Has Carlos Zambrano been spending too much time with Milton Bradley?

Welcome to The Knot Hole Gang’s senior circuit iteration. Each week we head out to our usual spot beyond the outfield fences and peer in to see what it going on at the ball yard. Then we try to figure out what to do with that information to put it to good use for your fantasy teams. Without further adieu, let’s get cracking, shall we?

Chicago Cubs

The Cubs made a series of roster moves Wednesday, though few of them should have much of an impact outside of the deepest NL only leagues. Aaron Miles was placed on the DL with a shoulder strain, and Neil Cotts was sent to Triple A Iowa. Miles was a bit player, who wasn’t hitting his weight, and will hardly be missed. Cotts got some play as a power-armed lefty, but nine walks and nine runs allowed in 11 innings is just plain bad. *** Jake Fox J was brought up to replace Miles on the roster, though it’s not clear where they plan to play him. He’s a first baseman/outfielder with good power, though not exactly a prospect anymore at age 27. He’s been tearing the cover off the ball this season at the Pacific Coast League with a .423 average, 17 homeruns and 50 RBI in 149 at bats. That kind of power should be grabbed immediately in NL only leagues and deep mixed formats. Shallow mixed players might want to wait to see how much he plays. Lou Pinella is on record as saying he has misgivings about Fox’s defense, and would hesitate to start him because of that. It should be noted that he has 14 at bats in the majors (back in 2007) and the PCL is a notorious hitters league, so it’s not clear whether all that power will translate to the majors. *** Carlos Zambrano threw a complete nutter during Wednesday’s game, which resulted in an ejection from the home plate umpire after a Nyjer Morgan was called safe at home with Zambrano covering. Zambrano owners now have to deal with a six game suspension, and he only recently came off the DL! That comes on the heels of Ted Lilly’s tirade at an umpire from the dugout earlier in the week. Lilly came out of the dugout to argue balls and strikes in a game that he wasn’t even pitching in. Milton Bradley has been a wonderful influence on this team. *** Here’s one from the “Gee, that didn’t take long” department - Ryan Freel went on the DL with a hamstring injury Thursday. Freel only became a Cub on May 8^th, and has made 20 plate appearances over 10 games. He could miss more games than he’s played for the Cubs. Bobby Scales was recalled to replace him. Scales was sent to the minors a day earlier, but had not yet left for Iowa and got another chance to stick around a bit longer with the club because of Freel’s injury. You can safely ignore Scales though, as he has no fantasy value whatsoever.

Colorado Rockies

The Rockies have a ton of talent on the team, but they really aren’t playing very good baseball. Keep an eye on the news folks because Clint Hurdle’s job is on the line. There is a very good chance he is going to lose his job, possibly as soon as this week. One telltale sign is the dreaded “vote of confidence” from the owner, which is usually a prelude to getting canned. Hurdle received his “vote” from GM Dan O’Dowd just yesterday, which means he is likely gone by the end of the weekend. *** Troy Tulowitski has not had the bounce back season that fantasy owners had hoped for. He’s batting just .227 with five homeruns, 15 RBI, and 20 runs scored. Those numbers don’t tell the real story, nor do they point out Tulowitski’s problems this season. For that we must look at the .196 average he has against left handed pitchers, or his .171 average when he gets two strikes on him, or his .079 average with runners in scoring position. Tulowitski seems to have lost the swagger that he had back in 2007 when he helped carry the Rockies to the World Series. The power is still there, but the aggression at the plate seems to have faded away. *** One player that has really rebounded from a bad start is Huston Street. On April 24^th, Street had an 8.59 ERA, batters were hitting him at a .364 clip, and he had given up three homers in eight innings of work. Since April 24^th, Street has made 13 appearances and pitched 12 scoreless innings, batters have hit for a .100 average and he’s struck out 14 while walking just four. Street ERA for the season has dropped 5.3 runs down to 3.29. I’m sure the Rockies are pleased, especially since they are certain to be trading him away any time now. *** Garrett Atkins’ name is one that keeps getting mentioned in trade rumors, but with the way he’s (not) hitting I can’t imagine who would want him. His high water mark for the season is .250, reached on April 27 for one day, and again on May 2^nd for another day. In the 22 games since May 2^nd Atkins is batting .129 (9 for 70). Granted his BABIP is very low at .209, so some of this is bad luck. But an 18% line drive rate supports a low BABIP, and that low line drive rate tells us that he simply is not hitting the ball squarely. His career LD% is 24, so he is far below his norm there, which could be the result of an unreported injury, but I don’t buy that at all. A change of scenery might be the cure for Atkins, but I don’t recommend that you bank on that happening.

LA Dodgers

The Dodgers have played 16 games since Manny Ramirez was suspended, and they’ve compiled a record of 11-5. That makes me wonder whether Dodgers owner Frank McCourt kicks himself every once in a while for signing Manny in the first place. The Dodgers are 8.5 games ahead of second place San Diego. There is little chance that it will even be a race in the NL West, and the team is winning without its’ highest paid, and best hitter. Yeah, I think he’s kicking himself…often…and hard. He could have saved himself a ton of money, and a fair amount of grief too. Oh, well. Since we’re talking about Ramirez, I might as well tell you guys that own him in fantasy leagues that he will play ten games in the minor leagues to get his swing and timing back before returning to the majors. So it will actually be more like 60 games he misses. Oh yeah, kicking real hard!! *** The good news is that Juan Pierre seems to have completely rejuvenated himself. He’s had ten multihit games among the 16 he’s played in Manny’s stead. Pierre’s batting average currently stands at an absolutely gaudy .404. He’s scored 24 runs, driven in 20, and he has an 8:12 K:BB ratio. You saw that right; he’s only struck out eight times in 114 at bats. Pierre has always been a tough guy to strike out, but he’s never been one to take many walks. It appears he’s got newfound patience at the plate this season, along with his killer eye. Look, Pierre isn’t going to keep this up. Sure, I’ve written all these wonderful positive things here, and shown you all kinds of great looking numbers, all of which point to some terrific trends in Pierre’s overall profile, but nobody can sustain a .434 BABIP. Pierre’s numbers will come down at some point, but there is a very good chance that it won’t be a crash as much as a gentle fall to more reasonable numbers. (Sorry, but I can’t resist – McCourt is KICKIN’ himself right now!!!) *** Good to Clayton Kershaw finally straighten himself out. His last two starts in April, in which he gave up 15 earned runs in a total of nine innings, was absolutely brutal; especially when you couple that with six walks and just seven strikeouts. In the six starts since then he has a record of 3-1 with a 2.57 ERA, and 29 strikeouts in 35 innings. He also has 21 walks in that time, and has walked four per game in each of his last four starts. So he really isn’t among the elite just yet; not until he gets his walking problems under control. I love the K’s , but the price is a bit high for my taste. I recommend you unload Kershaw for a better option. Just talk up his ERA of late and all those K’s. Keep the walks on the down low though. *** One last injury note. Rafael Furcal missed three games with muscular tightness in his buttocks; a byproduct of the back surgery he had over the winter. Nasty stuff that back surgery. That’s something that needs respect whenever he experiences a flare up, and it appears the Dodgers will give him that; especially if they can continue to get .385/.444/.514 out of Juan Castro when they need him.

Pittsburgh Pirates

Matt Capps got some good news about his bruised elbow after an MRI revealed no structural damage to the area, which was hit by a line drive off the bat of Cubs catcher Geovany Soto last Monday. There is a slight chance that he will sit out one more game (Friday) to give his elbow one last chance to heal a bit, but he should be good to go otherwise. Capps’ control has been a real problem this season and he’s been victimized by the long ball of several occasions. His K/9IP of 7.0 is decent, but 4.7 BB/9IP is not acceptable for a closer. Capp started off the season with a string of six scoreless appearances, but over his last 11 appearances he’s struggled across the board with his control. He is not elite closer material and could lose the job if the Pirates decide that he is cost them games. *** Checking in on the LaRoche brothers starting with third baseman Andy, we find that he’s got himself a bit of a hot streak going in May. Over his last 12 games he’s batting an ironclad .429, with ten RBI and six runs scored. The only issue I have with LaRoche is that his .429 is surprisingly “empty” in terms of overall production. He is 18 for his last 42 at bats, but of those 18 hits only three were for extra bases. It’s really too bad, because I know several fantasy owners that would have a use for a .297 hitting third baseman. *** Checking into his brother, Adam, we see more power production overall along with a much lower batting average. While Andy has been hot over his last 12 games, Adam has been pretty cold, batting .209 with six RBI and ten runs scored. Did you notice how these two have been almost direct opposites? Since Andy crushes left-handed pitchers and Adam hits right-handers better, putting the two together would create one terrific power hitting corner infielder. Until the technology comes along to do that we’re stuck with them as is. Andy had power back when he was waiting for his chance at the majors. Adam has always had prodigious power, but has struggled to hit for average, especially in the earlier months of the season. As the weather warms, Adam will warm up to and we will start to see more power hitting from him. We don’t have as much historic evidence to make a prediction like that, but he has the ability to hit for power and I would expect him to do so at some point this season.

Philadelphia Phillies

The Phillies are slowly discovering just how difficult it is to repeat as champions in today’s MLB world. They’ve had Cole Hamels get off to a tough start, Chase Utley has been inconsistent, Jimmy Rollins was comatose through most of the first month, and now Brett Myers is injured. Myers had an MRI on his ailing right hip that revealed fraying and a possible tear of the labrum that will require surgery. The only question that remains is when that surgery will happen. This is the same operation that Chase Utley, Alex Rodriguez, and Mike Lowell had, and all were able to come back in relatively short order. However, ten weeks is a very short time frame for a pitcher to return from an operation of this nature, and it is possible that the damage in his hip is so extensive that his career is over. Myers is hoping for a conservative approach involving anti-inflammatory medication and therapy to control the pain so that he can finish the season and have the procedure in the fall. Myers has not been all that good this season. He’s allowed a ML high 17 homeruns in just 63 innings pitched, and his K/9IP rate of 6.5 is the lowest it’s been since 2004. If the injury is behind his difficulties on the mound, then he ought to get it fixed now because he’s not going to lead this team to the playoffs pitching the way he is right now. *** If Myers does go on the DL look for the Phillies to turn to young prospect Drew Carpenter to replace him. Carpenter is 2-0 with a 3.61 ERA at Triple A Lehigh Valley, and was up for a spot start once before. *** Catcher Carlos Ruiz has been wielding a hot bat this past week or so, batting .321 over his last seven games with two homers and a stolen base. He’s batting .280 for the season and was up as high as .302 at the end of last week. Ruiz is proving to be a streaky type of hitter, going a few games without a hit, and then rattling off two or three multi-hit games. One really good sign is an increase in extra base hits for Ruiz. He had 14 doubles in 320 at bats last season, and has seven in 75 at bats this season. Assuming he gets 400 at bats this season and continues to hit doubles at his current pace he should hit about 37 doubles. Considering he plays in one of the most hitter-friendly parks in the game, we should see some of those doubles fly over the wall for a dinger now and then. Need a catcher? Ruiz might be a nice one to have this season, especially in leagues that roster two per team. He won’t hurt you like many second catchers can, and he might just help you out when you least expect it. Being in the Phillies high-powered lineup doesn’t hurt his fantasy value either.

San Diego Padres

While the General Managers were engaged in their clandestine horse-trading, the Padres were doing their best to reverse their fortunes. After a stretch of futility in which the team lost 19 of 23 games, they began a winning streak by first sweeping three from the Reds, and then three from the division rival Giants. After winning six in a row, the potential Jake Peavy deal is announced to the media and fans, which conveys the message to the team that they aren’t good enough to win, and that they’re trading away theur best pitcher to build for the future. How does the team respond to this message of no faith? They responded by sweeping three more games, this time from the Cubs, then heading out on the road and taking two out of three from the division rival Diamondbacks. The Padres have gone from nine games below .500 on May 14^th to one game over .500 on May 27^th. And they did all this while the General Manager was plotting to send their pitcher packing to the Windy City. Maybe the Dodgers will have some competition for the AL West crown anyway. *** Adrian Gonzalez has strapped this team to his back and carried it all through the last month. He leads the major leagues with 18 homeruns, and has 34 RBI and 35 runs scored. When you consider that his road average is 50 points higher than his home average (.310 vs. .259) and that 13 of his 18 round trippers have come away from Petco Park, one can only imagine what kind of numbers Gonzo would post if he were to play for a team like the Phillies, Rockies, or Rangers where the home park doesn’t suppress offensive numbers so heavily. It will be interesting to see if Gonzalez is on the trading block when the deadline approaches. *** If I had to sum up Scott Hairston’s fantasy performance over the last two seasons, I would say inconsistent. If there is one aspect to his game that Hairston has changed this season, I would say that he has become a much more consistent hitter, and as a result, a much more consistent fantasy producer. Over the last 20 games Hairston has batted .313 with nine RBI and nine runs scored. In seven of the twenty games, Hairston had two or more hits, and he’s reached base safely in 19 of the 20 games. He’s getting regular playing time now, mainly because of his consistency. I was shocked to discover that he is available in 90% of Yahoo leagues and 92% of ESPN leagues. Looking for an outfielder in you NL only or deep mixed league? You could do a heck of a lot worse than Hairston.