By JIMMY D / Break out the baseball breakout player lists | Jimmy's archive
Jason Motte. Kevin Slowey. Max Scherzer. Chris Ray. Jordan Schafer.
Even casual fantasy baseball nerds have heard these names, but all could be household names that even your baseball-challenged girlfriend or that nitwit in your pool will know by mid-season. (C’mon, every pool has one nitwit who is there more for the social element and still has Lloyd Moseby on his draft list).
It means fantasy GMs need to pay extra attention to some of these players, who represent a mix of hot prospects, seasoning youngsters and those where opportunity may knock earlier than expected.
Jason Motte, St. Louis – The injury to Chris Perez opened the door and Motte has barged in guns blazing. He struck out 16 in 11 September innings and has been firing the cannon in spring with Ks galore and miniscule ERA.
Max Scherzer, Arizona – fireballing righty K’ed 32 in four September starts and boasts top-end talent. Some are worried about Mad Max’s shoulder, but it hasn’t stopped GMs ranking him in the 40 range among all starting pitchers.
Kevin Slowey, Minnesota – Twins starter wore down a bit in September, but had quietly spectacular second half and he’s been impossible this spring. Expect more of those 10-K and 12-K performances he chucked in August during 2009.
Chris Ray, Baltimore – Another closer situation where opportunity is knocking. Incumbent George Sherrill walks too many and he may be trade bait or set-up man before long. As of Sunday, Ray’s spring ERA was a satisfactory 0.00 and he hadn’t walked a soul.
Jordan Schafer, Atlanta – The Braves are still looking for some dynamism in the outfield and the rookie might be lightning in a bottle. Has been killing the ball in spring and the competition in Atlanta isn’t the strongest, with continued rumours of the Braves trading arms for bats.
Jimmy will compile some lists on his website this week for those looking for insights or cheat notes.
Madness badness
2009 will not see a Jimmy D repeat as March Madness bracket pool champion. Just 10 of his 16 picks made it through the first weekend, with the losses of Wisconsin and Arizona State the most costly. His three-year win streak appears to be over, but check back next week to see how the next round works out.
For the most part, the top seeds are all cruising through unscathed, much like last year. The South and East brackets have the top four seeds remaining, while the West is 1-2-3-5. The Midwest, with Arizona at No. 12, has the closest thing to a Cinderella with the other top three seeds all advancing with them.
Arizona will be destroyed by the way by Louisville, so Cinderella will go home early.
Jimmy warned you about No. 12 seeds and three of four pulled off upsets. Unfortunately, Jimmy only picked one in his bracket. And after advising readers about the dangerous Cleveland State Vikings at No. 13, Jimmy chickened out and stayed with Wake Forest.
Jimmy’s predicted upsets of Kansas and Duke came close but didn’t materialize either.
Malkin 100+
OK, so maybe Jimmy’s crystal ball was cloudy. Jimmy opined in September that Evgeni Malkin was a softy suck who would never get 100 points again in his career and backed up that tough talk by passing on Malkin with the second pick in the draft. (Since Jimmy’s Ice Gremlins failed to even make the playoffs in his main hockey league, I suppose we can officially concede that wasn’t a bright move).
If you watched his uninspired, 10-turnover performance Sunday, you’d concede that Jimmy is on to something with this guy.
So everyone who continues to email Malkin scoring updates can put down their pens and choose a different blunder to mock. Like the West Virginia to the Elite Eight pick last week maybe?
Stay busy, stay lucky.
jpoole@herald.ca |
