In-Depth Knowledge On A College Budget

Wednesday, June 28, 2006

Markie's Mixin & Matchin

Everybody was quick to point out that Josh Beckett was going to Boston home to the league with the DH. This added to his already flawed resume of his blister problem. As a result his stock prior to the draft dived. And after Beckett went 1.1 innings giving up 7 runs in New York against the Yankees all the predictions appeared to be on the money. Until Beckett's last two nights. He retired 16 in a row to start a nationally televised game against the Phillies and most recently tonight when he stole the show in Pedro's return to Boston.

Beckett's stuff and make up is far too good to stop him from being a dominant fantasy pitcher however. The guy throws really hard and (knock on wood) has been healthy for the first time in his career. In his last post Curtis talked about Burnett as a high risk/reward type of player. Beckett is way more on the reward side. Even when he went down with those blister injuries in Florida he normally only needed 3 weeks to get back at it. He is still 25 years old remember so he has plenty of growth potential and could be very valuable as a keeper for years to come. Grab him now while has ERA still has that puke green colored number of 4.64 next to it.
...
Noah Lowry has lost what he had last year in San Francisco. Many owners drafted him believing that his 2.43 ERA and 1.10 WHIP in last season's second half was a sign of things to come for the lefty. Unfortunately in early injury to this year which appears to still be lingering has caused his strikeouts to dive into shallow enough water that Lowry could be a candidate to be dropped if an opportunity presents itself. Lowry's fastball is gone and in his most recent start vs. an Angels lineup that featured Juan Rivera hitting clean up Lowry was lucky to go 6 innings when a runner got thrown out at the plate to preserve a "quality" start for Lowry.
...
Hideki Matsui has been dropped in many leagues, but he is expected back in mid-August. One person in our league who is out of it recently picked him up. I love this move. Come trade deadline time Matsui could be a piece for this owner in getting a high quality keeper and building toward 2007. Unless you have a crazy principle like not taking Yankees on your team guys like Matsui, Rich Harden, or Gary Sheffield should be snatched up if they are free agents and you have a DL spot available.
...
Looking for help in OBP or batting average? Trot Nixon has been playing great. He doesn't have the flashy upside of guys like Matt Kemp or Jeremy Hermida, but Nixon is in a contract year and it is certainly having an effect on his play. While his home runs have not been what they were a few years ago for Nixon he is in the top 5 in hitting in the AL at press time. Nixon also seems to have won the coveted fifth spot in the Red Sox order behind David Ortiz and Manny Ramirez after the Sox had been shifting this role between Jason Varitek, Kevin Youkilis, and Mike Lowell. Just make sure that he is playing when the opposing team's starter is a lefthanded.

0 Comments:

Post a Comment

<< Home