When you drafted John Lackey and/or Ervin Santana in your fantasy baseball leagues, you probably didn’t know that you weren’t going to see either of them until the middle of May. Last year, Lackey suffered from a strained triceps (I think that’s near the biceps — I should’ve been a doctor!) and returned to solid results. In 163 1/3 innings, he had a 3.75 ERA and 130 Ks. In the abbreviated 1st half, he had a 2.47 ERA and 1.80 and 1.16 in May and June, respectively. But in the 2nd half, he had a 4.99 ERA. Red flag, right? Not entirely. He gave up more home runs than his career rate and there’s no reason to think he should give up that many homers again. However, he’s not getting guys to swing and miss like he used to. So a better 2nd half, but he’s not a 2.47 ERA pitcher for the whole year either. Think 3.50/1.22 and 10 wins in 20+ starts. Then there’s Ervin Santana. He showed up on the risky pitchers list and promptly went down with an elbow injury. This was probably due to being overworked last year. The last two months of rest probably did his arm good, but he’s still a risky proposition. He’s much more of an unknown on how he’ll bounce back this year. If he returns with solid results in the first couple of starts, I’d try to flip him for a different piece unless you’re strapped for pitchers. Don’t sell him for fiddy cents on the dollar. Anyway, here’s what else we saw yesterday in fantasy baseball:
Johan Santana – Mets have given him 9 runs of support in 7 starts. They’ve also given up 4 unearned runs in those games. Maybe he can start a support group with Dan Haren.
Carlos Delgado – Out a couple games with a nagging hip injury. No fear – the Mets have…Fernando Tatis? What does Omar Minaya do all winter? Can you think of another team that doesn’t have a backup 1B on the roster or in AAA that is better than Fernando Tatis? The Mets should trade for Kila Ka’aihue in the hopes he can be their lucky Hawaiian buddha like Benny Agbayani was.
Matt LaPorta – Seems to only be playing against lefties. Makes him very difficult to own in mixed leagues.
Carl Pavano – Pavano is back from 3 1/2 years on the Disliked List to put up a 3-3 record for the Indians. With a 6.45 ERA and 1.54 WHIP, consider Mike Mussina and Razzball unconvinced.
Ryan Zimmerman – 4-for-5, 2 HRs yesterday. I talked him up in the preseason then didn’t get him in one draft. Very frustrating.
Jay Bruce – 13 runs for the Reds. 0-for-5 for Bruce. Ticker tease!
Adam Rosales – 3-for-5, HR yesterday, batting .295 for the year. He’s filled in for me for Aramis in one very deep league and it’s worked out pretty well thus far.
Felipe Lopez – 3-for-4 with a homer. You would think he was in an 0-for-100 slump with how many questions I get about whether he’s any good to own. He’s a 2nd baseman going 20/20 and currently batting .323.
Justin Upton – Hit his 7th homer yesterday. He’s breaking out. Conor Jackson is breaking out too. With chicken pox or shingles or something.
Derrek Lee – The bulging disk in his neck was ruled not career threatening. His hitting on the other hand….
Derek Lowe – 5-1 with a 3.80 ERA. The ERA is about where you expect it. The Wins are a bit fluky. Watching him pitch is like watching an artist mow his lawn.
Jhonny Peralta and Alexei Ramirez – 4-for-9 with 5 RBIs. Rejoicing for everyone who just picked them up on the cheap. Grumblings of “About fhuxeing time” for those that have had them since draft day.
Lastings Milledge – Suffered a broken finger in Triple A. Luckily, he’s got a backup from when the Nats gave him the finger earlier this year.
