Pitchers not listed on last update

CHC – Lilly
PHI – Blanton
LAD – Schmidt
NYY – Mitre
SD – Stauffer
MIL – Burns
FLA – VandenHurk
KC – Ponson

Pitchers from Friday no longer scheduled for two starts

WSX – Danks
KC – Meche
PHI – Moyer
LAD – Weaver
SD – Banks

Lilly is seventh in the majors with a 4.21 K/BB ratio. He has always been a good strikeout pitcher but this season he has a BB/9 ratio under two for the first time in his career. Still, Lilly has been lucky with his 80.4 percent strand rate, which has led to a FIP 64 points above his ERA.

Blanton’s ERA stood at 7.11 after eight starts this season. Since then, he has a 4-1 record with a 2.44 ERA and 54 strikeouts in 59 innings. Seven of his last nine games have been Quality Starts.

Schmidt is poised to make his first start in the majors since June 16, 2007. He has been out since then due to shoulder problems. Schmidt make eight rehab appearances in the minors and was 2-0 with a 4.18 ERA at Triple-A Albuquerque, where he fanned 25 batters in 32.1 innings.

Mitre was 3-1 in seven starts at Triple-A Scranton-Wilkes Barre. He had 35 strikeouts and five walks in 45 innings. Mitre, who pitched for the Cubs and Marlins, has not appeared in the majors since September of 2007.

Stauffer seeks to follow up his fine 2009 major league debut and the schedule maker has given him a favorable week, with a home game against Florida and a road tilt versus Washington.

Burns has a very nice 2.71 K/BB ratio but all of his other numbers are shaky. Fewer than 30 percent of his batted balls are grounders and he has an ugly 2.08 HR/9 mark.

VandenHurk opened the season on the 60-day disabled list with elbow soreness. The 6’5 righty was 4-1 with 2.71 ERA at Triple-A. New Orleans is one of the best pitchers parks in the PCL and VandenHurk was 3-0 with 1.82 ERA at home compared to 1-1 with a 3.75 ERA on the road.

Ponson still averages 91.6 with his fastball. And he is still nowhere close to a relevant fantasy option. In 11 games with the Royals this year, he has a 7.27 ERA and a 1.73 WHIP.

If Roy Halladay gets trade to Philly, I will be a very happy fan. However, from a fantasy perspective, I would not be as concerned as some others have spoken about. The 52.6% ground ball rate is the stat that will prevent him from getting lit up in the Philly Ballpark. Keep in mind, the rest of the NL East ballparks are more pitcher parks than hitter heavens.

The injury to Jay Bruce was a relief for me. Now I can shelf him, and stop letting him drive my batting average into the ground. If you need the DL spot for other players, do not be afraid to drop Bruce. Wrist injuries are tough to come back from, and what good is terrible production in September be?

It turns out that my man-crush on Yovani Gallardo from a few seasons back was spot on. Then why do I not own him in any league? Not sure… perhaps I should listen to my own advise. Even those who are diligent in their research miss things. This dude is for real, and will be a great option for years to come.

Has anyone noticed what Franklin Gutierrez has done over the past month? You should…18 runs, 7 HR, 18 RBI, 2 SB, and a .376 batting average. And those stats were before the home run and stolen base he collected last night. After a really slow start, he is beginning to display the promise he had a year or so ago.

The Adam Lind man-crush is beginning to develop. It is not the 20 homeruns that excite me, although that is certainly a nice stat, but rather the consistent production. Lind has hit at least one home run in the past 8 scoring weeks. That is consistent production that is a must have in H2H leagues.

When I watch J.A. Happ, I cannot believe how much he reminds me of Kyle Kendrick. Remember him? Kendrick came up with the Phillies and won numerous starts with a poor K/9 rate and a high strand rate. Everyone was jumping on the Kendrick bandwagon only to watch the wheels fall off the next season. Happ certainly has better skills than Kendrick, and should be a #5 starter for the Phils. However, he should be nothing more than a spot starter in Fantasy Baseball.

Joel Zumaya is hurt once again. This is not surprising news. I have watch the scouting video on him, and the contortions that his shoulder goes through is amazing. To me… I don’t think there is a wonder why he is always injured. You know who else had the same mechanic style? Mark Prior. Do you know who else has the same style delivery? Stephen Strasburg. Just offering food for thought.

Don’t look now, but Manny Parra has had two straight solid outings. I am not impressed with the walks in last night’s game, but he is now on my radar. I still would not get too excited, but keep in mind that top scouting sites rated him as a 5-star prospect. They also called him the left-handed version of Gallardo. I am not recommending running out and picking him up, but keep a very close eye on the next start.

How long until all the “experts” wake up and realize that Howie Kendrick will not amount to anything? Sure he may hit for a solid average, but expecting more than 5 homeruns or 5 steals during the second half is pushing it. These are the same people that claim Ben Zobrist is not for real. Sorry, but I would much rather have Zobrist the rest of the season.

Phil Hughes needs to be owned in many leagues, even if you do not have Holds as a category. If you do have holds, then he is even more valuable. The guy has pitch extremely well in relief. This is the type of pitcher that will add a few innings and several strikeouts each week. There really is value in middle relief pitching.

That is all that I have today. The question of the week is this….

• Will Ben Zobrist (who is currently the 4th ranked 2B in Yahoo) be a top 5 second baseman at the end of the year? If not, who will pass him?

By Steve Burkett

As I listened to Bob on the Johnny Archive show a couple of weeks ago, I heard him say that there is too much luck involved in H2H leagues.

I was thinking to myself that I didn’t like that point of view. Now, I know that a lot of purists will disagree, and I think most of that comes from playing ‘roto’ before the Internet. That’s the only way they played the game back then, though, so its ingrained in them.

I’m not saying that I necessarily feel that H2H is better, because, in my eight leagues, half of them are ‘roto’. I am just saying that H2H is more …

… realistic.

For example, do real MLB teams just add up their stats at the end of the year and declare the team with the most points as the winner? Of course, not. No, they have to play the games. And, in some of these games you might run into a poor team that is on a hot streak.

Or, you have batters who hit three or four home runs in one week … and then go three weeks without another one. Your closer could blow two saves in a week, and, even though he will get 35 to 40 for the year, that fact doesn’t matter in that individual week. Your starting pitchers might pitch well but lose a low-run game. All of this happens in real baseball, as well. Would you call it “luck”, or would you chalk it up to the grind of the regular season?

In H2H, you have to adjust if any of these things happen. You have to have a good balance every week to win. If, on Friday, you think there is no way you can catch your opponent in Home Runs, then put in your speedsters so that you can win Stolen Bases. You have to be creative to win … just like in real baseball. And, when I say this, I mean that you have to be more creative than just streaming pitchers – which I don’t like, but that’s a subject for a different day.

You have to be consistent and on your game every day. You might not want to play a batter that is 2-for-23 lifetime against a certain left-hander so that your BA won’t go down the drain for that day. In ‘roto’, one day doesn’t matter as much. I think I use my whole roster more in H2H than I do in my ‘roto’ leagues.

The last thing I like better is the playoffs. Remember in 2006, people said the Tigers had no chance against the Yankees in the playoffs because the Yankees had scored, like, two million runs and hit 7,000 homers that year? Well, we know who won that series. You could say that it was luck, but I say that it was reality. That’s why I like H2H.

Don’t get me wrong. I like playing both styles, but I say that H2H is more realistic, and I know I’m not going to change a lot of opinions. You see, I know you purists are very rigid in your games. You have to have two catchers, you have to know when – in what slot – your going to draft way before the draft, and you don’t like H2H.

I started playing fantasy baseball when I got a computer in 2001. I like one catcher, and I like random drafts in which you don’t know your slot until one-half hour before the draft. You can’t practice drafting out of one spot, so you have to adjust on the fly.

Hey, fans, it’s all in fun, so don’t send me “hate letters” for teasing you. I do like ‘roto’, too, but H2H is not luck!

Josh Willingham - The offense around him is not good. Eric Seidman pointed out at the beginning of June that all of his nine home runs were solo home runs - threatening the ‘record’ for solo home run percentage set by Curtis Granderson in 2007 (21 out of 23). Well, Willingham has finally hit a non-solo home run - but only one. So you probably don’t pick Willingham up for RBI, but it’s also starting to look like his mini power breakout is for real. He’s shown the on-base skills before (12.9% BB% this year, 11.2% career), and his .317 BABIP (.306 career) does not portend a quick and painful slump in the future. Could the new power be as simple as the fact that his new park is helping him out? Park factors are not always stable from year to year, so this year’s half season, in which Florida’s stadium is giving up more home runs than Washington’s, is less relevant when put against that same stadium’s consistent pitcher-friendly park factors. Take last year, for instance, and Washington’s stadium gave up 10% more home runs and doubles as Willingham’s old park. Of course, his .545 slugging percentage is over 10% better than his career slugging percentage in Florida (.432), but Willingham is 30 and could easily be peaking this year. Wonky math aside, Willingham will get his chance to prove that he is who he thinks he is - in Washington or elsewhere.

Josh Whitesell - The Diamondbacks finally got savvy to their lost season and began to look to the future at first base. With Conor Jackson still laid low by his mysterious illness, and with Tony Clark shown the door (and over to the Mets perhaps?), Whitesell gets his chance. His consistently high strikeout rates in the minors (ranging from 22% to 26% before this year) have led to inconsistent batting averages (ranging from .264 to .328). But this year he finally cut the rate down below 20% and had a good followup to last year’s career best .328/.425/.568 AAA debut. He’s only two years younger than incumbent Chad Tracy, but Tracy’s declining OPS and difficulty staying on the field are both reasons that Whitesell may have a window to take over the position if he starts out hot. His 23% strikeout rate in his 62 major-league at-bats this year bodes well, even if he hasn’t shown the power yet.

Cory Wade - Wade’s story is a sad story that we’ve all heard before: Young, promising reliever debuts on a veteran team led by Joe Torre, who goes on to ride that young arm to the postseason without a look at the usage stats and patterns or a care for the reliever’s future. Call Scott Proctor for details, but Wade is on the DL with a sore shoulder and it all sounds too familiar. With all the research about starters’ usage and their development, perhaps a little more attention could go to the blue-collar workers out in the pen. Torre is, once again, using his relievers more than any other manager in the league, and Ramon Troncoso and Ronald Belisario are the new Cory Wades. They, like Wade, are among league leaders in relief appearances. Like Wade (71.1 IP), Torre’s new toys are on pace to rack up big innings totals (Troncoso - 102 IP pace, Belisario - 86 IP pace). Like he did with Wade and Proctor before, will Torre break his newest toys?

It’s not that Romero had been a “bust”, mind, you. He just hadn’t really stood out. While Tulowitzki, Maybin, McCutchen and Bruce went on to become prospect darlings and organizational building blocks, Romero entered the ‘09 season as the third-best lefty pitching prospect in the Toronto system (behind Brett Cecil and Brad Mills), according to Baseball America.

His peripherals in the minors, while not poor, were bland. Romero punched out seven batters per nine innings, while generously dishing out free passes (3.8 BB/9). Baseball America called him a future “number 3 or 4 starter.” Truth be told, most teams would gladly take such production from a first-rounder. But having selected Romero at the expense of five-tool talents, the Jays were left wanting more.

So far in 2009, Romero has at least slightly eased the pain of passing on the Tulowitzkis and McCutchens of the world. In 14 starts, the 6-1, 200 pounder has compiled a 3.25 ERA. How has Romero come to post the 7th-lowest ERA in the A.L., and what should we expect moving forward? Let’s try to answer those questions.

While Romero has been legitimately impressive, a closer look at his numbers reveals a discord between his ERA and fielding-independent stats. Ricky has racked up 7.59 K/9, while issuing 3.45 BB/9. His Expected Fielding Independent ERA (XFIP, based on a pitcher’s strikeouts, walks and a normalized HR/FB ratio to root out extreme performances on flyballs) is 3.98. Not that there’s anything wrong with that: Romero’s XFIP ranks 9th in the A.L. But, he has benefitted from an 84.8% strand rate, which is a good 13-14% above the league average.

The former Titan totes a four-pitch mix, keeping hitters off balance with a 91 MPH fastball (thrown 51.9% of the time), 83 MPH slider (15.1%), 77 MPH curve (10%) and an 84 MPH changeup (23.1%). Romero’s heater (-0.83 runs/100 pitches) and slider (-1.12) haven’t been instilling fear into the opposition, but his curve has been above average (+0.26) and the changeup has been superb (+3.45).

Romero has long been noted for pulling the string well, which helps to explain his reverse platoon split (.228/.321/.371 vs. RHB, .314/.352/.559 vs. LHB). That trend was also present throughout his minor league career. According to Minor League Splits, Romero had a 4.50 FIP against lefty batters (4.56 BB/9) and a 4.25 mark against righties (3.33 BB/9).

The 24 year-old still isn’t showing the best of control. Romero has placed 46.6% of his pitches within the strike zone (49.3% MLB average), while tossing a first-pitch strike 56.8% of the time (58% MLB avg). On the other hand, Ricky is getting a decent number of outside swings (hitters are chasing 26.9% of his offerings out of the zone, compared to the 25 percent MLB average) and he has a quality contact rate (76.4%, 80.7% MLB avg).

Romero hasn’t been as impressive as his ERA would imply, but he has certainly been a quality starter in his first foray in the majors. He’s missing a decent number of bats with a deep arsenal of pitches, while also keeping the ball on the turf (51.8 GB%). The question moving forward will be: can he limit the walks? Intermittent control plagued Romero throughout his minor league career. For what it’s worth, ZiPS is predicting Romero to return to Earth with a big thud (5.46 ERA, 5.33 K/9 and 4.89 BB/9 during the rest of the 2009 season).

That seems awfully harsh. Granted, Romero toils in the ultra-competitive A.L. East, with a troubling history of missing his spots in the minors. And it’s also true that we’re examining what amounts to a half-season’s worth of data in the majors. But there’s nothing that screams “fluke” in Romero’s big league numbers. He definitely won’t continue posting an ERA in the low three’s, but it seems reasonable to hope for a mark in the low four’s from here on out. Romero is no future ace, but he’s also not a lost cause by any stretch of the imagination.

A recent conversation with my good friend Steve Parsons reminded me of the cyclical nature that we see so often in this great game. Our chat veered into a discussion on some of the great group of kids displaying their catching prowess down on the farm. Tyler Flowers, Carlos Santana, and Buster Posey are now all playing at the Triple-A level and all should be forces behind the plate heading into the 2010 season. Those playing in dynasty keeper formats would be best advised to give each of these youngsters a serious look-see and make plans accordingly heading into the 2010 season.

What once was a veritable wasteland position — catcher — could in fact soon be one of strength and not all that far down the road. Toss Oriole phenom Matt Wieters into the mix and we have even more potential at the catcher position just down the road.

Moving on, let’s take a look at some picks to click heading into the first full week of play after the mid-season classic.

Mat Latos, SP, San Diego Padres: The 21-year-old Latos has enjoyed a stellar season for Double-A San Antonio and has been recalled by the Padres. He is penciled in to get his first big league start Monday at home against the Fish. Down on the farm, Latos compiled a 5-1 record and 1.91 ERA in 47 IP. He allowed a scant 32 hits and only nine free passes in limiting the opposition to a .192 BAA. This kid has demonstrated he is ready for his first shot at the show, but be modest in your expectations as Latos is barely out of diapers and pitching for the offensively-challenged Padres. He is the type of player that is not going to stay a free agent on waiver wires for very long and it would be prudent to move early in all keeper formats, H2H and NL-only leagues.

Marc Rzepczynski, SP, Toronto Blue Jays: The 23-year-old southpaw earned his first victory as a Jay Saturday with a fine effort against the Boston Red Sox. In three starts since being recalled from Triple-A Las Vegas, he has limited the opposition to only five earned runs and has struck out 16 in 18 IP. Now for the bad news, Rzepczynski has also allowed 11 walks in this stretch. He has managed to pitch out of numerous jams, but unless he finds a way to limit the free passes one should be just a tad concerned looking forward. Those walks will eventually lead to some ugly lines if Rzepczynski doesn’t find a way to harness them. That being said, find a home for him in AL-only leagues and keep him filed away for future reference in standard 12-team mixed formats.

Shaun Marcum, SP, Toronto Blue Jays: Last year, Marcum was well on his way to his finest season as a Jay until Tommy John surgery ended his 2008 campaign in September. He has now finished his third successful rehab start, the most recent of which was at Double-A New Hampshire, and looks to be on schedule for an early August return to the Toronto rotation. The 3.39 ERA and 1.16 WHIP he racked up prior to surgery should be a reminder of his great potential, so now is the time to gamble and find a spot on your bench, before he gets that first start or two under his belt.

Franklin Gutierrez, OF, Seattle Mariners: It appears that I was a year early and a dollar short on Gutierrez. In his past 10 games, he’s been on fire hitting to the tune of a .342 BA with four homers and 11 RBI. The 26-year-old former Indian seems to adapting to life on the West Coast extremely well. Then again, escaping the mess in the Cleveland organization had to be enough incentive all on its own. Ride the Gutierrez wave in all formats until it finds shore.

John Baker, C, Florida Marlins: Since the beginning of July, Baker has turned it up a notch and has put together a great .344 BA. On the season, he is batting .256 with seven homers and 26 RBI and makes for a fine acquisition in Fantasy leagues requiring two catchers and NL-only formats. Ask not what he will do for you, but what he won’t, and that would be occupying the catcher slot with a sub .200 BA.

Garrett Jones, OF, Pittsburgh Pirates: The 28-year-old was called up July 1 and, in 13 games, has now amassed seven homers, including five in his past five games. Those Ruthonian numbers are certainly not sustainable, but Jones was putting up great numbers at Triple-A Indianapolis before his promotion to the Pirates. Get him rostered in all formats and enjoy the late bloomer’s current hot streak.

Clay Buchholz, SP, Boston Red Sox: This guy just keeps Red Sox fans begging for more. In a spot start Friday night against the Blue Jays he allowed four hits, three walks and one earned run in 5 2/3 IP, earning his first victory of the season. This will further fuel the Brad Penny trade rumours in Beantown. Buchholz has been absolutely dominating at Triple-A Pawtucket, where in 99 IP he has seven wins, a 2.36 ERA, and has allowed only 67 hits and 30 walks while racking up 89 strikeouts. We haven’t seen the last of Buchholz this season and in any format where you have the bench space he is a solid addition.

Erick Aybar, SS, Los Angeles Angels: In his past 10 games, the 25-year-old Aybar has been on fire. He has hit to the tune of a .486 BA with one homer and seven RBI over that stretch. Is that untapped potential we’ve been expecting for the past couple of years finally coming to fruition? It is going to be difficult for Mike Scioscia to keep him in the eighth slot in that batting order if he continues producing at this level. Aybar is a solid acquisition in all formats at this time.

Jason Schmidt, SP, Los Angeles Dodgers: Okay, this pick is a bit of a reach, but Schmidt is scheduled for two starts this week and has posted decent numbers down on the farm during his recent rehab stint. In his last four starts and 24 2/3 IP at Triple-A Albuquerque, he has managed 23 strikeouts and gone at least five innings in each of those starts. Schmidt hasn’t pitched in the bigs since the 2007 campaign and only made six starts that season before going under the knife for shoulder surgery. The Dodgers are going to need another arm for the stretch run, and if he has put those shoulder woes behind him, he could prove to be an asset to both the Dodgers and your Fantasy squad.

Simulation fans may want to avert their eyes as 2k Sports’ recent release, The Bigs 2, makes no bones about being an over-the-top arcade experience in the tradition of old school games like NBA Jam and NFL Blitz. The original, released roughly two years ago, was an enjoyable title and anyone familiar with it should have no trouble picking up the sequel. That’s not to say that The Bigs 2 hasn’t added more modes, features and a slew of mini games to the package, but the overall experience remains the same. Unlike some franchises, however, there’s enough new here that it doesn’t feel like a glorified roster update.

Controls (4/5)

The control scheme for hitting is basic as you choose between power (B) and contact swings (A). You can also bunt (X), while stealing is tied to the Y button — press once to lead off and a second time to steal. If you have enough turbo stored up, pressing the right trigger activates it, giving you increased power or speed depending on when you press it. When running the bases you can take control of any player by pressing the corresponding button and tell them how far to advance with the left stick utilizing the baseball diamond as a guide (press up run to second, press left go to third, etc.).

Things stay simple on the bump as you move the cursor to the desired location and pick one of the four face buttons to throw your pitch. You’ll need to hold down the button until the meter fills to the top and release it. If you do it perfectly you’ll be rewarded with a more effective pitch, but if you end up in the red you’ll “tip” your pitch so the hitter will see its location and know whether it’s a ball or a strike…and if it is a strike, expect your opponent to hit the mistake a long way. It’ll take some time to get the hang of it, but once you’ve got it down you’ll find yourself throwing perfect pitches more often than not.

Surprisingly, you’ll find the most complex controls reserved for fielding, specifically the laundry list of mini games associated with the various “legendary catches.” The game will let you know when these are available, prompting you to press A to initiate the mini game. For instance, one mini game requires you to hold a button down and release it at a specific time while another has you entering a sequence of buttons before time runs out. It definitely varies the experience and requires some skill, though at times it feels overdone.

Graphics/Sound (3.75/5)

Much like the game play itself, the graphics in The Bigs 2 are over the top. The player models look like Steroids Era professional wrestlers and their animations reflect that same larger than life approach. Home runs are launched into the stratosphere, knuckleballs zigzag back and forth and outfielders fire the ball from the warning track to home plate on the fly in a matter of nanoseconds with the obligatory smoke trail to boot.

For the most part, the players are easily recognizable, which is something you couldn’t always say for the previously released MLB 2k9, and the frame rate moves along crisply. In fact, my only real complaint comes when playing night games as the field looks like half the lights at the stadium have mysteriously gone out. It’s distractingly dark and takes some getting used to. Of course, in many game modes you get to pick day or night game so it’s not that big of a deal.

As for the audio it’s more of a mixed bag, specifically the commentary. It’s not that the announcing is bad as there are some funny lines, but since this is an arcade-style game you’ll be getting a lot of at bats in every game, and it won’t be long before you’re hearing the same things over and over again. Like the first game, it’ll be the fielding lines you’ll hear most often since there are seemingly a half-dozen or more “legendary catches” per game, and after about 75 per cent of them you’ll hear a reference to Ozzie Smith. Also, the announcer refers to some of the MLB legends by nicknames, which in some cases make sense (Smith as “The Wizard” for example) but in others do not (Edgar Martinez announced as “The Mariner”). The strangest to me was the referring of Albert Belle as simply “Joey,” which of course was his nickname when he broke into the majors, but one he loathed being called once in The Show.

Gameplay (4/5)

As with the original, the primary single-player mode — entitled “Become a Legend” in the sequel — is built around creating a player and taking him to the top — in this case, Cooperstown. The back story is that your player is coming off a serious injury and has to work his way back, starting with a rehab stint in Mexico. You’ll begin with all of your skills at a very low level and improve by beating teams and unlocking mini games to boost yourself in one of five categories: contact hitting, power hitting, fielding, throwing and running. The order in which these unlock is predetermined.

In Season One you’ll face some of the league’s worst teams, engaging in three-game series. The first two games will have specific challenges (i.e., drive in two runs with your created player), while the third allows you to “steal” a player from the other team by beating them in a five-inning game. This is identical to the “Rookie Challenge” mode in the original, though this time you’ll only be allowed to activate three of your stolen players per game. I think that’s a good move as it keeps you from creating an unbeatable club, though I don’t like that the CPU decides who’s removed from your lineup.

As the seasons move along, you’ll face better teams while also squaring off against teams of Hall of Famers with accompanying challenges. Your ultimate goal is to accumulate enough HOF points to gain admittance into Cooperstown. Unfortunately, the game’s challenges become more and more difficult to accomplish, which would be more forgivable if they were purely skill based, but they’re not. The worst offenders without question are the fielding challenges as you have no control over where your opponent hits the ball. That leads to scenarios wherein you’ll win a game 12-1, but can’t advance to the next game because your player didn’t throw out enough runners or make enough legendary catches. Needless to say, it can be incredibly frustrating and will certainly weed out some of the less determined players before they reach the mode’s conclusion.

To its credit, 2k Sports did add a single-player alternative to The Bigs 2, giving gamers a chance to play through an entire season with their created team. One thing worth pointing out for those interested in playing a full season is just how outdated these rosters are. For instance, the Pirates still have Nate McLouth, Nyjer Morgan, Eric Hinske and Craig Monroe. 2k Sports says there will be a roster update, but those without Xbox Live will have to make do. Also of note, trades are not based on player ratings or anything like that. Instead, you amass “trade power” by playing games, which allows you to propose a trade (one-for-one only). This then initiates one of a series of mini games — like slots or a spinoff of Memory where you match cards — and if you’re successful the trade happens. That means if you want to deal David Eckstein for Hanley Ramirez, you can pull it off.

Beyond the two primary modes, Home Run Pinball also makes a return, and this time it branches out into four areas. The concept is simple: hit the ball into buildings, cars and whatever else is available to earn points. It’s a fun distraction and a nice little time killer. There are also four mini-games (power, contact, fielding and speed), which range from enjoyable (power) to overly contrived (speed).

For those that prefer a more social experience, The Bigs 2 offers multiplayer both on- and offline. The online mode allows you to join a quick match or designate preferences before searching, but it also features a lobby where you can view other players, create your open room where you set the rules (which amounts to an open challenge) or join another player’s room to start a game. The game tracks your stats, the most important of which is games played versus games completed as the biggest problem I encountered was people quitting. Unfortunately, if your opponent quits you aren’t given a win, even if you’re winning 10-0 with only one out left to get. As for the performance, things generally ran smoothly though I did encounter some occasional lag.

Overall (4/5)

Although there are unquestionably frustrations as you progress deeper in the “Become a Legend” mode and some of the mini games feeling unnatural in placement and design, this is a strong title and a great pick-up-and-play option for those that like to sit around and talk trash with their friends. If you liked the original, getting the sequel is a no brainer while those looking for a fun experience that’ll provide many hours of enjoyment should consider adding The Bigs 2 to their collection as well.