2009 Disappointments

The season is just over 25% complete and it is about time to start worrying about some slumping stars. When the phrase slumping stars is stated the first name that popped into your head.......David Ortiz. David's collapse is a perfect storm of age (he is probably older then he says), Drug Testing and the loss of Manny. So when you combine all these factors you get the shit sandwich called "Big Papi". I find it funny that nobody wants to accuse Papi of steroids but look at his HR totals the past 3 seasons: 2006-54, 2007-35, 2008-23. He is one of the nice guys in the league so people are hesitant to state the obvious that he either A) sucks really bad or B) was a cheater like tons of other players. The reason why I point out Papi is that he went on a crusade against steroids this off season and now he is embarrassing himself with every AB. Ortiz is not the only player that stinking up the joint and below is a short list of struggling players:

Davis Ortiz: .189 AVG with 1 HR, 18 RBIs and Juan Pierre like OPS of .576
Josh Hamilton: .235 AVG with 6 HR, 22 RBIs and a weak .751 OPS
Jimmy Rollins: .227 AVG with 3 HR, 17 RBIs and 8 SB
Grady Sizemore: .223 AVG with 8 HR, 30 RBIs and 7 SB
Nate McLouth: .250 AVG with 8 HR, 31 RBIs, and 7 SB
Jose Lopez: .218 AVG with 4 HR, 22 RBIs and a .583 OPS
Stephen Drew: .210 AVG with 2 HR, 15 RBIs and 0 SB
Troy Tulowitzki: .224 AVG with 5 HR, 15 RBIs and 4 SB

Francisco Liriano: 2-6 with 47 Ks in 54.7 IP and a 6.42 ERA
Scott Baker: 2-6 with 39 Ks in 52.7 IP and a 6.32 ERA
Scott Kazmir: 4-4 with 35 Ks in 45.7 IP and a 7.69 ERA
Brad Lidge: 0-2 with 10 Saves in 14 opportunities with a 8.44 ERA
Rickey Nolasco: 2-5 with 37 Ks in 43.7 IP and a 9.07 ERA

In February, I posted that it makes no sense to draft Sizmore with an ADP of #6 when you can get McLouth at #59. They both are struggling right now McLouth is still getting the better of Sizemore in 4 of 5 major categories and I predict he will finish the season as a more valuable fantasy option.

Virigina beats Strasburg
Last night, Strasburg took his first loss of the season going 7 IP, 2 ER and striking out 15. Virigina also beat the #2 college pitcher Alex White from NC, 11-1 in the SEC tourney. Strasburg better get used to giving up 2 ER and losing as the Nats are real good at not scoring.

Justin Smoak Come On Down!
Yesterday Chris Davis (TEX) went 0-7 with 6 Ks in a double header. Davis does have 12 HRs but he is hitting only .194 with 77 Ks in 165 ABs. Contact is a real issue for Davis as he is only hitting the ball 53% of the time and compare that to Pujols who makes contact 90% of the time. I am by no means comparing the two players but I wanted to demonstrate the drastic difference from an elite hitter to a .194 Hitter. To makes matters worse for Davis is Justin Smoak is ripping the ball in AA hitting .325 with 6 HR and he has 32 BB and only 30 Ks. Smoak is struggling against LHP hitting .209 but he is straight abusing RHP hitting .370. When you mix the 195 degree temps in August and this kid's power.......watch out.

Wieters goes Hitless:
Just about every male under the age of 78 in Baltimore was in Camden Yards to witness Wieters go 0-4 last night. I only watched his first AB where he had a pitch up in the zone to hit and he hit it hard to RF. Wieters is going to be a monster real soon but expect some bumps along the way.

- Alcides Escobar (Mil SS) is now taking GBs at 2B and could be the replacement for Weeks in the short-term. I think this would be a mistake because Weeks looked real good before the injury and he is the long-term solution for the Brewers at 2B. So when you move Escobar to 2B this season you are setting his development back a year at SS and he a no where near ready to hit MLB pitching.

- Eric Young, Jr. (2B Col)- If you are speculating for SBs and have a deep bench, I would pick up Eric Young, Jr who may get called up sometime this season for Colorado. Young has 27 SBs already this season and scouts believe he is the best pure base stealer in the Minors.

-Beerleaguer.com examines the internal options for the Phillies to replace Myers