Playin With Fire: Hot Streaks and Call-ups
This week, as always, PWF will cover some of the hot and cold players in baseball, but also provide a few details on some of the latest pitching call-ups.
Hitters
Hot
Nate McLouth has continued his hot streak through the entire month of April. Just in the past week, McLouth has blasted four home runs garnering 25 total bases all the while posting a .417 batting average. The center fielder is currently 9th in the NL in batting average (.339), tied for 7th in home runs in the NL (7), tied for 4th in the NL in RBIs (25), 1st in doubles in the NL (13), and 7th in OBP in the NL (1.071). Keep in mind, McLouth is still 26 years old so he holds a tremendous value in keeper leagues.
Matt Kemp has really started to heat up this past week. The Dodger outfielder has driven in 15 runs and stolen 15 bases in the last seven days. Kemp, like McLouth, is still at a young age and has a solid upside for years to come. It is unlikely that Kemp will continue to steal this many bases, but 25 a season is a good possibility.
Ryan Braun, Dan Uggla, and Josh Hamilton have all been heating up this week. Hamilton in particular is leading all of baseball in RBI with 32.
Pitchers
Vincente Padilla has pitched two outstanding starts this week for the Rangers. Pitching 14.2 combined innings, Padilla has allowed only one earned run (a home run) and managed to win two games. The only downside to Padilla's week is that he has only posted eight strikeouts. It is doubtful that Padilla's value could get any higher this year, so if have him trade him soon.
Chien-Ming Wang became the first pitcher in the AL to six wins this year, and has done so by putting up 32 strikeouts. 14 of the 32 have come in Wang's last to starts which have come in the past week. In 13 innings of work this week, he has allowed only one run and four walks. Wang has never been known to be much of a strikeout pitcher, but has been a consistent ace for the Yankees year in and year out in the past few years.
Eric Gagne, Jon Rauch, and Brandon Lyon have all closed out three games this week, preventing a run from scoring each time out. These three have been shaky in weeks past, but hold high trade values right now.
Call-ups
In the past week or so, there have been a tremendous amount of pitching call-ups to major league teams for one reason or another. I wouldn't count on any of these guys to have much value at the time being, but keep an eye on the following:
RHP Lance Cormier, Baltimore: Cormier has put up a 0.96 ERA in the minors this year in nine appearances (18.2 innings). He has yet to make a solid impact in the majors, but has been up and down with the Braves in years past, as both a starter and reliever.
RHP Chad Fox, Chicago (NL): Fox was called up on May 2nd, and managed to get his first Major League loss of 2008 on May 2nd. Fox has no fantasy value.
RHP Adam Russell, Chicago (AL): Russell had a 3+ ERA in relief in AAA for the Charlotte Knights. He is only up for the short term, and has no value.
RHP Jose Veras, New York (AL): Veras has nine saves in 13 appearances this year. Most notably, Veras has struck out 21 batters. Keep an eye on Veras, but don't hop on him yet. He will just hold a middle relief role.
LHP A.J. Murray, Texas: Murray has posted six starts this year, but only received a decision in two of them, both of which were wins. Murray does have a 4.18 ERA, which is certain to go up in the majors. It is unlikely that he will be up long, since Jennings was only placed on the 15-day DL.
RHP Nick Adenhart, Los Angeles (AL): Adenhart has been touted as the top pitching prospect in the Angels system for quite a few years now, but hadn't made a major league start until this week. Adenhart will only be up until Lackey is back from injury, but it doesn't appear that he is major league ready yet. The right-hander made his first start just a few days ago, and only completed two innings after allowing five runs.
Adenhart has a highly touted future ahead of him though, especially with his 0.87 ERA in AAA this year for Salt Lake. He will get another start, but won't be up too long.
One last note, fantasy owners have been highly awaiting for Reds pitcher Homer Bailey to get called up, and stay up in the majors for a few years now. With a new GM in place, it looks as if Bailey will return to the majors soon, and could stay. Keep an eye out for Bailey and try to grab him just in case he posts numbers anywhere close to his numbers in AAA.
Hitters
Hot
Nate McLouth has continued his hot streak through the entire month of April. Just in the past week, McLouth has blasted four home runs garnering 25 total bases all the while posting a .417 batting average. The center fielder is currently 9th in the NL in batting average (.339), tied for 7th in home runs in the NL (7), tied for 4th in the NL in RBIs (25), 1st in doubles in the NL (13), and 7th in OBP in the NL (1.071). Keep in mind, McLouth is still 26 years old so he holds a tremendous value in keeper leagues.
Matt Kemp has really started to heat up this past week. The Dodger outfielder has driven in 15 runs and stolen 15 bases in the last seven days. Kemp, like McLouth, is still at a young age and has a solid upside for years to come. It is unlikely that Kemp will continue to steal this many bases, but 25 a season is a good possibility.
Ryan Braun, Dan Uggla, and Josh Hamilton have all been heating up this week. Hamilton in particular is leading all of baseball in RBI with 32.
Pitchers
Vincente Padilla has pitched two outstanding starts this week for the Rangers. Pitching 14.2 combined innings, Padilla has allowed only one earned run (a home run) and managed to win two games. The only downside to Padilla's week is that he has only posted eight strikeouts. It is doubtful that Padilla's value could get any higher this year, so if have him trade him soon.
Chien-Ming Wang became the first pitcher in the AL to six wins this year, and has done so by putting up 32 strikeouts. 14 of the 32 have come in Wang's last to starts which have come in the past week. In 13 innings of work this week, he has allowed only one run and four walks. Wang has never been known to be much of a strikeout pitcher, but has been a consistent ace for the Yankees year in and year out in the past few years.
Eric Gagne, Jon Rauch, and Brandon Lyon have all closed out three games this week, preventing a run from scoring each time out. These three have been shaky in weeks past, but hold high trade values right now.
Call-ups
In the past week or so, there have been a tremendous amount of pitching call-ups to major league teams for one reason or another. I wouldn't count on any of these guys to have much value at the time being, but keep an eye on the following:
RHP Lance Cormier, Baltimore: Cormier has put up a 0.96 ERA in the minors this year in nine appearances (18.2 innings). He has yet to make a solid impact in the majors, but has been up and down with the Braves in years past, as both a starter and reliever.
RHP Chad Fox, Chicago (NL): Fox was called up on May 2nd, and managed to get his first Major League loss of 2008 on May 2nd. Fox has no fantasy value.
RHP Adam Russell, Chicago (AL): Russell had a 3+ ERA in relief in AAA for the Charlotte Knights. He is only up for the short term, and has no value.
RHP Jose Veras, New York (AL): Veras has nine saves in 13 appearances this year. Most notably, Veras has struck out 21 batters. Keep an eye on Veras, but don't hop on him yet. He will just hold a middle relief role.
LHP A.J. Murray, Texas: Murray has posted six starts this year, but only received a decision in two of them, both of which were wins. Murray does have a 4.18 ERA, which is certain to go up in the majors. It is unlikely that he will be up long, since Jennings was only placed on the 15-day DL.
RHP Nick Adenhart, Los Angeles (AL): Adenhart has been touted as the top pitching prospect in the Angels system for quite a few years now, but hadn't made a major league start until this week. Adenhart will only be up until Lackey is back from injury, but it doesn't appear that he is major league ready yet. The right-hander made his first start just a few days ago, and only completed two innings after allowing five runs.
Adenhart has a highly touted future ahead of him though, especially with his 0.87 ERA in AAA this year for Salt Lake. He will get another start, but won't be up too long.
One last note, fantasy owners have been highly awaiting for Reds pitcher Homer Bailey to get called up, and stay up in the majors for a few years now. With a new GM in place, it looks as if Bailey will return to the majors soon, and could stay. Keep an eye out for Bailey and try to grab him just in case he posts numbers anywhere close to his numbers in AAA.
