The Baseball Ticker: Week of May 8, 2006

by Bryan Roth
May 8, 2006

Editor's note: We are starting an AHP Fantasy mailbag column so if you have any fantasy baseball questions please send Bryan a message at AHPfantasybaseball@hotmail.com

Two-start pitchers worth starting:
Roy Oswalt (5/8 @ San Francisco, 5/13 vs. Colorado)
Paul Byrd (5/8 @ Kansas City, 5/14 vs. Detroit)
Greg Maddox (5/8 @ San Diego, 5/13 vs. San Diego)
Pedro Martinez (5/9 @ Philadelphia, 5/14 @ Milwaukee)
John Smoltz (5/9 @ Florida, 5/14 vs. Washington)
Daniel Cabrera (5/9 vs. Detroit, 5/14 vs. Kansas City)

You make the call:
Jason Schmidt (5/8 vs. Houston, 5/13 vs. Los Angeles Dodgers)
Roy Halladay (5/8 vs. Los Angeles Angels, 5/13 @ Tampa Bay)
Jeff Weaver (5/8 @ Toronto, 5/13 vs. Seattle)
Chris Young (5/8 vs. Chicago Cubs, 5/13 @ Chicago Cubs)
Andy Pettitte (5/9 @ Los Angeles Dodgers, 5/14 vs. Colorado)
Brett Myers (5/9 vs. New York Mets, 5/14 @ Cincinnati)
David Bush (5/9 @ San Diego, 5/14 vs. New York Mets)
Josh Beckett (5/9 @ New York Yankees, 5/14 vs. Texas)
Dan Haren (5/9 @ Toronto, 5/14 @ New York Yankees)
Freddy Garcia (5/9 vs. Los Angeles Angels, 5/14 @ Minnesota)

Other two-start pitchers:
John Koronka (5/8 vs. Minnesota, 5/14 @ Boston)
Casey Fossum (5/8 @ Seattle, 5/14 vs. Toronto)
Joe Mays (5/8 vs. Cleveland, 5/14 @ Baltimore)
Gil Meche (5/8 vs. Tampa Bay, 5/14 @ Los Angeles Angels)
Brad Radke (5/8 @ Texas, 5/14 vs. Chicago White Sox)
Jeff Francis (5/8 @ St. Louis, 5/14 @ Houston)
Jason Marquis 5/8 vs. Colorado, 5/14 vs. Arizona)
Nate Robertson (5/9 @ Baltimore, 5/14 @ Cleveland)
Kevin Gregg (5/9 @ Chicago White Sox, 5/14 vs. Seattle)
Josh Towers (5/9 vs. Oakland, 5/14 @ Tampa Bay)
Jaret Wright (5/9 vs. Boston, 5/14 vs. Oakland)
Tony Armas Jr. (5/9 @ Cincinnati, 5/14 @ Atlanta)
Miguel Batista (5/9 @ Pittsburgh, 5/14 @ St. Louis)
Brandon Claussen (5/9 vs. Washington, 5/14 vs. Philadelphia)
Brad Hennessey (5/9 vs. Chicago Cubs, 5/14 vs. Los Angeles Dodgers)
Clay Hensley (5/9 vs. Milwaukee, 5/14 @ Chicago Cubs)
Rich Hill (5/9 @ San Francisco, 5/15 vs. San Diego)
Brian Moehler (5/9 vs. Atlanta, 5/14 @ Pittsburgh)
Jae Seo (5/9 vs. Houston, 5/14 @ San Francisco)
Ian Snell (5/9 vs. Arizona, 5/14 vs. Florida)

At the hitter’s parks this week:
At Ameriquest Field in Texas: Twins (5/8-10)
At US Cellular Field in Chicago (AL): Angels (5/9-11)
At Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia: Mets (5/9-11)
At Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati: Nationals (5/9-11) and Phillies (5/12-14)

Playing seven games this week:
Giants, Angels, Astros, Blue Jays, Cubs and Padres

Ratchet them up!

Bill Hall (2B/SS/3B, Brewers): As I pointed out a couple weeks ago, all Hall needs is playing time and he’ll produce. He’s played consistently for the last two weeks and is hitting .352 with six home runs and 12 RBI in his last 16 games. He should be owned in deep leagues because of his position eligibility, but it’s time to take a look at Hall in shallow leagues too.

Corey Patterson (OF, Orioles): Even though Luis Matos came off the DL this week, Patterson has put himself back atop the center fielder depth chart in Baltimore where he was when he first joined the Orioles. Since David Newhan and Matos went down with injuries, Patterson has produced a .340 average with three home runs, 10 RBI and five swipes. Matos got the start on Saturday, but look for Patterson to keep up the pace to keep his job.

Cliff Lee (OF, Brewers): After such a slow spring training, Lee has been hitting non-stop for the last month. This past week he only hit .257 with a .333 OBP, but check this out - a .778 slugging percentage from five extra-base hits, including four home runs. Expect those numbers to normalize a bit, but he’s swinging the hot bat in Milwaukee right now.

Matt Holliday (OF, Rockies): Everyone expected Holliday to have a solid season, especially playing in Colorado, but he may be exceeding people’s expectations. Holliday is fourth in the NL in RBI with 29 and knocked in five this past week via three home runs. He’s even stole two bases in the last seven days, a rare treat for owners.

Brad Hawpe (OF, Rockies): Hawpe has been the most pleasant surprise of the season for the young Rockies team and currently leads the NL in batting average at .358. He’s also making opposing ballparks feel like Coors, hitting an incredible .446 outside of Colorado. The Rockies are playing away all week so you know what to do.

Rob Mackowiak (2B/3B/CF/RF, White Sox): Normally I’ll list five hitters and five pitchers, but Mackowiak sneaks into the list as hitter number six for one reason - he completely dominates the month of May. In 2004 he had a line of .295/.356/.621 with eight home runs and 24 RBI and last year he went just as nuts with a .391/.494/.625 line with three home runs and 15 RBI. Run, don’t walk, to pick him up for the next three weeks.

Tim Wakefield (SP, Red Sox): He won his first game in almost a month this weekend and he’s got Doug Mirabelli back behind the plate. Since his Mirabelli’s return Wakefield has had two straight quality starts. Last year without Dougie behind the plate, Wakefield had an ERA of 8.86. Wakefield owners can now rest easy.

Jose Conteras (SP, White Sox): He had a great start against Seattle this past week which gave him his fifth straight win of the season to move him to 5-0. In his last four starts he’s had a 1.17 ERA and stands at 1.41 on the season. He’ll be facing the Angels at home this week so all he really has to do is handle Vlad Gurerro and he should be good to go.

Scott Kazmir (SP, Devil Rays): If Tampa Bay fans had it their way, Kaz would pitch against the Red Sox every start. In his latest outing against Boston, he threw a seven-inning gem with 10 Ks and allowed only one run on five hits. He followed that up with a solid win in Oakland. Kazmir will pitch again this week at Seattle, where he owns a 2.38 ERA and has held batters to a .179 average in two starts.

Daniel Cabrera (SP, Orioles): Leo Mazzone has begun to work his magic on Cabrera who had a 12/3 K:BB ratio this past week after going walk crazy in his first four starts. Cabrera pitches at home against Detroit and Kansas City this week and should be in line for a good amount of strikeouts and at least one win. Expect a 10-strikeout game against the young Royals team.

Ratchet them down!

Gary Sheffield (OF, Yankees): As a Sheffield owner, I was scared half to death when it was reported he could have broken his left wrist in a collision with Shea Hillenbrand. Shef will get as much rest time as he needs, but since he’ll likely be a day-to-day decision it might not be worth it to sweat over him. If you’ve got other options in the outfield, use them this week.

Jeff Kent (2B, Dodgers): Should I even bother? He went .167/.259/.208 in his last 24 at bats and is still clinging on to that one home run he hit back in mid-April.

Morgan Ensberg (3B, Astros): Oh how the mighty have fallen. Ensberg has started May cold as ice, hitting .105 in the early stages of the month. Of course, this comes after he hit .329 with nine home runs in April. Houston hit’s the road this week and Ensberg is hitting .250 away from Minute Maid Park.

Aubrey Huff (1B/3B/OF, Devil Rays): The perennial first half player came back from a left knee strain this week and hit .125 in eight at bats. He probably won’t pick things up until mid-June so keep him on your bench or trade him if you can to an owner in need of a big second half.

Julio Lugo (SS, Devil Rays): After straining a muscle in his back, Lugo has been on the DL since Opening Day, causing fantasy owners to wonder who this guy was when he came back this weekend. Well, it will take him a while to get back into the swing of things, especially leading off, but he should be back to normal and stealing bases in a week or so. Just give him time.

Roy Halladay (SP, Blue Jays): On the surface, Halladay is one of those pitchers you should always start but he’s still trying to come back from a forearm injury and got roughed up by Boston for five runs and nine hits in just six innings of work last week. He’s pitching twice this week against the Angels and at Tampa Bay and I’d be cautious with him, especially against a Devil Rays lineup that is much better than most people think.

Chris Young (SP, Padres): Young has had a rough last few outings and has to face the Chicago Cubs lineup twice this week against Greg Maddox. If he gets Chicago the first time around today, don’t be surprised to see the Cubs give him a rough time on Saturday.

Dontrelle Willis (SP, Marlins): Is this all a ruse to knock down his trade value or is something just wrong with him? Willis usually starts strong in the first few months but has been nothing like that in 2006. He lost two games last week and sported a robust 10.50 ERA. He pitches against the Braves this week and the Jones Brothers (Andruw and Chipper) both own him, hitting .292 and .412 against him, respectively. Brian Jordan loves facing Willis too, hitting .444 lifetime against the D-Train.

Dan Haren (SP, A’s): Normally he’d be a solid start, but there’s a lot of pressure on the young hurler with Rich Harden and Esteban Loiza not performing well. He’s also got to face the lineups of the Blue Jays and Yankees this week, so it’ll be tough goings for Haren.

And, something new this week….
Jeff Kent Award of the Week: After featuring Kent pretty much every week, he now has his own weekly award celebrating a good player who has just been playing poorly. This week, the prize goes to Ichiro, who has somehow managed to become an average player this season. Last week he hit .200/.250/.333. His nine steals on the season are nice, but I don’t think anyone imagined this kind of production from him.

If you have any fantasy baseball questions please send Bryan a message at AHPfantasybaseball@hotmail.com