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By: Tim Heaney, KFFL.com
KFFL.com's Fantasy Baseball Closer Hot Seat series gives you no-nonsense ratings of performances, injuries and managerial decisions in MLB bullpens. Get your arm loose: Let's find fantasy baseball players in your rotisserie or head-to-head baseball league who'll get saves.
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Team
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JS |
HO |
Closer |
Understudy/Fill-in |
Lurker(s) |
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5 |
Fernando Rodney | Joel Peralta | Jake McGee Kyle Farnsworth |
We're back to "D'oh-Rod" as Satan continues to laugh. The Tampa Bay Rays' Rodney hadn't given up a run in his previous four outings but did the walk of shame Thursday night -- four times, to be exact. He kicked off the inning with three free passes before allowing a two-out bases-clearing double on a hanging changeup to lose the lead, followed by another BB before he escaped. The Boston Red Sox know how to build up pitch counts, too, and any nibbling will cost ya.
 Jansen does his duty |
Joe Maddon doesn't sound concerned, though. "We'll get him right," he said after the disaster. Tampa has a history of that. Heck, they did exactly that last year. Rodney's mound position, which was Tampa's big fix for him last year, has been inconsistent in 2013. Going for Rodney is the fact he's still hard to hit; it's just that most of the time, he's allowing his opponents to trot to first base.
Peralta is the option to chase if you're getting a jump, but Rodney will have to keep stumbling to trigger a switch anytime soon. Another poor outing in the near future, however, will dock Rodney's Job Security score another level and start the sirens in earnest.
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Team
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JS |
HO |
Closer |
Understudy/Fill-in |
Lurker(s) |
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5 |
Brandon League | Kenley Jansen | Ronald Belisario Paco Rodriguez + |
Though League hadn't pitched since Sunday, Jansen was called on Tuesday to finish off Clayton Kershaw's masterful effort, during which the southpaw pitched into the ninth. League didn't warm up. After Jansen did the deed, however, Los Angeles Dodgers manager Don Mattingly wasn't crowning him his stopper.
After all, in Mattingly's words, Jansen was the best reliever available. Heck, every fresh RP was at skip's disposal because Kershaw cruised until the final frame.
Sadly for Jansen speculators, game flow won't always work out that way, especially since Mattingly has said that he wants his best relievers -- Jansen and Rodriguez, specifically -- pitching in the tightest spots, which in his mind typically come before the ninth inning in a save opportunity.
In fact, League came in Wednesday with a two-run lead and worked around a hit to wrap up his ninth save in 10 tries. Despite his rough go of it in doing the job, that may be the only number that matters in Donnie Baseball's eyes. Ends, means, etc., perhaps....
Jansen is obviously worth ownership in most, if not all, eligible leagues, but expecting a change will require patience. League has danced around danger enough to stave off critics and the axe; it's still fair to question his long-term security, naturally.
About the author:
Tim's work has been featured by USA Today/Sports Weekly, among numerous publications, and recognized as a finalist in FSWA's awards. The Boston University alum competes in Tout Wars and LABR and has won numerous industry leagues in both baseball and football.
During baseball and football season, he's on The Reality Check with Glenn Clark every Wednesday on 1570 AM WNST in Baltimore. He hits the airwaves every Thursday at 9:30 a.m. ET on Sirius XM Fantasy Sports Radio, where he often crashes other shows, as well.
By: Nicholas Minnix, KFFL.com
KFFL.com's Fantasy Baseball Diamond Market gives you candid reviews and ratings of fantasy baseball players making MLB news in your rotisserie or head-to-head baseball leagues. Are they trade bait? Are they worth your FAAB dollars in your fantasy baseball games?
Hottest Pickups
Most frequently added in leagues polled
1B Mitch Moreland, Texas Rangers
 More power for Moreland |
The evolution of Moreland: .259/.320/.414 (2011) ... .275/.321/.468 (2012) ... .290/.344/.565 (2013). Not a lot has changed about this left-handed hitter, from a peripherals point-of-view. His plate discipline has improved ever so slightly through the years. His power rates have climbed.
But beneath those numbers lie Moreland's understanding and control of the strike zone as well as comprehension of how the best pitchers in the sport want to attack him. For the less gifted, this type of ability arrives only with a good deal of experience. The 27-year-old's 6-foot-2, 240-pound frame is designed to generate this kind of power.
By the end of 2013, his BA/OBP/SLG slash line might not be much different from that of 2012, when he was coming off wrist surgery. Last season's numbers prorated for 550 to 600 plate appearances, rather than the 357 he accumulated, however, would've generated a lot more draft interest than he did this past spring. This is a good hitter, against lefties or righties now.
OF Jon Jay, St. Louis Cardinals
Jay was a DM Best Available entry a week and a half ago precisely because of the upward mobility of his BA and other roto contributions resultant. From May 2 through May 15, the left-handed batter raised his average from .204 to .276. He belted two home runs and drove in 12 in that time. Whether he hits just after the heart of the order or at the top of it, he'll be an asset because of the potency of this O.
Jay has maintained a pretty good peripheral profile this year, the kind that would likely lead a stats evaluator to conclude that corrections were inevitable. This turnaround was improbable without the extensive work the outfielder did in the cages, however, to tune up a perceivably excessive load. Jay is back on track and should be a deep mixed asset, at least, for a while.
About the author:
Minnix is baseball editor and a fantasy football analyst at KFFL. He plays in LABR and Tout Wars and won the FSWA Baseball Industry Insiders League in 2010.
The University of Delaware alum is a regular guest on SiriusXM Fantasy Sports Radio and Baltimore's WNST AM 1570.
By: Keith Hernandez, KFFL.com
KFFL.com's Fantasy Baseball Player Prospecting series highlights the exploits of minor league baseball players, including top MLB prospects. Find out who'll make an impact in your rotisserie or head-to-head baseball game next week or in your fantasy baseball keeper league a year from now.
Speculators and eager fantasy baseball owners are throwing Minnesota Twins starting pitching prospect Kyle Gibson's name around frequently recently. The Twinkies could use an electric arm in their rotation, and Pedro Hernandez, although he settled down a bit and won his second game Monday against the Chicago White Sox, hasn't been carrying his weight (5.79 ERA, 15 K's and nine BBs in 28 innings over five starts).
 When will they Wheeler him in? |
Gibson, 25, is more than 19 months removed from Tommy John surgery on his right elbow that caused him to miss most of the 2012 minor league season. He performed well in the Arizona Fall League last year and has continued that success down on the farm with Triple-A Rochester this year, posting a 2-5 record with a 3.92 ERA and 38 strikeouts in 43 2/3 frames (eight starts). He's only walked 12.
The University of Missouri alum has a major league pitching frame at 6-foot-6, 210 pounds, and he uses his height to his advantage to throw downhill. His heater also creates nice sinking action to keep him down in the strike zone often. He has strikeout upside at the next level thanks to an above-average slider and a changeup that induces plenty of empty hacks from opponents. The skills are undeniably there, but health has been his biggest obstacle in his young career. That appears to be coming around now, too: "He's 100 percent," GM Terry Ryan said Tuesday, April 23. "There's no question -- his arm, delivery, his mechanics. Everything is in good order, which is encouraging."
The Twinkies have high hopes for Gibson, and it's evident as to why after he recently tossed a two-hit shutout in 6 2/3 innings. Even though he's in the clear from his recovery from TJS, Gibson is the club's No. 1 prospect, and like most high-profile pitchers coming off elbow reconstruction, he'll have his workload limited. The Twins have a certain limit in mind this year.
With Gibson's limitations considered, Minnesota's current stable of starters -- Kevin Correia, Scott Diamond, Mike Pelfrey, Vance Worley and Hernandez -- is one of the weakest in the bigs. Gibson was a realistic competitor for the fifth rotation post this spring, so you have to figure he'll get a chance to dip his toe into the major league waters at some point in 2013. That might not be until the tail end of the season's schedule, though, so he may not have much value in mixed redraft leagues. Keeper leaguers and should be more interested, and he'll find his way onto rosters in all leagues in 2014.
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Anthony Rendon looked a little overmatched and a bit like a deer in headlights when he made the jump from Double-A Harrisburg to the Washington Nationals in April to replace Ryan Zimmerman (hamstring) at third base last month. Rendon hit .240 with six hits and seven strikeouts in 25 at-bats (eight games), and he also committed three errors. If you wrote him off because of that, you're making a mistake.
Rendon is hitting .436 (17-for-39) with two long balls and nine RBIs in 11 games since returning to Harrisburg, and he's leading the Eastern League in average (.356), on-base percentage (.496) and slugging percentage (.609). The dude is a natural hitter despite what he showed in the majors in his first taste. Rendon has a natural power stroke and has learned to put backspin on the ball to help it travel further. He can also hit for a high average.
Third base is his natural position, and one that he plays extremely well, but the presence of Zimm could block him for a while. Is second base his future position in D.C.? It could be, although he'll have to put in the work to become effective at the keystone. But, heck, if Matt Carpenter did it in St. Louis, Rendon could surely pull it off. Danny Espinosa's struggles (.175/.206/.325 in 126 plate appearances) are causing Davey Johnson to look for other possibilities at the position.
There's a decent chance that Rendon shows his face in Washington again this year, whether it be at second base or the hot corner because Zimmerman finds his way back to the disabled list. If he does, don't pass negative judgment on him because of his showing in April.
About the author:
Keith, an editor with KFFL, joined the team as a Hot off the Wire analyst in 2008 and has been playing fantasy sports since 2005. He is involved in MLB, NFL and NASCAR content. He graduated from the University of California-San Diego in 2005 with a B.A. in Communications and was a four-year starter as a member of the baseball program.
For additional free fantasy baseball news, rankings, cheat sheets, sleepers and more, please visit KFFL Fantasy Baseball today!