FANTASY BASEBALL: DAILY WAIVER WIRE & NOTES 4/11

FANTASY BASEBALL: DAILY WAIVER WIRE & NOTES 4/11

By Muntradamus

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• Bullpen Reports.
• HOT Hitters.
• COLD Hitters.
• Pitcher Reports.

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DAILY HEADLINES:

Tim Lincecum had his worst start in his MLB career with 6 ER in 2.1 INN.  There are reports of lower velocity, and people did not like him going into the season.  Still it is Tim Lincecum, and you know you are going to get 200+ Ks.  Owners will start panicking with these two terrible starts, and he is a great player to BUY LOW right now.  Colby Lewis may even get the trade done at this point.

Mark Trumbo continues to sit on the bench as there is no room for him in this lineup.  Apparently the Angels do not feel safe with him at 3B this very moment.  That should change soon as Alberto Callaspo and his .091 batting average is not helping this team offensively that is lacking Albert Pujols’s big numbers so far.  Trumbo is a great player to BUY LOW in a trade.  You could probably get him for Adam Lind right now.  30 HRs are still in store for Trumbo.

Gincarlo “Don’t Call me Mike” Stanton admitted that his knee will be an ongoing problem all season long.  As concerning as that sounds, as long as he can knock out 40 HRs then his owners will feel fine about the situation.  He is off to a slow start with 0 HRs, but he is still hitting .286 and I would not panic yet.

Jered Weaver losses to the Twins.  This probably does not deserve to be Daily Headline worthy, but Jered Weaver cannot lose to the Twins and Carl Pavano if he expects to win the CY Young, 5 ER in 6 INN will not get the job done.  However the 7 K’s will and owners will just have to expect him to bounce back.

 

DAILY WAIVER WIRE LOOK:

 

PLAYERS WHO SHOULD BE OWNED:

Josh Willingham is showing he can hit the ball just about anywhere.  He was great last season in Oakland hitting 29 HRs with 98 RBIs in 136 Games.  So far this season he is part of the 3 HR club to be tied at #2 in the MLB.  He should easily hit 25+ HRs this season, and he will not be on your waiver wire long, especially with that .353 batting average.

Aroldis Chapman was on the waiver wire article after week #1, and he showed today why he is still worth being owned despite being a MR option.  2 INN with 5 Ks and the win is just a glimpse of what his potential is once he is a full-time starter this season.  Add him now before you miss out on the bandwagon.

 

PLAYERS WHO CAN BE OWNED:

Alfredo De Aza hits another HR in back-to-back games.  He has all around talent, and the SBs will come this season along with this surprise power.  In a way, he is the Poor man’s Cameron Maybin.  Once the steals start coming, he will not be on your waiver wire.  20+ should easily be done.

J.D. Martinez is starting to turn heads as he is batting .364 and now hit his 2^nd HR of the season while batting 3^rd for the Astros.  The team is very fond of his potential, and fantasy owners should start to take notice.  He has 6 RBIs, but keep in mind he does have much speed and 20+ HRs would be way more than anyone expects.  You can leave him on the wire for now, but he is a good option while he is hot.

Henry Rodriguez appears to be the closer in Washington.  Lidge has been pitching a lot of non-save situations after his debut, and H-Rod pitched the 9^th INN of a game that was going to be a save before a bases loaded walk made it 4-0.  The fact that H-Rod has a perfect ERA, is most likely the reason he will get the ball in the 9^th while Drew Storen deals with his arm problems who could be back by the All-Star Break.

Erik Bedard had another QS to his season giving up 2 ER in 5 INN with 3 Ks.  Bedard should pitch well against the NL as he did last year during Interleague play.  The K rate will usually be higher than this, and the QS’s should come very often.

Fernando Rodney is officially the closer in Tampa Bay while Farnsworth is out.  In case you need a closer for a month+ this is your guy.  It is possible Farnsworth comes back and takes the job immediately, but Rodney could claim it for good if he continues with his perfect ERA, perfect WHIP, and 3/3 on save opportunities.

Bruce Chen will not get you a lot of Ks as shown with his 3 against Oakland.  But he will give you a lot of good QS’s and lower your ERA or give you a solid option if he has two starts in one week.  Look to give him a flier for next week.

PLAYERS TO LEAVE SCOUTING:

Joe Saunders was elite with 7 shutout INN against the Padres.  The key phrase is against the Padres, but his potential for an ERA under 4.00 and 15+ Wins is very possible on this Arizona squad.  I would watch to see if he can duplicate this performance against a real offense.

Randall Delgado was great against a weak Astros team giving up 2 ERs with 6 Ks in 5 INN to earn victory #1.  Before you get too excited and add him all leagues, keep in mind this is the Astros.  I would leave him on the waiver wire until he does this against a quality team.

 

DAILY FANTASY NOTES:

 

BULLPEN:

Jon Axford claimed what is his locking down his 2^nd save of the season.  K-Rod is pitching very well, but Axford is the man for now despite that 7.71 ERA.  K-Rod is at 0.00 and K’d 3 batters in his 1 INN of work.  I would not be surprised to see a switch at some point in the season.

Javy Guerra is a save machine as he is now 4/4 on the season.  The Dodgers are going to go to him time after time, and so far he has not disappointed.  Jansen however is looking great as he pitched again tonight with 3 Ks in 1 INN.  For now Guerra is more than safe.

Jonathan Broxton did not take long to blow save #1 on the season.  To his defense none of the runs were earned, but 2 BBs in one INN is not going to cut it.  He should continue to see saves moving forward.

Craig Kimbrel gets his 2^nd save in back-to-back games.  Tonight he showed his K potential with 3 in 1 INN.  This should happen more often than you would think, and that is good news for the owners who stayed patient.

Brandon League will get a lot of save opportunities on the Mariners, and tonight was no different as they won on dramatic fashion with a big 9^th INN which allowed League to lock down save #3.

Mariano Rivera makes up for lost time and gets his 2^nd save on back-to-back days.  The Yankees will give him opportunities all season long.

Huston Street finally recorded save #1.  It took long enough, but he should still get an ample amount of opportunities as the Padres pitching staff is looking very nice this season.

Joe Nathan had a rough 9^th INN where he only blew a 2 run lead, he ended up giving 3 ER and was charged with the loss.  He is still the Rangers closer, but this was not encouraging for his owners.

Sergio Santos got the nice 2 out save for #1 on the year.  He is safe as the Blue Jays are very committed to giving him the job.  The sooner they announce a change could happen, the sooner Santos could start to implode.  He should be fine all season long.

Grant Balfour threw 2 INN with 2 Ks.  The game was tied, but it was good to see they A’s are not afraid to put him out there for multiple INN in a close game.

 

HOT:

A.J. Pierzysnki has HRs in back-to-back games now.  He was hitting HRs with ease this Spring, and now is doing it when it counts.  The .312 batting average is what he does best, but the power could easily reach 15 this season.

Ian Kinsler adds his name to the 3 HR club tying him for 2^nd in the MLB with a group of players.  That is HRs on back-to-back games, and the 30/30 season appears to be more than safe for now.

Adam Jones has quietly gathered 3 SBs in the last 4 games.  The power is not really there yet at 1, but by the time the season ends, 25/20 does look like a possibility.

Miguel Cabrera stays scorching hot adding 1 RBI to bring his total to 9 on the season, to go along with his .471 batting average.  Just Miguel, being Miguel.

Shane Victorino is giving a new definition to flyin’ Hawiaan as he steals 2 more bases to bring his total to 4.  He also adds his first RBI on the season as the Phillies are struggling to find offense outside of him and Hunter Pence, who hit his 4^th RBI of the season.

Andre Ethier added 2 more hits to raise his average to .348, but most importantly knocked in another RBI to tie him for the lead in the majors with David Freese at 10.  This season is for real with his contract on the line.

Curtis Granderson may have broken out of his slump with a HR and 3 RBIs to go along with 2 Hits.  We will see if he keeps it rolling with the momentum, or if the slump is still going.  His average is now at .200.

Yoenis Cespedes made news with his legs as he stole home plate for his 1^st of the Season.  The 20/20 potential is very real for him, and owners should be buying into his value.

Michael Cuddyer had 3 2Bs on Tuesday to raise his average to .400 on the season.  He already has a HR and a SB, things are looking good in his first full season of everyday PT.

Billy Butler continues to show that he does have more power this season as he knocked out #2 on the year.  His batting average is at .292 which is expected for him, and the 2 HRs and 5 RBIs is a good pace to start at.

Pablo Sandoval is doing all he can to help the Giants win as he hit 2 more 2Bs along with his 7^th RBI.  His batting average is at .381 and and the 30/100 season is very possible.

Carlos Gonzalez may have awoken his bat with 4 RBIs and 2 3Bs in one game.  The 3/5 game raised his batting average to .273 on the season.  This could be the start of a huge thing.

Starlin Castro continues his SB binge as he recorded #5 on the season.  That ties him with Dee Gordon for the MLB lead, soon the 15+ Power potential should start to show.

COLD:

J.P. Arencibia is now batting .091 on the season.  Eventually he will find his power stroke again, and from there he should take off.  This is a great opportunity to BUY LOW if you can.

Kevin Pukilis was 0/4 once again bringing his average down to .100 on the season.  Things do not appear to get better, but now is a good time to BUY LOW.  There will be a lot of RBI opportunities in the Red Sox lineup once they start to heat up as a team.

Albert Pujols is only batting .222 on the season, and was fortunate enough to get RBI #2.  The season is still young, but Pujols should be fine when it is all said and done.

Justin Upton cannot get it going, tonight he went 0/3 to drop his average down to .167.  Most importantly, he is still searching for RBI and SB #1.

Ike Davis is batting .095.  If he is laying on your waiver wire, he should be able to bounce back from this slump as he was dominant over the Spring, and dominant before hurting his ankle last season.  The Mets will need his bat with no David Wright.

Jose Bautista is batting .174 on the season, he is an excellent BUY LOW candidate as he has not hit a HR since opening day.  If you can somehow manage to trade Jason Heyward straight up for him, you have a huge upgrade.

PITCHING:
Roy Hallday makes it look easy time after time with 1 ER in 7 INN.  He only had 3 Ks, but he did earn victory #2 which will keep his owners more than satisfied.

Jamie Garica was less than effective with 11 Hits in 4.2 INN.  He was fortunate enough to get away with only giving 3 ER, but this was not the start his owners wanted to see.  Of course they will continue to roll with pitcher on one of the hottest offenses in baseball.

Jon Lester is one good start away from proving he is matchup proof after throwing great starts against the Tigers, and now the Blue Jays.  8 INN, 3 ER, 6 Ks will usually result in a win, he was just on the wrong side of the pitcher’s duel once again.

Yovani Gallardo showed what he is capable of with 1 ER in 7 INN to go along with 6 Ks.  The Cardinals were a tough start, and this shows he will dominate weak teams.

Stephen Strasburg dominated a weak Mets lineup with 9 Ks in 6 shutout INN to get his 1^st win of the year.  The INN limit number is still low, and that is all his owners care about right now.

Brandon McCarthy has legit stuff this season, and it showed in his 3^rd start allowing 2 ERs with 4 Ks in 6 INN.  The A’s will not give him run support, but the QS’s are coming in bunches.

Justin Masterson was inconsistent just when you thought he would be elite this year.  3 ER in 5 INN is not terrible, but the 2 Ks to go along with it does not help anybody.  He will be hit-or-miss most of the season.

Johnny Cueto was less than solid with 3 ER in 5 INN.  He is an ERA specialist, because his K rate is not good enough like it was today at 3.  For now continue to roll with him and hope he has better starts than this.

Wandy Rodriguez showed some quality with 3 ER in 5 INN with 5 Ks.  I would not be surprised to see a bad start before I see another QS with how inconsistent he has been over Spring Training, and all of last season.

Colby Lewis was strong with 6.2 INN allowing 0 ER, while K’ing 5 Rangers.  Joe Nathan ended up letting him down in the 9^th INN.  The good news is, Lewis is ready to have a C.J. Wilson type season as the Rangers Ace.

Corey Luebke gave up 1 ER in 5.1 INN, completely shutting down Arizona after his control problems in the 1^st INN.  The real Luebke showed up tonight, and the K’s at 5 is just his floor.  He should have a very solid season.

Josh Johnson now has 2 bad starts in a row, 3.2 INN with 6 ER, 11 Hits and 1 K.  The time to not feel so confident about him is starting to grow.  Tonight could be the excuse of facing Roy Halladay, but he will need a strong start in his next one to get owners on his side again.

CC Sabathia makes it two shaky starts in a row.  This time against Baltimore giving up 4 ER in 6 INN.  He did get 8 Ks to make the pain a little bit less, but CC against the Orioles should be a lock 9 out of 10 times.  Hopefully this one that one time, and he bounces back in his next start.

Ricky Romero bounced back in a huge way against a tough Red Sox offense.  8.1 INN, 1 ER, 5 Ks, and a W.  This will have his owners feeling very comfortable rolling him out every start.

John Danks gave up 4 ER in 5.2 INN to earn the victory.  The game was not pretty, but Danks does find a way to get it done on a very low-end scale.  Tonight was another example.

Johan Santana is proving his arm injury is long behind.  Once again he was dominant with 8 Ks in 5 INN while only giving up 1 ER.  The problem of being a Met pitcher is the lack of run support, and it happened again today as he took the hard loss.

Chad Billingsley was great once again allowing 1 ER in 6 INN to go along with 4 Ks and the Win.  That is two elite starts in a row, and you have to continue to pitch him while he is this hot.

Ryan Dempster had another QS with 5 Ks, 2 ER, in 6.2 INN.  He got the loss, but he appears to be a much better ERA pitcher this year than last, and you know his K rate is going to be top notch.

James Shield looked like James Shield against the tough hitting Tigers lineup.  8 INN, 2 ER, 5 Ks, and a win.  That is good enough to throw him out there against everyone.

Justin Verlander cannot buy a win as he had a no hit game going into the 8^th, and then ended up giving 4 ER in the INN to go along with his 7Ks.  He is still a must-start elite pitcher, the wins will come.