Stealing a post from Myles… Three up: 1. Edwin Jackson: 7 IP, 1 BB, 11 K, 0 R. He’s even brought his ERA below 4 seemingly for the first time since the Cubs signed him. He threw a lot more sinkers than usual in this start, and was hitting 96 with both of his fastballs. A great sign. 2+3. Starlin …
Fantasy Waiver Wire: Week 6
Previous editions are here. This week, I’ll focus mainly on starting pitchers. Starting Pitchers Josh Beckett I understand that some find owning older, injury-prone veterans like Beckett distasteful, but he should really be on a roster in every league right now. His velocity is up, he’s throwing his curveball as frequently as he did in his prime, he plays in …
Javier Baez’s slow starts
The Cubs top prospect Javier Baez is off to a forgettable start this year. Over 92 plate appearances he’s batting only .169/.250/.313. To his credit, he’s carried over a much improved walk rate from AA. It’s at 7.6% (7.9% at AA), but he’s struck out in 37% of his plate appearances. One thing we’ve gotten used to with Baez is …
Fantasy Waiver Wire: Week 5
My apologies for the late (and short) offering. I was indisposed today. Plenty of my previous rec’s are still widely available, given that these tend toward the deeper options. Dallas Keuchel An Astros starting pitcher? Really? Believe me, I’m as shocked as you are. And I don’t blame you for passing; he’s not likely to help your win totals, after …
Fantasy Waiver Wire: Week 4
Previous editions are here. As a reminder, with rare exceptions, I will highlight players at less than 30% ownership levels in Yahoo and ESPN leagues. Starting Pitchers Marcus Stroman Dustin McGowan was an intriguing fantasy bet in 2007 and 2008. In one of my leagues, I added him to my watch list after he was hurt 2008, and he’s been …
Cubs Can’t Get Away from Cakeghazi
Yesterday, it came out that the giant Wrigley Field replica cake made for the Cubs’ birthday bonanza by the Cake Boss was tossed away uneaten into a dumpster. News spread quickly. I was shocked because this came so shortly after the Cubs got caught tossing away a bunch of stuff in Wrigley dumpsters that included a sympathy card to Ron …
Cubs Minor League Recap: 4-23-14
Tennessee Smokies The Smokies scored 8 in the first inning won 9-1. John Andreoli was 3-6. Dustin Geiger and Wes Darvill were each 2-5. Geiger had a double and a strikeout while Darvill had 2 doubles. Rubi Silva was 1-4 with a walk and 3 strikeouts, but his hit was a home run. Kris Bryant was 1-5 with 2 strikeouts. …
Cubs Minor League Recap: 4-21-14
Iowa Cubs Matt Szczur was 3-4 with a triple and run scored. Arismendy Alcantara has started to hit the baseball and was 2-4 with a home run. Javier Baez was 1-3 with a strikeout. He was hit by a pitch, which he’s not afraid to take. Chris Coghlan was 1-3 with a walk and Logan Watkins was 1-2 with a …
Cubs Minor League Recap: 4-20-14
While everyone was busy getting high on yesterday’s National holiday, two of the Cubs minor league system were robbed of this long American tradition. Iowa Cubs They had 6 hits, no runs and made 3 errors. Maybe only one team was robbed of observing the holiday. Javier Baez was back in action after 10 days and struck out 3 times. …
Fantasy Waiver Wire: Week 3
Previous editions are here. Decent players are starting to show up on waiver wires after slow starts. Now is the time to scoop them up. I’ll start with this week’s big callup, though. Outfielders George Springer Unless your league has weekly transactions, it’s probably too late to pick up Springer. I do think he should be owned in all formats. …