEX)	150	28	12	23	21	61	3	0	0.220	0.326	0.527
Jorge Alfaro (C-TEX)	145	25	9	25	10	45	6	2	0.241	0.327	0.497
Jose Peraza (SS-ATL)	131	21	1	9	8	22	12	4	0.260	0.310	0.321
Josh Bell (OF-PIT)	166	32	6	37	21	40	1	1	0.283	0.360	0.470
Kevin Plawecki (C-NYM)	147	25	5	30	14	20	0	0	0.361	0.439	0.605
Lewis Brinson (OF-TEX)	173	22	10	19	12	75	6	2	0.231	0.289	0.451
Nick Williams (OF-TEX)	76	15	7	17	3	23	2	1	0.289	0.321	0.579
Renato Nunez (3B-OAK)	142	25	9	27	12	44	0	0	0.268	0.333	0.514
Rio Ruiz (3B-HOU)	102	9	2	14	18	27	2	0	0.206	0.320	0.324
Rock Shoulders (OF-CHC)	152	29	10	30	22	46	0	0	0.296	0.385	0.559
Roman Quinn (SS-PHI)	152	19	4	14	13	40	19	5	0.243	0.320	0.362
Rosell Herrera (SS-COL)	153	31	7	27	25	31	11	4	0.359	0.451	0.595
Stetson Allie (1B-PIT)	160	27	10	35	21	55	5	1	0.325	0.405	0.588
Tom Murphy (C-COL)	89	24	8	30	16	27	2	2	0.337	0.455	0.730

Corey Seager has been on the disabled list since the 10^th due to a hamstring injury, and has not returned yet.
The Crawfish Boxes took an in-depth look at the likelihood of top draft pick Carlos Correa sticking at shortstop in the long term.
The Rangers' low-A affiliate is on pace to have some rather ridiculous numbers, as they have hit twice as many home runs as all but one team, and are averaging over 10 strikeouts from their batters a game as well. Going to be interesting to watch as they develop, but Alfaro, Brinson, Williams, and Gallo have all shown excellent power so far.
Royals' top prospect Bubba Starling underwent LASIK eye surgery last week, The recovery time is quick, as he has already returned to the field, going 2-4 on Monday night. Hopefully this is the answer to some of his question marks.
I took a look last week at Twins' top prospect Byron Buxton, and agree with Seth Stohs of Twins Daily that the Twins will promote him at the Low-A all-star break.
It's really turning into a lost season for Rockies' OF David Dahl, as he was placed on the disabled list and now appears that he has a torn hamstring.
Mets' prospect Brandon Nimmo has been on the disabled list since May 7^th.

Player	IP	H	R	ER	HR	BB	K	ERA	WHIP
Blake Snell (TAM)	31.1	29	15	11	3	19	38	3.16	1.53
C.J. Edwards (TEX)	48.1	30	13	11	0	17	54	2.05	0.97
Chris Stratton (SF)	42.2	34	16	16	3	13	47	3.38	1.10
Eddie Butler (COL)	54.1	25	16	10	2	25	51	1.66	0.92
Ismael Guillon (CIN)	33.1	35	38	33	7	42	50	8.91	2.31
Joe Ross (SD)	41.2	36	17	14	0	14	33	3.02	1.20
Jose Berrios (MIN)	28.1	30	10	9	0	5	32	2.86	1.24
Lance McCullers (HOU)	36.2	31	15	7	0	16	40	1.72	1.28
Martin Agosta (SF)	40.2	32	15	13	3	20	57	2.88	1.28
Max Fried (SD)	30.2	21	8	8	0	15	34	2.35	1.17
Mauricio Cabrera (ATL)	42.1	28	20	14	1	30	30	2.98	1.37
Miguel Almonte (KCR)	43.1	35	19	15	3	17	39	3.12	1.20
Rafael De Paula (NYY)	39.1	24	12	12	2	17	69	2.75	1.04
Rainy Lara (NYM)	46	32	9	6	1	5	47	1.17	0.80
Robert Stephenson (CIN)	47	42	24	21	4	13	60	4.02	1.17
Roberto Osuna (TOR)	22.1	15	10	9	4	4	31	3.63	0.85
Taylor Guerrieri (TAM)	33	22	7	6	2	7	28	1.64	0.88
Tyler Glasnow (PIT)	34	14	11	8	1	21	50	2.12	1.03
Tyrell Jenkins (STL)	35.1	36	18	17	2	16	23	4.33	1.47
Victor Sanchez (SEA)	26.2	28	12	9	1	6	16	3.04	1.28
Vince Velasquez (HOU)	41	35	20	19	3	13	49	4.17	1.17
Walker Weickel (SD)	29.2	40	22	18	2	14	20	5.46	1.82

Rafael De Paula is leading the minor leagues with 69 strikeouts, one ahead of Diamondbacks' prospect Archie Bradley. Honestly, I'm wondering how much longer the Yankees will keep him at Low-A given his age and success so far. Jason Parks of Baseball Prospectus provided this scouting report in his chat this week:

Powerful build; arm speed is near elite; fastball can work 91-95l touch even higher; huge life; misses barrels; shows plus potential with both hard, power curve and changeup; command profile could push him to the 'pen down the line, as could secondary development. He's a big time arm. He's also too good for his level and putting up video game strikeout numbers. I really like him, though. Glad BP put him in the Yankees Top Ten coming into the season despite no stateside experience.

Craig profiled Pirates' pitching prospect Tyler Glasnow, who is having a great season so far with West Virginia.
Baseball Prospectus posted the first in their series of Eyewitness Accounts last week, with a detailed profile of Robert Stephenson amongst the rest of the pitchers.

Travis Wood: Time to sell the "best pitcher in baseball"

2013-05-22T13:00:07Z

A few weeks ago, Cubs manager Dale Sveum opined that his starter, Travis Wood, was the best pitcher in baseball. I am sure you chuckled to yourself when you first heard that, as did I. Then I said to myself, Sveum just gave him the kiss of death. The ride to regression will begin in his next start. Well, that didn't work out too well.

Here is what Wood has done so far this season: in 9 starts, he is 4-2 with a 2.24 ERA, 3.81 FIP, 4.58 xFIP, 0.93 WHIP and a 39-19 strikeout to walk rate in 60.1 innings of work. Wood does a decent job of keeping the ball on the ground, as he induces ground balls at a 39.5% clip, up from 34.3% in 2012. It appears his 12.7% HR/FB rate last season was an anomaly, as his 6.5% HR/FB rate this season is in line with his rates from 2010 (6.3%) and 2011 (6.7%).

But there are a few things that really stand out for me in recommending selling Wood now. First off, his strikeout rate, just 5.82 K/9, is down from his 6.87 K/9 in 2012. While his walks per nine are down slightly, from 3.12 BB/9 to 2.83 BB/9, the strikeout rate is a concern, especially since he pitches in a hitter friendly park.

Second, thus far in 2013, Wrigley Field has played as the worst pitchers parks in baseball, as the park improves run scoring by 47% according to ESPN's ball park factors. Yeah, so more runs are being scored at Wrigley than at Coors Field, Miller Park and other hitter-friendly parks. Should this trend in run scoring continue, Wood will certainly be the recipient of some bad outings, as a result.

Third, his BABIP sits at a tiny .193 right now, well below his career BABIP of .262 and his .244 in 2012. In fact, for all qualified starters, his .193 BABIP leads all of baseball. His name appears in the same company as Clayton Kershaw, Matt Harvey, Matt Moore and Hisashi Iwakuma at the top of the lowest BABIP allowed leaderboard over at FanGraphs. It doesn't seem right that he is mentioned in the same breath at Kershaw, Harvey and Moore, does it?

Fourth, his 82.0% strand rate is 10.1% above his career and 2012 strand rate of 71.9%, so one should expect some regression in the number of base runners he strands going forward. A reduction in stranded base runners results in more runs allowed and a higher ERA.

Finally, his line drive percentage allowed is just 14.4%, well below his career LD% of 20.9%. The low LD% has contributed to the low BABIP, which has an impact on his ERA. Line drives usually result in hits about 75% of the time, so as that rate improves, his BABIP will rise, and his ERA will follow.

All of this tells me that Travis Wood owners should try to find an owner looking for a starting pitcher and make an offer to deal him. What should you get for Wood in a deal? I would shoot high and go from there. Just don't ask for a top 25 hitter. Maybe ask for a Jose Altuve or Jimmy Rollins in return.

Fantasy Links of Interest from around the 'Net

2013-05-22T12:00:12Z

This will be a new feature beginning today, where I will link to some of the best articles I see as I scour the internet on a daily basis. This feature will also include some of the best from Fake Teams writers as well.

More from Fake Teams

Fantasy Baseball

Why Doesn't Anyone Own Luke Scott?

Prospect Profile: Robbie Ray

The Streamer Report: Wednesday's Starting Pitcher Targets

Matt Harvey and his trade value

Matt Moore is the Sell Highiest Starting Pitcher | FanGraphs Fantasy Baseball

Woulda Coulda Shoulda - Jean Segura & Starlin Marte

Injury Report: He's Heeeeeerrrrrreeee

Has anything changed? Christian Yelich

Coming Soon to A Stadium Near You: Sonny Gray, RHP, Oakland Athletics

Fantasy Football

Fantasy Football 2013 Quarterback Rankings

Fantasy Football 2013: PPR Running Back Rankings Part 1

Fantasy Football 2013: PPR Running Back Rankings Part 2

Fantasy Football 2013: PPR Running Back Rankings Part 3

Fantasy Football 2013: PPR Wide Receiver Rankings

Articles found elsewhere

FanGraph's Dan Wade discusses taking a long look at Padres catcher Yasmani Grandal in this piece over at FanGraphs.

FanGraphs Mike Podhorzer tells us that we should sell high on Matt Moore right now, as he sees some regression coming down the road. I would want a Top 30 hitter for Moore in redraft leagues, but would probably hold onto him in keeper leagues.

Rotoworld's Matthew Pouliot takes a look at Jurickson Profar among others in his AL and NL notes piece.

Rotoprofessor tells us that it is time to deal for Yoenis Cespedes. I concur.

Roto Roundup: Mike Trout, Troy Tulowitzki, Dan Straily and Others

2013-05-22T11:00:07Z

If you have any fantasy baseball questions, please make sure you post them in the comments section of the Roundup, or any other article posted here at Fake Teams.

The Fake Teams Fantasy Podcast: Episode 2

Zack Smith and Andrew Ball hosted Episode 2 of the Fake Teams Fantasy Podcast on Sunday night, where I made an appearance and rambled for about 40 minutes, and I am pretty sure Zack and Andrew were texting each other asking when I was going to shut my pie hole. I discuss how I got involved with Fake Teams, how my Tout Wars team is faring, along with my thoughts on Paul Konerko, George Springer and others. Here is a link the Episode 2:

Fake Teams Podcast Episode 2: The Godfather Stops By

And if you wanted to listen to the podcast on ITunes, check out this link:

https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/fake-teams-podcast/id650603240

Mike Trout hits for the cycle

Angels outfielder Mike Trout became the youngest AL hitter to hit for the cycle last night, as he went 4-5 with a HR, 2 runs, 5 RBI and he chipped in with a stolen base as well. Trout raised his triple slash line to .293-..373-.558 with 9 HRs, 31 runs, 34 RBI and 9 stolen bases in 181 at bats thus far. After a .261-.333-.432 April, Trout is hitting .343-.434-.757 with 7 HRs, 16 runs, 18 RBI and 5 stolen bases in May. With 10 more days left in May, Trout is set to exceed his May 2012 production with a few more runs scored and stolen bases.

He is on pace to hit 32 home runs and steal 32 bases. So much for the regression season, huh?

Mike Leake: better than expected in 2013

Last week, the Reds decided to send pitching prospect Tony Cingrani back to AAA when Johnny Cueto returned from the DL. It was a decision that many fantasy owners disagreed with as Cingrani had pitched very well in his six starts. Many felt that Mike Leake should have been moved to the bullpen, with Cingrani staying in the rotation. Lost in all that talk is the fact that Leake has pitched very well this season. He shut out the Mets for seven innings last night, giving up 3 hits, walking 2 and striking out 4 in the Reds 4-0 win. Leake is now 4-2 with a 3.25 ERA, 3.86 FIP, 1.39 WHIP and a 38-15 K-BB rate in 55.1 innings. He is striking out just over six batters per nine, which is ok, but he does a great job keeping the ball on the ground, inducing ground balls at a 53% clip.

Max Scherzer shuts down hot Indians team

Tigers starter Max Scherzer bounced back after two straight rough starts, limiting the Indians to just one run on two hits, a walk and 7 strikeouts in 8 innings last night. He moved his record to 6-0 with a 3.61 ERA, 0.91 WHIP and a 75-13 strikeout to walk rate in 62.1 innings this season. Scherzer is still a very inconsistent starter, alternating dominating starts with a start where he gives up four or five runs.

Round'em Up

A's starter Dan Straily out-dueled Rangers ace Yu Darvish last night, shutting out the Rangers in Texas for seven innings. Straily gave up just two hits, walked none and struck out five to win his second game of the season. Straily needed just 88 pitches to get through seven innings, and is now 2-2 with a 5.73 ERA, 1.21 WHIP and a 32-12 K-BB rate in 33 innings.

Phillies pitching prospect Tyler Cloyd made the most of his spot start on Tuesday night, giving up just two run on 8 hits, 2 walks and 5 strikeouts in the Phillies 7-3 win over the Marlins. Cloyd has pitched well in both starts thus far, giving up two runs in each of his starts. He should see a few more starts for the Phillies while Roy Halladay is out.

Cubs starter Matt Garza was activated from the DL yesterday and made his first start since July 21, 2012. Garza pitched great, shutting out the Pirates for 5 innings, giving up just one hit, walking three and striking out five. If Garza is available in your league, go out and grab him. If he can stay healthy, he can provide value to fantasy owners.

Braves catcher Brian McCann has rewarded his owners for staying patient while he was recovering from offseason shoulder surgery. McCann went 3-4 with a HR and 2 RBI in the Braves 5-4 extra inning win last night. McCann is hitting .282-.383-.590 with 4 HRs, 5 runs, and 12 RBI in just 39 at bats since returning from the DL. McCann is a free agent at the end of the season, and will be looking for a huge payday.

I won Royals first baseman Eric Hosmer in my AL only keeper league, and have to say I am pretty disappointed in him this season. Hosmer went 2-5 with 2 runs scored last night, raising his triple slash line to .271-.342-.347 with 1 HR, 18 runs, 12 RBI, 3 stolen bases and a 28-15 K-BB rate. The batting average is not the problem for me, it's the lack of power. Hosmer has just 8 extra base hits in 144 at bats this season, with just the one home run. He will fall very far in my first base rankings in 2014 if the power doesn't appear.

Rockies shortstop Troy Tulowitzki may have fallen a few spots in some fantasy drafts this season due to his history of injuries, but he has been healthy so far in 2013. Tulo went 2-4 with a HR, a double, 2 runs and an RBI in the Rockies 5-4 win over the division leading Diamondbacks last night. He is now hitting .338-.409-.606 with 9 HRs, 25 runs and 38 RBI, and is tied for the National League lead in RBI with Brandon Phillips.

Closer News

Rockies closer Rafael Betancourt entered last night's game, but left with a groin injury after throwing just two pitches. He is considered day to day right now. In his absence, Rex Brothers could see a few save opportunities, so grab him if he is available.

Rays closer Fernando Rodney was called upon to get five outs last night, and did not disappoint. He did give up a run on a hit and a walk, but he struck out two to earn his ninth save of the season. Joel Peralta would be the guy to grab should Rodney eventually lose the closer job in Tampa.

Dodgers manager Don Mattingly seems to be getting closer to making a change in the closer role for the struggling Dodgers. He was asked before last night's game who his closer would be and his response was as follows, per MLB.com

"I don't know," the Dodgers manager said. "We'll see."

"I know who I want to use. But I don't know if I want to anoint anybody," said Mattingly, who seems to be leaning toward Kenley Jansen over Brandon League in high-stress situations based on recent use. "I'd really like to see the bullpen get its confidence back and some semblance of order and get the guys in the roles we designed.

Now Mattingly has much bigger concerns right now, as his job is on the line, but getting the bullpen in order is just one of the many things that need fixing on this team right now. Grab Jansen in all leagues if he is still available.

Kevin Gausman to make major league debut on Thursday

2013-05-22T03:54:23Z

A few days after GM Dan Duquette stated that pitching prospect Kevin Gausman was doing just fine in AA and would not be called up, the Orioles have done exactly that. They will call up Gausman to make his major league debut vs the Blue Jays on Thursday evening.

Gausman was the fourth overall pick in the 2012 MLB Amateur draft, and has moved quickly in the Orioles farm system. He pitched so well in spring training that the team was confident enough to start him in AA this season, after just 5 starts and 15 innings or work last season in High A and rookie league.

He didn't disappoint in AA either, In 8 starts at AA Bowie, Gausman went 2-4 with a 3.11 ERA, 1.058 WHIP and a 49-5 strikeout to walk rate in 46.1 innings.

Back in early April, Jason Hunt wrote this Coming Soon to a Stadium Near You piece on Gausman, and here is what he had to say about him:

There has been discussion before that Gausman would not need much time in the minors, and he could see a promotion to the Majors at some point during this season.

Gausman profiles as at least a top 50 starting pitcher in the long term, providing excellent rate stats and an above-average strikeout total. There is potential for even more if everything works out perfectly, and seems most likely to settle in as a top 25 starting pitcher.

It will take Gausman some time to be a top 50 starter unless he goes all Matt Harvey on us, and I am not saying he won't though.

The Orioles have lost seven of their last nine games and are looking for Gausman to solidify a bad rotation. I assume he will be up for awhile, so you should feel confident grabbing him in all leagues.

Fantasy Football 2013: PPR Wide Receiver Rankings

2013-05-21T22:00:07Z

The passing attacks in the NFL are taking over and that means there is plenty to go around in the wonderful world of wide receivers. Over each of the past two seasons, at least 10 quarterbacks threw for 4,000 yards after just five accomplished that feat in 2010 and six in 2008.

Calvin Johnson stole the show last year with his 1,964 receiving yards and it's hard to believe he only had five TDs. The lack of TDs actually put him just eight fantasy points ahead of Brandon Marshall. -- who had a massive season, as well. Whether it's a smart move to go WR in the first round is an argument for another day, there's really no way any owner should go through the first three rounds of a PPR draft without taking at least one receiver.

Megatron and Marshall headline this year's crop of receivers and there are some similarities to last year's projections, which can provide support to taking a WR early since they are a bit more reliable than running backs. A few of the big gainers from last year included DeMaryius Thomas and Randall Cobb, but a few guys like Michael Crabtree burst on the scene in the second half.

There aren't a whole lot of players changing teams, so moving forward there aren't a lot of question marks in attempting to tabbing players as possible breakouts. This edition isn't really going to focus too much on sleepers since all of these guys potentially will be starters for 12-team fantasy owners. There are really just three players that could be considered as breakouts on this list: Danny Amendola, Tavon Austin and T.Y. Hilton. All of which have some risks, but that's the name of the game when it comes to taking an relatively unproven player. We'll talk more about sleepers in part two, but here are the top 25 rankings for PPR leagues:

Other rankings so far:

Quarterback

Running Back

	Wide Receiver	Comments
1	Calvin Johnson	Saying he played with broken fingers just adds to the Paul Bunyan-like stature of Megatron
2	Brandon Marshall	He was second in targets and receptions last year while ranking third in yards
3	Percy Harvin	He was the number one receiver in PPR for the first half of the year and his 509 YAC in nine games ranked eighth on the season
4	Julio Jones	The consistency should be better with Julio and he should see even more goal-line targets
5	A.J. Green	His 97 receptions topped most expectations, but the 11 TDs did not
6	Andre Johnson	He ranked fifth in PPR leagues last year and there's almost no way he has just four TDs in 2013
7	Dez Bryant	A second-half monster: 10 TDs, 50 catches and 879 receiving yards
8	DeMaryius Thomas	He would be a top-five guy had the Broncos not signed Wes Welker
9	Randall Cobb	He had 51 catches out of the backfield, which could take a hit, but there will be plenty of balls elsewhere
10	Roddy White	He's still one of the best receivers at knowing how to get open
11	Larry Fitzgerald	Not 100 percent sold on Carson Palmer reviving Larry to a true WR1, still an obvious improvment
12	Reggie Wayne	Ranked second in targets and Andrew Luck's accuracy should improve to possibly boost his 106 receptions
13	Marques Colston	Sean Payton is back and the Saints still don't have much depth in their receiving corps
14	Jordy Nelson	The sky is the limit as long as hamstrings hold together
15	Victor Cruz	His yards predictably came down, but other numbers were there including 10 TDs
16	Hakeem Nicks	If you draft him in a 12-team league, it makes a lot of sense to handcuff him with Rueben Randle
17	Danny Amendola	Monster upside for PPR with Welker's role and just needs to stay healthy
18	Antonio Brown	Horrendous second half of 288 yards and 24 catches, but such an opportunity with no more 60 Minutes
19	Dwayne Bowe	Very good chance he rises to the top 15 with a good training camp
20	Torrey Smith	A little better suited for non-PPR leagues and seems like a good bet for 1,100 yards and eight scores
21	Michael Crabtree	Monster in the playoffs with 20 catches, 285 yards and three TDs in three games; Crabby's five December games were also terrific: 35 catches, 538 yards and four TDs
22	Vincent Jackson	His 72 catches on 147 targets is a little silly, but numbers were there at the end of the year
23	Tavon Austin	He's really the only rookie receiver that's even worth drafting in the vast majority of leagues
24	Steve Smith	Cam Newton could make a big leap as a passer and Smith would obviously benefit
25	T.Y. Hilton	No more Donnie Avery could mean big things for Hilton -- especially in the yardage department