Investing & Maybe Fantasy Baseball

I haven’t lost faith in Chris Carter yet, but I’m starting to lean that way. So far he’s gone hitless to start the year, but it’s how he’s looked is why I’m starting to lose faith. He looks passive and apprehensive at the plate. His poor offensive output bled over to his defense as he dropped a routine fly ball.

Roy Halladay had a weird box score, giving up 5 earned runs and striking out 9 in 3.1 innings. His max velocity on his fourseam fastball was 91.7 mph, but he only threw it a handful of times. Instead, he relied more on the cut-fastball. Both home runs came on fastballs where he missed his location. When his velocity was in the mid-90s he could get away with missing his spots, but not when he’s throwing in the upper 80s. Buster Olney said his arm angle is lower, which will make him more hittable to left handed hitters because the pitches will flatten out. Halladay can still be an above average starting pitcher, but the days of being the perennial Cy Young candidate appear to be over.

Alexi Ogando looked really sharp against the Astros, striking out 10 hitters in 6 innings. His fastball averaged 94 mph, which is exactly the same speed it was in 2011 when he was starting…so the preseason hubbub about a decrease in velocity in Spring Training appear to be a thing of the past.

Joaquin Benoit started the 9th inning, but only faced one batter. Phil Coke came into the game and proceeded to get a flyout (against a left handed batter) before giving up two hits to right handed batters.

Last night Ubaldo Jimenez looked a lot better than he did last year. He was able to repeat his delivery in and out of the stretch. Now his pitching mechanics are far from ideal, but the fact he’s repeating his delivery gives me hope he can be above average pitcher.

John Axford got lit up again. Like I said on Monday, Axford probably will not last very long as the closer. Jim Henderson is the guy you want to own.

Last night Fernando Rodney blew the save for the Rays. What’s interesting is where he stood on the mound. Last year he had a great year. R.J. Anderson showed how the Rays changed his positioning on the mound could be the reason for his resurgence. In previous years he stood near the middle of the pitching rubber, but last year the Rays moved him to the edge of the left side of the rubber. However, last night he was back to the middle of the rubber.

Despite the box score Trevor Cahill looked really good. 2 of the the 3 runs he gave up came on a Matt Holliday homerun, which came on a sinker thrown slightly below his knees. He looked gassed at the end of his outing; he wasn’t repeating his delivery and couldn’t locate the ball.

Brett Wallace played at third base. The Astros have said the expect him to play there throughout the year. He’s not fantasy relevant at first base, but if he gets third base eligibility he could be ownable in deep mixed.

Yu Darvish looked great, but he did have help from the Astros. Like I said yesterday, I’m starting my pitchers against the Astros moving forward because they’re going to strikeout a lot.

J.P. Arenciba couldn’t catch R.A. Dickey’s knuckleball. There were at least three past balls and if this trend continues it will hurt Dickey’s fantasy value because every time there was a past ball the runners moved up and removed the possibility of a double play. If there were no past balls, the Blue Jays probably would have won today or at least the score would be a lot closer.

Josh Fields pitched to one batter in the 8th inning for the Astros. He has a violent delivery and has good stuff, but he doesn’t have a feel for command yet. Fields is the next pitcher inline for saves.

Jaime Garcia was helped out (surprisingly) by his defense. I still believe Garcia’s elbow is a ticking time bomb and will explode at any moment.

Adam Wainwright was in fact hit in the shoulder by a line drive yesterday. It was previously thought the ball hit his glove and not his shoulder. This is relevant because his performance after getting hit was extremely poor.

Heath Bell faced six batters, recorded one out, gave up four hits, one walk, one home run and three earned runs. Based on the swings the Cardinals were taking he could be done or he was tipping his pitches. I’m leaning heavily on him being done.

Ryan Ludwick is out three months with a separated shoulder. Go get Chris Heisey if you’re looking for cheap power.

Brandon Belt had the night off against the left handed throwing Hyun-Jin Ryu. Instead of playing Belt they played the quad-a player Joaquin Arias. If the Giants really believed Belt would have a breakout season, would they really bench him for Arias?

Jarrod Parker didn’t look very good last night. He had trouble commanding his changeup. He had a problem with his middle finger on his throwing hand; it could’ve been a blister or a cracked finger nail, but it was clearly bothering him during the game.

Hyun-Jin Ryu wasn’t impressive in his debut last night. His fastball sat in the upper 80s and touched 92 a couple times. He’s going to be a pitch to contact pitcher.

I’m sure everyone saw the two home runs Bryce Harper hit today, but I don’t care; he looked great. Even though both pitches were in the middle of the zone, they were both breaking balls, which makes them more impressive.

Ryan Ludwick dislocated and separated his right shoulder sliding into third base. Chris Heisey came into the game to replace him. If Ludwick is hurt for an extended period of time Heisey could be a sneaky play. Heisey’s never been given a shot at consistent playing time and I don’t know why. He has a ton of pop and could provide cheap power.

Carlos Marmol and John Axford looked bad today. Marmol got pulled after facing four hitters and giving up a run and putting the tying run on base. Kyuji Fujikawa got the final out and the save today. If he’s available in your league, go get him. Axford gave a two-out home run to Dexter Fowler in the 9th. Axford’s big problem is the lack of control of his secondary pitches. If this continues hitters will sit dead red on his fastball and outings like yesterday will happen more times than not. I dropped Axford 12 spots in my closer rankings. Both pitchers are on the hot seat, but they may not be the closer three weeks from now.

The two best pitching performances came from Clayton Kershaw and Jeff Samardzija. Kershaw was efficient, methodical and had all his pitches working. For five innings or so Samardzija retired every batter he faced via a strikeout or weak contact.

Based on yesterday’s game with Texas and Houston I’ve concluded I’m going to stream pitchers who pitch against Houston because they’re going to strikeout a lot. Matt Harrison, a ground ball pitcher, had a career high 9 strikeouts.

Even though the Royals lost, the biggest fantasy news for the Royals was Kelvin Herrera, not Aaron Crow, pitched the 9th inning. Herrera is the reliever next in line if something were to happen to Greg Holland.

Am I overreacting to CC Sabathia’s start? Yes and no. His fastball sat 88-89, which is three mph lower than where he sat last year. Remember, he’s coming off elbow surgery and only made two starts in Spring Training so I wouldn’t jump to conclusions about the drop in velocity. He was also loose with his command too. However, he was facing a good lineup (against lefties) in the Red Sox and had a bad defense behind him. I don’t own Sabathia in any leagues but if you own him, you have to keep him.