The Banana Stand - Week 8

The Banana Stand is a weekly look back at the fantasy week that was.

The big news this week revolves around two of MLB's future stars (aces?). Clayton Kershaw finally made his big league debut. He faced the Cardinals and allowed two runs in six innings. He struck out 7, walked 1 and gave up 5 hits. The line looks good, but digging a little deeper shows that the outing was not completely smooth. He threw over 30 pitches in the first inning. Unless he can throw more strikes, especially early in games, he will be prone to short outings. All things considered though, this was a nice debut. Yahoo! owners, place your bids.

The Yankees have begun stretching out eighth inning giant Joba Chamberlain into a starter. He has made two appearances thus far, throwing 40 in his last start. It will be interesting to see what he does when he is given the ball to start a game, but we won't see that for another three weeks or so. Joba is probably not available in many leagues right now, but you should double-check. In any 10 team mixed league or deeper he should be rostered.

In the GOTOS expert league we are still mired in the middle of the pack. There is hope though. Our bats are starting to pick things up. Young phenom Evan Longoria had a big weekend, hitting two HRs on Saturday and a game-winning RBI double on Sunday. Kouz also went yard twice in one game, doing so in the 18 inning tilt against the Reds.

The Banana Stand - Week 7

The Banana Stand is a weekly look back at the fantasy week that was.

Week 7 saw some big offensive outbursts that fantasy players have been craving since week 1. After signing an 8 year, $45 million contract earlier in the week, Ryan Braun decided to show Brewer management why he is worth that much money. In 33 ABs this week, Braun went yard 8 times. He's already got 10 HRs in May and is making up for his slow start in a big way.

It's hard to think that anyone could have been hotter than Braun last week, but Alfonso Soriano was. While hitting 7 HRs and racking up 14 RBIs, Soriano hit well over .500 for the week. This, after rumors were swirling that Soriano and his season opening slump should be moved down in the lineup. So much for that idea.

While his week wasn't as impressive as Braun's or Soriano's, Lance Berkman kept up his great start. In what can be classified as just an average week for him this year, Berkman hit .461 with 4 HRs and 9 RBIs. He even threw a couple of stolen bases in his stat line for good measure. Berkman has undoubtedly been the best fantasy player so far. He's hovering around .400 with 16 HRs, 44 RBIs and 8 SBs. It's hard to imagine him keeping up this pace, but Berkman has quietly been one of the most reliable fantasy players over the last 7 years. It's safe to say that at the very least, he'll produce better than average numbers for the rest of the season. While it's no guarantee, think ARod from last year where his great start propelled him to an MVP season.

On the pitching side, Cole Hamels finally threw the first CGSO of his career against the Braves on Wednesday. Hamels bounced back from a couple of rough starts in which the Phillies offense bailed him out a bit, but he is well on his way to putting together a top 10 year.

The most interesting matchup came Sunday, when 2 of the best fantasy pitchers to date, Cliff Lee and Edinson Volquez, faced off. Even though Volquez struggled a bit with his command, he still managed to get a win while tossing 6 innings, giving up two earned runs and striking out 5. The suddenly unhittable Cliff Lee finally showed that he is really the same Cliff Lee we'd seen the past few years. Both should be fine going forward, but not likely to be as good as they've been so far.

In other big fantasy news, the boys at Greener on The Other Side took it to the big time this week, unleashing their website Fantasy Phenoms on the fantasy community. Expect the same sabermetrical analysis and more (including football), with an expanded staff of writers. Fantasy Phenoms will feature a weekly piece from Pseudo Sports. Check it out & let us know what you think.

The Banana Stand - Week 6

The Banana Stand is a weekly look back at the fantasy week that was.

Those in H2H leagues may have run into some unusual stat lines this week, adding fuel to the fire for those who prefer traditional roto formats. On the offensive side, Kevin Youkilis hit five homers and had 10 runs batted in. Youkilis might not hit five more homers for the rest of the year. Joey Votto hit three homers in one game. Lance Berkman continues to rake, but his owners might be even happier with the two swipes he had earlier in the week. On the downside, Alex Rios had a tough week, striking out 12 times. Patience is the key right now with Rios.

The most notable pitching issues from this week pertain to a couple of closers from the midwest. Eric Gagne was removed from the closer's role. Ned Yost, despite giving Gagne the dreaded vote of confidence on Tuesday, made the move and stated that Gagne needs a mental break. Gagne himself stated that he didn't deserve the role as he sports an ERA north of 6.00 and a WHIP north of 1.80. If money/value were not an issue Gagne would probably not be given the opportunity to earn back the job. However, his $10 million contract will most certainly play a factor. The smart money says that Gagne is closing again by late June and then is traded to a contender to become a set-up man (Yankees?). Expect either Torres or Mota to pick up saves in the mean time.

The other closer that lost his job is Jason Isringhausen. He has not been pitching well as he has given up 13 ER in only 15.2 innings. Ryan Franklin is the favorite for saves but it is assumed that Izzy will reclaim the closer role in a few weeks.

Fantasy Expert League Update:
We did not have a great week in the GOTOS league. While we remain in 6th place, our point total dropped down to 67.0 while Jordon from Rotorob has jumped into the lead with 93.0 points. J-Roll is back now so hopefully he can provide the spark our squad needs to make a push.

The Banana Stand - Week 5

The Banana Stand is a weekly look back at the fantasy week that was.

The week that was started with Roy Halladay tossing his fourth straight complete game. Pretty amazing in today's game. Even more amazing......the last 3 complete games resulted in a loss for Halladay. He followed up the tough luck losses with a win on Sunday, throwing 7 1/3 innings giving up 3 runs (one earned). The Ks will always be down for him, but it's tough to find a more reliable fantasy starter than Halladay.

This week also claimed a number of big names to the DL. The consensus #1 overall fantasy pick coming in to the year, Alex Rodriguez, hit the DL Wednesday after battling a quad injury for the past week. He isn't expected to be out much longer than his DL stint, but any owner has to be worried about lingering effects of the injury once he returns. News of ARod being placed on the DL came a day after the Yankees put catcher Jorge Posada on the DL with a strained right shoulder. Posada's visit to Dr. James Andrews frightened owners and Yankee fans alike, but no major damage was found. Any time the good Dr.'s name comes up, there's always the fear that there's a season or career ending injury floating around. It was revealed that Posada will need two weeks of rest followed by two weeks of strengthening before going on a rehab assignment. This could mean that Posada will be able to DH or play first during the strengthening phase, giving fantasy owners some hope that he'll be back producing sooner than expected.

As if this wasn't enough for the Yankees, Phil Hughes also landed on the DL this week. It was first called an oblique strain, but was later dubbed a stress fracture in his rib-cage. The Yankees aren't expecting him back until July at the earliest. They will probably keep him in the minors for a significant time before bringing him back, rendering his fantasy value for this year virtually useless. One has to wonder if this is really a legitimate injury or if the Yankees are just attempting to preserve Hughes' value by blaming his terrible start this year on an injury.

Hughes' counterpart in the rotation, Ian Kennedy, was sent down to AAA Scranton Wilkes-Barre on Sunday after his own miserable start to the year. After looking poised and ready in his 3 starts last year, his mental makeup has certainly come into question. On multiple occasions this year, he's made statements about the enormous pressure of pitching in New York. After being sent down, he mentioned that it'll be nice to pitch where every pitch isn't put under a microscope. That can't be comforting to Yankee management. It wouldn't be surprising if the Yankees throw in the towel on the young pitcher if the right deal comes along in the next couple of months. It's not out of the question for Kennedy go down to AAA and straighten everything out and contribute to the big team in short time. The yankees other options, Darrell Rasner & Kei Igawa, are no doubt on short leashes of their own.

Perhaps the biggest injury news of the week was Yovanni Gallardo's torn ACL. It's likely that he'll miss the entire year. This is a huge blow for both fantasy owners & the Brewers as Gallardo was really starting to become a force.

Although injuries were wreaking havoc across fantasy teams everywhere, there were some big name callups providing hope. Max Scherzer made his Major League debut on Wednesday, retiring all 13 batters he faced striking out 7 in the process. He has replaced Edgar Gonzalez in the Diamondbacks' rotation. He might not hold the spot for long with Doug Davis' imminent return, but he should still be owned in any league.

The Mariners, trying to wake up their struggling offense, called up big-time prospects Jeff Clement & Wladimir Balentien. Clement is certainly the more appealing option of the 2, especially considering that he'll see time behind the plate & will attain catcher eligibility in most leagues.

League Updates:
It was another contentious week at Pseudo Sports, as Chris & I faced off in our 7x7 league. Not much to say here other than I got beaten like a red-headed stepchild by a score of 11-2-1. I can't even blame the loss on not having ARod this week. It wouldn't have mattered. Chris is running away with the league while I'm hovering in mediocrity right in the middle of the pack.

In the Greener on the Other Side expert league, we made a charge as high as 4th early in the week, but we've dropped down 7th. The gap is narrowing between first and the rest of the pack, and spots 3-7 can change daily. We took a hit with the loss of Gallardo, but our pitching is pretty deep and has carried us thus far. We're eagerly awaiting the return of our #1 pick, Jimmy Rollins.

The Banana Stand - Week 4

The Banana Stand is a weekly look back at the fantasy week that was.

There were many fantasy relevant elements during week four of the MLB season. We’ll tackle some of the more notable ones in this week’s installment of the Banana Stand.

On the hitting side, Lance Berkman, Hanley Ramirez, Chase Utley and Garrett Atkins continue to rake. Hanley had 5 bombs this week, though that power is not likely to last. Jarrod Saltalamacchia got the call on Friday night and got the start on Saturday, going 1 for 3 with two walks and two strikeouts. He is expected to split time evenly with Gerald Laird which will put a dent in his fantasy value, for now. Matt Kemp hit a Grand Slam, the first of his career, on Saturday. Hopefully this will lead to more playing time for the talented OFer. David Ortiz has come alive, knocking in 10 over the past week. People are still worried about that knee so it might not be a bad idea to start shopping him during this hot streak. Clint Hurdle has been frustrating fantasy owners this week by shuffling Podsednik, Spilborghs and Taveras in and out of the line-up. Taveras sat out three games this week even though he is the superior all around player for fantasy purposes. Owners will want to monitor this situation closely, and it is a nightmare for those in weekly leagues. McLouth is still going strong after his hitting streak ended, with 3 HRs this past week. The most notable injury news concerns Jorge Posada and the Yankees. It was announced during Sunday’s game that Jorge is scheduled to visit with Dr. Andrews this week. That is awful news for those who spent a pick on him in the first 10 rounds of the draft.

On the pitching side, Clay Buchholz, Adam Wainwright, Cliff Lee, James Shields, Paul Maholm and Roy Halladay all went the distance. Unfortunately for Halladay he did not pick up a win in that outing. Yovani Gallardo is in mid-season form throwing seven shutout innings. He is rewarding those owners that took him 110 picks into the draft. Johnny C has his first rough outing, giving up five runs in a loss to the Astros. Owners can expect the occasional blip from Cueto, but he will continue to shine all season. His compadre Edinson Volquez pitched 14 innings this week and gave up only two runs with 17 strikeouts. He now has four wins on the season. Jonathan Sanchez gave up one run over eight innings, striking out ten in a defeat of the Reds. You have to love those Ks. Manny Corpas was removed from the closer role in favor of Brian Fuentes. In Corpas’ second appearance after the demotion he took a loss against the Dodgers. Brad Lidge and Troy Percival each picked up four saves this week. It will be interesting to see if either of those two will remain either healthy or effective all season.

Fantasy Expert League Update:
We are continuing our ascent in the GOTOS expert league. We are still in 6th but we’ve gained 9.0 more points putting us at 75.5. David from Baseball Happenings is currently in the lead with 87.0 points. This week we made a couple of roster moves, acquiring Frank Thomas and Jarrod Saltalamacchia of the free agent list and shedding ties with Mark Prior and Jack Cust in the process. Although we like Prior to have a nice second half, he was expendable in this league because there are no available DL spots.

The Banana Stand - Week 3

The Banana Stand is a weekly look back at the fantasy week that was.

Week 3 of the fantasy season is dedicated to injured fantasy stars. The Week started with Alfonso Soriano landing on the DL with a strained right calf in Tuesday night's game, and there was no looking back. Stud players were dropping like flies, and nobody was safe. Elite fantasy 3rd basemen Chipper Jones and Alex Rodriguez both suffered quad injuries yesterday. Chipper's injury came in a week in which he scorched opposing pitchers with a ridiculous line of .565 4 HRs & 7 RBIs. Jones is proving once again that when he plays, he is a top producer. The upcoming week has the potential to be a frustrating one for Jones' owners because how much time he will miss is still up in the air. These injuries will probably result in at least a few games missed for both - and if history is any indication, a DL stint for Chipper.

Sunday's injuries came around the same time we learned that the Phillies finally decided to put MVP Jimmy Rollins on the DL after he injured his ankle in the first game of the season. Peculiar, because they'd been using him as a pinch-hitter for the past week, so he has to miss the full 15 days (starting with yesterday). It is a blow for fantasy purposes, but at least owners don't have to guess with their lineups because Rollins is definitely out. Hopefully, a full 15 days off will get him back to full health and he can finally start producing.

Ben Sheets, another injury-prone star in the same class as Chipper Jones, also suffered an injury this past week. Sheets has been stellar so far (and usually is when he can stay healthy) going 3-0 with 24 Ks and a 0.96 in 4 starts this year. Sheets' triceps tightened up in his last start and it looks like he'll have to miss his next start. It remains to be seen whether or not he'll land on the DL, but expect the Brewers to be careful in the early going with any Sheets injury.

With all of these injuries mounting, it provides excellent opportunities for astute fantasy owners to take advantage of other league members' weaknesses in their time of need. Anyone who loaded up on depth on draft day can certainly start looking to deal some of it to anyone scrambling to piece together a healthy starting lineup.

Fantasy Expert League Update:
In the GOTOS expert league, team Pseudo Sports climbed up 2 spots this week to 6th overall. We now have a healthy Yovanni Gallardo and Randy Johnson, but an injured Jimmy Rollins. We're making our mark with pitching, scoring 44.5 out of a possible 60 points. But, with our top overall pick Rollins out, we're trying to hold our own in the offensive categories until he can return. Currently, Rudy from Razzball is in first with 88.5 points to our 66.5.

The Banana Stand - Week 2

The Banana Stand is a weekly look back at the fantasy week that was.

Week two of the 2008 fantasy year was full of everything: great pitching performances (Wang, Sheets, Hamels), great hitting performances (Francoeur, J. Upton, Burrell), and Rich Harden’s annual DL stint. We saw some young arms follow up on their impressive debuts and we also saw some big bats continue to struggle – I’m looking right at you Papi (3 for 43). To top it all off, Johan the Great dropped his second straight decision, giving up three HRs to the Brew Crew.

In the power department, Carlos Pena is alone at the top of the HR list with six bombs on the year, four of them hit this week. He is on a mission to validate last year’s stats. Another four homer week came courtesy of Raul Ibanez who now has five on the year. Will this be the year he tops 35 HRs? I’ll take the under. Jeremy Hermida came off the DL and four games later has two doubles and two homers. Hermida came at a discount this year and his owners are reaping the benefits in his first week of action.

Chone Figgins and Joey Gathright lapped all of the speedsters this week, swiping 4 bags each. Michael Bourn, who had 6 steals through April 7th, hasn’t added to that total since. You were warned.

As Mike mentioned in the week 1 installment, pitching stats are more telling than hitting stats in the early goings. Cueto followed up his fabulous debut with one strong and one less strong outing. Johnny will have his ups and downs but he is a must start in all formats. Parra struggled against the Mets and Volquez didn’t allow any runs against the Pirates but wasn’t involved in the decision. Both of these young pitchers will finish 2008 with nice seasons, but for now neither is a must start. In fact, it may be wise to take a wait and see approach with Parra before plugging him into your rotation. With Volquez you will be better off playing the matchups. Week 3 is a tough call: he’s on the road against a good hitting Cubs team, but he is set to duel a struggling Ted Lilly. I will be rolling the dice on Edinson this week.

As for the more veteran arms, Chien-Ming Wang threw a CG two hitter against the Red Sox on Friday night. Livan Hernandez improved to 3-0 by blanking the Royals over 7 innings in a bid to become fantasy relevant. Ben Sheets was on the other end of Santana’s homer fest as he beat the Mets to improve to 2-0. If he can stay relatively healthy (no more than one 15 day DL stint) he will make a strong case to be in the top pitcher discussion at the end of the year.

League Updates
Here's how Mike and I fared in week 2:

7x7 League: My bats woke up over the weekend, propelling me to a 9-5 victory. I am now at the top of the standings. Mike battled a strong team and they called it a draw, each winning 7 categories. Mike is in 3rd place.

NL Only League: Mike and I went head to head this week, Pseudo Sports style. We both put up big points, but he could not overcome the power of Wandy. I took this tilt with a score of 302.42 to Mike’s 264.25. I am now 2-0 and I have the overall points lead. Mike falls to 1-1.

GOTS Expert League: We are still 8th out of 12 teams. It is way too early to make any adjustments. Our bats had a nice day Sunday so hopefully that will be the start of a positive trend. Our 14th round pick, Evan Longoria, got the call up this weekend and we are excited to see what he’ll bring to the table.

The Banana Stand - Week 1

The Banana Stand is a weekly look back at the fantasy week that was.

Week one of the 2008 fantasy baseball season can best be described as the week of the pitcher. Specifically, it was a week for young, emerging flamethrowers. Johnny Cueto, Manny Parra, Edinson Volquez & Jair Jurrjens had mixed leaguers and disgruntled Yahoo! owners scrambling for the waiver wire. Then, there were the veterans. While the young guns were breaking through, Jake Peavy, Brandon Webb & Johan Santana quietly did what everyone expected and others turned heads with glimpses of what's capable when healthy. Ben Sheets' CGSO on Sunday capped off an impressive week where he threw 15 1/3 innings while racking up 15 Ks. Rich Harden is 2 starts into the season and so far, he's been able to avoid the disabled list. In 2 starts against the Red Sox, he survived 11 innings giving up just 1 run while striking out 15. Going from good to bad, Barry Zito provided more proof that the GMs who signed Bobby Bonilla, Albert Belle & Ed Whitson have nothing on Brian Sabean.

On the offensive side - Xavier Nady showed that he is worth drafting every year if for nothing else than a week 1 start. Does anybody consistently start off a season hotter than Nady every year? Derrek Lee looks healthy again as he returned to his MVP form of 2005 with 3 quick HRs. The Diamondbacks are showing that they have a great young nucleus that is ready to perform now. Justin Upton, Chris Young & Mark Reynolds put up veteran numbers in week 1 with a combined 8 HRs and 13 RBIs in just 6 games. It will be interesting to see what happens when Chad Tracy returns from the DL. The way things are going for Arizona, there's no way he should bump the youngsters (Conor Jackson or Reynolds) out of the lineup.

Perhaps pitching was so much of the story in week 1 that there isn't much else to mention on the offensive side. Many hitters had solid weeks, but nobody really turned heads. Besides, right or wrong, a pitcher throwing up 2 good starts to begin the season means a lot more than an offensive player hitting a couple of HRs or batting over .400 in week one. Similarly, a pitcher getting rocked in his first couple of starts is a lot more concerning than a slumping hitter. It cuts both ways for pitchers but means a lot less for hitters, even though the sample size is larger. The important thing to take out of week 1 is that it's just one week. Don't overreact to established players exceeding or falling short of your preseason expectations. Be impressed, however, with rookies showing that they are ready to perform at this level. So much of a youngster breaking into the majors and sticking around is mental. Cueto, Parra & Volquez, while extremely talented, are all on relatively short leashes (Volquez & Parra more), so for them to go out and perform under that much pressure shows a lot. While it may be tempting, don't go out and trade Josh Beckett for Johnny Cueto just yet.

League Updates
Chris & I are both in a head to head 7x7 league, an NL only head to head points league & we share a team in the Greener on the Other Side Expert league. Here's how we fared in week 1:

7x7 League: We are both 1-0 so far. Chris dominated and won all 14 categories, while I went 12-1-1.

NL Only League: In a recurring theme, Chris had a dominant week riding the arms of Cueto, Peavy & Volquez. He put up the most points in the league & has already established a high mark for weekly points that will be tough to beat. I won as well, but in much less impressive fashion (Chris put up 347 points to my 261), but a win is a win. We face off, Pseudo Sports style, in week 2.

GOTS Expert League: After week 1, we are in a cluster right in the middle - 8th out of 12 teams. It's a bit early, so a good or bad day can move you significantly in either direction.