Stephen Strasburg Leads The Rookie Parade

…And on the eight day, God created Stephen Strasburg and he was very good. As baseball followers know, the Capitol City phenom made his first entry into Baseball’s history books last night with a scintillating 14 strikeout, zero walk victorious debut against the hapless Pirates. The first overall pick of last year’s draft exceeded all expectations, gunning down the Pittsburgh batters with prodigious power, precision and a maturity perhaps never before seen in a pitcher so young. Across the Maryland border, Matt Wieters scoffed at another player being The Chosen One and immediately got three hits in defiance.

While Strasburg worked his magic before a rabid D.C. crowd (nice to see that kind of excitement in Washington) another youngster was making a splash a short trip up I-95 in Philidelphia. Mike Stanton premiered with the Florida Marlins after decimating AA this year. The hulking outfielder who lead all of minor league baseball in homers with 21 in 52 games, picked up three singles in five plate appearances in the Fish’s 10-8 loss to the Phillies.

But wait, there’s more! You may have missed the above players in your league, or whiffed on Heyward, Jaime Garcia or Leake, but don’t cry with one eye like the Indian in the old PSA. there are more rookies who’ve just arrived, or on the way, who can help your fantasy teams this season. Here are a few…

Jose Tabata made his big league debut for Pittsburgh against Washington tonight, going 2 for 4 with a run scored and a steal. Good timing for the Pirates, since everyone’s still talking Strasburg. Tabata lead the International league in stolen bases and contributed a 42R/3HR/19RBI/25SB/.318/.385/.436 line in 247 PA at AAA Indianapolis. His base stealing prowess is something of a new development, but Tabata has always displayed an advanced plate discipline, which sets apart the good speedy guys from your average fast whoshisface.

Brad Lincoln made his debut the above mentioned game for the Buccos tonight and had a rather inauspicious start to his major league career, surrendering five runs on two BB, seven hits and a homer, while striking out three in six innings to take the loss. Lincoln, the 4th overall pick in the 2006 draft had solid numbers in AAA prior to his arrival in the show, going 6-2 3.16/.99/14BB/55K in 68 2/3 innings of work. He’s not more than a streamer in 12 team right now, but keep an eye on the kid.

While we’re talking Pirates, we can’t pass up an opportunity to mention hometown hero in the making, Pedro Alvarez, who I hope to see with the big club soon. The red hot Washington Heights native has picked up his numbers and currently posts a line of 37/11/48/3/.283/.374 over 246 PA. Expect Andy LaRoche to be traded and hard-hitting young slugger to move on up to the big time soon.

Jake Arrieta makes his first big league start tomorrow against the Yankees. The O’s 2008 5th round pick out of Texas Christian University (so he’s got god on his side, along with Matt Wieters) has been almost Strasburg-like in his domination of AAA hitters, going 6-2 with a 1.85 ERA, 1.12 WHIP and a 34/64 BB/K split in 73 innings before being pegged as a human sacrifice, so Jeremy Guthrie can get an extra day of rest. The Baltimore Orioles saw how Washington lined up Strasburg against the weak hitting Pirates and said, “Pfft. That’s too easy. We want our young star in the making to have a challenge!” So Arrieta gets to have his young spirit horse crushed by the Bronx Bombers in their series finale tomorrow. Way to ease a kid into the show Charm City.

Carlos Santana is still in AAA, which hurts my heart. It’s like having Christmas come late. Only worse, because I have money the on the pagan celebration falling on Jesus’ birthday. C.S. Smooth keeps making AAA pitchers wish they were never born with nary a peep about an arrival date in Cleveland. Oh he’s raking by the way, to the tune of 36R/12HR/47RBI/6SB(!)/.314/.447 (best in the minors)/.580

Andrew Cashner got his call to the bigs last week, as Epic Beard Lou and the Cubbies continue to throw shit against the wall to see what sticks in the bullpen. Not to say Cashner’s shit by any means. To the contrary, by Cubs 2008 first round pick (19th overall) was dynamite in AA and AAA before being sent to Chi-Town. Over the two levels, Cashner racked up an impressive line: 6-1/15BB/59K/2.05 ERA/.95WHIP in 57 innings (9 starts in 11 appearances). Cashner’s racked up four scoreless innings in the majors so far and looks to be in line to become the Cubs setup man, which would mean closer if Marmol screws the pooch.

Matt Carson had a cup of coffee in Oakland last season, as well as this past April, getting one start before being sent back to AAA Sacramento. Down on the farm he went 25/6/19/9/.293/.362 in 138 PA before getting recalled today. Carson who turns 29 next month, started in center tonight, going 0-3. The Swiss Army Knife of an outfielder is an under the radar kind of player, who can do a little bit of everything. If you asked me before the season, which Oakland outfield prospect would make an impact in 2010, I’d have gone with Michael Taylor. The more heralded outfielder and presumed heir-apparent in center has struggled however and if Carson makes his presence felt, he can have some value for the A’s and fantasy owners alike.

Mike Moustakas has been such a hit in the Texas League that he got a burger named after him. With Stanton making the jump from double at to the majors, and Moustakas hitting at a similarly ridiculous clip at AA, could the Royals bring their young third base prospect up sooner rather than later? Moustakas certainly deserves to be promoted as much as anyone as he’s put up some gaudy numbers with the Northwest Arkansas Naturals: 35/13/49/.368/.441 in 177 PA. Somewhere Alex Gordan waits above the stage, like the Phantom of the Opera (or Park if you will) waiting for the curtain to fall. The former 2nd overall pick of the 2005 draft has had his difficulties in the bigs but is currently leading the PCL in OBP at 1.196, since getting sent down early last month.

Which newcomers do you think will make an impact in the final two thirds of 2010?

When The Going Gets Weird… Notes From Week 3

Barry Zito returns from the grave to haunt fantasy owners

Weird happenings from around baseball this week…

An $18 million dollar starter with a penchant for implosions gets banished to the bullpen. Zambrano the set up man debuts in Milwaukee. Fantasy owners who drafted him collectively double over as Sweet Lou kicks them in the nuts.

Ivan Rodriguez and Livan Hernandez lead the NL in Batting Average and ERA respectively.

The Yankees tripled up, in a game that will be better remembered for A’s Dallas Braden taking umbrage to A-Rod’s breach of baseball etiquette.

Hebrew Hammer, Prince and The Brews build their reputation for intimidation at the expense of Pirate goyum. 20 – bupkis.

Barry Zito is fantasy baseball’s Solomon Grundy. I believe potent magic has finally dispelled the curse of Alyssa Milano. I feel your pain my friend. He out dueled my ace in the battle of mega-curveballs.

To end this recap of a bizarre week, I’m going to recommend the ageless Jamie Moyer for deep-league owners looking for two good starts to stream in this week. The 3% owned lefty has a start in SF against Todd Wellemeyer and the punchless Giants and then comes home to face Oliver‘s Army and The Mets.

In honor of The Brews 20-0 beat down…

Hitting The Cut-Off Man: Fist Of Fury

A few interesting players to consider as we scour the deep league waiver wires…

• Until Angel Pagan‘s HR in the 7th inning of last night’s 6-1 win over The Cubs, The Mets had gone 117 plate appearances without an extra base-hit. I’m feeling pretty good about the combustible Zambrano going to the mound tomorrow. The Mets have been swinging at everything, particularly with runners in scoring position. If Pagan gets regular playing time in favor of Gary Matthews Jr., he could be worth a flier for those in need of speed in 12 team or bigger mixed-leagues. I actually drafted Pagan in the reserve draft of The Big Ballers League, but dropped him when Manuel started the season playing Sarge Jr. in center. If he keeps playing, he’ll be on someone’s roster again soon.

• The star pitcher of my all-porno name team, Doug Fister, put together another tremendous start tonight. With 6 no-hit innings tonight against clueless Baltimore bats, Fister strung together a total of 10 straight innings without a hit, dating back to his last start against Oaktown 357. There’s a lot to like about the big sinker-baller, as Fister has pounded the strike zone to the tune of 9K’s and only 3BB, over his first 18 innings this season. While the White Sox bats have been chilly so far this season, they should provide a tougher challenge than his previous two opponents. We’ll see if the Fist of Fury continues to beat down the competition.

• Will the real Brandon Morrow please stand up? Was tonight’s 7 inning (5 1/3 without a hit), 1 run, 8 K, 2 BB, 3 hit performance, against The Royal Tenenbaums a taste of things to come, or will he go back to walking the world (5.84% career BB rate) in his next start? There has never been a question of Morrow’s ability, rather it’s been health and questions over his role that have been at issue. With his starting job clearly defined, it will be interesting to see if Morrow can develop into the quality starter that scouts projected. I’m not overly optimistic. We’ve seen flashes of brilliance before from Morrow, only now he’ll start facing much stiffer competition in the AL East, in front of a defense that is hardly has proficient as the one he left behind in Seattle.

• With The D-Backs placing Conor Jackson on the 15-day DL with a strained hammy. Gerardo Parra should be seeing more time in the Arizona OF. Bill James gave a preseason projection of 70/8/64/13/.297/.351/.428 for Parra, which is a nice improvement over his 2009 numbers. Obviously those numbers are contingent on about a full season of playing time. He won’t get that if Jackson’s healthy, but he’s playing now and he could be a valuable run scorer in a strong D-Back lineup. Parra won’t wow anyone in any particular category, but deep league owners might be able to find some use for the soon to be 24 year old outfielder. At his best, I think he could be Franklin Gutierrez-lite with the bat.

Welcome To Jaime Town

Hey-oh! I went there. Did that one take you back to the 80’s? Well Jaime Garcia (pronounced “Hy-mie,” hence the title) got all Hot Tub Time Machine on The Mets today, channeling master corner-painter, John Tudor, with excellent command over an assortment of pitches. Today young Jaime, making his third career start – second since coming back from TJ Surgery – out-Johaned Johan, going seven scoreless before leaving the game with the score tied. Walking two and striking out five, the lefty kept Mets batters off balance all day, inducing little but weak contact. In fact he allowed just two hard hit balls all day. The Mets only hit came off of him as soon as Tim “No-Hitter-Ruiner” McCarver acknowledged the No No, prompting Angel Pagan to loop a broken bat single into center. He doesn’t over-power anyone, but Garcia hides the ball very well, hits his spots and gets ahead of hitters. That’s that magic Dave Duncan pixie dust at work I tell ya!

Needing a Win, WHIP and a QS, I threw Garcia out there for a spot start against the punchless Mets. Now it’s looking like this guy is for really real and I’m going to have some interesting decisions to make when Fuentes and Hill get healthy and come off the DL.

Carlos Santana Wants Us To Listen How His Rhythm Goes

Sorry, I couldn’t help myself. I’m a bit giddy right now after plucking Cleveland Indians stud catching prospect Carlos Santana off of waivers the other day in the Big Ballers League. All guitar player jokes aside, Young Senior Santana might be arriving soon to rock Cleveland in a big way. Listed as Baseball America’s 10th best prospect in the game and the 3rd best catcher behind Jesus Montero and Buster Posey, Santana is a switch-hitting masher, with a good eye and a fairly clear path to the majors in the very near future. Essentially, he’s being looked at as the second coming of V-Mart.

What was that you heard? The sound of 14 other fantasy owners smacking themselves in the head. This is a two catcher league after all and even a lotto ticket is better than a lot of the scrubs being rostered in the C slot. I was shocked to find him on the wire. With all of the virtual ink he’s been receiving lately, I knew he wouldn’t be around long.

Not long after picking him up, I was offered Buster Posey and Anibal “sometimes dirty” Sanchez for the Indians prospect, which I declined. From what I read, in the long term, Posey and Santana might be a toss up. Posey’s more of a contact hitter, while Santana has more pop. The Giants however are winning now, with newly reupped Bengie Molina doing his thing behind the plate. You don’t mess with a good thing behind the plate, especially when your team is built on young pitching. I can’t see Posey playing much this year if it’s fairly tight in the NL West, which I think it will be. Santana on the other hand should prove to see playing time, sooner rather than later if Lou Marson continues his futility at the plate. Even if Marson does hit, he may ultimately be shipped off because of Santana’s impact bat.

I’m really hoping for good things from Santana this season. The Harlem Hangovers could really use some pop and it’d be nice if he could soften the blow of losing Montero a bit. I’d be happy with a similar line as Wieters last season. When the time comes, I’m totally slapping Abraxas on the turntable and dropping a hit of acid to enjoy his debut.

A Tale Of Two Outfielders: Drew Stubbs vs. Austin Jackson

Smart fantasy baseball owners know that the game is won not in the opening rounds, but at the end of the draft. Barring catastrophe, our early picks should perform well, but it’s our final selections or the guys we find on waivers, who propel us to victory. One of the general strategies I employed going into my drafts this season, was to use two outfield slots for 2nd tier power guys, while filling out the rest with speedy, low cost lead-off men for the most part.

Two of the young outfielders who I targeted are Drew Stubbs and Austin Jackson. In my H2H league, I drafted Stubbs in the 22nd round. Coming out of the draft, I felt that my team was a little thin on starting pitching, but pretty solid in the SB department. This is a competitive, 12 team mixed keeper league, but as history has taught me, there are always steals to be had as the season progresses.  I then proceeded to flip Stubbs and speedy SS, Everth Cabrera to another owner for Mark Buerhle. I probably could have gotten a little more for that combination, but there was a reason why I acted so quickly on the deal: Austin Jackson was on waivers and he had just been named The Tigers starting CF and lead-off man.

Drew Stubbs was The Reds 1st round pick (8th overall) in the 2006 draft. The 25 year old outfielder debuted in the majors in August of ’09, slugging 8 HR in 196 PA, while displaying great speed with 10 SB. On the surface, those numbers sound nice. When you look at Stubbs .439 SLG though, you’ll see that he only had 6 XBH to go along with those 8 HR. That’s pretty strange for a guy with his speed. Stubbs has never really displayed a particularly good eye for the strike zone, striking out at a 25.3 % clip in 472 AAA PA, before coming to the bigs and striking out 27.2% of the time. Stubbs began and spent the majority of 2008 at the High A Lynchburg, where he had a paltry .087 ISO. and 5 HR, but a professional career high 14% BB rate in 358 PA. In 2009 Stubbs spent the majority of time in AAA Louisville, where his ISO climbed ever so slightly to .092, with 3 HR and his BB rate fell to 10.8%. So while he hit 8 HR in limited time last year, there is little to suggest that Stubbs has sustainable power. There is little question of Stubbs speed however, as he swiped 46 bags in 54 tries at AAA in 2008.

Bill James gives the most optimistic projections for Stubbs: 76/11/51/51/.263/.336 This is over the course of 152 games and 601 PA. What stands out are the 51 steals. The second highest SB projection is ZiPs with 30, based on 605 PA. I think .263/.336 parts may be somewhat overly optimistic as James sees a 25% K rate, a significant improvement over his rate from the limited time seen last season. In his first 20 AB, Stubbs has K 8 times. A miniscule sample size, but still somewhat troubling for Stubbs in the early going.

Austin Jackson takes over at CF this season in Detroit, having been shipped over from The Yankees in the Curtis Granderson deal. The 23 year old Jackson was drafted in the 8th round of the 2005 draft and projects to display a similar mix of modest power and speed to Stubbs. In full seasons at AA and AAA in ’08 and ’09, Jackson had 9.6% and 7.2% BB rates while his K’s climbed from 21.7% to 24.4% respectively. A .384 BABIP helped him to a .300 Average in 557 AAA appearances last season, while his OBP remained static at .354 over the last two years. His .135 ISO rate at AA Trenton in 2008 fell to .105 last season when he climed to AAA. This was good for only 4 HR in 557 plate appearances. Like Stubbs, Jackson is a legitimate base stealing threat, amassing 43 steals on 53 chances over his two latest minor league season.

Stubbs is not the only young speedster that Mr. James was rather bullish on in the off season. Austin Jackson’s projected line of 40/4/27/14/.294/.356 projects over 309 PA, or roughly a half season. Multiply those numbers by two and you have counting numbers of 80/8/54/28. Comparable to Stubbs, minus 31 SB and a considerable advantage in both AVG and OBP.

What struck me about Jackson this spring was the copious amounts of praise heaped upon him by both his current and former teams. I can’t find the direct quote, but I remember hearing a report this spring that The Yankees felt that Jackson looked like a much improved hitter with a greater command of the strike zone. Perhaps Jackson’s exposure to his new hitting coach Lloyd McClendon has changed his approach to the plate for the better.

What really set Jackson apart from Stubbs to me has perhaps little to do with their own performances and more to do with their current circumstances. While Stubbs is currently starting, he plays for the historically mercurial Dusty Baker, who has no qualms over pulling a struggling rookie. Compounding that, Stubbs plays in a far speedier outfield than Jackson. If Stubbs falters at the plate, his defensive range can be compensated somewhat by the guys around him, Jay Bruce and Chris Dickerson, with Lance Nix a serviceable outfielder as well. Jackson roams centerfield, flanked on most days by an aging duo of Magglio Ordonez and Johnny Damon. With considerable skills in the outfield, Jackson’s glove is integral to Detroit’s run prevention and removing his speed for super-sub Ryan Raburn is a significant downgrade defensively at the position. Jim Leyland seems to be giving his young outfielder the keys to the job and telling him that it’s his to lose. If Detroit contends this year, Jackson will be a big part of that success.

While I expect both players to have their highs and lows and eventually end up decent end game speedsters, I see Jackson getting more playing time in 2010 and ultimately being a more significant contributor to my fantasy team. In a full season of play, I can actually see Jackson exceeding James’ projected run total. Again, these are both OBP leagues and that is really where Jackson outpaces Stubbs. In The Big Ballers Auction League, which uses OBP instead of AVG, I nabbed Jackson for $3, while another owner took Stubbs for $4. Small risk for what could be big rewards for both of us. I’m high enough on Jackson to have placed a gentleman’s wager over the two players, with Kelly at Fantasy Game Day, so you’re not alone if you think I’m mistaken here. Time alone will tell, but I feel like I made the right decision. What do you think?

Hitting The Cutoff Man

Hitting the cutoff man is a fundamental part of baseball. Thank you very much Captain Obvious, AKA Tim McCarver. I like to draw similarities between real ball and fan ball, so I’m going to run with it anyway

In fantasy baseball, owners have to draw a cutoff point, when looking down the list free agents available. How low can I go down this list to find bargain basement production? Seemingly marginal players are always emerging from obscurity to dazzle experts and casual fans alike. “Mr. Hill, may I introduce you to Mr. Zobrist?” Buried beneath god forsaken lineups, or stuck hurling from mounds in homer happy ballparks, there are always surprises to be found for astute fantasy owners. Since we’re talking fundamentals here, I suppose digging deep into the waiver wires is a fundamental part of fantasy baseball blogging. So this is me throwing my at into the fortune telling ring. Feel free to agree or call me a fucktard.

• I don’t expect Colby Lewis and C.J. Wilson to be lights out all season long, (although Oliver loves Colby Lewis long time) but both Texas pitchers put up impressive lines this week. Both are gone in my leagues, but are a nice add if you need back of the rotation depth. I’ll get more excited about Wilson when he performs well against a team other that’s not The Blue Jays.

• Mike Pelfrey was very impressive against The Nationals and could be of fantasy significance very soon. Big Pelf From The Group Home has added a splitter and he had it working last night. If he can continue to use the splitter effectively, Pelfrey could post some surprising numbers this season. I’m totally stalking him now.

• Luke Hochevar had an impressive start to 2010, by posting 7 2/3 shutout innings against The Tigers. I read that he’s throwing gas, so he might be primed for a breakout. He has the misfortune of pitching for The Royals of course, but maybe Zack Grienke’s taught him the zen of pitching for an awful team.

• Jamie Garcia has looked real good today against The Brew Crew. Maybe Dave Duncan’s magic pitcher pixie-dust can shape Garcia into a waiver wire gem this year. Definitely a kid to watch closely.

• Casey Kotchman has a good eye and should see regular playing time. I should have picked him up in my 15 teamer, that uses OBP. Instead, I’m rostering Aubrey Huff as a backup corner guy.

• I’m really excited about Ian Desmond’s bat. He’s shown some extra base pop and decent plate discipline so far. Desmond seems to have taken his fielding cues from Roberto “Manos De Piedra” Duran, however, booting balls with alarming frequency. I’m really hoping that Desmond’s awful D doesn’t get him yanked from the lineup. It would be pretty cool for fantasy purposes, if he were moved to right though. I have him in my MI right now, and I just picked up Casey McGehee, to provide some depth in case Desmond rides the pine.

• J.J. Hardy’s name popped up on Razzball last night and it had me rethinking my position on the free swinging, Twins shortstop. He’s got more verified pop than McGehee, but should probably have a lower average and OBP by year’s end. I don’t like AVG killers and to drain both AVG and OBP is criminal, but depending on what you need, Hardy could produce for you. I went with McGehee, since he’s 3B/2B eligible and I could use another guy to cover a corner. I have a feeling Hardy will be grabbed off of waivers in my 12 team league very soon though.

• Mets rightfielder, Jeff Francoeur smacked two homers on Friday night, instantly putting him on the radar of many deep-league fantasy owners. Another low AVG/OBP guy, he will give you some power and drive in his share of runs. In fact he did a good bit of both of those things back in ’06 and ’07. Frenchy seems to be a very good fit in Flushing, drawing raves about his character and enthusiasm for the game. Unless your league uses grit and determination as categories, that’s meaningless of course. Hearing that leads one to believe that Jerry Manual likes to pencil his name into the lineup every day, which is a good for Frenchy. He’s also a fine outfielder with one of the league’s best arms, so his defense will get him at-bats.

• Light hitting firstbagger, Daric Barton, is available in my 12 team, OBP league and is an interesting option if you’re really into Sabermetrics. That’s me mocking Billy Beane, like a stodgy, old school baseball guy. I’ll be surprised if Chris Carter hasn’t taken the Oaktown 357 1B job by year’s end, but in the mean time, Barton is getting on base, which we all know is the most important thing a hitter can do. Aside from looking good in his uniform that is.