Fan Fanatic Sports Staff
So some of your pitchers just didn't live up to the preaseason hype on Opening Day?
Yes, we all would love to see better starts in the opener from our aces that we own, but it just didn't work out for a few top-of-the-line arms that haven't yet justified an early pick in the draft.
The FFS staff's choice for Cy Young -- CC Sabathia -- sure didn't earn a penny of his hefty paycheck yesterday against the Orioles. Sabathia (4 1/3 IP, 8 H, 6 ER, 5 BB, 0 K) missed location, serving up several cookies, fell behind in counts and was wild ... not what we saw from his late last season. His pitching line was putrid just like his current ERA of 12.46, but he's throwing just like he did early last season when everyone was thinking he was washed up. Remember, Sabathia was 1-4 in his first six starts with a 7.88 ERA, but finished 17-10 with a 2.70 ERA.
Sabathia will be just fine, don't panic yet. Better starts are around the corner. Or if it's like last year, the month of May will be far better than April.
Arizona's Brandon Webb (4 IP, 6 H, 6 ER, 2 BB, 2 K, 2 HR allowed) also was shelled, another surprise on Opening Day. Webb fizzled down the stretch last season, which cost him the NL Cy Young, so his lackluster start is potentially concerning. Webb could bounce back and be just fine, but you never know. Yes, he's got a proven track record in winning games, but could this be a new trend? Let's hope not or my NL Only team is going right down the toilet bowl. I think he was a second-round pick in a 10-team league. Yikes, but I'm not ready to hit the panic button yet. Yet, being the key word with him, though.
Even Mr. Complete Game, Roy Halladay (7 IP, 6 H, 5 ER, BB, 2 K, 2 HR allowed), wasn't spectacular but at least he won.
Say what you want about early-season starts. Yes, it hurts your team now, but last I checked no one gets a trophy for leading on Opening Day. The Major League Baseball season is a grind with plenty of ups and downs. Some of the these aces are on a downer and so are their owners, but don't pack in the season and have a fire sale in April.
Give everyone some time to work their way into form. I like to give my players at least a month, I feel that's sufficient enough time to access their performance. If they are completely killing me in categories, then it's time to say see-ya, wouldn't-want-to-be-ya.
It ticks us all off that guys like Joe Saunders, Kevin Millwood, Jeremy Guthrie and Hiroki Kuroda all outshined the aces mentioned above, but who would you rather have over 30-plus starts? No-brainer, right?
Put the revolver down, ride it out for a while. Your preseason hype players can just as easily turn it around, and you don't want to be the guy that drops Sabathia, Webb or Halladay. Then, they'll all be laughing at you.
Chad, good point, but please refrain from putting Kuroda in with those other guys. He will have a much better sophomore season. It looks like he's been able to transfer his late season success from last year to 2009.
ReplyDeleteKuroda is a No. 4-5 starter at best, so he deserves to be put in that class with the other back end of the rotation guys. We know it hurts you just because you're a Dodgers fan, but get over it. He is what he is.
ReplyDeleteNo, Kuroda will show that he's a solid #3 on good teams. He'll have to be a #2 on the Dodgers for them to succeed. If the Dodgers can pull off a trade for Peavy, which I don't think they'll do, Kuroda can be the #4.
ReplyDeleteSo even if he turns into a No. 3 like you say, he's still in the same class as Saunders, Millwood, etc.
ReplyDeleteI'd take Kuroda over Millwood any day. Saunders may be a different matter because he's so much younger
ReplyDeleteI don't think you're gaining or losing much as far as fantasy production with any of those guys ...not like they will win you a title, unless one pitches out of their you know what!
ReplyDelete