The Baseball Diaries: Thursday, May 21st
Welcome to the Baseball Diaries. This is a morning after review of my main team(s) on a designated site. I’ll go over the process that went into selecting the players, good or bad, in hopes you will find something in here that ultimately helps your team selection.
If you’re not trying to learn, then just kick back and read for the revelry. Sometimes the tilt is real…and highly entertaining for the observer.
Player Analysis
Drew Hutchison – I had a group of guys I could see as my second-best options on Wednesday and they included Hutchison, Jake Odorizzi and even Carlos Martinez. Hutchinson’s stat line would have looked much better, but he couldn’t make it through that last inning unscathed.
Tyson Ross – He was clearly the #1 option in my eyes last night. He’s a high-strikeout pitcher and was facing a high-strikeout team.
Buster Posey – Anytime Posey faces a lefty, just fire him up. It usually ends in a good result for you.
David Ortiz – By far the most disappointing turn of events last night was Boston getting shut down by Klein. In a small sample he had some terrible numbers vs. left-handed hitters, and there was also the opportunity to get into the bullpen early for the Sox hitters if they could knock Klein around. Instead he shut them down. Honestly, I don’t know whether to laugh or cry. It’s almost comical.
Rickie Weeks – I am not a huge Weeks fan, but just glancing at the numbers before the game started, I noticed he had some gaudy numbers vs lefties. They were jumping off the page, so I played him and took the ZERO. Please return to the bench now Ricky.
Brock Holt – This spot was reserved for Pablo Sandoval until final word came in that he was out of the starting lineup. I replaced him with another left-handed Red Sox bat. Holt doesn’t have much pop though, so in hindsight this probably wasn’t a wise pick. However the extra cap he provided freed up room for Nelson Cruz, and at the time that felt good.
Troy Tulowitzki – Another day, another Rockies disappointment. Between sweating the weather and the putrid performances with these guys, they are not even worth the headache right now. You just know though, that the minute you turn your back on them, they will explode for a typical 10-run game.
Nelson Cruz – When Cruz faces a weaker lefty and doesn’t homer, it almost feels like a letdown. However you cannot complain about a guy who scores 10 points. There is a fine line in MLB between a home run and a long out. For example, Mookie Betts was a combined three or four inches away from a 25-30 point game last night, but his rockets were hit right at people. It’s a long summer and you just have to deal with the bad breaks.
Steve Pearce – His numbers looked really good headed into this one and it caused me to throw him on this team. Unfortunately he took another goose egg. This is just another example of how numbers can be misleading. When looking at his past couple of years against left-handers, Pearce stood out more than just about anyone. You get swept away in those stats and then after the fact you look and see he’s only hitting .193 for the year. So, which set of numbers should take precedence? I don’t think there is a definitive answer to that, and that’s what will always keep fantasy sports from being a game that is solved by algorithms.
Justin Upton – If you’re only going to get one hit, you might as well make it a home run. He is murder against left-handed pitching and paid off last night. The big ballpark doesn’t seem to phase him much.