The Baseball Ticker: Week of April 17, 2006

by Bryan Roth
April 17, 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:
Felix Hernandez (4/17 vs. Texas, 4/23 vs. Detroit)
Roy Oswalt (4/18 vs. Milwaukee, 4/23 vs. Pittsburgh)
Carlos Zambrano (4/18 @ Los Angeles Dodgers, 4/23 @ St. Louis)
Pedro Martinez (4/17 vs. Atlanta, 4/22 @ San Diego)
Jose Contreras (4/17 vs. Kansas City, 4/23 vs. Minnesota)
Matt Clement (4/18 vs. Tampa Bay, 4/23 @ Toronto)

You make the call:
Kelvim Escobar (4/18 @ Minnesota, 4/23 @ Oakland)
Paul Byrd (4/17 @ Detroit, 4/22 @ Kansas City)
Doug Davis (4/18 @ Houston, 4/23 vs. Cincinnati)
David Bush (4/17 @ Houston, 4/22 vs. Cincinnati)
Chris Young (4/17 @ Colorado, 4/22 vs. New York Mets)
Daniel Cabrera (4/17 vs. Los Angeles Angels, 4/22 @ New York Yankees)
Cory Lidle (4/18 vs. Washington, 4/23 vs. Florida)
Greg Maddox (4/17 @ Los Angeles Dodgers, 4/22 @ St. Louis)

Other two-start pitchers:
David Wells (4/17 vs. Seattle, 4/22 @ Toronto)
Jeff Weaver (4/17 @ Baltimore, 4/22 @ Oakland)
Brett Tomko (4/17 vs. Chicago Cubs, 4/23 vs. Arizona)
Bruce Chen (4/18 vs. Cleveland, 4/23 @ New York Yankees)
Shawn Chacon (4/18 @ Toronto, 4/23 vs. Baltimore)
Eric Milton (4/18 vs. Florida, 4/23 @ Milwaukee)
Miguel Batista (4/17 vs. San Francisco, 4/22 @ Los Angeles Dodgers)
Jeremy Affeldt (4/17, @ Chicago White Sox, 4/23 vs. Cleveland
Justin Verlander (4/18 @ Oakland, 4/23 @ Seattle)
Gustabo Chacin (4/18 vs. New York Yankees, 4/23 vs. Boston)
Jeff Francis (4/17 vs. San Diego, 4/23 vs. San Francisco)
Casey Fossum (4/18 @ Boston, 4/23 @ Texas)
Gil Meche (4/17 @ Boston, 4/22 vs. Detroit)
Matt Morris (4/18 @ Arizona, 4/23 @ Colorado)
Nate Robertson (4/17 vs. Cleveland, 4/22 @ Kansas City)
Carlos Silva (4/18 vs. Los Angeles Angels, 4/23 @ Chicago White Sox)
Brian Moehler (4/17 @ Cincinnati, 4/23 @ Philadelphia)
Rick Bauer (4/18 @ Seattle, 4/23 vs. Tampa Bay)
Esteban Loaiza (4/18 vs. Detroit, 4/23 vs. Los Angeles Angels)
Brandon Claussen (4/17 vs. Florida, 4/22 @ Milwaukee)
Jason Marquis (4/17 @ Pittsburgh, 4/23 vs. Chicago Cubs)
Jorge Sosa (4/17 @ New York Mets, 4/23 @ Washington)
Jason Johnson (4/18 @ Baltimore, 4/23 @ Kansas City)
Tony Armas Jr. (4/18 @ Philadelphia, 4/23 vs. Atlanta)
Dewon Braselton (4/18 @ Colorado, 4/23 vs. New York Mets)
Paul Maholm (4/17 vs. St. Louis, 4/23 @ Houston)
Russ Ortiz (4/18 vs. San Francisco, 4/23 @ Los Angeles Dodgers)
Victor Zambrano (4/18 vs. Atlanta, 4/23 @ San Diego)

At the hitter’s parks this week:
At Ameriquest Field in Texas: Devil Rays (4/21-23)
At Chase Field in Arizona: Giants (4/17-20)
At Citizens Bank Park in Philadelphia: Nationals (4/18-20) and Marlins (4/21-23)
At Coors Field in Colorado: Padres (4/17-19) and Giants (4/21-23)
At Great American Ballpark in Cincinnati: Marlins (4/17-19)
At US Cellular Field in Chicago (AL): Royals (4/17-19) and Twins (4/21-23)

Teams with seven games this week:
Mariners, Brewers, Diamondbacks, Mets, Orioles, Padres, Red Sox and Reds.

Ratchet them up!

Brad Hawpe (OF, Rockies): He almost hit for the cycle twice in the past week and had four straight games with a home run. Not only that, but he’s home at Coors Field this week. A must start in all leagues.

Craig Wilson (1B/OF, Pirates): Wilson makes it on this list for the second week in a row. He followed his a solid first week with 22 at-bats that produced four home runs and a .318/.400/.955 line. With Sean Casey out for eight weeks, Wilson will get the start at first.

David Newhan (OF, Orioles): Newhan is the flavor of the week in center field for Baltimore skipper Sam Perlozzo. After a drop-off from Luis Matos, it’s a battle between Newhand and Nick Markakis to get playing time. If Newhan gets the starts this week, expect solid contributions in runs and RBI with a home run or two.

Jonny Gomes (OF/DH, Devil Rays): With Aubrey Huff hitting the DL, Gomes will get plenty of at-bats via the outfield or at DH. Either way, he’ll certainly continue on his current pace from the last week and plays against the Royals to start this week.

Ryan Freel (2B/3B/OF, Reds): Aside from Freel’s multiple position eligibility, he’s a stolen base threat every time he gets to play. He swiped three bags in the last week. Cincinnati will face an inexperienced Marlins team toward the end of this week, meaning another handful of bags for Freel.

Jon Papelbon (RP, Red Sox): At this time last week, Papelbon appeared to be the temporary choice by Terry Francona to close. What a difference a week makes. Papelbon has only given up one hit this year while converting four save opportunities.

Bronson Arroyo (SP, Reds): Who would’ve though Arroyo would make such a splash? Aside from hitting two home runs on the season, Arroyo has translated well to the National League. Last week he threw seven shutout innings against the Cubs and will try to continue his luck this week at St. Louis.

Cory Lidle (SP, Phillies): He may not stick out right now, but wait until after this week. Lidle has a K:BB ratio of 12 to 1 and will face an awful team in the Nationals and an inexperienced one in the Marlins this week at home.

Francisco Liriano (RP, Twins): In just over eight innings of work this season, Liriano is striking out an average of around two batters per inning. He’s yet to give up a run too. Scott Baker is on thin ice, but had a good outing against the Yankees on Friday. Liriano gets the call if Baker can’t handle it.

Rafael Soriano (RPs, Mariners): Everyday Eddie Guardado is the anointed closer, but he’s already given up four runs on five hits in three appearances and didn’t look very sharp against the Yankees this weekend. Don’t be surprised if Soriano gets save opportunities this week with Seattle facing powerful lineups in Boston and against Texas.

Ratchet them down!

Jeff Kent (2B, Dodgers): What’s up with Kent? He hit a measly .115/.233/.115 this past week before going 3 for 7 over the weekend and is slugging .381 on the year. Kent isn’t a historically slow starter, so keep an eye on what he does this week. Until then, sit him until he heats up.

Aramis Ramirez (3B, Cubs): The same goes for Ramirez, who hit .143/.294/.214 in the last seven days. He’s only hitting .167 for the season too. He should be alright, but monitor his success this week against the Dodgers and Cardinals.

Ichiro (OF, Mariners): Aside from his four steals, Ichiro has hit .160 in the last seven days. This is not exactly what we expected from a career .330 hitter. He’s starting this season very much like 2004, when he hit .255 in the first month to go on to hit .400 in May. He’ll be fine, but not right now.

Ryan Howard (1B, Phillies): The big names continue with Howard, who has hit one home run in 38 at-bars. Not quite the pace he set in spring training. He still hit above .300 last week, but his only stats to show for it are two runs.

Scott Podsednik (OF, White Sox): Why do we draft Podsednik? For his steals! Too bad he has the a goose egg in the category. He’s hitting .079/.146/.105 on the year. Can’t steal bases if you can’t even get on base.

Roy Halladay (SP, Blue Jays): He lost his last game against Tampa Bay by giving up five earned runs, had an MRI on his forearm and if he comes back this week will start against Boston. Not a good week to be Halladay owners.

Jason Schmidt (SP, Giants): Schmidt has found a way to get strikeouts, but he can’t stop walking batters. He has a 16/13 K:BB split on the season. All those walks will hurt his WHIP and put runners on board that can increase his ERA. He’ll be throwing at the hitter friendly Chase Field in Arizona this week.

Eddie Guardado (RP, Mariners): He may have two saves, but hasn’t looked good doing it. Everyday Eddie is currently sporting an ERA of 9,00 and a WHIP of 2.00. There are other options in that Seattle pen and Mike Hargrove could start bringing in someone different to close games soon.

Jason Isringhausen (RP, Cardinals): Cardinals manager Tony LaRussa said this week Isringhausen needs to get out of his funk. You think? He’s already got two loses, an ERA of 15.00, a WHIP of 3.67 and one strikeout. He’s not a closer that is supposed to be killing you.

Joe Borowski (RP, Marlins): It didn’t take long for Borowski to blow his chance with Florida. Manager Joe Girardi announced yesterday he’s going with a closer by committee from now on. Borowski will have to share opportunities with Matt Herges and maybe Travis Bowyer is he gets called up from Triple-A.

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