Eat, Drink and Sleep Baseball

Phillies to activate Chase Utley on Monday

2011-05-22T17:18:00.001-04:00

Although the Phillies have the best record in the National League, their offense has struggled recently. Today's shutout loss against the Rangers marked the ninth consecutive game in which the Phillies have scored three runs or less.

But help is on the way.

When the Phillies begin a four-game series against the Reds on Monday, second baseman Chase Utley will be activated from the disabled list and make his season debut.

When it comes to playing time, however, Utley will be eased back into action slowly.

“We might do one on, one off for a while, or two on, one off,” [manager Charlie] Manuel said, per Jim McCormick of Philadelphia Sports Daily. “I think that Utley and I will communicate, I think he will let me know.”

To make room for Utley, the Phillies have optioned Pete Orr to Triple-A Lehigh Valley.

Pujols leaves game with tight hamstring

2011-04-25T08:21:00.001-04:00

Cardinals first baseman Albert Pujols left last night's game against the Reds with tightness in his hamstring after trying to run out a grounder in the seventh inning.

The Cardinals have Monday off as they travel to Houston to begin a three-game series with the Astros on Tuesday.

Will he be able to play?

"I think it all depends on how I wake up tomorrow," Pujols said, per Tom Timmermann of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch. "The tests were pretty good. They don't think it's too bad. When I wake up tomorrow, I can sense a little more about how I feel. Hopefully it's not as bad as I feel right now. I'll be glad we have a day off tomorrow.

"I'll show up here early tomorrow, get treatment and we'll go from there. Right now, if I told you I was going to be playing Tuesday, I don't want to say yes and not be there. ... Hopefully, in my prayers, I feel good, have a good day off tomorrow, travel, and on Tuesday I'll be ready to go."

Pujols got off to a slow start and was hitting only .150 through April 11th's win over Arizona. In his past 12 games, however, Pujols has 16 hits in 48 at-bats (.333 average) with six home runs and 13 runs batted in.

Mike Leake arrested for stealing $60 worth of t-shirts

2011-04-18T21:40:00.001-04:00

Cincinnati Reds starting pitcher Mike Leake was arrested for allegedly stealing six t-shirts from Macy's earlier this afternoon.

The misdemeanor charge carries a maximum jail sentence of 180 days.

As expected, both the organization and Leake issued statements that they won't comment on the charges directly.

Per a report in the Cincinnati Enquirer, police documents indicate that security cameras show that Leake removed the security tags and walked out of the store without paying for them.

If security cameras show that Leake removed the security tags, however, it doesn't appear that he can (plausibly) claim that he didn't know he had the merchandise on him when leaving the store.

Leake, the team's first-round pick in 2009, was the 21st player since the start of the draft to appear in a major league game without appearing in a single minor league game. He finished with an 8-4 record last year and 2-0 in three starts this season.

Fantasy Baseball: 2011 Second Basemen Rankings

2011-03-27T14:29:00.006-04:00

The biggest question at second base heading into the 2011 season is what will fantasy owners get from Phillies second baseman Chase Utley.

When healthy and at his best, Utley is elite. He has posted career highs in the standard five rotisserie categories, as follows: .332-131-33-105-23.

The problem is the health, or lack thereof, of Utley's knee, which will likely land him on the disabled list to start the season. From a fantasy perspective, the bigger worry is that improvement in his knee seems to be moving a snail's pace. How soon will he be back? Will the injury linger and affect his performance when he's back on the field?

Here are our top 15 fantasy second basemen for 2011:

1. Robinson Cano, Yankees: With the exception of stolen bases, Cano puts up elite stats across the board at a relatively weak position. Cano, who set career highs in home runs (29) and runs batted in (109) in 2010, has the second-most hits in all of baseball over the past two seasons.

2. Dustin Pedroia, Red Sox: In addition to hitting over .300 for his career, Pedroia gives fantasy owners the potential for a 15-20 season. Despite missing half of last year, Pedroia ranks tenth in the majors in runs scored (286) from 2008 to 2010.

3. Dan Uggla, Braves: At a position where power hitters are less common, Uggla has a been a model of consistency when it comes to power. In each of the past four seasons, Uggla has hit 31-33 home runs and has driven in 90-plus runs including a career-high 105 last season. But will you get his career-low .243 (2009) or career-high .287 (2010) batting average? Although he's a career .354 hitter in his new home ballpark (Turner Field), the answer likely falls somewhere in between that range.

4. Ian Kinsler, Rangers: The biggest knock on Kinsler is playing time (123.6 games per season over past five years). If healthy, Kinsler has the potential to put up elite numbers. For example, when he played a career-high 144 games (2009), Kinsler hit 31 homers and stole 31 bases.

5. Brandon Phillips, Reds: For the first time in four seasons, Phillips failed to have a 20-20 season. In 2010, he finished with 18 home runs and 16 stolen bases. The majority of Phillips' at-bats in 2010 came at one of the top two spots of the lineup after mostly batting cleanup in 2009. The effect? His runs batted in dropped from 98 in 2009 to a five-year low of 59 in 2010.

6. Chase Utley, Phillies: Two seasons removed from a 30-20 season, Utley will most likely begin the 2011 season on the disabled list after missing a total of 47 games last year. If he were healthy, Utley would be second on this list.

7. Rickie Weeks, Brewers: Speaking of health, Weeks played an average of 95 games per season from 2005 through 2009 before playing a career-high 160 games last year. Naturally, he set career-highs in runs scored (112), hits (175), home runs (29) and runs batted in (83) in 2010. The only way he approaches those numbers again is if he can stay healthy for two seasons in a row. Before last year, he hadn't done that for one season in a row.

8. Martin Prado, Braves: Prado, who played mostly second base and some third base last year, is moving to left field for the Braves and soon will be eligible at three fantasy positions. In a career-high 140 games last season, Prado hit .307 and 15 home runs with 100 runs scored.

9. Gordon Beckham, White Sox: After hitting 14 homers with 63 runs batted in over 103 games in his rookie season, Beckham seemed poised for a breakout season last year. The eighth overall pick in the 2008 draft got off to an incredibly slow start in 2010, but he picked up the pace as he hit .310 after the All-Star break. Beckham, who will bat second for the White Sox this season, is a guy I've targeted in most of my drafts this year.

10. Ben Zobrist, Rays: Like Prado, Zobrist has multi-position eligibility as a second baseman and outfielder (and first baseman in Yahoo! leagues). After a breakout season in 2009 (.297-91-27-91-17), Zobrist really struggled down the stretch last season. After the All-Star break, Zobrist hit only .177 and hit .200 or lower per month from July to October. On a positive note, Zobrist stole a career-high 24 bases in 2010 and will likely have even more base-stealing opportunities as the team's leadoff hitter.

11. Aaron Hill, Blue Jays: Not only did Hill have the lowest BABIP (.196) of his career, it was the lowest in all of baseball. Even with the horrible BABIP and batting average (.205), Hill still managed to hit 26 home runs in 2010.

12. Kelly Johnson, Diamondbacks: In his first season with the Diamondbacks, Johnson set career highs in runs (93), hits (166), home runs (26), runs batted in (71) and stolen bases (13) in 2010. Johnson hit .311 with 16 of his 26 home runs at Chase Field last year.

13. Howie Kendrick, Angels: The direction of his batting averages over the past four seasons isn't what you'd like to see: .322 (2007), .306 (2008), .291 (2009) and .279 (2010). That said, he set career highs in several counting statistics: runs scored (67), runs batted in (75), stolen bases (14) and tied his career high in home runs (ten).

14. Chone Figgins, Mariners: Since 2004, Figgins has stolen 30-plus bases every season. In five of the past six seasons, he has stolen 40-plus bases. Figgins is having a good spring (.349 average and four steals in 16 games).

15. Brian Roberts, Orioles: When healthy, Roberts has provided fantasy owners with lots of runs and stolen bases and a decent batting average. Before missing 100-plus games in 2010, Roberts stole 30-plus bases for four consecutive seasons although he went from 50 (2007) to 40 (2008) to 30 (2009).

Feel free to send fantasy baseball questions to me via Twitter at @EDSBaseball or post them in our fantasy baseball forum.

Fantasy Baseball: 2011 First Basemen Rankings

2011-03-26T10:47:00.012-04:00

Without question, first base is the deepest position for everyday players. The top seven or eight first basemen will likely be drafted in the first two rounds of your 12-team league.

Some players on our list played 10-19 games at first base in 2010, which means the player may or may not qualify as a first baseman in your league. For example, Yahoo! leagues require a player to appear in at least ten games at that position in the previous year. For ESPN leagues, the requirement is 20-plus games.

Based on lower eligibility requirements, first base is even deeper for participants in Yahoo! leagues than those participating in ESPN leagues.

Here are the top 20 fantasy first basemen for 2011:

1. Albert Pujols, Cardinals: Through ten seasons, Pujols has had career lows of .312 batting average (2010), 32 home runs (2007) and 103 runs batted in (2007). While that is the worst-case scenario, a typical (average) season for the career .331 hitter is 41 home runs and 123 runs batted in.

2. Joey Votto, Reds: While first base is loaded with talent, Votto finished no lower than top-five in all five standard rotisserie categories. The reigning N.L. MVP set career-highs in runs scored (106), home runs (37), runs batted in (113), steals (17) and batting average (.324) as well.

3. Adrian Gonzalez, Red Sox: During his five years as a Padre, Gonzalez hit .267 and 57 home runs (one per 24.7 at bats) with 201 runs batted in at home. On the road, however, Gonzalez hit .307 and 104 home runs (one per 15.1 at bats) with 300 runs batted in. The change of scenery can only do Gonzalez some good despite finishing 2010 with an average of .298, 31 home runs and 101 runs batted in.

4. Miguel Cabrera, Tigers: Over the past three seasons, only two first basemen have hit over .300 with 100 home runs and 350 runs batted in: Cabrera and Pujols. If it weren't for his alcohol problems highlighted by his run-in with the law in February, Cabrera would have been ranked ahead of all first basemen not named Albert Pujols.

5. Mark Teixeira, Yankees: Teixeira, who hit a career-low .256 in 2010, hit .280-plus every season and over .300 three times from 2004 to 2009. With seven consecutive seasons of 30-plus homers and 100-plus RBIs, you know what you'll get in the power department from Teixeira. But will Teixeira hit .256, .280 or .300?

6. Prince Fielder, Brewers: Last year, Fielder set a four-year low in home runs (32) and runs batted in (83) while hitting a career-worse .261. The year before, Fielder set career highs in runs batted in (141) and average (.299) while posting the second-highest homer total (46) of his career. Splitting the difference would be 39 home runs, 112 runs batted in and a .280 average. Sounds good to me.

7. Kevin Youkilis, Red Sox: Over the past five seasons, Youkilis has not played more than 147 games in any year. Provided he stays healthy for a full season, Youkilis could/should put up around or more than 100 runs, 100 runs batted in, 30 homers while hitting .300. His bigger value will come once he gains eligibility at the much more talent-scarce position of third base.

8. Ryan Howard, Phillies: Over the past five years, no player has more home runs (229) or runs batted in (680) than Howard. In addition, Howard leads the majors in strikeouts (922) during that span.

9. Adam Dunn, White Sox: From 2004 to 2010, Dunn has hit 38-plus home runs and driven in 100-plus runs six times (the 'off' season of 2006 was 92 RBIs). Trading in a half-season of games in Washington for U.S. Cellular Field can't hurt Dunn's power production and it wouldn't surprise me to see Dunn lead baseball in home runs. However, will he hit .260-plus for a third straight season?

10. Justin Morneau, Twins: Although he hasn't played a regular-season game since suffering a concussion in July, a full season from a healthy Morneau would make him a huge bargain at this spot. Morneau played exactly one-half of a season (81 games) last year and hit .345 with 18 home runs and 56 runs batted in. Before last season, Morneau drove in 100-plus runs for four straight years and hit 30-plus homers in three of those seasons.

11. Buster Posey, Giants: As one of the top three catchers in our fantasy rankings, however, you will more likely use Posey as your team's catcher despite his eligibility at first base. Manager Bruce Bochy has stated that Posey will get full days off when he's not catching, which means a season of around 135 games. That said, Posey should hit around .300 and 20 home runs in 2011.

12. Billy Butler, Royals: If there's one thing you can bank on from Butler, it's his strong batting average. Whether we see a power surge from Butler remains to be seen, but he's only 24 years old and has hit the most doubles (96) in baseball over the past two years combined. If only he could turn a few of those doubles into homers ...

13. Pablo Sandoval, Giants: With 11 games logged at first base in 2010, Sandoval may be eligible at first base in your league. He disappointed in the follow-up performance to his breakout season of 2009 (.330 average, 25 homers, 90 runs batted in). Sandoval, who is only 24 years old, could be primed for a bounce-back season after losing weight in the off-season and shortening his swing.

14. Paul Konerko, White Sox: It's unlikely that Konerko will duplicate his 2010 numbers (.312 average, 39 home runs and 111 runs batted in). Then again, only five other players hit .300-30-100 or better last season. Three of those other five were first basemen: Pujols, Cabrera and Votto.

15. Kendry Morales, Angels: Morales, who will begin the 2011 season on the disabled list, hasn't played a game since May 29th. In his only full season or close to it (152 games), Morales hit .306 with 34 home runs and 108 runs batted in.

16. Carlos Lee, Astros: Ending a four-year streak of hitting .300-plus, Lee posted a career-low batting average (.246) while hitting only 24 home runs (lowest total since 2001) with 89 runs batted in (lowest since 2002). Considering Lee also had his lowest BABIP (.238) of his career in 2010, an improvement over last season seems reasonable.

17. Aubrey Huff, Giants: Last year, Huff hit .290 with 26 home runs and 86 runs batted in. Huff, who is a career .283 hitter, should hit relatively close to .290 again although I would be surprised to see him exceed his home run total from 2010.

18. Carlos Pena, Cubs: The good news? Pena will go yard in one out of every 13.4 (or so) at bats, which was his average during his four years in Tampa. The bad news? He got a hit in less than every five at bats last season. (Take small consolation in the fact that only Aaron Hill had a lower BABIP in all of baseball than Pena last year.) The moderate news? He was tied for 11th in baseball in walks (87) last year so his on-base percentage isn't horrible if that helps you.

19. Adam Lind, Blue Jays: After a breakout season in 2009 (.305 average, 35 homers, 114 runs batted in), Lind disappointed fantasy owners in 2010 (.237-23-72). Not only did he hit .174 and .156 last May and June, respectively, but he hit only one home run in 90 at bats during June. Perhaps his better second-half performance and solid spring (hitting .341 through 16 games) bodes well for Lind.

20. Adam LaRoche, Nationals: LaRoche is a career .295 hitter that hits a homer every 18.3 at bats. In the second half, that is. LaRoche is notorious for his poor first-half performances (career .252 hitter and homer every 24.8 at bats before the All-Star break) and his (relative) strong performances (noted earlier) after the break.

As we noted above, first base is exceptionally deep. Players outside our top 20, such as Gaby Sanchez (Florida), Ike Davis (Mets), Mitch Moreland (Texas) and Brandon Belt (San Francisco) as a few examples, of players with upside that are viable fantasy options.

Feel free to send fantasy baseball questions to me via Twitter at @EDSBaseball or post them in our fantasy baseball forum.

Tuesday Night Links

2010-03-30T23:09:00.003-04:00

Reds closer Francisco Cordero said, "It's not only about me having a good year. It's about getting the team in the playoffs and maybe the World Series.

Meanwhile, his teammate Aroldis Chapman is likely to start the season in the minors.

And Reds manager Dusty Baker says of his bullpen, "You need a good bullpen. We've got a good bullpen."

John Shea of the San Francisco Chronicle points out that the difference between the "Big 3's" of Atlanta and Oakland in the past and the Giants today is offense.

Phillies reliever J.C. Romero says of his latest outing, "... today was very good and I am very happy about everything that went on today."

With his roster spot secure in 2010, Phillies starter J.A. Happ said, "I obviously don't want to give up hits or runs, but last year I had to go with what I was most confident in. This year, I'm maybe able to try a few different things. I did that."

San Diego's Chase Headley leads the majors in runs batted in (21) this spring.

Cubs outfield prospect Tyler Colvin, who's hitting .455 this spring, could push the starters.

As expected, Yovani Gallardo is the Brewers' Opening Day starter.

Tigers first baseman Miguel Cabrera hit a pair of 500-foot homers.

White Sox manager Ozzie Guillen says of outfielder Carlos Quentin's new attitude:''I love it, oh, my God, yes. I think Carlos enjoys the game a little bit more. I don't want him to change, I don't. ... I think he's out there more with the players, and I like that, believe me.''

The Mariners have released pitcher Seth McClung.

Reds starter Aaron Harang said about today's loss and being ready as Opening Day starter: "Yeah, I feel great. This is the best I've felt in spring training. The outcome is not what you want and expect. But it doesn't count. This is about getting ready for the long haul of the season. Overall, I feel very comfortable with the new stuff with my mechanics. I feel like the ball is coming out very well. It's a matter of coming in and stretching it out come Monday."

The Marlins acquired pitcher Nate Robertson from Detroit.

Pitcher Jeff Suppan was placed on the disabled list, retroactive to March 26th, by the Brewers.

Shameless plug of the day: here's the link to the latest post on my football site.

Follow me on Twitter @EDSBaseball.