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Fake Teams covers the 2014 NFL Draft
I announced on Friday that I added seven new fantasy football writers for the 2014 season, and we kicked off our coverage of the 2014 NFL Draft on Monday. Our new writers will begin the 2014 fantasy football coverage with their pre-draft rankings of the players we will see selected in the 2014 NFL Draft later this week.
2104 Pre-draft Quarterback Rankings
2014 Pre-draft Running back Rankings
2014 Pre-draft Wide Receiver Rankings
Viewing the Draft from a fantasy perspective
The writers will offer their pre-drafrt rookie rankings for quarterback, running back and wide receiver over the next few days, along with a piece on analyzing one of the expert mock drafts from a fantasy perspective. Once the draft is completed, we will re-rank the rookies drafted based on what team they were drafted by, and what kind of fantasy impact they could have in 2014.
We hope you enjoy our fantasy football coverage this season, as our goal is to help you win your leagues this season. We are here to help you get started on your offseason research heading into your drafts later in the summer.
Let us know if there is something you would like us to cover this season and we will do our best to meet that need.
Fake Teams Fantasy Baseball Podcast is back!
Zack Smith and I recorded the first podcast of the season last night, where we spent almost two hours talking about a bunch of guys including Dee Gordon, Jose Abreu, Yordano Ventura, Masahiro Tanaka, so American League young pitchers making an impact, and much more.
Make sure you check out the podcast when published over the next few days.
Carlos Gonzalez is heating up
That headline could have read "The Rockies are heating up" after they scored 12 runs on a season high 21 hits last night, and they were led by left fielder Carlos Gonzalez. Gonzalez has struggled at the plate to start the season, hitting just .241 in April, but that came with five home runs, 17 runs and 18 RBI, so he was producing when he did hit. But, the batting average and on base percentage were well below expectations.
Last night, Gonzalez went 5-5 with two runs scored and three RBI in the Rockies 12-1 win over the Rangers. He is now hitting .279-.321-.504 with five home runs, 22 runs, 24 RBI and 2 stolen bases on the season. He isn't running as much in the early going, so I wonder if his stolen base totals will drop this season, in an effort to keep him healthy. The Rockies aren't a team that needs to steal bases to score runs, especially at home, so it is possible he doesn't steal 20 bases this season. With that said, his other numbers should be around his career norms by the end of the season.
For more on Cargo and the hot-hitting Rockies, make sure you check out Purple Row, SB Nation's Rockies fan site.
Clayton Kershaw returns from the DL
Dodgers ace Clayton Kershaw returned from his first trip to the disabled list last night, and was….well….the old Clayton Kershaw. Kershaw landed on the disabled list due to an injury to a minor back injury, and he said he could have pitched if needed, but the Dodgers decided to proceed with caution and placed him on the DL to make sure the minor injury didn't lead to a change in mechanics that resulted in a major injury.
Last night, Kershaw dominated the Nationals, shutting them out on nine hits, no walks and nine strikeout in seven innings, in the Dodgers 8-3 win. Kershaw was making just his second start of the season, 45 days since his first start vs the Diamondbacks on March 22nd in Australia, and he was very efficient in the process. Kershaw needed just 89 pitches to get 21 outs, and moved his record to 2-0 with a 0.66 ERA, 1.10 WHIP and a 16-1 strikeout to walk rate in 13.2 innings. Kershaw faces the Giants at home on Sunday, so feel free to get him back in your lineups. You didn't need me to tell you that, but in 21 career starts vs the Giants, he is 11-5 with a 1.38 ERA and 0.834 WHIP.
For more on Kershaw's return from the disabled list, check out True Blue LA, SB Nation's Dodgers fan site.
Round'em Up
The Tigers traded starter Doug Fister to the Nationals for Robbie Ray, Ian Krol and Steve Lombardozzi in the offseason in a deal that many felt was one-sided in favor of the Nationals. Well, Fister is still on the disabled list and hasn't pitched yet this season (due to come off the DL this week), and Robbie Ray has one more win than Fister. Ray made his first major league start last night, limiting the Astros to one run on five hits, a walk and five strikeouts in 5.1 innings in the Tigers 11-4 win. Ray was called up to replace Anibal Sanchez, who sliced his finger, in the Tigers rotation.
In a surprising piece of news, Orioles catcher Matt Wieters will visit Dr. James Andrews to get his right elbow checked out according to Yahoo! Sports Jeff Passan. Wieters is off to a great start to the 2014 season, hitting .341-.374-.560 with five home runs, 13 runs scored and 18 RBI. He had an MRI on his right elbow on Monday, so the visit to Dr. James Andrews is not a good sign. He would miss the rest of the season and parts of the 2015 season should he need Tommy John surgery, and I imagine, since he is a catcher, he will need just as much time to recover that a pitcher would need.
To say that Astros outfielder George Springer has struggled since his call up to the big leagues would be an understatement. Prior to Tuesday night's game, Springer was hitting .191 with two runs scored and five RBI. Last night, Springer went 3-4 with a double, a run scored and an RBI in the Astros loss to the Tigers. He has struck out in more than a third of his at bats thus far, but has whiffed just twice in his last three games. Progress. Tuesday night's performance could be the start of a hot streak, and maybe he will start to show the power/speed tools he showed us in the minors.
Phillies starter Cole Hamels returned from the disabled list a few weeks ago, and he pitched very well in his first start vs the Dodgers giving up just two runs in six innings. But, since that start, he has given up 11 earned runs on 18 hits, 6 walks and 9 strikeouts in 10.2 innings. Last night, he gave up five runs on 10 hits, including two home runs, in the Phillies 6-5 loss to the Blue Jays. Hamels is now 0-2 with a 7.02 ERA and 1.86 WHIP in 16.2 innings thus far. It might be time to worry about the health of his shoulder if this keeps up for another few starts.
The Marlins appear to be unstoppable at home this season, and part of the reason is the performance of their pitching staff. Yes, Jose Fernandez has been his dominant self this season, but he is starting to rub off on the guys behind him in their rotation. You all know the man crush I have on Nathan Eovaldi, as he has pitched like an ace so far in 2014. Last night, it was Henderson Alvarez's turn, as he shut out the Mets on six hits, no walks and seven strikeouts in the Marlins 3-0 win. The shutout was Alvarez's second complete game shut out of the season, and moved his record to 2-2 with a 2.62 ERA, 1.30 WHIP and a 29-12 strikeout to walk rate in 44.2 innings. Henderson's strikeouts per nine is up this season, but he gets by with inducing ground balls at a 54% rate, and not giving any free passes.
Andrew Cashner or Nathan Eovaldi??
One of my followers on Twitter posed the following question on Tuesday morning:
@faketeams pick up cashner? Drop whom samardzija eovaldi sanchez minor shields. I have Yu n teheran
— jose quiles (@jquiles3) May 6, 2014
I initially advised to drop one of Jeff Samardzija, Nathan Eovaldi or Anibal Sanchez. He asked if he should drop Eovaldi. After a closer look, I suggested keeping Eovaldi and sitting tight, as his pitching staff is already strong with Yu Darvish, Julio Teheran, Madison Bumgarner, and the three starters listed previously. If I had to drop a starter for Cashner, it would be Samardzija, but he has pitched like a guy who wants a big contract this season.
Who would you drop for Cashner?
Fantasy Rundown
For more fantasy baseball (and football) news and rankings, make sure you check out Fantasy Rundown, your one stop for all the fantasy news you need on a daily basis.